Amoxicilian

Is very popular at our house this week.  On Sunday Birk was diagnosed with a double ear infection and today Addy was diagnosed.  Both kids are on Amoxicilian...

We are hoping for some sleep tonight as the past few nights have been rough.  I feel awful for the pain the kids have been going through and the horrible fevers that they are having to endure.

I do have to say when we got to the pharmacy this evening to pick up Addy's prescription and she saw it was pink...it was like the heavens opened up for her.  She was tickled "pink" that Dr. Andersen would get her pink medicine.  She dances around when she has to take it and keeps telling me it makes her feel "SOOOOOO much better!"

If only pink medicine would make me feel better some day!

Happy "almost" March!!  I cannot believe that it is already going to be March 1st, 2012 tomorrow.  I can't believe Birk and Addy are going to be 3!!!!!!!  3 years ago I was a giant water buffalo waddling around thinking to myself;  "man, I have a long time before these babies get here."  Little did I know that 17 days later I would become a mom.  I would get to experience the joys, the fears, and the constant blessing that these two bring to my life.  So tonight as I sit here feeling sad that the kids are going to be 3.  I'm sad they are growing up so darn fast.  I'm sad that I do miss each stage we've gone through (some were more exciting and fun than others...but I wouldn't trade any of it).   I'm also very grateful.
Grateful for every joy, every fear, and every blessing that I've been given.

When one door closes

Another one opens.  I just need to learn to be patient and wait for that opening.  It seems like these days God is truly showing me that I need to "practice patience."  I need to understand that my purpose is to follow Christ and live that way each and every day.  I also am very blessed that I've seen God's blessings in several areas of my life these days.  Whether these doors that have been opened turn into something more or just close again, I do have to say I'm thankful for the opportunity to even serve a God that can work through my life in this way.

ANOTHER ...

... Double ear infection for Birk.  He has been running a fever the past couple days and we didn't really think anything of it since he hasn't had any other signs.  However, after he woke up from his nap today and his fever climbed to 102.8 we decided we needed to find an Urgent Care and take care of this ASAP.  Last month they both got PRETTY BAD.  To our luck, most urgent care clinics in the Metro close at 4 on Sunday's.  We found on that was in the Hy-Vee here in Ankeny.  What a blessing it was.  We got right in, the nurse practitioner took 1 quick look and saw that both ears were pretty infection.  The right one MUCH worse than the left (exact opposite of last month).  Got our prescription right away and on our way in 30 minutes.  Not a bad deal at all.

This evening he was doing a bit better and we are hoping for some restful sleep for all of.  Not a great way to start a week with a sick little guy!!!  :-(

~~~ Funny story for today~~~~

~~~~~~~

Me:  "Hey Birk""

Birk:  "Yeah Mommy?"

Me:  "Does your Mommy love you?"

Birk:  "YEAH!"

Me: "How much?"

Birk: (with a very puzzled look on his face for about 10 seconds and then he responds..) "All the way to Woozie's house."  (for the record Woozie is my mom, and she lives in Waterloo, Iowa).  

~~~~~

One for the records

So Birk hasn't been feeling the greatest yesterday and today.  He has a cold and some drainage which has lead to a sore bottom!!  He had a VERY gross diaper, which I promptly allowed Nick to change.  After wiping and cleaning him up here is the dialogue that followed:

Birk:  "Owie."
Nick:  "What buddy?!?  Where is the owie?"
Birk: "Down there!"
Nick:  "Your bottom?  Is your owie on your bottom?"
Birk: "YES, now you NEED to mooch it!!!!!"

I'm feeling like we need to re-evaluate our rule of mooching ALL owie's that occur.  (wink, wink)!!

Nice little Saturday

So I remember as a kid having regular visits to the public library with my mom.  I would get to pick out books, borrow movies and just have some good old innocent fun at the library for a few hours.  I decided that the kids and I would try this out today.  So we woke up, I ran, we all showered/took baths and off we went around 10am.  I told Nick as we were leaving..."who knows when we will be back...this might not go over well."  Well, I was WRONG.  The kids LOVED it.  They colored, pet the visiting dog, read some books, played with trains, build LEGO castles and each got to check out some books and borrow one movie each.  They have talked about it all day.

It was one of those experiences that just makes me so humbled to be a Mom.  It was an amazing feeling watching them have so much fun as they are learning, interacting with other kids...and JUST BEING KIDS.

The best part of this whole story is that this whole experience cost me nothing except my gas to get to the library.  What a magical way to use your imagination and have some good family fun on a Saturday!

Reflection

Today has seemed like an ordinary day to me.  I woke up, got ready, got the kids ready, loaded them into the car, dropped them off, went to work....and went about my own business...

Except...

Today is not an ordinary day.  It is the beginning of one of the most remarkable times!  Today is a reminder to me that I am one of the luckiest girls.  I am lucky because I have a savior who sacrificed everything for me.  Because of Jesus Christ I am saved.  I am forgiven.  I am beyond humbled at such a gift.

So today marks the beginning of a time where it is important for us to reflect and remember the sacrifice that was made!!

Happy Lent!

God Bless you!

Update on Appointment

Birk is doing great...both on the outside and on the inside.  They showed us some pictures of his airway and talked to us about how great he is and how happy they are with his progress.  He is doing so great, that he doesn't have to go back for a follow up appt for another 6 months.  6 MONTHS!!!!!!  What a blessing!  We are so proud of him.  We talked to one of the nurses there who was happily surprised and indicated to us that she has seen a handful of cases where they haven't made the patient come back every 3 months or even every month.  Birk is just continuing to show us that God is good.  God is using Birk to show us the miracles are possible.

While we are so happy with the news that we got today...the drive was, however, NOT FUN.  We arrived last night around 8pm.  Played some...went to bed...slept crappy (at least I did)...got up at 4am (CST).... got everyone ready....got to the hospital by 6am...had his appt...got out of town....stopped for breakfast...got on the road...and to my displeasure, I COULD NOT SLEEP in the car.  So you can imagine just how tired and exhausted Nick and I are.  The kids are also very much at that age where they do not enjoy being trapped for long periods of time in their seats.  It was sheer joy at times!  (Not so much!!!)

So I'll leave you with that.  We are more than happy to be home.  We are more than happy that Birk is doing as great as he is and continue to praise God for all the good that he has given to us.

I'm heading to bed.

10 hours later....

We made it to Cincinnati, Ohio!  To our surprise Addy was our best traveler today and Birk was quite the whiny dude!  I guess he has made this trip a few times and knows what to expect once we hit the road.

We got here about 20 minutes ago, stopped to get some Wendy's chicken nuggets and checked into our hotel.  We're pretty glad we get to spend $70 for less than 12 hours in this joint!  :-)  Oh well!!!  Hopefully we get a good report from Dr. Cotton and it was all worth it.

Wish us luck that we all get up, and get ready by our 6am arrival time at Same Day Surgery.

More details tomorrow...

Check up ~~

So we take off tomorrow morning sometime before 9am to head back to Cincinnati Children's for our 1 month check up (1 month late).  We were scheduled to  head back in January, but due to B's ear infections we had to bump it back.  We have been suffering from some minor colds, but they have told us they still want us to head that way.  I have to say...that I'm TOTALLY EXCITED for this trip.  I want to know that things are still going great for B man.  I want to hear the graft still looks good and that he is doing as great as we see he is doing.

It also feels bittersweet to head back to Ohio.  We've been through so much and each time we head back that way it brings new emotions and reminds of where we've been.

Prayers for safe travels, good kids, and good reports for Birk are appreciated!

A night of Romance....Robertson Style

So in true Robertson romantic style my night started out with a quick run to Fare-way to pick up a few things to make some White Chili for Nick's work tomorrow.  Followed by quickly throwing chicken nuggets in the oven and getting the kids set up for dinner.  Nick got home at 5:50pm and got the kids in their seats for dinner.  I served dinner and by 6:15 I was out the door for a meeting at Church.  I stopped on my way home around 8:15pm to pick up Taco John's for Nick and I (a staple after my meetings at church).  Came home to get the kids out of the bath (THANK YOU DADDY..for bathing them), did our bedtime routine...put the kids to bed, ate our Taco Johns and now Nick is opening up a bottle of wine as we watch The Biggest Loser.

While it may not be out of a romance novel... tonight was perfect in my book.  My life is good.  I don't need Valentines Day to remind me that I'm blessed and loved.

So here is hoping you had as great of an evening as I did!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pajama Day

After a weekend of sickness in our house and a call from our daycare provider that she was going to be closed due to sickness today I made the decision with the kids...that today was OFFICIALLY PAJAMA DAY!

We got our breakfast of cereal, milk, and banana's and hunkered down in the living room under our cozy blankets, in our PJ's and started watching some Mickey Mouse Club.  While I would trade quite a bit right now to not be constantly wiping cruddy noses, all of our coughing, my congestion and sore throat, and a voice since I lost mine on Friday, for health in our family....the sweet cuddling is pretty awesome.

I sure hope when the twins are older this is one thing they remember.  While I "should" be at work as I'm super busy....I hope they know and remember that this was more important to me.  To snuggle together until we all feel better.  To also take a day where it doesn't matter if you get our of your PJ's.  To take time to do the important things like relax, play all day and spend time together.

P.S.  The only thing missing is Daddy.  He braved the icy roads and headed into the office!!

We thought we would escape it...

BUT, when you live in Iowa you can't escape the snow!!!  And I have to be the first to admit that I'm sure glad we didn't.  This morning I asked the kids if they wanted to go outside and play in the now.  The answer was a unanimous YES! So, we spent about 10 minutes getting all of our snow gear on and outside we went.  It was a bit chilly and the snow was coming down fairly heavy.  It was beautiful.  We made a snowman, we made snow angels and had a snow ball fight.  After about 45 minutes we decided that it was time to warm up so we trucked inside.  It was so worth the giant pile of wet clothes I have in front of our door (waiting to be hung up in case we go back outside...it is really snowing here today).

What an amazing gift that God gave our family today.  Some time to spend it together, having fun in one of the most beautiful seasons.  Winter.  You know the true gift that those of us here in Iowa have is that we always have something to enjoy AND something to look forward to.  So, let's take this day, week, month and play in the snow.  Build a snowman, go sledding or just go romp around in the snow.  For when Spring comes we will have new experiences we can enjoy as the leaves return and flowers start to bloom.

Thank you Lord for the magic that you gave us today.  I am so grateful!

Favorites

So again it is no secret that I'm a Pinterest junkie.  (I need some rehab or something....).

I thought I would share a few of my favorite quotes that I've "pin'd".  I am not sure what I will ever do with these quotes other than allow them to serve as a reminder to me to count my blessings.  Be happy where I'm at, and serve my God and my family to the best of my ability!

1.  Even Miracles take a little time.

2. Let your FAITH be bigger than your Fear!

3.  Only God can turn a mess into a Message, a test into a Testament, a trial into a Triumph, and a victim into Victory.

4. I don't think the worst thing to me would be raising a child with special needs.  I think the worst thing is to raise a child who is cruel to a child with special needs.

5. True love was born in a stable!

Potty Training 101

Has officially begun.  At daycare they seem to be working towards progress, but I feel like I'm failing at home.  They have had some successes, but man... not as many as I would like to see!  We are using pull ups most of the time and Nick and I both have decided that we think we need to just bite the bullet and let them wear underwear to see if the feeling of "wet" or "worse" would help motivate them to use the potty.  They have proven to be able to hold "it" as they are waking up from naps dry and traveling and get there dry....

I do have to admit that I am scared of potty training.  I am scared of failing at this.  I'm scared that I am not doing it right.  I'm scared that the kids will never be out of diapers!  Hopefully I'm not alone. I look around and see other parents of 2 year olds that their children are using the potty full time...and we are not.  Yuck.

So, needless to say I could use some good thoughts on this adventure.  Good thoughts that the good Lord will bless me with the knowledge to figure this part of parenting out.  Also, anyone reading who has any good advice on this would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!