"I want to hold you, Mommy!"

Have you ever heard the phrase, "My life is like a blender..and somebody took the lid off", or something to that affect? It makes me laugh, because sometimes I do feel like that! Although, the truth is, even if my life does feel like that, the lid hasn't come off. I am thankful that I have an all-knowing, all-powerful God who is in control and keeps the lid on! =)

This last week was incredibly busy for us! Usually those kind of weeks go quickly for me, but it just kept dragging on and on. On Tuesday night, Caleb got bit by some ants. No big deal right? Well, not really! By Wednesday morning those little bites turned into another Staph outbreak. So we got to put Caleb through the torture of lancing and draining the miniature boils and then cleaning them and putting medicine on them. They apparently are very sore because he cries every time we touch them. I was not able to attend church Wednesday night because I don't think my other mommy friends would appreciate Caleb spreading Staph to their children. =)

Thursday rolled around and his "spots" as we call them, were looking a bit better. We spent most of the day running around getting all the food and materials for the teen harvest party. The activity was at a church members house in York, South Carolina, about 45 minutes from our house. They invited us down so we could set up the night before and get it all ready.

Halfway through the activity on Friday night, Caleb started to get really crabby. I just thought he was tired. When we got home I noticed he felt warm and as I was getting him ready for bed, he started throwing up. After I got him all cleaned up I took his temperature and he was running a fever of 103! Poor little guy! After some Motrin and some TLC, he went to bed and
slept really well.

Saturday was actually a pretty good day and Caleb started to act better, but was still running a fever. The day was busy and we had a special choir practice in the afternoon. I did get to go to that. (Thanks Eric for sitting up here while the kiddos took their naps!)

I will have to post the pictures when I get them, but our friends who own a photography studio asked us to be the "model" family for their flyers to advertise for holiday portraits. The photo session Saturday night went really well, despite Caleb not feeling good.

By yesterday afternoon, Caleb was not running a fever anymore, but he started having diarrhea. =( Poor guy. And then he was basically up all night last night. He woke up crying about every 45 minutes. Steven and I are so tired today! We definitely are not used to getting up in the middle of the night anymore. Today he does seem to be feeling better, just cranky from lack of sleep.

As much as I dislike having a sick child who is cranky and fussy and wants every ounce of my attention.....I am thankful that he is here to demand it of me. Part of me wants to fuss back at him, but then I am convicted and solemnly reminded that this child, who I don't want to pick up for the 50th time today, is the same child that I longed to hold in the NICU, yet couldn't. For five days after his birth I wanted nothing more than to hold him for the first time. I'll never forget when the nurse said I could. He was so tiny, so fragile, so delicate....yet so perfect and beautiful. Many days would pass sometimes before we could hold him, and it would just break my heart to have to leave and go home once again without holding my baby.

Of all people you would think that I wouldn't be so foolish as to forget such lessons. I forget much too often. God is really teaching me daily. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of that today. Thank you for reminding me of what a precious gift my hyper-active little boy is!

Now I think I will go finish my cleaning because when he wakes up, he'll be asking me to hold and him and to play cars. =)