How do people do it?!

I just don't know how moms can work and have more than one child. I can barely make it with one child! I know that it's been an awfully long time since I've last blogged, and I have many, many excusesImeanreasons why, but I won't bore you with the details of my life as a working mother and wife during football season.

Not a whole lot has happened medically since I last blogged. Emma had her first monthly round of Synagis shots last Monday. Synagis is a medicine designed to increase a child's resistance to RSV, a very dangerous winter-time virus. It's usually only kids with respiratory issues who get these shots. Although Emma doesn't have trouble breathing like kids with asthma do, a severe virus could still send her to the hospital because it would cause even more throat issues. Emma has had several vaccination shots in her thighs and hardly flinched. But Monday, the nurse warned my mom that these shots can be pretty bad, and she was absolutely correct. My poor little girl was in quite a lot of pain with those shots, and we think her legs were sore for the next couple of days, too. I think we've moved past the effects of those shots, but something else isn't quite right with Emma.

I was out of town Monday night and Tuesday night, and Emma really gave Russell fits. We have certainly been through our share of heartache, but please don't think that Russell and I have lost sight of one very big blessing - we slept so well for the first seven weeks of Emma's life. She was cared for by some loving NICU nurses while we snoozed, uninterrupted, in our cozy bed. Praise Jesus. Well now Emma has started crying in the middle of the night, ranging from one to two times a night to every hour. A 3rd tooth? Maybe. Uncomfortable? Maybe. Bad dream? Perhaps. Whatever it is, putting her binky back in fixes it. But still - what happened to our good sleeper? She still is only REALLY ready to wake up for good around 7 am, and we are still quite grateful for that.

As I mentioned, I was out of town for a few days this past week. Russell was the perfect husband while I was gone - he emptied the dishwasher, steam-cleaned the bedroom carpet, did 2 loads of clothes, and took care of Emma AND Lola. He got some help from my mom, but I couldn't have asked for a more helfpful husband while I was away.

Emma was dedicated in our church last weekend, and it was a delightful ceremony. Emma did pretty well - she was very vocal. Not cranky, just talkative. She really enjoyed walking around with Stephen, our pastor, and from what I could tell, she stared at the congregation with her mouth hanging open. Lovely. Stephen mentioned the struggles that Emma and our family have faced, and I definitely got a little teary-eyed. What I didn't know until later was that a lot of other people got emotional as well. Our church has been so loving and supportive, and it meant so much for us to present Emma to God in front of her biggest supporters. And I'm so flattered and grateful that it was meaningful to our church, too. Don't think I'm a bad mommy, but I didn't take any pictures of Emma that day. I was a little busy. But I know my family took a lot, so I'll try to get some of those and post them on the blog. The really tragic part is that my dad has some great video, but I can't get the files converted to allow me to edit the content down. I'm not too bad with technology, but I think I've reached my limit there. I'm sure I could manage with a few hours of research, etc., etc....I love you all, but my time is more valuable than that.

Oh, and buy our house!

PS - Diaper rash update: Clean as a whistle. Thank you, solid food. Thank you.