Bedclothes

If you know me at all, you know I LOVE to read.  I especially love historical fiction.  In older days, sheets were called Bedclothes.  I love this.  It always gives me a picture of literally you are "dressing" your bed. 

A friend of mine gave me great advice when I was pregnant, and I have had many mommies confirm this to me since.  She told me to put two layers of sheets on our son's crib, for the time when he will inevitably throw up or have diarrhea in the middle of the night.  That way you don't have to re-make the bed in the middle of the night.  So, before Judah was born, this is what I did.  I put on a waterproof mattress pad, then a regular sheet, then another waterproof mattress pad, and then another sheet.  This is how his bed has been made ever since.  Well, last night is the first night this preparation came in handy.

Out of nowhere, I woke up at midnight to Judah crying hysterically.  I went into find throw up everywhere, and he was inconsolable for a good 30 minutes.  (If you know Judah at all, you know that one: he is an excellent sleeper, and two: he has literally never cried inconsolably.)  He threw up two more times over the next hour and then finally seemed to calm down.  By the end he was just throwing up thick mucous.  Which is weird, because he has had no congestion at all. 

The only thing we can think, is that I just started giving him Whole Milk as a drink yesterday.  He's had milk in small doses, either mixed in his cereal or in forms like yogurt, and chesse, but never Whole Milk as a drink.  I've been really leery about starting him on milk, because Nathan's Dad, brother, and to a lesser extent even himself don't do well with milk.  I thought it was about time I try it though.  So, whether that was the cause of this debacle last night or something else we have yet to determine, I am going to hold off a while longer on cow's milk.  Maybe we'll try goats milk or rice milk. 

So, to come back to my original thought.  The beauty of the "two-sheet" system is that all we had to do last night was strip off the sheets and mattress pad, and had a clean set of sheets below.  SO WORTH IT!!!  In fact, I wonder if I should do this when he has graduated on to his "big boy bed"?!  All that to say, I recommend every mom do this, just as it was recommended to me. 

So, we finally got Judah back to sleep at 2am and went back to bed ourselves.  (My sweet husband stayed up with us, and cleaned up the floor every time Judah threw up, threw the soiled sheets and clothes in the laundry, and sat with us and read Psalm 91 over our son.)  We are both really tired today, but thankful, as Judah slept great the rest of the night (or should I say morning) and seems to be feeling great this morning.  Praise the Lord!

The Last Month

I have been very remiss about posting on this blog or even getting on Facebook for the last month.  I have been very busy and as a result very tired.  Since my last post, Nathan and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary, I had my Thirty...something birthday ;-), Nathan went to California for 5 days with our youth group for their Summer camp, and we have started doing swim lessons with Judah.

Nathan and I have a tradition where we each are in charge of planning our anniversary every other year.  I get the odd years, and Nathan gets the even years!  Since we celebrated our 6th Anniversary on May 22nd, Nathan planned everything, and let me tell you he did an amazing job!  I had no idea what we were doing.  My mom babysat Judah and Nathan started the evening by bringing home 4 dresses and two pairs of shoes.  He told me to try them each on, then picked the favorite dress and favorite shoes, which I wore for our evening.  (The rest he returned to the store...how fun is that!)  He then took me to Morton's Steakhouse, which was one of the nicest dining experiences I've ever had.  The food was amazing, and then when the waiter brought dessert on a silver platter, I never imagined that sitting under the platter, was another gift from Nathan.  (He had gone to the restaurant earlier in the day and dropped it off and told them when he wanted it brought out to me!) A Macbook Pro that I have been wanting for a very long time, but never expected to get.  After dinner, he took me to an improve comedy club in Scottsdale, where we watched a very fun and entertaining and clean show.  What a fun evening. Thank you so much husband!  Not sure how I'm going to top that next year, but I'll try!

A week and a half later I had my birthday, and this year it just so happened to fall on Memorial day...which it does every 6 years.  Since I had a day off for Memorial Day and a day off for my birthday, I ended up with a really nice 4 day weekend!!  It was a nice time of getting things done, hanging out with friends and family, and especially enjoying time with my two favorite men.  Here's how we spent the afternoon of Memorial Day...my birthday:

 If I haven't told you yet, there has been a pretty big change in our lives recently. Nathan is shutting down the business that he has been managing/running for the last 2 years.  It was a really hard and scary decision, but the Lord blessed us beyond our imagination, by bringing 3 different job offers to Nathan, that he didn't even seek out.  He spent a long time praying about each of the opportunities and quickly narrowed it to two different ones.  Each job had amazing benefits and challenges, and both were completely different.  One promised to be a very lucrative partnership and business opportunity, the other was an offer from our church for Nathan to come on full time as the Junior High Pastor and Facilities Manager.  After a couple of weeks of prayer and truly seeking the Lord, He made His will very clear to Nathan.  To the world it wouldn't necessarily make sense, but Nathan accepted the position at our church.  We are so excited about this change and new season that we are entering into, and praying the Lord will lead us and provide for us in the months and years to come!  Nathan has been very tired the last couple of weeks, as he started the job at the church, but is also still shutting down the maintenance company.  I already see such a difference in my husband though. The Lord has confirmed that this is the right decision, in many different ways and I feel so blessed!

When Nathan went with our Junior High and High School Group to California for 5 days, I got a taste of what it would be like to be a full time working single mom.  Let me tell you, it was not easy.  Especially since Judah got really sick the day before Nathan left.  He was running a high fever for 3 days and after a visit to the doctor, we learned he had a double ear infection, but he also had a stomach virus.  Let me just say I wouldn't mind if Judah goes his whole life with never throwing up again...I think I've had my fill.  Alas, I KNOW that is a wish that will not be granted.  Poor baby...even sick he is the cutest little thing though!  And, we survived.  We were so happy when Daddy came home!  Judah went to him immediately and put his head on his shoulder and wouldn't let go of him for a while.

We have now settled into normal life once again, but have thrown in swim lessons each evening.  Our dear friend Mary Jane has been teaching Judah and I in the pool this last week, and next week he will take two weeks of swim lessons at the public pool by our house.  I was so excited to learn they actually offered lessons in the evenings, which is the only way I could do it, with work.  Judah loves the water.  He has learned to hold his breath when going under water, and even seems to enjoy it now!  We're also working on having him float on his back.  So much fun!  Nathan took some pictures at one of his lessons, which I'll post later, since I haven't downloaded them yet.

Hopefully, I won't let another month go by before posting.  Love ya!