winter solstice.

I didn't mean to be gone for this long. We went from G having a sore throat to a roller coaster of scary sick little boy which peaked with the frantic phone calls and urgent care and chest x-rays and febrile seizure...pneumonia. My sweet boy has been very sick. After a week of medicine, nebulizer and lots of love and rest, he is feeling much much better.


So with all of this we have been home for a while now - G is wrapping up medication that requires he avoid any virus exposure/people. So we will stay home through the weekend with lots of fresh smoothies, games, hugs, and holiday kids movies. Just what we need.


Today is the winter solstice. I am thankful we are all happy and well. I am thankful for a dusting of beautiful white snow on this dark day. And I am thankful that the sun will be staying a bit longer every day. Love and light and peace to you all on this solstice.

Seven!

Seven! Can you believe it? G is SEVEN today. After my asthma boy had a rough two weeks of being sick, he felt *just* better enough for his birthday overnight at a local hotel this weekend. We went swimming, sat in the hot tub, watched a movie in bed, and went out to dinner. We came back last night and were home today for his birthday. While he is still on the mend, he had a fun birthday full of family and lots of love.




Seven years have flown. G is such a gentle, creative and yet funny guy. I think it can be challenging to be A's younger brother - but G has such a fierce and protective spirit and takes good care of his brother when he is having a rough time. Everything he does involves his big brother, and yet he is still intensely independent and a very unique kid. Every moment of life is big and exciting and fun to him.




I love him more than anything and look forward to the next seven years (14?!?!?!). Happy Birthday sweet boy.

just breathe.

I'm sure many of you are like me - having kids activated the mama bear and we want to protect them. In fact, we probably would indeed jump in front of a moving train to save them. But sometimes the most instinctive and seemingly simple things can become a big deal. And there isn't a thing we can do.

Just Breathe. We breathe. Never much thought to it, perhaps. But my boy doesn't always have such an easy time. He has (sometimes severe) attacks in response to any and every cold/flu virus. Over the years we have tools (nebulizer, flovent, inhaler, humidifier, etc.), experience and family 'protocols' to help us manage better. But it isn't always enough.


It is scary to hold a child struggling and fighting desperately to get a SINGLE BREATH and there is nothing you can do to just make it better NOW...just breathe.

We've had a virus in this house for what now seems like forever, slowly going from one to the next. We have been working on keeping G healthy so it would hopefully not hit too hard. But in the middle of the night it arrived. After a very scary attack at home where nothing we did helped, G ended up taking an ambulance ride with me at his side to the UW Children's Hospital, with a short stay in the ER (we are home now). After several different treatments along the way - from home to ambulance to emergency room - he finally was able to just breathe.

It was a long night, and I know this isn't over. We have a few days before he is out of the woods. But this mama bear is thankful for the people who worked to help her little boy just breathe. I am deeply grateful.



Oh, and February? I'm so done with you - please go.


.

almost made it.

We almost made it to the holidays without the early winter cold bug. But not quite. A came down with a cold over the weekend, and so we are in asthma boy damage control mode, hoping to keep G from being hit too hard. While I usually can keep myself from catching colds when they are in the house, G always gets them. And this week is just bad timing!


We finished most of our crafty making, so we can just focus on snuggles and healthy little boys. Lots of warm ginger elderberry lemonade, library books, and holiday DVDs, I think!


I have had a few goodies come in the mail just in time for a week at home, too. Seed catalogs (whole garden re-work going on this year) and yarn. Perfect combo.


We are looking forward to the lunar eclipse, several more inches of snow and a beautiful solstice!

.

what a week!

I can't believe it is Monday already! After a very rough week with G's cold and bad asthma, he is feeling a lot better (well, we all are) and energy will hopefully be returning to normal. Though we spent last week to ourselves taking care of our sick little guy, we also had a nice snuggly family goodness in the kitchen kind of week.


My husband worked ridiculous hours during all this, so A, G and I spent much of the week curled up together, painting, baking, crafting, picking raspberries, reading, and, whenever G could handle it, going outside for some fresh air and sunshine.


Of course for me, having a week without much sleep, not much relief, and a lot of caretaking, meant that I have had tons of creative ideas. Funny how that works, eh?


So, I have plans and sketches for the fall for quilts, photography projects, painting, knitting and more. I wrote it all down, including sketches in my journal, so I know I will even remember it all! ;)

A few ideas are already being worked on, and I can't wait to share.

Happy Monday!

gold-white.

Today was belt-promotion day! But not for A...G was promoted for the first time to gold-white.

G has been interested in starting karate for a bit- he has been practicing at home with his brother for ages, and really has fun with it. We have to be careful - with his asthma issues, being exposed to cold & flu viruses usually is really rough on him, taking him down for weeks and often including nebulizer, inhalers, steroids and ER or urgent care visits to get him breathing again. So, we all thought that this summer would be a good time to try it out and see how it goes with all of that since it is not the peak virus season and he has had a pretty clean year so far - and so for the past two months he has been in karate!


Today was his very first belt promotion. He is quite shy compared to his very outgoing brother, and was very nervous about today. We sat right behind him during his promotion, cheering him on. Of course his brother cheered the loudest when he was given his belt! :)


And his brother was the first to hug him when he came off the mat.


He was so happy to get this belt - he has been talking about it all week, and was so proud of himself today. Way to go G!!!

shoulda woulda...

My big plan for this week was to post some favorite gardening books, my seeds list, and about my garden journal each day. Of course whenever there is a plan, things change.

My little asthma boy (G) got sick. We have been SO careful and had done a good job of keeping him away from those respiratory viruses for the past 8 weeks or so, but right after his big 'asthma specialist' appointment, well, it hit hard (of course). So we've spent our time with inhalers and nebulizers and humidifiers and snuggling on the couch reading books and telling silly stories and b.r.e.a.t.h.i.n.g.


So while everyone but me is (finally) asleep in this house, I know I "should" take these precious minutes to catch up on all the things I fell behind on for the past few days - blogging, work, volunteer stuff, responding to dozens of emails, finishing seed lists, kitchen cleanup. But I won't. This mom deserves a cider and a good magazine or two (or three). I'll catch up later.

Until then. Good night!

snow!

After a weekend of middle of the night on-call Physician phone calls and Urgent Care, we woke up today to a winter wonderland. Everything is covered in beautiful fluffy thick snow. The boys were so happy - SNOW SNOW SNOW SNOW! Just right to rejuvenate and excite on a Monday morning. I think it makes us ALL feel better!


So while we have to stay home for a few days, we get a glorious view out of our windows - it may only be a few inches, but that is enough!


Snow usually jump starts our holiday crafting - it inspires and brightens everything and gets the boys excited. And I love shoveling first thing in the morning - the quiet, the cold air, and coming in to a nice hot cup of coffee and warm snuggly little boys. Ahhh. Snow!

one tough cookie.

After less than a week of being over that last cold, G is sick again. After two more days of inhalers, humidifiers, nebulizers, wheezing, and crying, I think we are about ready to buckle down (even more) for this cold and flu season and ride it out from home!

This little guy has a birthday this week (he's going to be FOUR!), so we want him to be happy and healthy for his big day. He told me not to worry - he is one tough cookie.

Just breathe.

We have had a pretty quiet week at home. Both boys have had a cold. For A, it is just a cold and moves on out pretty quickly. For G, it means asthma. Pretty much every time he is exposed to a cold virus he has a series of scary asthma attacks (and his cough drags on for ages). We do ok during the day, but the past few nights have been verrrrry rough. Thank goodness for the nebulizer.

Luckily, A is always very happy to stay home more during the week (more time for 'his projects'! yay!), which means we can focus on getting G back to his happy spunky self. That requires lots of snuggling, book reading, fort building, lego constructing, and a few special treats, of course, sprinkled in between lots of glue and watercolors!