sickies

Declan started preschool February 2nd. He started non-stop sickness about 48 hours later. :) No exaggeration. A cold turned in to a double ear infection and 10 days of antibiotics. On the 8th day of those antibiotics, he started coughing. A lot. He got a new virus while he was finishing up antibiotics? No fair. That was 2 Thursdays ago.

Over the weekend, he was fine. Just an annoying cough that kept us up all.night.long. Last Monday morning, after a sleepless night, he was so lethargic. Cue the puking. Little man hadn't puked in over a year! I credit my hand sanitizer obsession. Off to the doctor we went for a strep test. It was negative and we went home to rest it up. He went in between a 102 and 103 fever Monday thru Wednesday!! Brutal!!

Thursday the fever went away. I saw the light! Little man seemed better and joining the real world was just a day away. NOT. Friday he woke up and couldn't even stand. He had horrible back and abdominal pain. Off to the doctor we went. Poor little man was hung over the toilet with nausea and his temp went from 99 to 103 in 10 minutes!! He could barely open his eyes and was shaking. We were so scared for him! Our doctor sent us to the hospital for an ultrasound, blood work and he even had to have a catheter (which was rip out your heart sad....). Later that day, we found out his tests were all clear! This was just a horrible, nasty, long, painful, annoying VIRUS. Yuck!! His fever finally went away Saturday afternoon and it seems like, just today, we are nearly back to normal. *fingers crossed* I will say that I got SO many hugs, snuggles and pure "I need you, Mommy" moments. Warms my heart. Now, we pray he's 100% and stays that way for a bit. He's been through enough!

Brave, brave boy. So proud of him.

Run run run...

I have been bitten hard by the running bug. I've mentioned before that I joined some girlfriends last October for my first 5k. I used the Couch to 5k training program and, lets just say, it was not a great experience. I didn't really like the training, didn't really like running the race. Not for me. Fast forward a couple weeks. I actually missed training. Waah?! Who is this girl? So I signed up for another 5k and the training was more fun the and race was a blast. Then it happened: crunchy knees. Yikes! Right around the holidays my knees were sending me the message that I was not meant to run. Too heavy? Wrong bone structure? Whatever it was, my running days were short lived.

Thankfully, I rested 6+ weeks and my knees returned to normal. On impulse (and with nagging from a friend) I signed up for a half marathon. I found a schedule that looked doable (ha!) and fired it up three weeks ago. Did you know when you take 6 weeks off you are back to square one? Like you can barely-run-2-minutes-without-panting square one? SUPER frustrating. Despite my grumbles about my lack of fitness, I've thrown myself in to the sport. I've read lots of blogs and some books and am super focused on nutrition, form, interval training, etc etc.

This past Saturday, my running partner and I ran FIVE miles. I can't believe that it is actually getting easier. It's still no 13 miler (thankfully the half isn't until May) but it's an enormous accomplishment. Please don't get me wrong, though, after about 2 miles it was a serious mental and physical battle. Last Fall when I started running, I had never ran a mile. When I took 6 weeks off I had to retrain my body to reach that mile once again. Now I run miles and am amazed what my body can do. Yes, I'm bit by the bug. I think about running all the time and am jealous when I see people running outside and can't wait for my next run. Who woulda thought?

Jazzed after my first ever 5 on Saturday:

Stirring

I feel like my heart has been stirring these last couple of weeks. We haven't had any action at our current agency. We are a stones throw away from 1 year of our profile being active. Our conversations about our next step are all over the place. We've been doing heavy research on international adoption. Is God showing us this door is to close and that door is to open? Honestly, we are super excited to adopt internationally but the waits are SO long. Some of the programs we are interested in aren't even taking new families right now.

We've spoken to some different domestic agencies and I can not believe the fees. Seriously...$20,000-$30,000+ to adopt?! Such a hard pill to swallow. Even more difficult is the fact that we would have to start over completely with our home study (a process that took a year). Yikes.

Right now, we do nothing. We wait. God has a perfect plan. I truly believe that deep in my soul. I believe satan loves taking hold of my heart by making me wonder why we can't get pregnant when everyone else around me is? Why do we have to wait to be matched and hope the match is successful? Why this difficult journey for us?! Life is SO not fair.

Then, after I throw my huge pity party, I remember Declan was WORTH THE WAIT. He was God's perfect plan for our life. The journey to him joining our family was uber turbulent but sometimes hard to remember. So when life feels unfair, I am humbled to know someone else is in charge here. I need to remember to move out of His way and let Him lead.

iDump

Declan loves preschool! Hallelujah. Thursday, a firetruck came to visit and Decs thought it was the coolest thing. Look at this little chief. Adorbs.

I watched my nephews this week and, with only minimal bribing, I got this cutie pie pic:

 Mark's cousin and wife (and really good friends) had their third baby this week. Sweet Beckham is a precious addition to our big family:

 Greek yogurt + granola + berries. Seriously it does not get much better.

 Cousin Mario Bros date! They had a blast!

Valentine's Day 2012

We don't celebrate Valentine's Day. I believe you should date all year round...just my 2 cents. Anywho, despite our rejection of Val's Day, preschool is now in our lives and they go ALL OUT! The kiddos sported their favorite jammies, had (lukewarm) hot cocoa and cookies, decorated bags and exchanged Valentines. Whoa buddy...was Deckers excited!! He rocked it in style with this little ditty:

(Thanks for the inspiration, Pinterest)...

A Night at the Museum

A local museum is having free admission Thursday nights in Feb and since Mark has guy's Bible study, we went on a Decs/Mommy date. It was so fun to see him wide eyed in wonder: "wha wha what's that, mommy??"

Mark and I both went here when we were kids. This front room was my favorite!

Digging for bones (my husband's favorite room when he was Dec's age):

Can you say goofball??

 Looking at bug's wings in the microscope (a popular stop):

 Listening to bug chirps and buzzing (Declan loved this):

 

So in awe!

Yoshi in hand and looking so tall and skinny:

 Ahhhh, the museum through the eyes of a three year old. Or, "the big zoo" as Declan called it. He was a bit confused why everything was so still. :)

Let it Snow, Let it Snow....

We had our first big snow storm this weekend (over a foot of snow dumped on us Saturday) after a strangely mild winter. Despite having no power for 5 hours, it was actually fun! We spent time outside building a fort and scooping and even went sledding the next day. Declan loved it.

Sledding with the cousins

My bay-beeeee

My baby is all grown up.

 

He was more ready than mama to start school this week.

I had to chase after him for a hug goodbye.

I cried like a fool in the parking lot.

New chapter for this little guy.

So proud of who he is and who he's becoming.

Such a sweet, spunky, hilarious, passionate, adorable, always going/talking/moving little man.

what am I thinking?!

Just registered for a:

5k next month

10k that next month

and a half marathon that next month.

You'd think I was in good shape.

I wish but I haven't run much these last couple of months.

Let the hardcore training begin next week.

Yes, the week it finally is cold and snows.

Nice timing, Ash.

Hold me, I'm scared.