My Family Rocks!

Successes come in big and small packages throughout my week.  Sometimes they are directly my successes, sometimes they are the successes of others that I get to share.  This week it’s a little of both…

1.  With the help of Tot School I was able to create two lapbooks for John.  One focusing on feelings (something his therapists want him to work on) and another highlighting his favorite – tractors!  John loves them so much and has been playing with both every day.  Maybe what surprises me the most is how surprised the therapists are when they see the books.  I’ve gotten so many comments about how they’ve never seen a family take so much interest and initiative in their child’s development!  Really?!?!?  I feel like I can’t do enough…. 

2.  Now that Nathan is finally feeling better (see last weeks post for details) he is full on crawling now!  YAY!  He’s still faster on his belly using the army crawl – but for the most part he’s on all fours and touring the entire house.  We’re also catching him standing up in his crib after naps and in the morning.  I imagine it will be only a few days before he’s pulling up on everything and cruising the furniture.

3.  Thanks to my husband for helping out around the house and with some outings with the boys.  The house has remained relatively clean considering we didn’t really leave the house much in the past two weeks since Nathan was sick.  And then yesterday we made it to the library to pick up some books for John to take on our trip to TX next month and I grabbed a few teacher’s aids so I can make some copies of activities for our travel bags/boxes.    Now to finish up our travel activities bags/boxes and get the family packed and organized for our trip which will include a wedding and a first birthday party!

Make sure to celebrate your successes over at Faith and Family Live! 

Giggles

Nathan Giggling

Missing In Action

So as you may, or may not, have noticed - I've been missing in action here on the blog the past few weeks.  We've had quite an interesting couple of weeks here at the Garcia household.  Matt accepted a new job and will be starting on May 2nd for a company based locally.  This means he'll be getting up and heading to an office on the weekdays - BUT - he'll be home for dinner every.single.night!  This will be a big change from the massive amounts of travel he was doing with his previous company.  We're sad to see him move his office out of the basement but thrilled at the prospect of having Da-da home every evening to play with us.

Also of note is that Nathan-man has been under the weather recently.  After a few days with a fever we headed to the pediatrician to diagnose "a virus" - meaning...go home, give him Tylenol and fluids.  He'll be fine.  Fast forward 2 days later to see a 10 month old with a 105.3 fever even after both Tylenol and Motrin.  Of course this occured at 1AM so the doctor's exchange told us to head to Children's Hospital.  (Nathan's first trip! - he held out much longer than his brother)  After they ran just about evey test known to man short of a lumbar puncture - which they seriously considered! - they sent us home with a diagnosis of "a virus" and directions to return to the doctor if he was still running a fever 24 hours later.  Well, of course, Nathan woke up 24 hours later with a temp of 104, so we headed back to the doctor.  Final diagnosis ---- wait for it ---- mono!  My 10 month old has mono!  I didn't even know babies could get mono...  Recommendations: Tylenol, Motrin, rest and fluids.  Good news is he's starting to feel better.  The fever has gone down quite a bit, he's getting plenty of rest and recovery and is finally interested in eating again. 

I've been busy putting together some activities for the boys to sustain them on the long trek to TX next month for Chris and Steph's wedding.  We'll be spending a wonderful 12 hours driving over the course of 2 days so activities aplenty are needed.  (I'll be posting my travel ideas and activities in a future post.) 

 Last, but not least, John has been busy with art projects galore.  Here are a few of our favorites...

Foam Easter Eggs hanging on our window curtains

Butterflies made with clothespins, pipe cleaners and coffee filters

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter from the Garcia Family!

Small Blessings

It's amazing how quickly one can start to gloss over the small blessings in life. Stresses of life sometimes cloud those little moments. The past few weeks have been stressful, emotional, and physically draining. Since the beginning of the month we've buried Matt's grandfather, dealt with employment issues, fought off spring allergies for 3 of the 4 family members, wrangled some financial matters, and had two little boys with some type of stomach bug that allows them to run, play, laugh and smile like nothing is wrong - then immediately projectile vomit and load diapers with contents that could make anyone gag. It's amazing anything has gotten done around the house or any errands have been run!

But let's focus more on the positive:

1. We've enjoyed two trips to the zoo as a family in the past week. I have always loved the zoo - and will argue with anyone that the St. Louis Zoo is one of the best zoos in the nation. Not to mention that it's FREE! I love that we can go spend the morning at the zoo, eat our picnic lunch while watching the sea lions or sting rays and take in this wonderful spring weather. Going to the zoo really has helped me stop feeling the stresses in my life and take a few moments to enjoy my family!

2. I managed to do an unknown number of loads of laundry in the past few weeks. Most of the laundry done was a result of clothing, bedding, or towels that were covered in vomit or poop, but the success here is that at various points in the past week - I've been entirely caught up on laundry. Too bad being caught up one moment doesn't mean you'll remain on top of the mountain. Anyone want to come tackle Mount Darks in my basement?

3. I've embraced the fact that Nathan's fussiness and crying is mostly an outward expression of his frustration that his desires far outreach his physical capabilities. While Nathan would love nothing more than to take off running after his brother in the front yard, the reality is that he is still forced to army crawl most places. He can get up on his knees if he wants, but he faster on his tummy so that's what he tends towards. He'll be past this stage soon - so I'm trying to remember that this is only a phase and soon he'll be toddling around me.

What successes have you had recently?

Make sure to share them over at Faith and Family Live!