31 December 2010
Oliver has been laid flat with a high fever since Monday evening (it's now Friday evening) and has been either asleep, delirious or watching Charlie & Lola for most of that time.
If you follow me on Twitter you may already know that Wednesday night we took him to the pediatrician where they ran a strep test, flu test, CBC (to rule out meningitis, appendicitis and a number of other white blood cell-related problems) and ultimately a chest X-ray to get to the bottom of his nearly 105-degree fever and vomiting. All of those tests turned up nothing (not sure whether to be relieved that he had none of those illnesses or to be frustrated that antibiotics were not going to be our simple solution for a VERY sick kid) and for now we're just calling it a terrible virus and hoping that no one else in our family catches it.
(I have been encouraged to hear from a few of you via Twitter that you're kiddos have had similar illnesses and that it DOES end! My sympathies just the same.)
Yesterday he had a small break in his fever and as long as his temperature is normal he's feeling good so he got to play for about an hour before it came back again.
He also managed to be fever-free for most of the night last night and this morning and actually squeezed in some quality Lego-playing time with Mommy before it came back and laid him flat again.
(Here he had decided that his new creation was a video camera. It was so nice to have him up and smiling for a little while.)
Until this yucky sickness passes we're laying low at the Myers home. The New Year will likely be greeted by me and my handsome husband clinking champagne glasses (or more likely hot chocolate mugs) and keeping vigil with the thermometer and a cool wash cloth. It's certainly not glamorous, but it's part of being a Mommy and Daddy and we're just fine with it. Who knows, maybe we'll whip up a few pigs in a blanket to class things up a bit!
Get well soon, boo boo. We loved playing with you when you were feeling well today and it makes us want the healthy Oliver back even more!
Happy New Year dear friends! May the Lord bless you and keep you!
30 December 2010
Hi pretty girl.
You're nine months old now.
Well, let me correct that - you're nearly nine and a half months old now. I'm a good two weeks behind on this update. Let's blame it on Christmas and traveling and the busyness of chasing around a very busy 9 month old!
Oh Hazel, you are so lovely and so, so loved. These past nine months have sped by exponentially faster than the nine months you occupied my tummy. I'm so glad you're here!
(And yes, you are wearing a boy's outfit in these photos. I just really liked it and figured a bit of panache on top would take care of it. Turns out, your sweet girly face was all the panache it needed - though the flower doesn't hurt either.)
{Do I sound like a doting mommy or what?}
So, the 9-month update.
In the last month you have:
- thinned out a bit (on account of burning so many calories in your awake time, I imagine) and are currently in the 25th percentile for weight and the 50th percentile for height.
- continued eating and nursing like a champ (you will literally eat anything we feed you except for lima beans)
- gotten good at signing "more" and "please" (you busted out the "please" sign like a wild woman at the Christmas Eve service when you saw Oliver enjoying a candy cane)
- started waving at photos on the wall (which means that every trip up and down the stairs takes a looong time because you always want to stop and wave at each picture)
- become quite a speedy crawler and a steady cruiser. You can transfer from the sofa to the ottoman effortlessly but have no interest at all in walking.
- mastered 3 words: Mama, more and baby (boy do you love babies!)
- given us a run for our money in the sleeping department. Oh Hazel, how we just want to sleep at night!
- proven to be a master stair climber
Happy nine months, baby girl! See you in two weeks for your 10-month update. :)
On Tuesday I posted photos from our family's Christmas Day festivities at my sister's house and one of y'all asked if I would share the recipe for the blue cheese spread I had pictured with the three colors of pears.
Well, I just so happen to have a spare second (our sickie little guy is asleep on the sofa after a long day of fever, pediatrician's office and chest x-rays) and am more than happy to share this yummy recipe!
Blue Cheese Spread
Serves 10 to 12
(found years ago in a Williams-Somoma Thanksgiving recipe booklet and adopted by our family as a go-to appetizer when we're hosting guests.)
Ingredients:
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
3T heavy cream (no one promised this would be healthy!)
6 oz. artisanal blue cheese
1/2t freshly ground pepper
1/2 C plus 3t chopped toasted pecans (or 1/4C pecans & 1/4C craisins, or neither - just whatever you like)
Pear slices for serving
1 baugette, sliced, drizzled with olive oil and pieces toasted in the oven at 350 for 13-18 minutes (or table crackers or neither. Again, whatever you like.)
Directions:
- Using an electric mixer, beat cream cheese at medium speed until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the cream and continue beating until combined, about 30 seconds.
- Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- Add the blue cheese and beat on low speed until the cheese is crumbled and no large pieces remain, about 1 minute.
- Stir in the pepper and the pecans/cranberries/whatever until evenly distributed.
- Divide the blue cheese mixture among 3 small ramekins, smoothing the tops with a spatula. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until you're ready for them (let them stand at room temperature for up to 2 hours before serving).
- Just before serving, sprinkle a bit of pecans or cranberries in the center of each ramekin (maybe do one plain, one pecan and one cranberry?)
- Serve with the toasted bread and pretty, colorful pear slices alongside.
29 December 2010
Hurrah! They're ours! Finally and officially ours! We went to the courthouse this morning and had the boys' final adoption hearing along with six other adopting families. What a joyful morning for so many people! And now, Moses and Augustine Faires have birth certificates on the way saying that they belong to their Mama and Papa forever!
We have so much for which to be thankful!
Gusty ADORES his Papa. He is the sun and the moon.
Taking time to admire the pretty ceiling at the courthouse.
Already favoring one another, don't you think? :)
Oh yes, and sweet sister Queen Bea was there.
She is loving having these little playmates at home to dress up. And they adore her.
Finally, in the hearing. Brother and sister share a seat.
Answering final questions for the attorney and the Judge.
And taking a walk out of the courthouse with Grandma as a new Faires man!
Praising the Lord with the growing Faires family today!
"For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved."
Romans 8:22-24
28 December 2010
25 December 2010
Show thyself the Prince of Peace; Bid our jarring conflicts cease. Let us for each other care, Each the other’s burden bear,
To thy church the pattern give, Show how true believers live.
Make us one of heart and mind, Courteous, pitiful, and kind,
Lowly, meek in thought and word, Altogether like our Lord.
—Charles Wesley (1707-1788)
Merry Christmas!
Love,
The Myers Family
21 December 2010
20 December 2010
We're in Michigan visiting Ryan's parents for the next few days and man, have I forgotten what a real winter is like! In Tennessee, the snow is exciting and fleeting! You're lucky if you're awake to catch a glimpse of the rarity and it's usually gone by noon. The general sentiment is, "Don't go, snow! Quick honey, get the camera!"
Snow in Michigan is a whole different can of worms. We'd been there for only a few hours on Saturday but already the snow was taunting me. I would glance out the window at it excitedly and it unflinchingly returned my gaze. And then I remembered. I was on the losing end of a staring contest with a substance that had the stamina to not even blink until March or April.
This white stuff isn't going anywhere. It's cold here. Not windy and horrible like our Chicago days, but just a sort of quiet cold.
Ryan found himself running out to the van in the middle of a family Christmas party last night to fetch a pack-n-play and couldn't help but notice the stillness. Without a coat on in the 25-degree night he closed his eyes and remembered the Michigan winters that we grew up knowing. Quiet and still with no wind. Bright even at night because of all of the snow. The cold doesn't sting, it just is.
And so we have hunkered in to the warmth of Ryan's childhood home. There's home movies and bowls of cashews and shrimp and meatballs and an endless supply of homemade Chex Mix. Granddad and Groovy are at the ready to color with Oliver and scoop Hazel out of her bed as soon as she makes the slightest indication that she might be done napping. There is love and a lot of it.
There's nothing like coming home and bringing your kids to see their Grandparents. Apart from the comfort and familiarity of being with people who know and love you, and the great luxury of having your meals prepared for you, there's the sweet relaxation of kicking back and reading a book and knowing that if Oliver need a glass of water, Granddad will hop right up to help him.
Oh, these trips to Michigan - however long and laborious the trek can feel - are some of the best kinds of vacations.
Merry Christmas, Granddad and Groovy! Thank you for a warm, safe happy home to visit. Thank you for loving each other and being a godly example to our children. We love these quiet winter days in the comfort of your home. The stillness of the winter outside - cold and persistent though it may be - is a sweet picture of the still, calm comforts of home inside. No wind, just a quiet calmness as we enjoy each other's presence and look to celebrating the birth of our Savior.
Merry Christmas!
18 December 2010
photos courtesy of Jennifer McKinney
The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.
~Thomas Jefferson
17 December 2010
Grow old along with me!
The best is yet to be,
The last of life, for which the first was made:
Our times are in His hand
Who saith "A whole I planned,
Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!"
Look not thou down but up!
To uses of a cup,
The festal board, lamp's flash and trumpet's peal,
The new wine's foaming flow,
The Master's lips a-glow!
Thou, heaven's consummate cup, what need'st thou with earth's wheel?
But I need, now as then,
Thee, God, who mouldest men;
And since, not even while the whirl was worst,
Did I,--to the wheel of life
With shapes and colours rife,
Bound dizzily,--mistake my end, to slake Thy thirst:
So, take and use Thy work:
Amend what flaws may lurk,
What strain o' the stuff, what warpings past the aim!
My times be in Thy hand!
Perfect the cup as planned!
Let age approve of youth, and death complete the same!
Robert Browning (1812-1889)
photos courtesy of Jennifer McKinney (thanks, Jen!)
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