4 Days...6th Disease...and 1 Day at a time

Why so many numbers you ask? And what do they all mean? Our lives here seem to be living by the numbers around us...4 Days until Christmas, Everett has 6th Disease (Roseola) and I am taking things 1 Day at a time now...

Poor little E has been through so much lately! He recently got his top two teeth only to have the ones right next to them about to break through. Four teeth at once is a doosey and sure explains why he hasn't been wanting ot nurse very often. (Back on track with that now). He recently had a strange high fever for about 3 nights/4days and caused a lot of concern. It got up towards 104 and even his soft spot was bulging out a bit. I took him to the ER, but with a lack of other symptoms (no cold like things, diarrhea or vomitting) they chalked it up to a virus and told me to watch him. Not the best answer from a Children's Hospital. The fever eventually went away around Monday morning and he has been recouperating since then. I had his 9 month well baby scheduled for today for about a month and it was quite convenient considering his recent health. It definitely turned out to be more than a routine visit! As soon as I took his clothes off, I noticed this crazy rash all over his body. Small red dots and blotchyness. The nurse noticed it too and seemed concerned or curious.

(such a swee pic of my man, can't see his rash here, but I am so in love with him! God gave me the perfect third child...He knew exactly what I needed)

I immediately thought back to what I first thought it was in the beginning of the fever (after doing research on the internet) and thought it was Roseola...and I was right! It is basically a benign childhood illness that doesn't have a treatment besides controlling the fever. The rash appears once the fever is gone and only lasts 1-3 days and isn't a bother to the baby. These pictures don't do justice as the lighting in my house isn't that great. But you can kinda see it.
None the less, he is a healthy happy baby! He wieghs 22 lbs and is 29 1/4 inches long. Meeting all the milestones and sure wooed the doc despite his crazy rash.

4 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!! I think I am more excited than the boys. We have only a few gifts for them this year, but they are so perfect. What fun it is to be a parent and give joyfully to our children! This is an advent calendar I made last year. Each day they put up a new ornament and on the back as a verse to read from the bible about Jesus' birth. Logan and Austin both enjoy it very much.
Logan very much understands what is going on this year and it is great to be starting or continueing our traditions. It is definitely hard being away from family this year, but like I said, I am stoked for our family Christmas!!
Like my star wars snowflakes I cut out? go here: http://mattersofgrey.com/diy-star-wars-snowflakes/ to do it yourself!
Fits in real well huh?

1 Day at a time...so yeah...I am putting my foot down to forgetting and not having a schedule...I am not talking about narowing my day down to every 15 min, but knowing what needs to be cleaned when, what appointments are when, deadlines, birthdays, etc...So so so.....sick and tired of having "mommy brain!". I am doing my best to write things down and keep track of it all. Hard to start a new habit, but hopefully soon I will have it down.
Found this amazing cleaning chart template and it is helping immensly! Go here to download yours and create your needed chores!!

Anyways...not much else going on...one big thing...today Mike re-enlisted! Yup, we are in it for another 6 years, which inevitely will keep us in till the end. Right now we have 9.5 years in so in 6 we will have 15.5 and would be silly to get out. Please be praying for the long year ahead of us with Mike training and going through a rigorous program. We know God has his hand in our family and we are daily striving to glorify Him through all that He has given us!

Merry Merry December

Oofta! What a month so far! The testosterone led family is doing great...and the trying very hard to be feminine lady here is doing might fine too:-) I have started to try and take a new approach on things lately and bought myself a handy dandy personal calendar. I am tired of forgetting (still do) and procrastinating (working on that also) and want to cross things off a list (so accomplishing). It is hard to adapt something like that into my daily life because I am always on the go and don't have a set "station" or desk that I can leave the calendar. It is working for the most part though.

Other updates:

Logan just had his Christmas Program...which I had to miss because Austin was strangely sick just for that morning. Mike was able to go and video taped it. Logan and I watched it later together and he sang me every song:-) He was so proud! I had told Logan that I was sad I wasn't able to go and to prepare him for the worst told him gently that neither Mike or I would be able to go. I hoped that Mike would be able to and like I said he did. Mike caught Logan's reaction to seeing his Dad on the video and it was priceless. Soooo glad Mike went.

Austin is doing well...his old self. Still quite the funny guy with such an independent persona. He is enjoying Everett more and more and I think they will be good buds. Austin loves to pretend play and recently pretended to be a doctor "Mom...are you a boy or girl (girwal-is how he says it)" and then writes it down on a pretend clipboard. Love him!

Everett is cutting the top four teeth right now...seems like it has been over a month since this started and I can't WAIT for them to come through! He is crawling all around the house, and I am really enjoying this curious stage. He doesn't really crawl full force, just kind of meanders around putting random things in his mouth...like dog hair. He has pulled himself up several times, but it still isn't consistent. He still nurses, but is very active so it can be hard to get him to any where else besides his quiet room. I am struggling with if he is getting enough from my milk OR if it is just his teething...we are gonna give it some time and do some experimenting with other foods to find out. Other than that...he is still the happiest baby!

My photography sessions have slowed down, which is nice for the holidays, but I am so pumped for this next spring and summer...got some awesome new places to take people and new ideas! Somehow I do still have time to do some home-made crafts. This fall wreath (yes I know it is winter now) took me about a month, but I got it done in time for Sept! No one ever told me how much burlap sheds...it is awful...it turned into an outside project. One of my favorites though!

And since I didn't have much time to make a Christmas wreath...I just tweaked the fall one with some Christmas tree branches and ornaments and wwwhhalllah!

Funny story...I missed watering the tree one day and after that noticed that it stopped soaking up water. So, in my craziness I asked my incredible husband to help me cut some more off the bottom of the tree in case some sap covered the bottom preventing water being drunk by the tree. In his awesomeness...he did it with help from a friend. That was much more of a project than we expected. The tree is now about 4 inches shorter and lost all the bottom branches. It looks cleaner and healthier though! Oh well!
Hope you all are having a good December and have a Merry Christmas thus far! Miss you family and friends!

PS...oh I will have a good story for you guys next time hopefully...seriously...God is really wanting us to trust Him lately in the most crazy circumstances!! All Glory to Him!