Brothers

The bond that these boys are growing is amazing and humbling. They have such a unique relationship with each other and as brothers as a whole.

Joseph "washes" D's hair everytime they take a bath.

Snuggling for some TV.

Different Kind of Sick

Last week we were out to dinner with some friends and D was not acting himself. I finally realized he was burning up. He wanted to be held and fell asleep on my shoulder, something for him that is unheard of (he is not my cuddler). By morning the fever was better. That night, high again, so the next day off to the ped we went. Fluid in his ear. Antibiotics prescribed. Not a huge deal. Or was it? Daniel was down for the count for days. Wiped out completely. He would wake up, eat breakfast, sit in front of a toy and ask to be picked up, rocked and put to sleep. Even Nolan said, "Mom, he's just staring off, what's the matter with him?" I know even a healthy child or adult who gets sick, often just need sleep. I've seen Nolan and Joseph like this...but it usually lasts for a day or so. This lasted for 3 or 4 days. And for me, it was a reality check. There is a reason the cardiologist gave us a timeline and that the surgery is scheduled for January. There's a reason. His heart is working hard, perhaps overtime and being sick just was too much for him. It broke my heart. It made me feel helpless. Panicked. The cloud came and settled over my own heart. But I'm grateful that he's better. I'm grateful he likes to watch TV, so as you can see in the pictures below was content resting on the couch. I'm grateful that Nolan would join him often, being gentle, putting an arm around him or holding his hand. I'm grateful for the miracle that I have a little boy with a special heart that I get to take care of when he is sick. I get to be his mommy and I'm grateful for that, grateful for each day. Because there were so many days when I was pregnant, when I was unsure if I would ever get to hold him or know him. Now we just need to pray that he stays healthy! Here's a couple pics of our cutie pie, all cozy.

Christopher Pop-In-Kins

December 1st a package came addressed to Nolan, Joseph & Daniel. The return address? The North Pole! In the package was a box, with a book and a cute little red headed elf. We read the book at bedtime. Apparently our elf was sent by Santa to watch over our boys and check back with Santa to let him know if they are naughty or nice. Nolan liked the name Christopher and his nickname is Chris. If you touch the elf, he loses his magic and every night he finds a new place in the house to sit and in the morning the hunt is on for us to find him. Nolan adores Christopher and has honest to goodness conversations with him. Conversations that he tells me I can't hear. Chris is bringing LOTS of joy and laughter to our home.

Reading the book the first night Christopher arrived. We put Christopher up on Nolan's bookshelf, still in the box when we went to bed. In the morning, Nolan came running into our room shouting, "CHRISTOPHER'S OUT OF HIS BOX!!!!" That cute elf had climbed into our tree and hung our first ornament. We're guessing it was a Santa ornament because he misses him and the North Pole. Friday night Christopher got a little crazy. We said he was naughty, but Nolan assures he is NOT naughty, just very silly. Look what he did!