Why the Absence?

You, my small readership, may or may not have been wondering where I've been over the past few days. Let's just say, life has been a little crazy lately. Would you like a recap? Well, you're getting one anyways.

First off, my parents and sister, my main sources of outside help and support, have been in London since the 22nd. To say that the time they have been gone has dragged on would be an understatement.

All the while, I have been taking care of two very adorable yet very demanding children. One, with his ever-expanding knowledge and vocabulary, likes to chat ... all the time. Here, he is telling me that his apple slice is in the shape of a parenthesis.

"Parenthesis!"

The other is all smiles one minute and screaming the next; she's got a short fuse and she likes to tell me exactly when she isn't happy with something I'm generally NOT doing. But she has fallen in love with the giant Goldfish cracker box, just like her big brother.

Cute as she is, she hasn't been sleeping for super long stretches at night. Part of it is probably my fault; I've been falling asleep while feeding her and not focusing on keeping her awake long enough to eat enough to keep her stomach from growling and waking her up. It's also been making me feel like I've been getting up twice as much as I have been, and thus making me feel almost twice as tired as I probably should be. I'm working on it, but it's a bit slow-going since I'm a bit behind as it is.

Then there was the whole "low hemoglobin" thing; we finally talked to Baylor's usual pediatrician and he wanted a more comprehensive blood test taken. *sigh* So off to the lab we went. The little man had no idea what was about to happen and very much enjoyed playing with their drinking fountains.

And crawling on and under their picnic table.

After we registered, we waited a couple minutes before they called us back. My sister reminded me not to make a big deal out of it, so I just told him that it was going to feel like a pinch and that while it might hurt a bit it'd be done quickly.

And let me tell you, just as I told him, my kid is a rock star! He didn't flinch. He didn't cry. He barely made a noise. He just looked at what they were doing and sat still in my arms. Such a relief!

Afterwards, we went to my parents' house to water their plants and he got to have a banana cookie.

Such a big boy with his first blood-draw battle wound!

They drew the blood yesterday, and today we found out that his hemoglobin level was normal. So either the first test was a fluke or a misreading or something because he's golden now! Whew!

Now, I have to say, Baylor's been doing some pretty cool things lately. He's been saying stuff like, "Where'd you go?" or "Where is it?" And he's enunciating, "I love you!" very well - which warms a mama's heart like nothing else, I tell ya!

And then the other day he did this ...

I know it doesn't look like much, but he pushed his high chair back exactly where it is supposed to go! Yes, I took a picture of it ... I'm proud of him!

Now don't get me wrong, he's still getting into mischief every now and then.

But he's overall a very good boy.

And she's a good girl! Though she won't let me get a good shot of her whole-face smile ... little stinker! It had just disappeared when I snapped this one.

Oh, and Baylor did this the other day, too ...

Yeah, he lined up both pairs of his shoes like that. Isn't that awesome?!

Don't worry ... he's still getting into stuff. Like the freezer, for example.

Yes, he pulls out stuff. Yes, we're thinking of locking it up for fear of finding ice cream sitting out in the living room one of these days.

To top it all off, when we went to water the plants like I had mentioned previously, the kid who is taking care of my parents' house for them mentioned that the pool was looking a little ... green.

Yeah, it was murky, awful green, so bad you can't see the bottom. Ugh! So we've had the water tested a few times, thrown a few chemicals in there, and now it has turned from this lovely blue-green to a limey-green-brown color. It's been a lot of running around and more physical labor than I was expecting to do this week, but it's quite frankly the least I can do for the people who help me out and have given us so much. And it has taught me that I will probably never want a pool.

Oh, and my husband caught my son's hand, foot, and mouth disease! His tongue is swollen and the sores on his feet make it a little painful to walk. So he's been working from home for the last two days, trying to keep his germy self away from the general population.

So that's where I've been. Sorry for the silence. I'll try to post more soon! And now I'm off to get some sleep!