Back again...

After several weeks absense, I am back again. It was mostly not by choice. First, I had a terrible upper respiratory/flu virus. I was so ill I was in bed for almost 4 days. I wish to never repeat that! It was tough having two young ones at home and being pregnant while feeling so sick. I must say that I was so thankful for some of the independence Rylee has exhibited. While in bed, she was able to start movies, get her and her brother fruit or cereal for breakfast, pop popcorn in the microwave for a snack for them, get drinks, etc. I think my most thankful moments were when she fed our chickens for me in the bitter cold day after day while I was barely able to stand and move. What a big help she really was. The kids behaved pretty well. I was not able to watch Brock or Jesse like I normally do, but sometimes that just happens. What are you going to do? My mom was great and watched the kids while I went to the Dr's, waited a few hours for a prescription, then even stayed and watched them so I could rest. She made dinner twice for us. Two ladies from church heard I was sick and each made us dinner. It felt really good to be taken care of. Even after the worst of the symptoms were over, I was surprised by how little strength and energy I had for another few days. It was a full week of not feeling myself.

Just a day or two after I returned to normal, Matt had knee surgery. Because of his sensitivity to general anesthesia, they were not able to remove a few "floating bodies" that they originally planned to, but were still able to scope his knee and really clean it up. He is off of work until monday, so we have enjoyed having him home. He feels pretty good and is not even using crutches right now, but is not allowed to drive until next week. The first few days after surgery when he was mostly laid up and had to keep his leg up and iced were a little tiring for me. But, he healed very quickly and is almost back to himself.

In the midst of all this, our little guy, Noah, turned 3 years old. We celebrated his birthday, along with my mom and aunt's birthday (they are twins) as well as my adult niece's birthday. Noah is young enough he doesn't care that he shared his party with the rest of his family. We all had a good time. I hosted the party here and it was a good excuse to really clean the house well. I still have some things I want to do, but I've been able to keep it up the last few days after the party ended.

Yesterday we worked on Valentine's for friends and family. The kids liked that a lot and it felt good to do something fun and crafty. Tomorrow we have our new windows installed...finally! I'm excited to see the finished project, even if it does mean that today we have to take down all our window treatments and move a few things in the basement so they can also add some insulation. I hope to see the new improvements reflected in our utility bills soon.

I'm 31 1/2 weeks along now. I'm feeling big. The baby has hiccups often and is really on the move. I love feeling its pokes and rolling over. I'm getting more and more excited about meeting the little one. My midwife appointments are starting to get closer together, and on this next appointment I will meet the practice's other midwife, who I hear is also great. It will be good to have met both of them so if there is an emergency and my midwife is not able to be there for our delivery, her associate will be there, and she won't be a stranger.