Her timing was perfect. Her original flight was only supposed to be for a week, but my dad decided on a "whim" a couple weeks before she flew out to extend it an extra week. All I can say is God's timing is perfect sometimes. I had already been suffering from congestion for over a couple weeks before her arrival, but little did I know that the night I picked her up would begin the worst week of it all, with not only congestion that left me only being able to partially breathe through my nose a few moments (and I mean moments!) each day, but also with nausea too! Add to that my fitful nights of sleeping sitting up (3-5 hrs max, with me waking up every 30min from not being able to breathe)... and well, you get the picture.
So, since I couldn't even climb my own stairs without having to pause a couple times to catch my breathe, she took over with everything to help this poor Virkler household run smoothly! She not only took care of me, but my son, cooked the meals and cleaned up the house- I'm sure Joel was living in luxury he hadn't experienced since I got ill! AND she put up with our terrible weather too! What a trooper :)
I feel bad that she had to do all that for most all of her visit, but I'm very grateful for God's timing with it all, because I don't know how I would have survived otherwise- I know Liam would have definitely gone nuts! She and my poor husband also put up with my constant complaining about my congestion- the only thing I felt like I could do when I couldn't take any medications, and all the herbs and vitamins you can name, countless glasses of water/juice, nasal sprays and neti pots, Vicks and breatherite strips, steams and humidifiers couldn't help me from going through about a half of a kleenex box a day and clear up my sinuses for more then a couple minutes at a time... if that.
I'd plead to God all throughout the day, even in my son's prayers (I'm selfish like that), and especially in the sleepless hours of the night. It is amazing what God can do through trials. He brought me from being a selfish, bitter, frustrated and tired complainer to someone sick and at peace with their circumstances, even if it would last the rest of my pregnancy. And once He got me to that point, He told me that one of His name's is Jehovah-Rapha, and did I believe it? If I truly believed that He was the Lord that heals, then I needed to trust in Him completely... that way Satan couldn't come back later to say "well, maybe it was some of God's grace, but it was also this and this and this..." That meant stopping everything I was doing to try to heal myself and trusting in the Great Physician to take care of my poor pregnant body with his perfect treatment. And I did (unfortunately, I must admit, I had a partial attitude of "what have I got to lose?")... And He healed me. COMPLETELY. Sure, I still blow my nose a time or two, but in a matter of a couple days, my sinuses cleared up. No more aching headaches. No more tender jaws/teeth from the sinus pressure. No more feeling like I was drowning when all I was doing was drinking a glass of water, or suffocating when I was eating a salad. And no more stuffed-to-the-point-that-no-one-can-understand-you-on-the-phone sinus congestion! YAY!! And all I could do was step back and offer a measly "thank you Jesus", along with a few other unworthy praises, while taking delight in having my whole system operating at full capacity in the way it should work.
I think that left me with a couple of real days to enjoy my mom's visit... :)
We really didn't do too much while she was out. How can you when the driver is sick and there is tons of snow on the ground, and the temperatures are below average COLD! So we did what anyone else stuck inside would do (that is when we weren't watching my son shovel snow outside... his FAVORITE activity... and yes, I'm not joking when I say favorite)... we cooked, and baked, and talked, and read books, and played with Liam. :) Not an all together bad way to spend a couple of weeks, but I can't wait for warmer outdoor days again!
WARNING:
Another onslaught of pictures will take place below, for those back in Phoenix that were unable to fly out with my mom
Katie crocheted me a scarf.
Liam decided from the beginning he liked it and always wanted to wear it.
Liam decided from the beginning he liked it and always wanted to wear it.
Yogurt... he usually ends up wearing the majority of it.
As messy as he was though, he got a little bit on his finger, and wanted me to wipe it off!
Cheese!
Apparently I take a lot of pictures, so my son knows just where the lens is.
Apparently I take a lot of pictures, so my son knows just where the lens is.
Multitasking
Nana doesn't let him hold her touchscreen phone- a wise decision.
Here he is talking to his Auntie Katie.
A new favorite perch to read books
Chocolate cream(less) pie... Very tasty, but I won't tell you what's in it in case I ever serve it to you ;)
My first attempt to bake homemade bread by myself... in order to give it to the neighbor who plowed our drive and walkways after our "blizzard"... and then towed me out of my driveway when I got stuck after a second large(r?) snowfall.
You can tell I'm from Phoenix (and have no sense of depth perception) when you look at what I tried to drive over before my neighbor came to rescue with his truck and snow shovel :) Apparently the city snowplows aren't as nice as the neighborhood ones in making sure they don't block the driveways when plowing
Eating ice cream when it is 15 degrees outside- notice the empty DQ...
Strawberry sundaes... he didn't eat the strawberries... apparently he is content with just plain vanilla :)
Trying to play with the "bu ball" (blue ball) in a snowy drive
Looking at Christmas pictures... one of his favorite pasttimes (don't mind the boxes that haven't been stored yet...)
"koo-koo" trains that he got for Christmas
looking at pictures (yes, he's vain) on Nana's phone
Our favorite Tuesday morning activity- waiting for the garbage truck to come down our street
A new (and shortlived) hairdo... caused by oatmeal and cinnamon roll icing
Showing off his different boots (He put his other snow boot on Nana's foot)
Practicing his "upstairs/downstairs" with the animals on Noah's ark
Liam helping his Mama shovel the drive
Shoveling our walkway
He doesn't always understand the concept that the snow is supposed to be taken off the walkway
And with that I'm caught up (or the most I am willing to be at the moment) with my unfortunate sabbatical away from my blog! Hopefully, I'm never this bad again (but no promises!)
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