2 Corinthians 12:15

"So I will very gladly spend for you everything I have and expend myself as well.  If I love you more, will you love me less?" -2 Corinthians 12:15

I am clinging tooth and nail to this verse right now!  I am 31 weeks pregnant, I have a 4 year old, a 3 year old, a 20 month old.  I also do daycare for a 3 year old and a 22 month old.  It's kind of busy!  Many of you know that when I'm pregnant I tend to get quite sick.  With the pregnancy, the sickness ended right around 15-16 weeks!  Yay!!  What you probably don't know is that when I'm pregnant I tend to feel kind of down or sad.  Many women struggle with postpartum depression, but I get the sadness during my pregnancy.  By 3 days postpartum, I feel great and all is forgotten!  It's not all consuming or scary, just annoying.  To make matters worse, I finally agreed to let the doctor put me on something to attempt to control my blood pressures.  Unfortunately, one of the side effects for me is it increases the sadness a little.  Some mornings I wake up not sure if I'm ready to tackle the craziness of the 5 kids on top of feeling blue, but, I have something much greater and much more powerful then myself to get me through the day!  I will keep joyfully giving all I have! 

He amazes me...

Many of you probably are totally unaware, but Labor Day started a very rough few weeks for us.  Dave took off for some meetings in Bismarck on Labor Day afternoon and I started to feel sick.  I got sicker and sicker while he was away, but we survived.  I went to the doctor that Thursday or Friday and was treated for strep throat.  By Sunday I was feeling so much better!  Monday rolled around and Niko and Braelyn woke up with snot and lots of it.  It wasn't long before they spiked fevers and soon after Eden joined them.  Now I have three babies with fevers ranging between 101-103.  After seeing no improvement all week we decided to take all three of them (this was a first for us) to the clinic and all three were started on antibiotics.  By Saturday my course of antibiotics we finished and I woke up Sunday with another horrible sore throat, stuffy nose, cough, fever, etc.  By Monday, I was feeling really, really rough, but thankfully the kids were doing better, so we survived the day!  Tuesday, Dave left really early so I didn't get to even talk with him that day.  I was miserable!  And, Braelyn spiked yet another fever of 102.  He happened to call mid-morning and quickly realized how sick I was, finished up a few things at work, and came home.  He sent me off to bed and promptly stepped into caring for all 5 kids (our three and my 2 daycare kids),  no questions asked!  Wednesday, he took one look at me and called work saying he needed to stay home for the day.  I stayed in bed all day, but he worked so hard with such a terrific attitude.  He stayed home Thursday morning because I had an OB appointment and Braelyn had her 3 year well child visit, but she still wasn't well.  She was still running fevers of 102-103 and had developed a horrible cough.  Antibiotic #2...here we come!  Thankfully by Sunday she was much better and totally fever free!  I still was so sick and finally went on antibiotics #2 for me on Sunday.  I feel SOOOO much better!!  Whew, I think we finally kicked this and survived!  I vote, the Scotts have had enough sickness for the season already! 

We never would have been able to survive this all if it wasn't for my amazing husband.  He stepped up and picked up my slack and then some!  He cooked, he cleaned like a fool, he was totally engaged with the kids, and took great care of me!  I've never been so amazed by all he could do and with such a cheerful attitude!  He definitely deserves a great date night!! 

Hi, my name is Stacy and I have picky eaters...

Am I the only one?  I hear people talk about what they eat for dinner and I secretly think to myself "my kids would NEVER eat that!!".  Where did I go wrong?  When they were babies I gave them everything.  I introduced a lot of new foods and textures whether it was a typical "kid friendly" meal or not.  As babies, they were great eaters, now, not so much!  I get so tired of cooking dinner sometimes because I know not everyone will eat it - or at least eat it without a battle.  I feel like we've tried everything.  Pairing it with food they LOVE (having them eat the least favorite first), correcting them for not eating as they were told, not giving them anything else to eat until they eat whatever it was they wouldn't eat, etc.  But alas, I still have three very picky eaters.  My oldest only wants to eat bread, pasta, and fruit.  The only meat she eats is in the form of a nugget, a hot dog, and ham.  My middle is my best eater, but is picking up on her older sister's protests.  My youngest really only wants to eat meat.  He throws veggies on the floor (or at me).  He will eat some fruits, but really he doesn't eat much of a variety or quantity.  I'm at my wits end with mealtimes... 

This is a day the LORD has made...even though it wasn't a favorite!

It took only a moment to realize that 2 of my 3 kids who had gone to bed healthy woke up unhealthy...with snot and LOTS of it!  Yuck!  We tried to proceed as normal, but the more my morning went on the more I began to feel unwell.  I couldn't really put my finger on it, but the headache was finally clue enough that I should at least check my blood pressure.  157/97!!  Uh oh, that can't be good.  Called the doctor who of course wanted labs and to see me. 

Thanks to my sweet sister-in-law who sat with all five kids over her lunch break so I could go get the labs started before my 2:50 appointment.  In the meantime, the doctor said to just sit back and rest.  I always chuckle to myself when the doc says that.  I have a four year old, 2 three year olds, and 2 one and a half year olds all day...rest?!?  But, I tried.  We watched a movie and only did about 30 minutes of school.  Thankfully, the labs all came back within the normal limits!  Yay!!  He wanted to send me to the hospital to be monitored for a bit - I declined.  He wanted to start me on BP meds - I talked him into waiting until my appointment next week.  I've taken them and they make me feel really sad.  I'm so thankful to have a doctor who is willing to meet me in the middle without hesitation!  But, upon leaving, he and the nurse practitioner both said "now you know this bed rest thing probably isn't an if but when, right?"  I just pretended I didn't hear that one! 

I can't go on bed rest!  I have 3 babies!  What would I even do??  Trying not to freak out and pray that this is just a speed bump and I will soon be back on track with a healthy pregnancy!  But really, I have no clue how we would make that work... 

My darling husband (with the help of our sweet son!) cooked us dinner so I could rest.  As we sit down for dinner, Eden starts screaming of horrible pain in her side. I realized she felt warm so I took her temp...101...she was my healthy one of the day!  Not any longer...

Here's praying tomorrow isn't nearly as eventful!