the month of august is always one of my favorites...it's my birthday month and i don't mind being a little selfish in saying that i love my birthday and i used to start planning my birthday the day after my birthday. avery seems to take on that trait as she has been telling us that she'll be 5 in one year - nothing like planning a party a year in advance....i know, i mastered it. so needless to say, i am excited when we hit august 1.
let me start with how our wonderful weekend began. fridays plans were for me to load up the car and the kids, pick up allen at work (it's on the way) and head to GA. all was on schedule as i ran errands that morning, put the kids down for an early nap and packed the car - and i mean PACKED IT OUT. i got the girls up (early) and we set on our mission to get out the door. luggage, check; snacks, check; kiddos, check; crank the car...nothing. try again. nothing. perfect. a dead battery, but easily fixed. i call allen to let him know we're running behind (and why) and that i have the jumper cables out and am headed to the neighbors to get help. i'm running around from house to house, kids still in the car because i have no idea how long this takes, and i'm now sweating profusely. i probably looked crazy running back and forth across the street...not sure why i just didn't stay on one side....but anyway, the only neighbor i can find who is home is so kind and so willing to help, but lets just say age sometimes causes people to work slowly and caused me to repeat myself every time i spoke. those of you who know me know that i hate to repeat myself. ever. LISTENing is a skill. learn it. which is kind of ironic, because i'm a bad listener. i had mercy on him because he couldn't help it. maybe not a lot of mercy but maybe i was not frustrated with him, just the situation and that it wasn't moving fast enough and that i was not on the road, like i had not pulled my weight for the day...i'm rambling.
i took the girls out of the car and sent them back inside - and on a side note, let me explain here that i was in and out of the house checking on them, checking on the neighbor, checking on them...back and forth. i was talking to the neighbor when avery came running out saying addison fell. falling is common in our house, she's a 'toddler' - a wobbly one at that. but this time falling meant down the stairs. by the time i got to her she was sobbing a silent cry, which is the worst. it was my fault and i forgot to put the gate at the bottom of the stairs when i put them back inside. luckily, she only fell down the top section. so i consoled her, checked her for injuries and headed back downstairs...this time securing the gate. addison is now in her highchair and both girls are snacking. i go back outside and after he asked me if i could push (my expedition) to the road, and i'm not really sure how i answered him and it could have been a response that was only given with a look and verbally was said in my head so he couldn't hear me (as if that were necessary), but at this point i thought it might be best if allen came on home. he did and we decided that we would have to deal with my battery sunday, we needed to get on the road. we unloaded my car, and packed his.
luggage, check; snacks, check; kiddos, check; portable dvd player for the 3 hour ride, check. pull out of the driveway and we're on our way! plug in the dvd player - nothing. allen and i look at each other like 'what in the name of pete are we going to do now that there is no distraction?' addison is still whimpering, on and off - i'm feeling horrible about the fall...it's dinner time and avery is asking every 5 minutes how much longer the trip is going to take. however, once we stop for dinner (in moody), the ride was easy and seamless. who needs dvd entertainment when you have a mom and dad like us??? we thanked God for His humor and decided it was His plan for some family bonding.
but, as promised, i will update you as to why addison seemed to despise any and every animal that she saw last weekend....or maybe why she was so clingy. as we said, the weekend at poppy and cds went off without a hitch. we had an amazing time. saturday night the kids fell (almost literally) into the bed with exhaustion after such a fun day and the grown ups sat and talked...for hours. around 11.30 i heard stirrings of either one or both of my children (sleeping in different rooms). allen went to check on avery - she was up - i accidently turned the bathroom light off in her room and left her in darkness. problem easily solved. addison - sound asleep.
midnight rolls around and we're all still up...and we hear another screeching cry - this time it's addison. and when i say cry, i don't mean that she awoke from a deep sleep and cried out...she was full on screaming like one of the animals she so feared was in the bed with her and had backed her in a corner. it was nothing of the sort, of course, but i picked her up and through her tears she was saying 'doggy, doggy' so i immediately thought nightmare. after i calmed her down, gave her a drink of water and we said another prayer, i tried to lay her back down. she screamed again. still scared, i thought. i tried laying down in my bed with her - screaming. walking with her - screaming. bouncing her - screaming. nothing worked. for almost 6 hours she screamed on and off and she was exhausted. i finally got her to fall asleep around 6 am and she was sitting in my lap. it was then that she started running fever and i will say, i was not waking her up for medicine.
when we got up at 8 sunday morning i told allen (who slept in avery's room) that we would be going home. not only could i not locate my medicine bag, there was not a store that was closer than 20 minutes away. he agreed and we set out on the road (after avery said bye to the horses and addison just glared at them like they were the reason she was up all night). my two thoughts at this point were 1) ear infection or 2) strep throat...because her hand had been in her mouth all weekend and she had a raspy cough and cold. the ride home was great, uneventful and both girls took great afternoon naps.
sunday night, allen took my car to have the battery and connectors checked and replaced. the expedition is ready for its next adventure.
i took addison in to see dr dudgeon on monday and let me just preface that he and i have an understanding. i don't like a diagnosis like 'teething' or 'viral infection' (though i've heard both of those in the past). i like a diagnosis that i can do something about. i guess the understanding is more on my part. we were in the office and our sweet nurse took her temp - nothing. the first time she had no fever since early sunday morning. and to top it off, she was walking, laughing, playing. and i thought, great...all this and i get her here and she shows off. even dr dudgeon was looking at her like 'really, she's sick?' however, i know my kids...i've diagnosed my kids before symptoms have fully shown themselves (like last week in the back of my mind when addison fell over sideways when she was walking..i thought, 'equilibrium off = fluid = ear infection'). and i was right about this - addison was not acting like addison. and, sure enough, she has a double ear infection and what he says is a very high tolerance for pain (based on her demeanor in his office).
ahhhh, a problem that we can do something about - 10 days of antibiotics and numbing drops for her ears. (side note here...i never want my kids to be sick, but if they are sick i like to be able help them get better...and it's easier to do so when it is not viral...or temperamental...also a diagnosis received at one of our visits. that, my dear friends, is what you call a copay down the drain, mixed with a little embarassment and a whole lot of 'we've got to do something about this'). so, while i think that addison wasn't crazy about the four legged friends at the farm, i think she was especially clingy because she didn't feel well.
wednesday morning i woke up to no coffee and a quick run to the store to pick some up left me noticing the battery light flashing on my car. i rolled my eyes and called allen. long story short, because this is the longest post ever, it is the alternator, which is a lot more expensive than a battery (that we already purchased and probably didn't need).
i told my mom yesterday that it is august 6th, and it's been a long month. and i mean that. we're believing for a financial blessing and we are believing that we will see the fruits that God will produce through this pruning period. pruning is never fun but it is necessary for growth and life. sometimes it hurts, sometimes it seems like we are being cut down to nothing...but God knows how far to trim to get rid of the dying branches so He can produce life. who knew the harvest season would come in the dead of summer?
who knows...this august might just be another favorite month...not because i get to lift the hood of my car and show off my birthday present in the form of an alternator...but for an entirely different reason!
we loved the slipnslide on the hot afternoon
addison was scared to death of the dogs, Bucket (Bucky) and Marley. can you tell? 
and the entire family
check out this storm cloud. we had just returned from our turkey hunt and apparently there had been horrible storms in atlanta and this cloud was right over their house...and it was swirling. you can see the 'eye' of it.