Weekend Recap

I am SO SO happy that the sun is shining!! I almost forgot what the sunshine looked like. No really, my family has been straight stir crazy over all the rain. My kids enjoy being outside, and there has been no outside. There has been more pouting, bickering, laziness, and the "don't want tos" in our house lately. I one hundred percent blame this on the weather. Ok, enough about the weather....This weekend was a pretty normal weekend. Saturday it rained all morning, so we watched a really good football movie with our boys. We love to pile on the couch together and watch a good movie. I bought a subscription to Pure Flix. It's very similar to Netflix except everything is Christian based. All the movies are clean and it just gives me a peace of mind that we are watching something not full of sex, drugs, and vulgar language. The movie we watched is called Hometown Legend. It is basically your typical football movie. The local football team is having a loosing streak, so an old football coach comes back to help the team get back on their feet. It was good, and both my boys enjoyed it!
After we watched the movie, the weather finally cleared off, so both boys were outside. I finished some chores around the house, and then read some in my book. We had plans that night to go eat craw fish with some friends, but the plans fell through, so Matthew and I stayed home to watch a movie. Matthew has been saying for some time that he wanted to watch A Star is Born. I have honestly been avoiding the movie because I am not good with romance, love stories. I know, I know....not what you thought huh? I just don't like to cry at movies. It sends me into anxiety for no reason, and I don't like it. I get to emotionally involved! So, I have been telling him no I did not want to see it, even though I do enjoy Bradley Cooper (I mean who doesn't?). We sat down while we were eating supper to decide what movie to rent. Matthew instantly says A Star is Born. My choice was Bohemian Rhapsody. We finally decide on A Star is Born, and we made a compromise, if it was too sad we would turn it off!!
Within 15 minutes into the movie, I was hooked and emotionally attached! The style of music Bradley Cooper sings in the movie is exactly the style we enjoy. I have never really given Lady Gaga a chance, but she was absolutely wonderful in the movie. I made it through the whole movie without crying until the end, and then I bawled like a baby!! Enter the compromise...Bohemian Rhapsody. I figured some good Queen music could cheer me up! I can say that I have become a little obsessed with the soundtrack to A Star is Born. I do this..I am so weird. When I find something I like (movie, book, whatever) I become obsessed. I love to research about the actors and actresses, the story behind the movie/book, or whatever else I can find. The last two days I have been watching interviews of Gaga and Bradley Cooper. I am just fascinated with the talent and what was put into the making of the movie! Bohemian Rhapsody was amazing also! But I knew a movie full of Queen music would be! ;)
Sunday was spent going to church, and then eating at Grandma's for lunch. After lunch, I went to the grocery store and then did some laundry. We did watch the Oscar's that night so we could see Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga sing together. It was amazing! If you haven't watched it, google it! Wow.. (I am not convinced there isn't something between them)
We finally made it to bed, and boom, it's Monday morning again!
New week, new adventures, new memories and finally sunshine! ;)
Hope everyone has a super day filled with many blessings.
Lots of love.

Flu

Flu! I do not like this word! It makes me cringe along with all the other sickness words out there. I really just want my family to live in a bubble, but I know that is not possible! I would not consider myself a germaphobe by no means. I don't like germs, but I don't obsess over them getting on us. I don't wipe things down constantly, or spray Lysol like crazy. We aren't the best at taking vitamins. We wash our hands, and that's about it! LOL  I guess I am one of those that would rather my kids be exposed to some of this stuff so we can build up our immune systems. Let them eat dirt. Let their "paci" fall on the ground a few times. (I don't let them lick tables or other random things. There are some things that cross the line)
Saturday started out like any old day! Bennie and Pop had come up to visit, so we were doing what we always do when they come. Bennie cooked breakfast, while the rest of us worked on a puzzle and laid around. Hudson was acting just like his normal ol' self. He might have been a tad bit cranky, but I didn't think anything about it. That night they had a birthday party to go to for a few hours, so Matthew and I were excited to have a few minutes to watch our show without interruptions. When the kids got home, they were excited telling us about the party. Matthew was holding Hudson, and told me that he felt a little warm. My thoughts, "he has been at a party running around". Wrong!! I got the thermometer and it read 100.9. Here we go.. (Long post may get boring)
Hudson and I slept in the living room that night so I could keep an eye on him. Sometime during the night, he developed a cough and it got worse as the night when on. The next morning I decided we would go to urgent care just to be safe and make sure it wasn't flu. We get to urgent care when the doors open, and within 30 minutes they are sending us on our way with flu/strep test negative and prescription for Zyrtec! Let me give you a little history..Hudson was born extremely early, and because of that there are times that we have issues when he gets sick. He goes from 100 to nothing in no time. Last year in May, he was hospitalized because he was struggling so hard to breathe. It was very scary, but we know his body and when it is time to head to the hospital. He was showing the same signs on Sunday morning, so that is one reason we went to Urgent Care, hoping to prevent going to the hospital.
After we left Urgent Care, Matthew and I were not too happy with the situation. We had to pay $350 and all they did was swab for strep and flu, then sent us home with Zyrtec??? We had even explained his history and what we thought was going on. Oh you know, what do we know?? We are just his parents. Anyway, we spent the rest of the day at Matthew's moms house. With each passing hour, he continued to get worse. Fever kept going up and his breathing was no good. By 3:00, he was running 102 fever and having labored breathing. We decided to head back to Urgent Care. They knew when we came back it wasn't good. Long story short, 2 hours later we left. They did chest x-rays, blood, and everything else, but it was all coming back ok. They did go ahead and give a steroid shot to help with breathing. They even wanted to send us on to the hospital. We made the decision to wait and if he needed we would make the drive to Jonesboro during the middle of the night. If not then we would go to his pediatrician first thing the next morning.
The next morning we wake up to cough and fever going up. He had slept great through the night, which I thank the steroid for that!
 I make the phone call to the doctor to explain what had been going on, and she says, "How fast can you be here". We hang up and head to Jonesboro. By the time we get there, he is running a good fever, so I was glad we were there. I hate when they are running fever and coughing, but when you get to the doctor it mysteriously disappears? How does this happen?   Fast forward, 30 minutes and the doctor is coming in saying that flu and strep came back POSITIVE!!!! No wonder this baby boy was so sick! Booooo.... My mind went straight to the rest of us getting it. We had all been exposed, but there was nothing we could do about it.
By the time we got home, he was beyond exhausted. We laid around the rest of the day, and did nothing. (Well, I did finish reading my book)
Basically, the rest of the week has been a battle of keeping the fever down and resting. Oh and he lost over 5 lbs, so we have been trying to deal with that. I stayed home for 2 days with him, and honestly thought while he was napping I would get laundry and other things done. WRONG! Nothing...I literally stayed in pjs the whole time and held him. Anytime I would get away from him, he wanted me! I can say that I am not sad at all! I totally 100 percent enjoyed get to  holding and care for  my sick baby boy! It's not too often that they want momma! I'll take it when I can get it.
Well...that's all I have for you! That's the story of Hudson and the Flu. I am really praying and hoping that I don't have a story of Matthew, Megan, Jagger and the Flu to share with you! ;)

 The puzzle we worked on for 3 days! I LOVE puzzles! 

 Day 3 pjs and nasty hair! 

 Last night, our Aunt Marg showed up with his favorite bread and chocolate to make him feel better!! Brother and Dad were super happy too! ;)  We love Aunt Marg! She is the best! 

Hope your day is full of many blessings and not too much rain! 

Lots of love....

Home!

Home! What comes to mind when you hear this word? For me, I instantly think comfort. Warmth. Trust. Safe. I know for some that these may not be the words you feel. I see kids on a daily basis and I am sure the words that come to mind are scared, cold, and mean. My heart hurts so much for these babies.
I am sure you are wondering where in the world am I going with this? Well, we moved into our new house almost a year (in May) ago. I have been complaining and throwing silly little fits that it just hasn't felt like HOME! I am still trying to find furniture and other decor to spruce it up. (Now...don't start sending me messages about how I shouldn't be complaining about my house...I am not complaining at all. I LOVE our house! I am just being open and honest about my feelings towards it being "put together", and I am hoping others feel this way or have felt this way before)  I look around at others (comparing, which is a NO. NO) and think that their house is so cute and put together! I look at websites and find tons of stuff to buy to put in the house. BUT does this stuff really make a house a HOME? Are the material things what makes us feel comfort, and warmth? NO! The other day, Jagger and I were having a discussion about his attitude. (10 year old has hit us hard with attitude? Not sure what is going on, but I was thinking I had a few more years?) I was explaining to him that our home should not be a place that is full of negativity, hostility, yelling, bad attitudes, and toxic behavior. I want my boys to want to come HOME. I want them to know when they walk in the door all judgment goes away. I want them to know they are safe. I want them to know that they are loved no matter what. I want Home to be a place that is full of laughter and love. HOME is a safe place from the yucky world out there. After talking to Jagger, it really hit me. All of these things that I have been wanting to make our house a HOME, we already have! Its the people in our house that make it a HOME!  We may not have our house completely decorated. We may have blank walls. We may have piles of laundry and toys toys every where you look, but GUESS What? I'm ok with it!  The next time we have a small pity party over how our house looks, lets stop and ask ourselves if we want a house or a HOME?  A few things that have been going on in our home since October... ;)

Hope your day is full of many blessings.

Lots of love...

To Blog or Not to Blog?

Wow! I can't believe I am actually sitting down to write. I miss it so much, and can't believe it has been October since I have made a post!
To blog or not to blog that is the question. I have really been torn on whether to get the blog going again or just let it go. Satan likes to feel my head with a lot of negative thoughts. (No one reads your blog.  You have horrible grammar. (Yes, Satan I know!)  No one cares what you write about.) Just lots of yucky.
I started this blog several years ago as an outlet. I was a stay at home mommy, and I needed a way to get my thoughts out there. I was also lonely and bored at times, so I thought this would help. Guess what? It did!! My blog became my comfort. My passion. I loved getting on and writing. I consider myself a very open and honest person. Many times on here, I have put myself out there in a very vulnerable way. I have shared things that many people would not, but in every post you get the real me! I truly feel like the greatest blessings in life come when we are open and honest about who we are. God put us on  this earth to care for others, and to share their burdens. How can we share others burdens if we are not open and honest about ourselves? No one is perfect and unfortunately we live in a fallen world that will not be made perfect until our Heavenly Father comes to restore it all. Until that time, I strive daily to be a person who sees others through love. A person who shows grace. A person who laughs even when she wants to cry. A person who sees the glass half full. A person who can make a difference in someones life even if I don't know about it!
If you have read this blog from the beginning, I hope that at some time or another it has brought you some kind of blessing. If not, then I am so sorry! ;) Moving forward if I decide to keeping going, I pray that God opens up this blog as a way to be a light in this dark world. To be a blessing in some way to whoever may be reading.
So......now that I am done rambling, I am going to ask y'all! Should I keep going or let it go? No one is going to hurt my feelings. I am not sure which way I will go, but I am hoping I will know soon!
Lots of love and blessings......