all you need is love. and the pink stuff.

so i'm just sitting here listening to the Beatles "all you need is love" and online shopping and thinking about my day...which was filled with a whole lotta.....nothin, but a whole lotta love.

i think if i looked up what January's are for in some almanac somewhere (because people tottttallly use almanacs these days), it'd have some big explanation about resolutions and goals and motivation and self improvement. oh, and getting sick.

have your kids been sick too?

ugh, all three have dropped like flies with the most random sicknesses over the last week. Jack: double ear infection/cough/cold/100% irritableness. Alice: crazy coughing, turned into wheezing, turned into several breathing treatments on the nebulizer, turned into freaking mama out a bit, turned into more weird hack coughing. Ellie: cough cough cough, fever like her body was covered in fire, eventual double ear infection. = lots of pink medicine at our house = lots of ibuprofen = lots of sleepless nights = lots of Zombie mom going on = lots of Sesame Street + Jake & the Neverland Pirates.

ahhhhhHH!

guys! WHAT THE CRAP!?

anyway. last night we took Ellie to the Urgent Care. there's this new really awesome Urgent Care center by us. but when we walked in, Ellie grabbed onto my arm really tight, looked up at me with her worried eyes and said, "is this a hospital?" poor thing has a real fear of hospitals. i don't blame her. i don't especially love them myself. i assured her it wasn't - but the longer we were in there, the more and more this place resembled every hospital she's ever been in. she kept laying her head on my shoulder and i could tell she was getting increasingly nervous. finally, her name got called and we headed back to our room to wait some more. i looked over at Ellie, and my heart broke for her a little bit. i wished i could take her fear away - but it's pretty hard to erase experiences like she's had. i had a little prayer in my heart that she'd be ok and be comforted. finally, we got that little knock - and we got the best surprise ever: my good friend Candice was our pediatrician! Ellie knows Candice really well, as she has a daughter Ellie's age and we did Joy School with her. seriously, what are the chances?? immediately, the concern was wiped from her face, and she looked so calm. i felt like it was a little gift - an answer to this worried mama's prayer and her worried child's fear. what a simple way to feel God's love for me and my little family. God is so good.

and for the record: i highly recommend visiting a doctor friend when your kid is sick. it's such a pleasant experience compared the inevitable awkwardness that usually ensues with a random stranger doctor.

so today we stayed home and did nothing. and when i say nothing, i literally mean that i was in my sweats till 12:30 (when i decided to change into work-out clothes to make myself feel better), the girls were in random dress-ups all day, and we did not leave the house. not once. such a rarity for a weekday around here! the girls ran around giggling and making up random games all day, read books to Jack, and let him destroy all the little forts they built. Jack basically got into trouble all day long, including climbing the bathtub and nose-diving straight in, resulting in a pretty good shiner on his shnoz (and some pretty hefty tears). both girls came running to his side and kissed the heck out of those little cheeks, and then we all laid on the floor together and read our new Chatbook that came in the mail and just loved on each other. and then since we all were basically morning-wear anyway, we had breakfast for dinner, drank our pink cocktails, and everyone happily went to bed.

seriously. happily. in bed. with a lot of i love you's even.

my mom and her sisters have this thing where they always ask each other "are you winning?" when they are catching up. basically it's code for "are you above water? are you surviving? or is the enemy creeping in???" i love that phrase, and i ask myself it a lot, "am i winning?"

and so even though everyone has taken turns being as sick as can be in the last few weeks, and even though my to-do list is even longer than it was when i woke up this morning, my lil sweeties went to bed happy and full of love. so tonight i feel like i'm winning. and it feels good.

how were the beatles so smart?
all you really need is love. (ok, and the pink stuff).

xoxo

what is with the weird fish at the dr's office?

yesterday, Ellie did a jump, hop, kick move like she always does.
and then she giggled. and she said, "whoa, my ear is being silly."
so i said, "your ear is being silly? what is it doing?"
and then she did a twirl and a half and said, "it's going like that."
and then she wiggled her little finger in her ear and gave me a panicked look.
"it's being tricky now mama."

10 minutes later we were packed up in the car, headed to the doc...for the second time this week.
i had gone on Monday for them to tell me, "oh it's nothing...probably just some viral thing."
in my brain i was thinking, "listen buddy, my 2-year-old does NOT tell me she wants to go to sleep at 6:30 pm the night before....when it is just something viral. nor does she have a 101 degree fever when it is just something viral. and green stuff does not ooze out like that when it is just something viral."
but i'm a respectful sort of human being. and so i didn't say that. i just packed up our circus and went home.

this week has been a whiny week.
lots of tears.
but we've tried our best to stay happy and find stuff to keep us busy.
McDonald's playplace with friends, the park, movies, visits by Grandma and Grandpa, the park again, and even walks.
still, Ellie has had her fair share of meltdowns. ugh the meltdowns. how am i going to survive these meltdowns!?
i was sharing my concern about these meltdowns with a friend and she shared this little gem with me that she does with her little girl- i'll call it the Princess/Queen theory.

the Princess/Queen theory: both the Princess Snow White and the Queen are very beautiful. but the Queen, she is beautiful and she is mean. now the Princess Snow White, she is beautiful and she is so nice. who do you want to be like? the beautiful, MEAN QUEEN? or the beautiful, nice Princess? (good theory huh?)

so of course i explained this Princess/Queen theory to Ellie 10 seconds after hearing it. and now, when Ellie is starting to freak out or be mean, i remind her, "make a good choice, Ellie. be a nice Princess, not a mean Queen."
i think i've said that phrase at least a couple dozen times this week.

it seems to have helped some.
but really, as much i thought it was helping, this stupid runny-nose-fever-cough thing that was supposedly viral just would not take a hike.
so we rushed through the door at the doc yesterday...
last appointment of the day.
i paid that stupid copay...again.
we watched the fish....again.
Ellie's favorite part of going to the doctor is looking at those weird deformed fish. why are they so weirdly deformed? grosses me out.
and a million minutes later, the doc finally strolls in, takes a look at her ear and says, "wow, that's a nasty ear infection you have there Miss Ellie."
duh.

sometimes i think i should have been a doctor.

so today we stayed in our pajamas.
all day long.
do you ever do that?
i hope so.
because it's pretty fun.
we took out of different colors of nail polish to paint our nails.
i decided on red.
so Ellie decided on red too.

i like how she chooses the same things as me.
and we chose pink for these little chubby feet:

and then we ate peanut butter + honey sandwiches and drank juice boxes (a special treat in our house) while watching movies so we could let our nails dry.
but we still we smudged them everywhere because we both stink at staying still.

and then when we were sitting there together snuggling lil miss Alice, Ellie looked at me and said,
"are you happy mama?"
"yes Ellie, i'm happy."
"are you happy because i make good choices? are you happy because i'm a nice princess?"

can you tell we've been talking a lot about making good choices this week?
such a little sweetheart.
she melts me into a big pile of goo.

and this one does too- just by looking at me with those big pretty eyes.

but i can't lie, i'm so ready for the weekend.
i'm ready to eat donuts or waffles or french toast...or something equally saturday-ish (dieting is so overrated).
i'm ready to have my spiritual canteen refilled yet again.
i'm ready to have my hubby back. and hug him real tight. and when the whining inevitably starts up again to say, "it's your turn, buddy."
tgif, baby.

xoxo

wondering where i've been?

well, baby E has yet another ear infection.

and the doctor said the dreaded words today: TUBES (dun dun dun).

uuuggghh.

oh, and i've been practically living at my school, as this week has been parent teacher conferences.

but i'm not complaining...

*promise to catch up soon.*

a migraine made me do it.

we played hooky today...from all of our responsibilities at church and adulthood...and i blame it on my friend who visits every now and again: miss Mia Graine. while i hate the constant pounding, teary eyes, nauseousness and hammering Mia brings into my life, it was kinda nice to have an excuse to just veg out, make pizza, listen to the rain/snow/slush fall down from the sky, hang out with my parents who came to console me in my sickness, play peek-a-boo all day long with Princess Ellie (who just gets cuter and cuter and more and more fun, by the way), and watch You've Got Mail and Music and Lyrics and other weird stuff that came on tv...

is anyone else's entire life put on hold when a migraine comes to town?

thank goodness for raindrops and roses and pizza and extra long bubble baths on days like these.




p.s. Ellie has come out of her blogging hiatus...visit her blog for some new fun updates by clicking here (not invited? just ask, i'd love to send you an invite).

mama called the doctor and the doctor said:

NO MORE MONKEYS JUMPING ON THE BED!!

ok, that was just the kindergarten teacher coming out of me.

but for reals, after several days of irritable, runny-nosed, tug-on-her ears, don't-want-to-take-a-nap-longer-than-30-minutes, scream-while-she-eats Ellie, we decided it was probably time to make a doc visit (triple UGH).

so we went.

side note: why don't doctors just tell you the real time they want you to be there? meaning, the real time they'll actually come and acknowledge your presence in that little bomb shelter room?

{if you zoom in on this picture, you will notice the constant nostril flow we've been dealing with the last several days. gross.}

diagnosis: Ellie has an ear infection in both ears.
first time mom here, freaking out (not for the first time).

why is it still so hard to hear my little baby cry?
why can't we take the pain away?
why can't they just tell us what's wrong so that some other person doesn't have to stick some huge appliance in their ear to figure out what's wrong?

conclusion: there's a new staple in E's diet...yucky pink paste...which she oddly willingly eats.

chin up, i have no doubt i'll be writing of daisies and daffodils in no time.
until then, come what may...and love it, right?*

*hopefully come what may includes sleep tonight. fingers crossed.*

xoxo

we've been sick.

yes, it's true. ell's and i have been feelin' pretty dang crappy the last few days.

pooey.

M has been so sweet takin care of his girls:
bringin' home soup.
stayin' home on a friday night...instead of going to the byu basketball season opener...just to be with us.
and of course...since there's nothing better to do when you're couped up all day...rearranging furniture and wall-hangings.

how did i get so lucky to find him?

and while we have been in for three days straight...trying to rest...i still feel exhausted.
i think i'm going to go open a new box of tissues.

aaaaahhhhh cheeewwww!

(no worries- i'm not contagious via blogger)