Have yourself a merry little Christmas!

Thank you to everyone who checked on and prayed for Ethan. After his second shot he recovered very quickly and is now fully back to his fiesty almost-two-year-old self. I have spent the last week in a holiday frenzy, trying to get everything done. I am proud to say that with 4 days left until Christmas, I am very nearly ready. I'd like to say that I'll post daily about our holiday happenings, but you and I both know that's not happening. Instead, I will just say Merry Christmas and, barring any freakish occurances that simply demand immediate blogging review, you will hear from AMENMom in the first few days of the new year!

Can a kid get a break around here?

Okay seriously, Ethan has got the worst luck of any toddler I know. He's been plagued by ear infections his whole life, so for the second time we get tubes, plus have his adnoids removed, so that he can finally be healthy. Post surgery, he was great for a couple of days. Then he got--and kept-- a pretty high fever. Then came a really bad cough, enough to keep him up at night and choking. We took him to the doctor today, and guess what? He has PNUEMONIA. Are you kidding me? The poor boy! And for an unlucky child, today was a particularly unlucky day. It started with being tired, since he got very little sleep last night. Then his mommy drug him out into the cold wet day to go to the doctor. Then he had to get a chest x-ray, which for a child is about equivalent to being strapped into a torture device. Then, when the x-ray confirmed pneumonia, he had to get a SHOT. Then, when we got home, Matt and I had to give him puffs from an inhaler, wich involves holding him down and forcing a mask over his nose and mouth.

Yeah, not a red letter day for my boy. Don't get me wrong. I know there are many mothers in this world who would give anything to have their babies healthy enough to be home with them, and I thank the Lord every day that my children are safe and happy. I just hate to see my baby so sick, and really want him better soon.

It feels shallow, when my little boy is ill, to speak of trivial matters such as sports, so I shall NOT comment on how, despite my sorrow at Houston's departure, I am PSYCHED about our new coach! So I shall leave that for another day.

Can't...breathe...

The surgery went well and we are surviving the recovery. In fact, Ethan doesn't seem to have any lingering soreness at all from having his adnoids removed. He can only eat soft foods for 2 weeks, which is more difficult than it might seem since the boy loves his Cheerios and crackers.

The worst part of the whole thing is a rather odd side effect that the doctor warned us about. Apparently, something about having adnoids removed makes a person's breath horrendous for a couple of weeks. For 2 days, his breath was fine and we figured the doctor must have been wrong. Then. It started as just an unpleasant odor. Now, the child coats the entire room with this hideous scent. It is AWFUL. I cannot imagine why this happens! Nor can I imagine how we're going to make it through the next few days until it goes away. Ugh!

You're gonna put WHAT in my ear?

As most everyone I've talked to in the last couple of days already knows, we are taking Ethan in tomorrow to get another set of tubes put into his ears, and probably his adnoids removed as well. I'm not looking forward to it--the child screamed for an hour coming out of the anesthesia last time--but at least he will stop getting these hideous ear infections. I'll try to post Friday or Saturday to give an update.

Oh, and several people have asked why I haven't blogged on the departure of our football coach. I have decided to wait until his replacement is selected so that I can speak on the subject from a more complete perspective. At the rate the search is going so far, don't be surprised if it's February before you see the post :)

Old friend, new baby!

You know how when you were a kid, some grown up things seemed so far off and cool and, well, grown up? Like when people met for lunch, or flew on an airplane by themselves, or went to visit friends in the hospital? Last week I got to do one of those things. I got to drive to Dallas to see my friend Melanie on the day she had her first child, the beautiful Rachel Elayne.

Melanie and I have known each other since we were 12 years old. We lived together in college, and were each other's maids of honor. Her parents and sister saw me as much as they saw her most of the time. Since Melanie and her husband Josh moved to Dallas, we don't get to see each other too often, so I was determined to be there to see that baby. Mel delivered around 4 AM on Thursday, and I got there a little after 1 PM--not too bad! She had no idea I was coming, which made it even more fun. I have to admit, the trip was more selfish than it may appear. I got to spend a ton of time hanging out with my best friend and my second family, and I even convinced Mel's mom and dad to let go of Rachel long enough to give me a turn holding her a few times. It was a great couple of days. I managed to get some pretty good pictures--take a look:

Rachel:

Melanie and I--note that I'm unabashedly hogging Rachel:

Rachel and her daddy, Josh--isn't this a GREAT picture?

Look at these feet! So cute. I bet she's going to be able to peel a banana with them by the time she's 1!