The Cunningham Family: Week 4 Around Here {2019}

Taking... care of Wyatt as he recovered, ever so slowly, from his tonsil and adenoid removal surgery. He has been in horrible pain, especially at night, all week. He wails from the pain in the night, refusing the swallow the pills (he prefers pills to the liquid, which burns, during the day) and is constantly tantruming between the hours of midnight and 6am. He has woken up the whole house most nights. I guess this can be common. But it is killing me softly.

Enduring... a flood in our brand new bathroom after a pipe burst in the wall behind the shower on Saturday. Poor Josh had to work so hard to rip everything out, dry it and replace it. He's been a real saint, fixing it, bit by bit, so we can have a bath again for Carly to bathe in. (She doesn't like showers.) Luckily the only other damage was to the carpet in the hallway, which we were planning to rip out and replace with new flooring anyway. Phew!

Surviving... a super strange allergic reaction to my taco bowl from a local mexican food restaurant on Saturday night. I ate the entire bowl (delicious!) and then noticed my lips were swelling up and had hives on the inside. Thankfully my mom (who has experience with food allergies) was here and knew what to do. I took some benadryl and watched the clock. It didn't escalate from there, and I was fine within an hour. But boy it was scary! (And I won't be having a taco bowl again any time soon!)

Sending... my mom off to my sister's house on Monday after enjoying her help all weekend. She was there when Wyatt went into surgery Friday and then spent the whole weekend entertaining the twins and playing with Carly and helping out around the house. I was so grateful she was there, as were the kiddos. I am so thankful that she came so willingly and helped so much. What a blessing.

After... she left Josh took the twins and their friend Cristian riding on their four wheelers on his parents land. Such a fun dad!

Reading... Where The Crawdads Sing and Girl, Wash Your Face. I am also listening to Orange is the New Black on audio. Where The Crawdads Sing was so good and I couldn't wait to get to the end to figure out the mystery. When I got there, I was blown away. So good! I finished Girl, Wash Your Face as well, and loved it. I am going to spend the next few days journaling about all the things I underlined in it. (Like "It's all in your hands now. Everything that happens from here on out is entirely up to you." So inspiring!)

Starting... All The Ugly and Wonderful Things, and reading over 100 pages the first day. I could not put it down. It is dark and disturbing and amazing. No wonder it has so much buzz around it.

Loving... how Carly is obsessed lately with Llama Llama. We read one of his books every night. She also loves Skippyjon Jones.

Accepting... flowers from Josh after many sleepless nights with Wyatt. All week I had alarms set for every three hours to wake him and give him Tylenol and Ibuprofen alternating to stay on top of the pain. It was like having newborn babies again! But this time, I'm ten years older! (And let me tell you, I am feeling those ten years!) Also this week, Carly's potty training has her waking up when she needs to pee. Instead of peeing in her diaper, she wakes up and yells, "Mo-om! I have to go PEE!" So I have to climb out of bed, get her up, take her potty, and then get her tucked back in... So I have been more exhausted this week than I've been in years! So much so that I have been drinking coffee again this week, and I haven't had coffee in over a year!

Meeting... my book club girls to discuss this month's book (my pick!) which was How To Walk Away. I have heard it compared to Me Before You, but I didn't find it similar at all. I loved it, just like I loved Me Before You, but it was a story all it's own, despite the fact that one of the characters face similar circumstances. Her ups and downs were so believable and realistic, and there were many quotable quotes I underlined:

"Because that's all we can do:

carry the sorrow when we have to,

and absolutely savor the joy when we can.

Life is always, always both."

Blessed... all week by the village around us. People brought us meals and gift cards for meals and toys and balloons for Wyatt... I mean, it was amazing. People ran errands for us, and called to check on us constantly. Despite my complete exhaustion, we got through this week unscathed because there were all these amazing friends looking out for us. Thank you to each and every one of you.

Thank you also to each of you who prayed for us. We felt those prayers on the day of surgery, and all throughout the week.

Celebrating... our last little Babyham's birthday on Thursday. Carly is now officially three. (Although, any time anyone asked, she said she was turning fifteen. Haha!) For her birthday, Wyatt wrapped all her presents (he asked if he could, and I happily said yes!) and the three of us made cupcakes, which we frosted pink & purple.
Wyatt also lit her candles and we all sang Happy Birthday. She blew her candles out about two thirds of the way through the song. I think she couldn't stand the anticipation anymore. She was SO excited the entire day. Every time someone said, "Happy Birthday!" to her, she said, "Happy Birthday" back to them. She is so full of life and love, I walk around in awe of her, trying to be more like her. I want to wake up that excited to face everyday.

Walking... down memory lane as we said goodbye to the last of my baby & toddler days with children. I have loved every minute of raising Carly (and her brothers before her). She brings so much joy into our days. (I'm including a taste of what I've been doing to myself... enjoy!)