The portrait of a family

This, friends, is a picture of what I saw tonight as I shifted my position on the couch and looked to the floor as I did. No, it wasn't anything extravagant, but it was in an instant one of those quick lessons from our Creator; one that reminded me of what the image of family should be.



Shoes...three pairs from the three individuals that make up our small Buscher family. Three very different individuals, but nonetheless, three individuals that love each other to the fullest. See, the image of seeing these shoes that somehow over the course of the night managed to line themselves up perfectly next to one another reminded me that the "portrait of family" is just like this.

Families are made up of people...different people who may, on the outside look worn out and somewhat pitiful. But families are made up of people who, no matter what life throws at them, make a commitment to stick together. No family is perfect, and no individual that is a part of that family is perfect. Each has it's own flaws, some that are visible, some that are not. But knit together in Christ, perfection begins to make itself visible through His love. Only then can we overlook those worn edges to see true love at its core...family the way God created it to be. So this picture of our old, dirty shoes may be unsightly, but what exists beyond the grunge is something much deeper...much more meaningful.

24 hours and 5 lbs later...

Twenty-four hours and 5 lbs later you have me trying my best to fully recover. Stupid stomach flu! I had it less than two weeks ago. Then, the rough parts only lasted 12 hours or so and then it was just the recovery part and trying to reintroduce foods into my diet after not eating for 36 hours. But even then, the rough parts were sporadic and not constant. I had hour long or more breaks in between...well, you know.

This time, the rough parts lasted only 2 hours...yes, only 2 hours. However, I think those two hours were worse than any other two hours of my life. I threw up for a solid 2 hours. The biggest break I had in between was 3-5 minutes before I was up for another round. My throat is burned to a crisp from the acid and I have a huge bruise across my chest from the constant heaving. My stomach feels like I tried to do 500 crunches in 10 minutes while being 32 weeks pregnant. The good thing is that it only lasted 2 hours. The rest of the day was trying to recover which is tough by itself. I got on the scale this morning and realized that over the last two weeks of stomach flu days that I've had, I've lost over 5 pounds. Hmm...don't think the doc will be happy about that when I go for my OB appt. today, but what can you do? I'll gain it back once my diet is re-regulated I'm sure.

From 5:30AM until noon yesterday, my bed was the bathroom floor. I've never experienced even having the desire to sleep in the bathroom, but I knew that I'd constantly be running back and forth from the room to the bathroom and the motion would be enough to make me sicker. So Darin dragged a twin matress in the bathroom and I took my pillow and a blanket and two other pillows for belly and back support and there I was. I finally managed to fall asleep at 7:30 when things finally slowed to a stop and pretty much slept until noon, then rested the remainder of the day.

We're 24 hours past the first symptom, and no one else has showed signs of coming down with it. We somehow managed to escape the first bout w/o anyone else getting it, but somehow I doubted we could get that lucky twice in two weeks...especially with Zoe already being sick. Pray, pray, pray that they can escape it again!

Smiles turned upside down

My poor child! She just can't stay well...but despite the fact that she suffers from a minor cold once every couple of weeks, she usually just slows down slightly if any at all. Not so today....

This morning, she awoke groggy and lethargic. She apparently laid on Darin's shoulder for quite some time this morning and didn't touch any of her breakfast except for her pears. When I got up and around, I noticed that she was a bit slower too, but didn't think much of it until I picked her up to hold her for a bit and realized that she had a pretty high fever. High might have been a big of an understatement...she was running 103.3. Having been through this before, I dosed her with Motrin and ran a "tepid" bath (one that's more cool than warm). For one that normally LOVES her bath time, she shrieked when I put her in this one. With her little body being so hot, it must have felt like ice water to her. So we reran the bath at our normal temperature and I poured water over her for about 20 minutes. No playing today, no laughing, no smiles, just tears, tears, and more tears. And not even the kind of tears that represent someone who was mad...these were tears and sobs that were almost barely audible and more of whimpers than anything else. By 10ish, I had her down for her morning nap and she slept somewhere b/w an hour and a half and 2 hours which was great considering rest is the best thing for her. I got her up and fed her, only she didn't eat much besides her banana. As she sat at the table, I saw her little body shaking uncontrollably. She was FREEZING! Her entire body was covered in cold chills despite the fact that every part of her radiated heat. I carried my crying child to the couch, put a thick fleece blanket over her, and turned on Dora The Explorer. She laid on the couch, y'all...just laid there! This is a child who only slows down long enough to catch her breath before taking off again, definitely not the portrait of a one who will LAY on the couch (much less sit on it for long).




We had a doctor's appt. early this afternoon. The verdict is that it's some random bacterial infection...one that is hard to tell exactly what it is b/c it has no focus. Other than the fact that she has high fever (which rose to 103.6 even while we were at the doctor), chills, and had a little bit of an upset stomach Monday and yesterday, we know nothing. Some of you are probably thinking it's the flu, but that's not it. She has little to no congestion, no coughing, nothing of the sort. So she got a shot of antibiotics in her leg and we'll start a round of them tomorrow.

While they ran a series of tests on her (strep, etc), she wanted to lay down again...so sadly, she laid on the bed in the doctor's office for about 30 minutes or so...just laid there limp as could be. Watching her made me feel utterly helpless. I love being a parent, but H.A.T.E. this part of parenting. I want so badly to take her discomfort from her.

The hope is that by tomorrow we'll see some sort of improvement. Otherwise, they want to see us back tomorrow. Bummer deal! The good news is that an hour after the Tylenol that they gave us and the antibiotic, her fever is already down to 100.7. It didn't even go down that much when I gave her the Motrin and put her in the bath this morning. That's the best news I've had all day. Hopefully tomorrow she'll be on the mend and we can manage to not have to go in to the doc again. *Sigh*

First kiss at 18......months?

Our family had dinner with another couple from church a couple of weeks ago. They have two very sweet little guys, Jared who is 2 and Seth who is now 4. After dinner, we let the kiddos play in their playroom. You'd never know by watching them interact together that it took us a few minutes to even get Zoe in the front door...new environments make her a little shy. She was surrounded with all kinds of new toys that kept her occupied. For a while, she just bounced from one thing to another, but then she actually began playing with the boys. This is a fairly new stage she's entering into...actually playing WITH other kids and not just NEAR them. They had an absolute blast together squealing and giggling. I think their favorite time together had to have been in this little tent that they had in the room. The three piled inside and just found it hilarious to play chase in a space that was, oh, about 4 feet in each direction. Towards the end of the night, Seth and Jared went to sit on the window sill and guess who decided to join? With all three of them sitting together, it was time to take out the camera. Of course, as they were just "hanging out", I decided to tell Zoe, "give him a kiss on the cheek" thinking that she'd just do it once so we could get it captured on camera.



Ahem...that was one of my dumber moves as a mother...but it made for a fun few moments for everyone. That peck turned into giggles and many, many more pecks on the cheek. Seth loved it, returning her gesture with smiles and hugs. Jared on the other hand DID NOT want to be kissed at all. He was hilarious...spurred on by our laughter, Zoe tried one time and he threw both hands in front of his face to block her. Of course then it became a game to Zoe...it was all about the chase. Like I said a few posts ago...18 months going on 18. She would laugh and try again, and he would have the same reaction.





I love this one...looks like they're having a serious conversation.

Minnie, Eeyore, and a dollhouse

Well, we're rotating out toys. She is so much into creative play that I decided it was time to bring out a dollhouse. Who-hoo...ahem...I mean for her sake! :-) A friend of ours dropped one off at our house several months ago that her daughters played with but I had yet to get it out. Makes me a little sad that the days of baby toys are in the past. But it's kind of cute watching her play with her little Minnie and Eeyore toys inside her dollhouse.

9:32

9:32...what a blessed day! Hallelujah!

9:32...That was the exact moment my daughter woke up this morning.

So what did it allow me to do??? Get some much needed rest since I don't sleep all that well at night anymore for the protruding watermelon in front of me. Plus, it allowed me some extra time just to be since I'm still in the recovery stages of the stomach flu. Have I mentioned that she didn't get up until 9:32??? Now granted, I got up at about 8:50 and played on the computer, but still. Only a handful of times has she ever slept that late, and most of them are because she was up a lot during the night from illness...not true for last night. Her normal wake up time is usually b/w 7:30 and 8. I normally would wake her up, but today since neither she nor Darin is totally out of the woods yet with this stomach bug that I had, I let her sleep as late as her body needed to, and as long as her diaper would allow her to. And let me tell you how full that thing was after 13 and a half hours of sleep. Half sagging to the ground.

She, however, was not as cheery as I was about her wake up time. She's like her Mommy...needs, oh...about 30 minutes to fully wake up and even be in the mood to talk to anyone. OK, so I need that long...she needs maybe 10. Most of the time she wakes up in a good mood but that's because we've learned to leave her in her bed until she's happily cooing to herself. Get her anytime before that moment (as I did this morning), and you get this......



YIKES...that's definitely not a happy face! Now just picture that look in about 12 years when she can talk, sass, sigh, roll her eyes....need I say more??? I don't think it will be as cute of a picture then.

I ran hard...just didn't run fast enough!

Early Sunday morning the chase stopped...I was caught. I've run from this particular "enemy" since early November when I heard it hit town. What enemy?? The evil, and I do mean evil, stomach bug. After last Christmas when Zoe was just barely 5 months old and got it first, I watched firsthand as the entire family dropped like flies while we visited over Christmas. I was determined to not get it this year...at least not over holidays while traveling. One of those goals was acheived, but only one.

I only was truly "sick" for about 12 hours, but the recovery process and reintroducing solid foods into my system after none for about 36 hours has been almost as grueling as the illness itself. Not to mention the fact that a pregnant woman is far more susceptible to dehydration than most others and must focus on staying hydrated so as not to go into preterm labor. I know this because at about 35 weeks carrying Zoe I became dehydrated and spent a night in the hospital stopping contractions. Well, despite my best efforts, they started this time too. They weren't bad or regular, but I knew it would head in that direction if something didn't change. I just couldn't keep any liquids down. I called the nurse on call at the hospital and informed her of the situation. She said that I'd need to go ahead and come for an overnight in the hospital if they got regular and came every 7-10 minutes. Luckily, over the course of the next few hours, I eventually stopped expelling every ounce of liquid that I put in and the contractions stopped. No hospital visit. Phew! I'm about 80% back to normal as of today. I'm just really weak and still pretty tired, though I probably slept 18 of 24 hours yesterday. And I'm still trying to slowly introduce solids back into my diet w/o throwing my stomach into fits...not much luck on that part.

I have to give a big thanks to my precious husband (who probalby won't even read this) through all this. He instantly became Mr. Dad and took on all that the job entails plus some...taking care of an energizer bunny version of a 19 month old, doing laundry, doing dishes, straightening the toystore that appears on our carpeting every day a few times a day, taking care of his sick wife, and trying to juggle his own job in the midst of all that. He was wonderful! He ended up cancelling his first class yesterday and taking Zoe with him to his second class, and staying home the rest of the afternoon so I could focus on resting and getting better. I'm not sure how I would have been able to function otherwise.

Luckily, no one else in the family has caught it. I hope to keep it that way. It's been a full 48 hours since I first became sick and I think both of us played it pretty safe, he by becoming addicted to germ-x, and me by banning myself to the bedroom for much of Sunday. I'd come out for a change of venue while she was napping and for about an hour and a half after she went to bed, and even then confined myself to our rocker, but other than that I was in the bedroom. I'm hoping that if anyone was going to get it, they'd have it by now, but I'm still crossing my fingers for the next couple of days.

Uh-Oh, I got an owwie!

I met a friend a few days ago. Mommy said that this friend wasn't very nice to me b/c I came back from our first meeting together with an owwie. He didn't mean to do it. We just met head on. It wasn't all his fault. See, I took off running and *BUMP* I went. It made me cry a lot for a few minutes and even bleed a little bit. But then mommy carried me into the kitchen and put ice on my head. She said it'd make my head feel better and keep it from getting big, but I was more mad at her than I was my new friend. But I got over it and when I stopped screaming at her for trying to keep cold ice on my head, I gave her a big hug and kiss.

Oh...and this friend? It was my door frame. I ran smack into it, well, fell really...



Ok, so this picture was too perfect. I was taking pictures with a another photography lover friend of mine today (see below post) and this is one that was captured in the moment of me asking Zoe, "Where's your nose?" Too funny!

19 months old!!

Well, a whole four days...I mean four weeks...has passed since she turned 18 months. She's not quite 19 months, but will be in just a few days.

According to her 18 month check up, she's about the 50th percentile in weight, about 23 or 24 pounds...I can't remember, and b/w 33 and 34 inches tall, the 75 percentile for her height. Doc says she's doing great.

Not much more in the way of new learnings this month.

A few new found discoveries are:
*Counting from one to ten.
*Looking at a picture of, say 4 bananas, and being able to count how many there are.
*About 8 shape names.
*Able to identify and name about 6 colors correctly.
*Tons of two-word sentences, and several three word sentences. Her new sentence last night was "Mommy throw". She wanted me to throw her ball to her.
*She mimics EVERYTHING. Most sentences we say, she'll repeat the last word or two.
*She runs with ease....everywhere.
*She's really gotten into the creative play, playing house mostly with her stuffed animals and dolls.
*And the more unfortunate of the new discoveries was a discovery on our part....she's sort of obsessive. Things have to be in straight lines or set up just right for her to be satisfied. Sometimes, she's not satisfied with the placement of her sippy cup and will move it slightly. Ahem...that, she took after her mommy in. :-(

Other than that, not much is going on. Just Zoe being Zoe...a goofy girl with a sweet smile and a big heart. Fun times!

Now I do have to warn you...she does have an inch long cut on her forehead. No worries! No stitches or anything. Just a few tears. She simply had a bad first meeting with a new friend...her door frame...a couple of days ago. Most of the scab is just where some of the skin was taken off her forehead...very little actually bled.

Belly Photo Sessions...

Well, really just one. This is what I look like at 29 weeks...just 11 weeks to go. I think it's safe to say that I've grown...just a tad. He's, as far as I can tell, in his ready position. I felt about a week and a half ago this whole body shift. It took about 2 or 3 minutes it seemed and it made me just stop in my tracks until it stopped. The movement was unlike any other I'd experienced...no kicking or jabbing, no knees or elbows slipping across my belly. No, this was a "holy cow what's going on in there?" moment. Since that point, I've felt lots of knees and long legs up near my ribcage and lots of little movements and side to side movements down low. In other words, I feel at this point like I've got a watermelon sitting on my pelvic bone...much more uncomfortable then I was with Zoe at this stage. And my thoughts keep going to the fact that he's probably only 3 pounds by now...what's it going to be like when he hits 7 pounds???!!!?? But nonetheless, I've been truly blessed to have had an easy pregnancy to this point. I'll gladly give up a few hours of sleep every night and lots of groans when I bend over to pick something up off the ground at this point after having had a relatively easy 29 weeks up to now.

Ok, I think this one's going to just stick straight out.



This next picture is what I was at 29 weeks with Zoe girl...look how all over rounded I was.

First Born

Here you go mommies - a different kind of survey for a change - it's all about your first born! I decided this one over the 25 random things about yourself.

Let's see how much I remember!


1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED?
Can any pregnancy really be planned? We were trying...the actual pregnancy was up to God. :)

2. WERE YOU MARRIED WHEN YOUR CHILD WAS BORN?
Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS WHEN YOU FOUND OUT?
Drop to my knees in tears and prayer. Too many months of negative tests.

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU?
25

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT?
Took a home pregnancy test. Same as I did every month...hoping...

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST?
Well, I was on the phone already with my mom when I went in to read the test...but then I planned this elaborate scheme to tell my husband while at work.

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX?
Yes, definitely 100%. I had some decorating to do and have to have just the right clothes. :)

9. DUE DATE?
Which one?? Initial date, July 18th...first ultrasound date, July 16th, mid-pregnancy ultrasound date...July 15th.

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS?
Umm..yeah, worst two months of my life, I think. 24 hours a day for about 8 weeks.

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE?
Deviled Eggs and fruit

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST?
At the beginning, it was the constant nausea and throwing up...towards the end it was the discomfort of being a house on legs.

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD'S SEX?
Girl

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING?
Didn't matter at the time

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
About 15

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER?
Yes

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW?
I knew

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY?
Not anything serious for her, just a lot of physical issues for me.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Baptist Medical Center in Little Rock, AR

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR?
Too many...about 20-21.

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL?
Darin

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Darin, the doc, nurses

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION?
Natural

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN?
Oh, it was heaven.....

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH?
7 lbs, 14 oz

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ?
July 18th, 2007 at 12:35AM

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER?
Zoe Grace Buscher

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY?
18 months going on 18

32. WHAT WAS THE FUNNIEST PART OF DELIVERY?
Umm, as if delivery is funny.... BUT, w/o being too graphic, here goes. I had been pushing for about an hour and a half. I had had a double dose of the epidural again b/c it wore off completely about 2 hours before, so I couldn't feel anything. I was doing "practice pushes" for the hour before the doc came in and still doing "practice pushes" once she came in. At the point when she was ready to actually get herself prepared, she got up and had the nurses help her get dressed and instructed me to continue pushing, saying, "she won't come anytime soon, you can keep pushing". So, as instructed, I continued pushing...only the first push after her saying that and out popped Zoe's head. I again coulnd't feel anything...I only saw my doc, a normally very passive and mellow woman, begin to freak out. Her eyes widened and she said with a frantic voice, "No, no...stop pushing, stop pushing!!!" Meanwhile, the nurse ran over to support Zoe's head. I'd never seen her move so fast to get ready and back over there. About 3 more pushes (maybe a few more) and she was out.

Determined mom - 1 Dying batteries - 0

I think I posted a video a couple of weeks back of Zoe counting to 5, or rather to "tee" and then having help with 4 and 5. This morning she surprised me while we were building with some blocks. I pulled one at a time out and asked her to count how many I had. She still for some reason gets caught up at 4, but then counted from 5 to 10 by herself. Of course, after we cheer and dance, mommy had to go get the camera and try to recapture the moment. YEAH RIGHT. I sometimes forget in my moment of excitement that recreating a moment in time with an 18 month old is next to impossible! So..I got creative and while Zoe was taking a bath (in our lovely pink tub, mind you), I held each number flash card up while she told me what the number was. And whoohoo...finally got a video of it! I was fighting dying camera batteries and was determined to get her to count before the camera started flashing its red lights at me. HA! Determined mom - 1 Dying Batteries - 0

Just in case you ever wanted to know...

Zoe learned to finger paint today. So just in case you wanted to know how, she wanted to teach you too.

Step 1: Wet your fingers and observe to see that you have enough moisture on each finger.


Step 2: Put your finger in the paint color of your choice and swirl around.


Step 3: Making sure that you only paint on the paper, go at it!


Step 4: Prepare a picture for your daddy and allow plenty of time for your picture to dry.


Step 5: Look at your colors and realize that they are not the same colors you started with.


Now you're done! Good job!!!

So we also experimented with the paint brush, although she enjoyed painting with her fingers much more.