Newman News: Eerily Grateful...

So, as I am sure everyone has heard, Brooklyn had a rough week. I didn't get much sleep (neither did Brooklyn or Nick for that matter). And I pretty much didn't get anything really productive accomplished. (Please ignore the yucky nose in the picture and focus on the two cute little pearly-whites poking through).

I called the doctor on Friday, intending to set up a well-check for her first birthday sometime next week. They had an opening and said they would do her well-check AND see if they could help with her cough. So, I took her in (Annalie in tow) and they ended up saying they thought she had the beginnings of RSV...and they were putting her on breathing treatments to nip it before it got worse.

Well, the "breathing treatments" they referred to and prescribed were actually small doses of albuterol syrup. So she takes them by mouth rather than through the nebulizer machine. They also referred us to a pediatric neurologist due to the fact that the right side of her body is slightly weaker than the left.

So, after telling Nick what the doctor said, he asked me to pass the news on to the rest of the family. I did and was shocked to get a text from mom later that afternoon that read, "I just heard the news. If dad can find me a ticket do you want some help for a few days?"

Let me just say I was FLOORED! I never thought that someone would offer to do such a wonderful thing for me and while I longed to say yes, the more rational part of me said, "you'll be ok, she doesn't have to spend her time off and her money on you..." Then she called me. And I can't even express in words how overwhelmed I was with gratitude for a mother that would be willing to leave her vacation early, fly a state away and be willing to help me pick up the pieces of a quite exhausting week.

All I could think of was how much I had not gotten done during the week. I knew about the PILE of clothes in the hallway waiting to be washed. And the juice spills on the kitchen floor I just hadn't gotten back to wipe up. Not to mention my craft space...(really, I won't mention it again).

But, that being said, here she is...rocking my babies and singing songs and exercising Brookie's right side. Teaching me how to cook and tricks for helping Brooklyn's oh-so-chapped little nose.

We had a wonderful lesson in our combined R.S. and P.H. today and the teacher said this, "Little things are just little things. But faithfulness in little things is a great thing." Let me tell you, having a mother being faithful to the little things, like serving her family, is a great thing to me!!!

Now that I have spilled my gooey and emotional [pumpkin] guts, onto Halloween!!

It was a bummer that Brookie didn't get to stay in her costume longer because it turned out amazingly adorable. This little ladybug is definitely one worth catching and hanging on to!!

My other little girl is growing up WAY TOO FAST! In fact, she's already planning her wedding. So much in fact that she's already got the dress picked out. Here she is modeling! She has it all...from the veil to the shoes...flowers and jewelry. Let me tell you, her costume was a keeper (and a quick thanks to my mom who sewed it all)!!

In this next picture, I don't know how well you can see it, but it's the best one I had. My brother and I handed out candy from our van's "trunk" while Nick took Annalie around to get her "treats". Well, I guess we looked bodyless or something, because we got a lot of people saying "WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU??" and "How are you doing that?!"

So, here we are on Sunday, making Halloween cookies with Grandma. Annalie had a blast, and Brooklyn really liked throwing the cookie cutters on the floor and saying, "uh-oh."