Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.  We are hoping that you have all had a wonderful day with friends and families and have had the ability to enjoy the day as well as all the riches that have been lavished upon us.

Last night my mind was so full of what this day has turned into.  Mommy said that the tree was full of gifts.  “Full” was about 9-10 presents and they were almost all ones that others had brought to us and/or the girls.  There was very little from us.  To borrow a phrase from some friends who are also in financial straights, it truly is liberating.  It’s really weird but in many ways it allowed us to focus on enjoying each other instead of days and days of shopping, wrapping, worrying about the right thing, etc.  We hope that our family is understanding as they received pictures of the girls and home made trinkets made from tracings of the girls hands and with the girls.  I think there is truly a lesson in there.  

We did receive an email that someone wants to send us a gift next week and some others gave some spending money as gifts so it will be really nice if we can go find something nice for us.  

Now don’t get me wrong.  We were blessed beyond measure with our friends and families getting the girls (and us) SO many presents.  Our neighbors across the street brought over gifts for the girls and early this morning a “butter pastry” that was spectacular.  Other friends had spent the week getting things for the girls, etc.  We got way way way more than we ever could have imagined.  Mommy is still trying to put things away, wash things and most difficult, find places in the playroom for all the new toys.  

Yesterday was so wonderful.  Rebekah seemed like she was normal again.  She played, she laughed and she even sat with us at the tables during meals.  She didn’t eat but it was so wonderful.  Unfortunately today was a pretty drastic turn around.  Rebekah was upset from the moment she woke up and very clearly hurting.  On top of everything else she has a cold and has gone through more than two Kleenex boxes of tissues.  She has been screaming constantly and just about nothing we could do would make her happy.  This afternoon at Grandma M’s she just wanted to go to bed, then get up, then go to bed, etc.  She wouldn’t even open any presents and just screamed “no” and cried anytime anyone tried to talk with her.  Then she fell down and scratched her head up pretty good and that just made a bad situation worse.  When we got home she didn’t want to do anything but sit on the couch and have her tubes hooked up.  About bed time she said she wanted changed and then mommy took her to her room and she started screaming and throwing up all over everything.  We are afraid of what the night will bring.  And, to top it all off, mommy is getting pretty sick again.  She is worn out and has a cold so bad even thinking is difficult sometimes.  

Please pray that Rebekah has a good night and good next week, that Sarah’s cold doesn’t get any worse and that mommy feels better so she can keep everyone together.  Please also pray for so many of the other kiddos that we know that are in the hospital, having insurance problems, fighting with side effects, etc.  We feel so lucky to be doing “as good” as we are.