What we did today

It is a beautiful day here and perfect for decking the halls. We went and got our tree and trimmed it. I love it and the boys love it. My heart feels happy. I am blessed.

Breathe

Evan was not quite four months old when he was first hospitalized with croup. He seems to gravitate to croup any time he starts with cold symptoms. He has asthma and that tends to complicate things further. We started to see a pattern. He would start with a clear runny nose, then get completely stuffed up, and then the cough would start. The super tight, barky cough. That usually started in the middle of the night and then we were in for it. If the pattern held true his breathing would start being labored and then sometimes end up with him struggling for each breath. We would sit up with him most of the night giving him breathing treatments, sitting in the bathroom full of steam, taking him outside in the cold air and still there would be times that we would end up in the E.R. There was one evening that "the cough" started at dinner and by 8pm we had called 911 and he was on his way to the hospital via ambulance. I have seen my boys lips start to turn blue and have to fight so hard to get a breath that his whole chest caves in. It is scary and awful. I think it was when he was around two or three years old that our pediatrician told us that it might start getting better when he was six or seven, when his airways were bigger. It seemed like such a long way off back then, but here we are!

This past weekend Evan started his old pattern. Runny nose, stuffed up, barky cough, but that was as far as it got! The last three nights I have brought his inhalers upstairs to bed. I've been on high alert and had super sonic hearing to detect the slightest change in his breathing (from across the upstairs). I mentally prepared myself for the worst. Ready to dash to the hospital with a boy, tinged blue, and having trouble breathing. I had to be. You can't exactly take many chances when your child has a history of not being able to breathe. But there was nothing. Not even a single wheeze. The doctor was right, he is finally growing out of the worst of his asthma! I am tickled pink, truly amazed and so thankful!

We might not be completely out of the woods yet but I'm counting this as a victory. Evan's first cold without having breathing difficulties. It may just have to go down in his baby book!

Catching up a little

I feel like I should tell you that I haven't just been sitting around my house crying for the last few months. We have managed to do fun stuff, I just never managed to blog about it. I figured the best way to share all the pictures from some of the fun was to make these cute collages.

The boys and I tagged along with the Birch's (my sister Lindsey, and her family) to Kerchers for some fall fun. It was packed but we managed to do a hay ride, pick a basket of apples, eat lunch and drool over all the yummy baked goods. The pumpkin patch was a muddy mess so we opted to pick pumpkins from the already picked and cleaned pile:) The kiddos didn't seem to mind and we left with only one boy throwing a major fit. I count that as a success!



We also had the privilege of babysitting this sweet boy. My nephew Tyler blended right in as a fellow Moyer boy. I have to practically peel my boys away from him when he's around. They just love him and I think it is mutual. It always does me some good when I get some good snuggle time with him too:).



Lindsey, Shannan and I packed up all the kids, and a picnic lunch and headed to a fun park one day. It was supposed to be close to 70 degrees but I think it might of topped out at 45. We were all under dressed but it didn't stop these cousins from having a blast. The hit of the day was definitely the merry go round. The cold did, however, stop us from having our lunch outdoors. We packed up and headed back to Shan's for an indoor version of our picnic.



I am such a game player! I love to play just about any game so it makes me happy when one of the boys asks to play a game. It's usually Jacob and he usually picks Candyland. He is still working on being a good sport and gracious loser but let me tell you, he is NOT there yet! Evan won this particular game.


There you have it. A normal-ish post, from a normal-ish family, with exceptionally cute kids:). Happy Wednesday!

November

November is a tough month for me. The past 7 Novembers to be exact. Lauren was born on December 23 but that day isn't as hard as the month leading up to it. For some reason the anticipation of her birthday is worse than the actual day. I start getting anxious and sad when November hits. It is hard to think of another year without our girl. Another year without a birthday celebration. Another Thanksgiving where we gather up all our strength and give thanks for all the hard stuff that has shaped us into the family and people we are. It's easy to thank God for all the blessings and good things but it's not so easy to say thank you for something that causes such tremendous pain. We are so thankful for Lauren and the gift she was. She changed us and I think she changed others too. She changed the way we think, the way we feel, the way we pray, and the way we love.

November is also the month that we do this:

These are always the first decorations of the season for us.

Just for fun

These pictures make me smile...and they make me miss summer. I think I'm already starting to get antsy about being couped up for the winter! Enjoy!



This is my very favorite picture of my boys with their pals William and Kate.


Beach fun



My soccer boy.



Classic



At the pool.



Love these shorts on the boys. Don't they look handsome?!

Here, but not really.

I've been sitting at my computer, staring at a blank page trying to think of something to write. I've already written and erased an entire post. I'm just not feeling it. I'm in some sort of haze that I can't seem to break free of. I'm having a hard time moving past my Annie post. Annie started a new grieving cycle for me. It's good and hard at the same time. Don't give up on me. I'll be back with other posts that are happy and fun but right now, I'm just not feeling it.