Sadie Sadie Sadie

Over the course of the weekend she Sadie has said so many cute things and since I use this blog as a sort of journal for my kids, I have to repeat them here so I wont forget them.
I have started feeding Eli some real people food but often tell Sadie that he doesn't have enough teeth for whatever it is she is trying to feed him, so the other day I fixed Sadie some peanut butter Ritz crackers (quite a treat) and she didn't finish them. She told me she wanted to give them to Molly and Maddie (our neighbor's dogs, she loves them). I told her that they couldn't have them and she promptly replied "I tink they have enough teeth."
Saturday night some of our friends were coming for dinner so I was trying to dry my hair and put on some make-up while Sadie and Eli were rummaging through my bathroom cabinets (as I'm sure other mothers can testify at times you don't pay real close attention to what they are getting into as long as they are letting you get ready). I heard Sadie say "Eli, sit here, it's comfy," and I looked down to find an unwrapped maxi pad stuck to the bathroom floor with Sadie dragging Eli over to sit on it. If only she knew that they're not just tiny little seat cushions.
Sunday morning I called my parents and found out that my Mom had a stomach bug. I told Sadie a little later that Nana was sick. I watched her face and couldn't figure out what she was thinking, I began to wonder if she was possibly not very compassionate, when she says "let's pray for her right now." Yes, it was a sweet little moment. I probably wouldn't have forgotten that one.
I know I don't talk about Eli as much as Sadie right now, so here's a quick update on him. He's waving. He loves Ritz crackers. He's working on his 4th tooth and the other 3 are so cute. He's very tender-hearted and sticks his bottom lip out with just a reprimand, quite different from his sister. He's my little buddy. He is also excited to welcome a new little friend, although he doesn't know it yet. My best friend from home just had a little boy this weekend, she already has 2 little girls that Sadie absolutely loves. We went to Charlotte specifically to spend some time with them before she had the baby and Sadie was in little girl heaven. Now as soon as baby Jonathan grows up a little he and Eli can run around and irritate their big sisters, I still can't believe Julie and I have grown up and produced 5 more little people! Crazy.

Here are Sadie and her friends, Anna and Abbey... playing dress up was never so fun!


They tried to make Eli join in but he wasn't very interested.


Here's my cuties in the tub, Eli is almost a big as Sadie!

Off to fix some supper, until next time!

Recovering

Last Thursday I took Eli to the doctor for a cough and wheeze. I always second-guess myself when I go or I take my kids for a sick appointment....are we really sick enough to come? I hate going, then being sent home with a pat on the back and a "prescription" for Tylenol. But, apparently my little man was pretty sick. He had an ear infection and some significant wheezing, requiring 2 breathing treatments in the office, which was most likely RSV (a respiratory virus that looks like a cold to a healthy adult but makes kids/babies pretty sick). Unfortunately, I had to work that night so Steven got his first crash course in single parenting a sick baby. After a "lose it" moment (no judgement here, I have plenty of those) a sweet friend came over to help with the next med administration, so all in all they had a pretty good night. The next night we pulled a futon in his room and slept on the floor... Eli was delighted to look through his crib at 4am and see Mommy and Daddy right there! By the end of the weekend he was much better. I figure that every time Steven learns new parenting tips without me there it probably sticks much better, when I'm home I think he tries really hard not to learn any mommy techniques (bathing the kids, cooking, washing bottles). Tonight I walked him through making some mac and cheese on the stove (he has already mastered Easy Mac, but we are currently out of it), we are truly progessing in the Harrell household! To Steven's defense, he has the Daddy role down pat, which I would take any day over the other "Mommy duties". Sadie and Steven are getting pretty tight and Eli, even at 9 months, knows that Daddy is pretty cool. So dishes, laundry, bathtime, bring it on...I am thankful for my manly man who will get on the floor to play with the kids, be a great disciplinarian, teach Sadie Bible stories, provide a wonderful life for us, and love me. I just hope I can be the "prize" he deserves. Oh my, I'm getting mushy... I better go! Until next time...

Dear Subway

I am a big fan of Subway. I love that it is a fresh and healthy fast food restaurant. Most Subways have great veggies and freshly baked bread. They also have good sweet tea when I indulge. Since the New Year we have probably bought 20-25 subs from Subway due to Steven's New Years resolution to lose weight and get healthy. Sadie doesn't really eat the kid's sub very well but she does love the fact that she gets undiluted juice in a box. And of course cookies. I visited a Subway today with my little buddy who had helped me with the kids while I got my haircut. I was trying to stay "on budget" (it's a long story but Steven has a crazy little money system that I try to adhere to) and was going to order waters to keep it cheap. The kind lady at the register told me we could only buy bottled water. I looked just past her at the faucet, which appeared to work just fine, and asked her why we couldn't have tap water. She said she could do that but she would have to charge me for a drink ($1.49), which I obviously was not going to do. I told her I would be happy to pay 10 cents for the price of the cup (I know they are not free) but she became less nice and told me she could not do that either. I was going to just not get drinks (I guess we could have taken sips from Sadie's juice box) but the final straw was that my gift card with exactly 9.72 on it didn't work. So, I gave in, upgraded to a combo, and got a drink. Subway won! I do plan on going to the website and putting in a complaint. How can they brag about being healthy and people losing weight when they make it that dififcult to drink water, which is obviously the most healthy choice of beverage. It has long bothered me that the "complimentary" water cup at most restaurants is significantly smaller than the drink cups, I guess the CEOs of these companies don't realize that water drinkers are just as thirsty as their other customers. But alas, at least they provide a way to drink the tap water, as opposed to the restaurant I visited today. Maybe I'll start buying bread and deli meat....or just take my own water.

Thankfully the health kick seems to be working, especially for me since I got a stomach bug Sunday night and threw up more calories than I took in for the next 24 hours (I always see the sliver lining with that illness). My kids thankfully did NOT get that bug but are still dealing with some yucky sounding coughs. I long for a healthy house! But I know it could be so much worse. A friend of a friend's daughter just had a brain tumor removed, and she is just a couple months older than Sadie. Thank the Lord our troubles are minor. Like frustration at a silly restaurant.

Steven was watching something crazy on TV last night and exclaimed "Holy Cow!" Sadie sweetly responded with "Daddy why you say holy cow?" I am thankful for a husband with a clean mouth. Tonight Eli was getting into something and I heard Sadie say to him "No sir, bud." What a cute little Mama! With a cute new haircut. Eli too, although his was done by my Dad's Flobee (sp?) this weekend (very amusing). I will post pics soon.
Goodnight!

In the Lord's hands

I have to say I am so thankful for a garage. And heat, in our cars and our homes. So many luxuries that I take for granted every day! I am trying hard to begin my days with a better attitude, and hopefully this blog will be reflective of that. I took my little Eli to the doctor today for his 9 month check up and he was almost 18 pounds, officially dropping to the 10th percentile (the highest Sadie ever was!). I attribute this to his recent illness and the fact that he is only still if he is sleeping or almost asleep on my lap. He checked out great otherwise and I was hesitant but did end up giving him the flu vaccine. Such difficult decisions when you can scare yourself to death reading the internet. Who's right? And how to people get so passionate about these things? Maybe I'm just not a passionate person, or maybe I worry too little. I sure hope I am making the right decisions for my children but I guess I just know in the end that I'm not ultimately in control, the Lord is. I do realize I have been given a very serious responsibility with my little charges, sometimes I still can't believe that I'm a mother. I told Steven the other night that if I weren't saved by God's grace and believe in His sovereign care then I would never sleep, I would stay awake for hours with worry after worry. Which kid was that coughing? Should I check on them? That expression Eli makes, is it an early sign of something bad? Sadie is especially thirsty today, does she have diabetes? Should I vaccinate? The list goes on and on. And so, thankfully, the truths I rest on are that the Lord is good, He has given me a wonderful family, and even if my blessings are all gone tomorrow He will still be holding me in His hand.
Goodnight!
Sallie

a real mama

I have discovered something this weekend. I don't know why this is but something about having sick babies makes you feel like a real mama. It started at 2am Christmas morning when Sadie started crying. Usually Steven handles her in the middle of the night since Eli is always my job (I got the raw end of the deal on that one), but he came back to bed and said she was burning up. I took her temperature and sure enough - 103.7. I spent most of the night in her bed then eventually moved her to ours since she was so pitiful. Steven made the comment that it was probably the last Christmas morning in a while that we would be in the bed until almost 9am. She rallied some when the Tylenol kicked in and did enjoy Christmas, her grandparents, and her new presents. But a good portion of the day all she wanted was to be in my arms....which was kind of like a Christmas present to me. We both napped curled up together that afternoon and she slept in our bed again that night and finally started feeling better yesterday, right about the time Eli spiked a fever. He landed his little febrile self in our bed last night and I barely got to put him down long enough to brush my teeth this morning. Even though I am exhausted and do want my babies to be well again, when they are feeling bad and too little to know why it validates me somehow to be able to provide them comfort. Maybe it's being so needed that makes motherhood all the more real. I do love being a mother. And a wife, of course. But I do hope Steven is not next because husbands are not nearly as sweet when they are sick....
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, I will post some belated Christmas pics soon,
Love,
Sallie

Snow!

It's funny how having kids makes you remember how fun things used to be, but at the same time gives you a different perspective on how things really were for your parents. Snow is a good example of this. As a kid I used to get sooooo excited over the prospect of snow. Waking up and running to the window to see if the forecast was correct... if there was a white blanket out there it was almost as exciting as Christmas morning. Getting out of school, sledding, it was all just sort of magical. As I got older and was in college it all began to change. I remember a big snow in Charlotte when I was in nursing school. My classes were cancelled but all I did that day was study. "How boring!" (a younger version of myself would have chastised). Then as I became a nurse snow turned into an inconvenience, I still had to work but now just came the challenge of safely getting there. This week, however, we got a pretty decent snow in Pleasant Garden. Saturday morning we searched for warm clothes and dressed the kids and ourselves in layers, then headed out. That might sound easy, but by the time we were actually ready to walk out the door I was ready to can the whole thing. Sadie couldn't get her thumb in the right spot of her gloves, Eli was fussing, etc... But, we did it, and it all came rushing back to me of why snow is so much fun. Eli stopped crying and was happy as a lark out there, even though his little nose was freezing. Sadie had a blast, playing with the neighborhood friends and sledding behind the 4 wheeler. Her pants were soaked by the time we came in for lunch but it was well worth it. We warmed up and ate lunch and I again remembered the magic and the beauty, of snow....

Happy winter, everyone!!! Go out and enjoy playing in the snow, if you have any.

Love,

Sallie

"You're driving me crazy"

Apparently sometimes Sadie gets on my nerves. I tell you that because this afternoon, as I was attempting to fix dinner, Eli was army crawling all over the house (it's like a whole new world for him now). He went into the laundry room and Sadie ran in after him. She found her pink scooter which had been outside for a while and was trying to get it past him and the mound of towels on the floor. Quite a difficult task for her, and I could tell she was getting frustrated. The next thing I hear is "Eli! You're driving me crazy!" I had to laugh and I realized that I must have said that to her at some point. Those things sound so different (or do they?) coming out of little mouths!

Thanksgiving has past and it was a nice one. We went to Charlotte and got to spend a couple days there, where I proceeded to get Mastitis. Getting started on antibiotics and 10 hours of sleep Wednesday night did the trick and I was feeling much better by Thursday. Unfortunately (?) I wasn't able to do much to prepare the food but my Mom pulled through by herself (with the help of Mandy, my sister-in-law, and my aunt Tricia) and we had a delicious meal. That night we watched our friend Dickson (Doc) Hendley on the CNN Heroes Award show which was super cool, he was one of the top 10 heroes for 2009 for his non-profit organization, Wine to Water. Check it out! We came home and I worked on Friday night then got to hang out with our friends Todd and Rhonda, Matt and Jenn, and their baby Claire on Saturday. We watched NC State pull through for once and beat Carolina in football. Steven lost his shirt over that one, something that anyone who knows him has seen him do.

Now it is officially Christmas time! I love it. I don't particularly love the decorating, but I do love the results. I almost broke a window today trying to put my new outdoor wreaths up, and the lights I strung over my front door don't work (you really should plug them in first to check). Oh well, the inside is mostly done. I will try again tomorrow! (Or this weekend if my Dad comes up). The children are sleeping, so must I!
Love,
Sallie