Let there be light.

It's amazing how much difference a little sunshine makes. The last few days it has been wonderfully warm for this time of year and we have actually been exposed to REAL SUNSHINE. In Erie, PA in February, this is a miracle. An act of God to keep people like me from jumping out of a 2nd story window. The bleak, gray, cold months in the dead of winter are always the hardest for me. I find it so depressing...but a little sunshine goes a LONG way in making me feel better about just about everything in life.

So.....thank you , God, for the pretty sunshine and the warm air...this little child is very, very grateful.

What immune system?

Well...the sickness in our house is NEVER going to end. I'm sure of it. And my sanity is quickly running out...the two are definitely related. We had TWO days of relative good health in our house last week. That's right - TWO.

Danika had to stay home from daycare on Friday because she was sick AGAIN. Yes...that's right...I'm not making this up....sick for the second time within a WEEK! Only healthy for a few days before something struck again. This time it is a really runny/stuffy nose and a bad case of the runs. A really bad case...poor child has had enough, don't you think? I feel so bad for her. The poor little thing only weighed 23-24 lbs when the flu stuff hit last week, and now she is down to 22lbs. She can't afford to lose ANY weight! She was getting out of the tub last night and Doug looked at her, and then looked at me. I glanced at her little body with the big head, big belly and skinny little arms and legs....and then Doug said, "Gollum. She looks like Gollum from the Lord of the Rings". I had to laugh out loud...he was right.

So...lest you think I'm a terrible mom, I took her to the doctor. They are sufficiently concerned (as am I) that she is continuing to get sick over and over again. It is a little worrisome that she is averaging at least one illness a week as of late, and last week she was able to squeeze two in. It doesn't appear to be the same thing each time...the symptoms are always different than whatever she had last. And they are worried about the weight loss. Like I said, she can't afford it.

The doc put her on an antibiotic and said if she gets sick again within the next 4 weeks, we have to go get blood work and stool samples done to start figuring out what is wrong. So I'm praying the antibiotic works!

Just wanted to keep you posted. Danika was kind enough to share part of her illness, so now Doug and I both have drippy stuffy noses. It's no fun, but at least we all match. :) We are just hoping she keeps the other half of her weekend sickness to herself. :) So far, so good.

So far, so good!

So we recently had another sonogram, and everything appears to be healthy so far. :) Here's one of the pictures...the baby is "face down" and wasn't very cooperative...but you can see the spine and the jaw and the little hand as he/she moved it up to put the thumb in his/her mouth. It is always so fun to hear the heartbeat and see the movement on the screen! :) Especially when things are still so small and you can't see or feel anything on the outside...just the lovely morning sickness and nausea. :) Thanks, kid!


Next sono will be at the end of March and we will find out then if it is a boy or girl. Doug's hoping for a boy, but either way, we are super excited. :) Poor Danika...she doesn't even know what's happening to her world. :)

We will keep you posted.

My "new" bedroom...

We moved into this house about 5 years ago, and we never got around to painting or recarpeting our bedroom. It's a toss-up if our bedroom or the bathroom is the ugliest room in the house, but either way, things just ain't pretty. :) The big debate that kept us from doing anything really centered around whether or not we should gut the bedroom and put all new dry-wall in, because currently the walls are made of some weird pressed particle board covered with a thin layer of plaster...weirdest thing ever. Anyway...we finally decided to leave it go for now, cover the imperfections with texture paint as much as possible, and just fix up this room!

So...here we go! Last week Doug painted the room. Tonight he is putting in new carpet. And then for the first time in 5 years, I'm actually going to attempt to decorate our bedroom. :) Very exciting.

Here's a taste for you:

(the scans aren't very true to color, but it will give you a basic idea...)

The paint:

The new bedspread:

And I know what I want the lights to look like, but I haven't figured out which ones I'm buying yet, so I'll keep you posted. When it is done it will be warm, and cozy!

I'll post before & after pictures when we are done!

Sick again...and again....and again...

Will it never end?!?!?!?!?!? How can we possibly be sick AGAIN?!?!?!?

**WARNING: Lots of disgusting references to vomit in this entry - Read at your own risk**

We got the flu over the weekend. The full-blown, everyone barfing, near-death experience, flu.

Danika started barfing Friday...Doug had to go get her from daycare because I was out of town. She had a rough day Friday, but Saturday she seemed all better. Hit the ground running in the morning, ate breakfast & lunch...everything seemed fine.

So...Doug took her to the mall to see the pets at the pet store. As he was walking her around...she barfed. All over herself, the stroller, the floor. He was thrilled to say the least. He brought her home and she had a rough afternoon and evening again. The next morning, I woke up feeling really sick, Doug woke up barfing, and Danika seemed fine.

UNTIL...the Superbowl started. Then...she barfed 4 times during the game. Doug was still tossing his cookies and I still felt like crap, and it was just one huge disaster. And to make it all WORSE, Danika gets scared when she starts to throw up and she runs around. Oh yes...a child with vomit spewing from her mouth running in circles in my living room. LOVELY. She managed to slime every piece of furniture in the room. It was awful. And dragging ourselves to clean it up when we are retching and gagging was miserable, too.

I started to throw up around midnight...and it got worse from there. Monday Doug was still recovering, I was worshipping the porcelain goddess all day long, but Danika was finally back in action for real...which made for a REALLY boring day for her. Doug and I were still so miserable at one point I woke up on the couch, I look across from me and Doug is sound asleep on the blue chair, and then glance to my side and Danika is sitting completely still in our big blue rocking chair. Not playing. Not watching tv. Not sleeping. Just sitting. And watching...us. Waiting for one of us to open our eyes. As soon as she saw me, she jumped up, ran over and asked, "Wake up now, mommy? Up now?" Poor kid was bored out of her skull.

Today is the first day the whole family has been back on their feet since Friday. What an awful time of year...we have been sick since NOVEMBER! I seriously think I'm going to lose my mind.

So....if you are wondering why I haven't written much in the blog this past week...there's your answer.

Now please excuse me...I need to go scrub vomit stains out of my couch and rug and use about 4 bottles of Lysol on my entire house.