Thanks to everyone for entering! If you’re still interested in a copy, click the image to the right. Those people local to me should be able to pick up a copy at church this weekend.

Sick post A and sick post B…and I felt like I was whining so much, I tried to switch gears, which led to…

Practicing Motherhood

A birthday post for Julianna

But then I ended up writing another round of 7 Quick Takes from the hospital. Yes, the hospital. Again.

___1___

You know you are a confirmed scrapaholic who has been in the hospital wwwwayyyyy too many times when the doctor calls an ambulance to transport your child to the hospital, and your first thought is: Man! I don’t have the camera!

___2___

Yes, Michael and I in the hospital…again. He took the cold we’ve been passing around and added a few degrees of drama to it. However, we are not in the ICU. And it’s a very different thing to simply be in the hospital, rather than in the ICU. For one thing, I’m expected to change my own baby’s diapers. (Boo.)

___3___

I actually feel better now that we’re in the hospital. After the week of Sick

, in which I commented that we have entered some Bermuda Triangle that sucks up both good health and rest, I didn’t know whether to trust my skyrocketing anxiety level. Was it mother’s instinct talking or lack of sleep? Michael perked up and began eating, at least a bit, as soon as he got some oxygen in him. And this morning he’s not on oxygen at all and is doing much better. So I am reassured in my instincts.

___4___

But I also question this crazy lack of health in our family. We are generally really healthy people. Did we really have these kids too close together? Is that why we have such a poor record of health, so ridiculously many hospital stays? Or am I overreacting? After all, most of the hospital stays have been Julianna’s. But really, we’ve had illness after illness upon illness for two full months. Looking at the state of my kitchen this week I’d blame my housekeeping for the germ breeding ground, but the fact is that the dishes didn’t get done this week because I had to hold the baby so much, and when I wasn’t holding him I was trying to make up lost sleep. Nonetheless, all you people who say “dust bunnies can wait, enjoy the kids”–our experience makes clear that cleanliness cannot be sacrificed entirely!

___5___

Escalating the Month of Sick to hospital levels adds marital stress that we didn’t need. Nothing can make you feel quite so disconnected, and breed so much conflict, as being on call 24-7 and being forced to devote every second of couple interaction to the business of co-parenting. We had to cancel a date last weekend and reschedule for this, and now I’d say we’ve lost it this weekend, too. But at least this time we’re local, and I can actually leave for a couple hours and help get kids up (as I am doing this morning, which is why I have internet access).

___6___

This week, as I wrangled a very sick baby and a recovering toddler, it occurred to me how creative we moms of young’uns become. For instance, how many of you, like me, use your mouths as an extra appendage?

___7___

And last but not least: Here’s a video of an interview I gave about Bring Lent to Life. I look at myself, hugely pregnant, and I wince. It’s amazing how much the human body can stretch. Don’t forget to enter the giveaway for a signed copy!

UPDATE: Should’ve done this much earlier, but Michael came home on Friday afternoon–he just needed some oxygen & fluids to help him over the hump.

7QT is over at Hallie Lord’s today.

Here are my offerings …

If you’re looking for ideas for how to observe Lent, I have a book to give away. Come see!

I had some thoughts on Jonah, Marines, and prenatal diagnosis.

If you want to see what my kids are up to, here’s one on Julianna, and here’s one with pictures of Michael.

Drive Through Wisdom

Off My Stride

In The Background

Great Expectations

Cute Kids in 7 quick takes

My contributions for the week include…

…a guest post by my husband, who tells what happens when little hands get hold of the phone

…a thank you to my blog visitors

…a different way to look at New Year’s resolutions

…and a tribute to a friend who passed away right before New Year’s.

*

Kate knows not to call me at work unless someone is bleeding profusely, has broken a significant appendage or the house has been reduced to a pile of cinders. (We email back and forth occasionally, but we try to limit the phone calls to emergencies.)

So, on Friday, when my office phone lit up with the home number, there was a slight catch in my breath as I answered the phone:

“Hey. What’s going on?”

Greeted with absolute silence from the other end, I start to worry a little bit – has something happened? Is there an intruder in the house? Is my family safe? (Yes, the mind wanders quickly at times like these.)

“Hellllloooooooo? Anybody there?”

…and then….in a tiny voice, I hear…. “Daddy?”

“Nicholas?”

“Hi Daddy.”

“Uh, hey buddy, what’s going on?” (at this point, I don’t know whether to be very concerned that Nicholas is talking to me – has something happened to Kate and she can’t talk on the phone? – or whether I should be slightly annoyed, because Kate knows to only call me in emergencies and there doesn’t seem to be a problem at the moment except that the kids want to talk to me….. and then the third possibility hits me…..) “Uh, where are you Nicholas?”

“I’m up-tairs wit Julie-nanna (upstairs with Julianna)

“Where’s mommy, buddy?”

“She down-tairs.”

“Is everything OK?”

(big sigh) “yeah…….”

“Does mommy know that you are talking to me?”

“Uuuuhhhhh, no.”

“Uh, can you go get mommy? Keep the phone in your hand while you go get her.”

“Oooookay.”

When I finally get Kate on the phone, she has no idea that the kids had gotten a hold of the phone, much less called anyone. Apparently, Nicholas had decided to try his hand at dialing and by some small miracle, had hit the correct combination of redial buttons (our phone stores that last ten numbers dialed and I was in the 3rd or 4th position at the time) and got me at work. As I recall, the conversation ended on the subject of lunch and what would be consumed that day. Yet another lesson learned that you can’t let the kids out of your sight for a second.

Although, you know, you would have thought we have learned that by now, especially with our previous phone experience with Alex.

Since last weekend I teased you about a baptism, here’s the story of the craziness…and here are pictures from the weekend.

And here’s my favorite post of the week: The Scent of Heaven, in which I touch on a resolution for the new year. Which I go now to fulfill.

Last night I went to the home & school meeting. When I came home it was past bedtime. I settled on the couch to nurse and watch TV with my husband, and suddenly Nicholas appeared on the stairs. “Michael’s home!” he said excitedly. Not Mommy–Michael. Sigh.

___2___

I could get all gripey about lack of appreciation, but I know how difficult a time they had when I was gone. Alex’s schoolwork suffered in the month of December, and his teacher urged us to go easy on him. He was really worried about Mommy and the baby, she said, and she was sure it would straighten out over Christmas Break. So far it looks like she’s right.

___3___

Well, this is the day: Christmas is officially ended. Sort of. Because after all, we won’t actually celebrate Epiphany liturgically until Sunday. But by the 12-day count, this is it. So, quick show of hands: who still has their tree up and is lighting their outside lights? We do! We do!

___4___

I have a short fiction piece up today as well, if you’re interested.

___5___

I had to look up epitaphs in the process of my Write On Edge prompt today. And I have to say…they can be really funny! Check these out. May I approach death with such humor.

___6___

Since I’m pressed for time I’ll share two pictures. This one I’ll call “image that disturbs an overtired mother upon entering a darkened room, even though she knows perfectly well where her baby is and knows that isn’t him:

___7___

And this one I’ll title “image that ought to be disturbing, but to an overtired mother of four…isn’t.”

(Though I suppose if there’s any place in the house it’s rational to have a stuffed animal’s pants around his ankles, it’d be outside the bathroom!)

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Seeking Stillness…how fleeting, how rarely I find it.

I griped about how hard it is to find dressy baby boy clothes.

Julianna adores her brother…and it makes me uncomfortable to realize that I hope she never has a baby of her own.

On Christmas Eve, I realized that I am neither a Christmas nor an Easter Christian, but an Ordinary Time Christian.

Since people are always telling me my boys look alike, I gave a test. Can you tell them apart? (Here’s the answer.)

Happy New Year, everyone! And everyone wish Baby Michael a happy baptism day, because that’s how we’re celebrating New Year’s in the Basi house.