If that didn’t make any sense, it’s probably because we just took our third trip to the pediatricians office in a week. On our Saturday visit, we learned that Hutson had the croup and MR had a pretty bad ear infection. We left the visit with two prescriptions; a steroid for Huttie and a 10 day supply of Amoxicillin for sweet MR. On Tuesday, I realized that I had been giving Hutson three times the amount of steroids that he was supposed to receive. This in turn meant a nerve wracking call to poison control and another visit to the pediatricians office. On Wednesday, MR’s body broke out into a rash. This morning, the rash had spread. Since she is still taking Amoxicillin, the doctor wanted to examine her to make sure it was not an allergic reaction. After a quick examination, the doctor determined that the rash was most likely caused by the roseola virus . This would make perfect sense, since MR had such a high fever over the weekend (her fever remained around 103.8 for most of Saturday and Sunday). After a thirty minute drive and a 45 minute wait, we left the pediatricians office with a new prescription to clear up her ear infection. This will be the fifth prescription I have filled this week, leaving me to wonder if there is a pharmacy out there that offers rewards for frequent visitors; more specifically, frequent frazzled mamas.

I will not let two sick kids defeat me. I will not let my “busy” get the best of me. I will spend tomorrow lounging in my pajamas with two precious kids, endless bowls of Lucky Charms, and a DVR full of episodes from the Real Housewives and Modern Family….

MR is constantly asking for a napkin so she can wipe her hands and her mouth. If it were up to here, she would wash her hands no less than a dozen times a day. Much like her mama, she is not a fan of messes. Clearly her little brother was cut from a different cloth. No matter how hard we scrub, Huttie seems to stay dirty. He is as they say, all boy!

After a month of being sick, we’re all on the mend! And praise the Lord, because all of the sickness drove me to endless bags of Cheetos, sleepless nights, and frequent trips to the grocery store to retrieve Gatorade for Garrett and MR and Little Debbie Fudge Rounds for my month long pity party.

We’re praying that this is the last of the winter germs. Surely this good ole southern sunshine will do us some good! It has definitely meant more time outdoors. And the delivery of 50 bails of pinestraw.

For MR, the spring air has meant a little time away with “Grance” and Big Daddy this week in Athens. Its also meant afternoon tricycle races and bath time with little brother.

For Huttie, it’s meant learning to crawl, clap his hands, and say “dada”, “mama” and “bye bye”.

It’s meant more time at the gym for me and less time with my hand in a bag of Cheetos. And for G, its meant the return of home cooked meals and evening playdates with the kids. Yep, it’s back to “boring”. And in our family, boring is good. Very good.

Here’s to more sleep and less germs. More laughter and less worrying. More time together as a family and less time at the doctors office. And above all else, less time complaining and more time praising God for all of His many blessings!

I’ve had sweet Sadie since my college days at UGA;  two years before G came into my life. She’s one hell of a dog and thankfully, my kids love her as much as I do.

We’re also pretty enamored with this little messer.

I’m not sure what’s more surprising, the fact that he is 8 months old now (as of last Sunday) or the fact that he has a head full of shaggy brown hair. Most of the time, it’s neatly swept over to the side.

But sometimes, it takes on a life of its own.

And sometimes, it’s just plain out of control.

Unfortunately, Huttie had to ring in his 8 month birthday with a 3 am trip to the ER. The croup got the best of him and almost caused his mama to have a nervous breakdown. Thankfully, our boy seems to be on the mend. Despite having a terrible cough and a fever since Sunday, he continues to smile and make the best of the circumstances. His big sister has also been a trooper. She’s been out of school since last Friday and has had a number of sleepless nights due to coughing and wheezing.

While we pray that this will be the last of the winter germs for the Harvey household, we praise God for blessing us with two happy, growing kids. At eight months, Huttie has mastered sitting up (he started sitting up at 6 months, but can sit up straight without toppling over now). He interacts with his environment and loves to play with his big sisters toys. His favorite toy though is his red truck; it’s one heck of a babysitter too. I’m pretty sure he could sit and roll it for hours on end.

Although he’s not crawling, Hutson rocks on his knees and scoots backwards. As of this morning, he has the first signs of a tooth peaking through. If you spend any time with our growing boy, you may see him waive his hand and mouth out the words “bye bye”. He also says “mama”, but only when he’s frustrated or mad.

At eight months, Hutson continues to be all boy. His clothes are constantly stained with spit up; he has dirty diapers at the most inopportune times; he throws toys; laughs at funny noises; and eats fistfuls of grass when outside. He has the grip of a wrestler, especially when long hair and dangling earrings are involved. Thankfully, our big boy continues to be a good eater and an even better sleeper. He was more than happy  to eat green beans for lunch today in honor of St Patrick’s Day. He seems to prefer vegetables just as much as fruits. Much like MR at his age, he refuses to hold his own bottle, even though I know he is more than capable. During bottle feedings, he loves to be held tight and close. He rarely gets through a bottle without stopping to laugh and smile. G and I both agree that he is a happy baby; rarely fussy; a little mischievous; a little loud; and a lot of joy!

Fast forward to the week of G’s birthday (Nov 18). Without getting into too many details, I had been having irregular menstrual periods and decided to visit my gynecologist in hopes that he would once again prescribe the progesterone pill to start my period. After a quick urine test, it was obvious why I was late again. I was pregnant! At the time, G was in New York for the week on business. I made up my mind that I would do my best to keep it a secret and surprise him upon his return home. That lasted all of two hours.

Since we were very early on, we decided to just tell the family. The news was especially exciting because my sister and I would be pregnant at the same time and due within 2-3 weeks of each other. As the big news sunk in and my waist started to expand, it was obvious that this was not my year to experience the Okefenokee swamp. Instead, G and his mom would brave the three day trip and Mary Reese would get to spend some quality time with her grandparents while I caught up on some things around the house.

While we’re on the truth, I can tell you that I’m only around 7 or 8 weeks, which is still very early on. I can also tell you that I am already showing and am very close to unpacking my maternity clothes. Our next sonogram is planned for Monday so we should find out our official due date then.

And finally, I can tell you that I barley managed to survive the week without G and sweet MR. And barley got them unpacked before we were in the car again, headed to Waycross. I’ll post pics later in the week of our trip, but for now, here are a few pics of my number one girl!

MR got to sit on the big mans lap last Wednesday.

Consulting over this years Christmas list

Random, but worthy….Thanks to Gran C, MR has been broken of her “Bobbi-C” (pacifier) for the last 4 months and in a “big girl bed” for the last 2. The transition was much easier than expected. We’re praying that another grandparent will step up and get this child potty trained before the arrival of baby 2!

A scary fall the night before we were set to leave caused an emergency trip to the dentist early Wednesday morning. Thankfully, my Uncle and cousin in Eastman, GA are both dentists and they were kind enough to work Mary Reese into their busy schedules. MR left her first dental appointment with a clean bill of health and lots and lots of kisses from her mama and daddy!

Our trip down south also included a quick stop in Waycross to eat lunch with Danny and Papa and visit with Meme and Papa Joe!

MR was pooped when we finally arrived at the condo,

but quickly got over it as soon as she saw the pool and the ocean.

“Lucy” (Yucy) was a big hit.

As were the floaties.

“Bubbelshs”