Sickness abounds

We cannot seem to get well in my house! Last week, I spent Wednesday-Friday home with Brendan. Yesterday he finally seemed better, so he went back to school and I returned to work. Then last night as Joey and I were getting ready for bed, we heard him making some strange noises. I went to check on him and found that he had thrown up everywhere. I bathed him, put everything in the washer, and put Brendan in the bed with us. About the time we all drifted off to sleep, he threw up again. This continued from about 11:30 until 4:30 in the morning. I took him to the doctor today, and he said it was just a virus and he should be over it. The antibiotics from last week are still in his system, so it couldn't be anything else. Meanwhile, Joey and I are both coughing and sniffing like crazy. I will be so glad when we are all better!

So, I was pretty pleased with my attempt at making Brendan's cake. It took FOREVER, but most of the time was spent mixing the icing colors to the correct shade. The actual decorating didn't take too long at all. The look on Brendan's face when he saw it made it all worth it. He was so excited!! Tonight before he went up to bed he said, "Thank you for my Wall-E cake, Mommy." My little boy is acting more and more grown up. It makes me so proud and so sad, all at the same time.

Happy Birthday Brendan!!

Today my little boy turns 4. It is so hard to believe he is growing up so fast. It is honestly hard to remember what our lives were like without him. Unfortunately, he is not feeling well today. In keeping with his tradition of being sick on his birthday, I had to take him to the emergency room last night after coughing for hours. They gave him some meds and sent us home around 10:00 last night. He has an appointment with his doctor at 11:00 this morning, so I am home with him today. We know he doesn't have pneumonia from the chest x-ray they did last night. Hopefully they will give him some meds and send us home to start his birthday celebration. We had already planned to have his big family party this Saturday. I was going to send cupcakes to school with him today, but we'll just do that tomorrow. I like to make birthdays a week-long celebration anyway. (Just ask Joey--I milk the birthday thing for several days before and after the big day!)

Joey started his new job on Monday. So far, the days he has worked have been the coldest days we have had recently. (Did I mention he works primarily outside all day?) He is having to adjust to the weather and the hours, but we love having him home with us in the evenings. Hopefully the weather will settle down soon! Other than that, things are going well.

Baby Shower

We had a baby shower for a lady in our church a few weeks ago. These were my contributions. I had so much fun making these. I love to bake, but I'm just starting to experiment with the decorating. Brendan has asked for a Wall-E cake for his birthday, and I am going to attempt to make it on my own, so I will post the finished product this weekend.

News

Well, obviously the new year has kept me busy and prevented me from updating the blog. My Master's classes started up again last week. Thankfully, this semester doesn't appear that it will be as stressful as previous ones.

Joey got a new job!! He has spent the last 3 years on the night shift, and it has been horrible. He works 12 hour shifts, which means that he only works two or three days at a time, but then he spends his first day "off" trying to catch up on sleep. Plus, he has to work every other weekend. His new job will be Monday-Friday, 7:30 to 4:30, off every weekend and holidays!! We cannot wait! Plus, he will be working in Jackson County, 1o minutes from home and on the way to my work. We can even ride together some days if we want! The best part is going to be having him home with us so much. He is taking a small pay cut, but we will end up saving money in the long run, and besides, the family time more than makes up for it.

Happy New Year!

So, the holiday craziness got the better of me and prevented me from doing any posting until now. We visited my family, Joey's family, adopted family, extended family, and some people who aren't family at all! Brendan ended up having about 5 different sets of presents to open, so he had a ball. We even managed to have a surprise for him on Christmas morning. Now, I've never done the whole Santa thing (my parents didn't agree with it), but it was fun to see his little face when he came downstairs and saw his new Smart Cycle set up and ready to go. Poor Joey had to do all the work by himself--the traveling finally got to me and I passed out in the recliner around 10:30 Christmas Eve.

We had a good holiday, despite the fact that we had two deaths in the family. My grandmother (who passed away in July) had two sisters, one older and one younger. The younger was buried on Dec. 20, and the older will be buried tomorrow. At least we got to catch up with that side of the extended family, even if it was under less than desireable circumstances.

Joey turned 29 yesterday! We aren't having his party until Sunday, because he had to work last night and tonight. He really hates that place sometimes.

I am now unfortunately counting down the days until I go back to work. I still have so much to do before the daily grind returns. I will have added responsibilities when my students return on Tuesday which will take up massive amounts of time. I am really going to miss spending my days with Brendan. He is such a cool little kid, and the older he gets the more fun we have.

How many days until my winter break?