Meet Reggie

When I got home from work today I heard a scared sounding meow coming from under our house. It took me a few minutes to find exactly where it was coming from, but I found the wide eyes to match the cries. When Jeremie woke up from his nap his first job was to climb under the house and rescue the very scared kitten. He was a good sport and woke up 15 minutes early, because I'm sure he knew both Mollie and I were concerned about the trapped kitten. He crawled under the house with a flashlight and successfully coaxed the kitten to come to him! We all were very relieved!!!

Mollie and I walked around the entire neighborhood, looking for the kitten's family. We were unsuccessful, so Jeremie ran to the pet store to pick up some cat food and litter. Mollie is LOVING having a new playmate in the house, as you can see from the pictures. She often gets a little too excited and picks him up by the neck! But so far so good- no scratching or biting! He seems to be taking well to her.

Jeremie is taking surprisingly well to the kitten, too. He even named it "Reggie". We are not sure that we will be keeping it, because of allergies, but are enjoying every minute of it for now!

So Many Changes

With so many changes in our lives these days it's hard for me to stop and enjoy the present. But, luckily I have a one-year-old to help me with that! Since she goes over to my friend Lisa's house three times a week, she gets to see Lisa's little man swaddled, rocked and nursed a lot. With that being said, she is now practicing her own "mommy skills" by asking us to swaddle her bunny so that she can sit in an infant bouncy seat and rock it to sleep. It is so precious.

I also got a wonderful reminder of how good our God is this morning. My wonderful friend, Brianna from high school, instant messaged me to see how we are doing. We don't see her often and she hasn't heard about all the changes we are facing. She just wanted to know if there was anything she could pray for right now. It felt so good to know God put us on her heart so that she could support us through prayer.

Pumpkin Patch

This weekend we did yearly family tradition of going to Spooner Farm's Pumpkin Patch. I was hoping for more opportunities to get some cute pictures of Mollie, but she just wasn't into the Patch thing. Her favorite things of the day were: seeing the bunnies, sitting in her cousin's stroller (she never likes the stroller, go figure!), and riding a pony. We thought it would be a major melt-down when her pony ride was over, but she was so good about it.

Messy Girl!

Does anyone have any tips on teaching your toddler to be a neat eater??? Mollie is such a mess! Summertime was nice, because I could gets her all undressed before eating and then wipe her down when she was all done. These days it's too cold for that, so it's getting a bit complicated! Bath-time is all but required after a bowl of oatmeal, as you can see in these pictures...

Influenza

Mollie woke up with "sick symptoms" yesterday morning. Because she was exposed to strep over the weekend I decided to take her in to the doctor right away. The strep culture was negative, so they decided to do a flu test (didn't even know such a thing existed). Unfortunately, it came back positive.

The doctor offered us an anti-viral, Tamaflu, because within 48 hours of onset it can significantly reduce symptoms and reduce the active phase of illness. I decided to give it to her, even though it cost us $44 out-of-pocket (thanks to lovely self-employed insurance). It was money well spent! Mollie had her first symptoms at 8am yesterday and had her last known fever yesterday evening. (Although I think she had a few fevers during the night, because I heard some whimpering over the monitor.) She woke up symptom free this morning and is acting back to her old-self already! Praise Jesus! (And thank you Tamaflu!)

The flu is very scary, especially with h1n1 this year, but we have found that there are things you can do to reduce the seriousness of symptoms. According to Mollie's doctor the keys are: catch it early, get right into the doctor if you suspect the illness is more than a cold, take the anti-viral, and take daily vitamins (poly-vi-sol for little ones).

Just thought I'd share our experience. Hope it helps relieve some fears of the flu and helps you handle it quickly.

PS- According to the material distributed by our doctor's office, influenza and h1n1 symptoms do not include vomiting. The biggest indicators of the flu are high fevers, muscle aches, icky noses, and coughing. (Yes, scarily similar to a bad cold!)

When Mommy's Away

Here is a little glimpse into what life is like for Jeremie and Mollie while I'm at work.

For some reason Mollie has been saving all her poops for Jeremie in the afternoon. (I think it may be her way of paying him back for the past 17 months that I have done ALL of them!) Anyway, she had a REALLY big one the other day that came out the top and sides of her diaper. This led to a much needed bath. Mollie was very distraught about the situation and was very tearful! But the good news is she was calling his name in her time of desperation, not mine. It tells me that she feels confident in Daddy's ability to take care of her while I'm gone.

It is such a relief for me to know that she's in great hands and that she and Jeremie are bonding so much more.

My First Day

I had my first day back to work today and it was rather successful!

The day started off with Mollie and I checking out the YMCA facility, because she is a new member. We walked around, checked out the pool, and got her list of classes that start next week. She will be taking a toddler activity class and a swim class. Then we went over to Bradley Lake for a little play time. It is really important to me to take advantage of the morning hours I have with her before work. This way I won't feel like I'm abandoning her as much and I'm still being a "good mommy". Tomorrow morning she and I will be taking a little swim at the Y. Can't wait!

Jeremie got stuck in traffic from an accident on 167, which almost made me late for my first day. It was pretty stressful getting there, but once I did I felt really relaxed. My new school building, Downing Elementary, is just a few miles north of my home growing up and just up the road from where I graduated. I felt right at home, which was very refreshing. My new commute will also be about 10 minutes shorter than my old one, which is very nice when you're in a hurry to get home to your little girl! :)

On the other hand, the building is MUCH different from the others I have had the privilege to work in. It is older than OLD and smells like it. I felt like I was in a time-warp all day. This will take a lot of getting used to... It is so sad to me when school buildings get this old without any remodeling. It is so important to the enthusiasm and pride students (and staff) feel while there.

I got all afternoon to unpack and arrange my classroom. I don't have much left over from my old classroom, because I lost a lot in the move some how. I'm really bummed about it, because it took five years of teaching to build it up. It also means I don't have much material to use with my students. I have no idea what I will be using, so it will be quite the adventure for the next few weeks.

Thanks for all your prayers! Please continue to pray for us. Jeremie needs direction and motivation. He doesn't know what he wants to do with the rest of his career years. And accordingly, I need patience!!! I'm ready to move on NOW, but need to wait on the LORD... (Patience is not my best attribute. Are you surprised???)