This started on Friday, December 9th when he went to bed early feeling poorly. By Monday I was worried about dehydration because he was not eating or drinking and when he tried he would lose it. He was given some medicine to help him keep liquids in with a recheck the next day to make sure he was able to do so and did not need to be admitted for dehydration.

So much of this has become a blur now. The coughing got worse and worse. He said his chest was hurting. We couldn’t keep him awake for much time at all. I was still having to coax him into eating and drinking. We couldn’t get his fever to break. His breathing was labored. I could go on, but you get the idea. The boy is sick. After a week, a Z-Pack, a few more visits, and ruling out both flu and strep we went back on Tuesday the 20th and an x-ray confirming my suspicions of pneumonia.

He was sent home with some meds and instructions. On Wednesday he sounded worse, looked worse, and this mama was scared. We called to talk to the doc to work him in and they were double booked, but we did not think he needed the ER. They made an appointment for Thursday and the doc was rather worried. She heard some heavy wheezing and whistling sounds often associated with lung collapse or on its way to collapse. She put him on a breathing treatment right away, followed by some physiotherapy, and another breathing treatment. He was sent home with a nebulizer and medication for breathing every 2-4 hours (preferably 2). Any other doctor most likely would have admitted him to the hospital. And she said any other patient/family and she would have admitted him. But she knew we would follow through and make sure he took his medicines and breathing treatments and she really did not want him in the hospital with all the other things in there (like flu and RSV).

He went back again this morning. She said his lungs are still wheezing, but they do not sound as stressed. The breathing treatments are working. YEA!!! We are still in scary zone because of relapse and he is basically under house arrest (to prevent him from getting anything else by exposure). He is not contagious. What ever bugs caused this are most likely contagious, but the pneumonia itself is not. Poor thing has had more antibiotics and meds in him than he’s had in his entire life total to this point, probably more than his life plus all five siblings total.

PNeumonia Boy is a real trooper though. The other day after sitting up for a while (he hadn’t felt like sitting up more than propped in over a week) I found him stretched out on the couch and I asked him if he was feeling worse again. His reply? “No ma’am. I’m just hogging the couch.” Then yesterday he asked how long he could get away with asking others to do things for him. His humor and charm are returning. Other than the frown he wears because he hates the nebulizer I have seen him smile today.

We are still in a scary zone and things are still rough, trying to prevent moving backwards, but this mama is feeling blessed. Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep praying for him.

While mine have been appreciative of what has been done for them in the name of Santa (thanking us gratefully when I they figure it out), during some really bad times our family has twice been the recipient of a Christmas in the name of Saint Nicholas. Our family makes Santa a game, but we honor the man and the tradition of the real St. Nicholas and his loving selfless giving done in honor of his love for Christ.

Our kiddos (when the budget allows) get three gifts each. Jesus got three so three is good enough. (If you do the math that’s still a lot of gifting on Mama and Papa’s budget: 6 x 3). The children draw names to swap gifts. This means they each get one gift from a sibling, one gift from Mama and Papa, and one “Santa” gift.

This year’s additional fun came in the form of coded gift tags. No names. No to/from. Simply a number. A number that is significant to each child in a consistent manner.

The rules:

• They must decode the number to open the gift. HA!
• They must work together to figure out the code. HA!HA!
• They must present a united front with the final answers for confirmation. HA!HA!HA!
• If they haven’t figured it out by Christmas Eve (after church) then I will give them a logic puzzle to figure out which number belongs to which child, but they still have to figure out the significance of the number. HA!HA!HA!HA!

I caved on number four and gave them the puzzle tonight. I can’t believe how much hand holding they needed. I gave them some leeway as we’ve been struggling with one having pneumonia for two weeks. It’s been rough and we needed the fun.

The numbers: 122, 118, 105, 41, 15, 14

Here’s the puzzle:

1. The highest number belongs to the oldest child.
2. The lowest number does not belong to the youngest child.
3. One number belongs to the person whose number of letters in his/her name minus 2 is equal to that number.
4. The next two highest numbers belong to the two siblings whose names have the same number of letters.
   • a. For one sibling multiply that number by four and add ten.
   • b. For the other multiply that number by four and subtract three.
   • c. The higher number belongs to the younger of those two siblings.
5. The remaining number belongs to one of the last two siblings not yet assigned a number.

Note: The fifth clue is not even needed. 4a and 4b are not even needed (no one caught that). Amazingly the third clue took the longest. *eye roll from me* The answer was 15. Now see if you can do the rest, even without the names info I bet you can.

They are still trying to figure out how each number realtes to each of them, but they have until, well, there are 12 days of Christmas and the first one is on December 25th!

I love to throw pencils and pens in one on my desk or paperclips and rubberbands in them too. They ar perfect for most anything, especially the wide mouth jars.

I wanted to try my hand at a little craft I saw on Pinterest about how to dye/tint them. I love how these turned out; I can’t decide which one is my favorite. I will be making more, a set of pastels, a less vibrant colored set will be nice in my office I think.

I love ginger desserts. (Note: I don’t like ginger in my entrees, just my desserts.) I love gingerbread! I love ginger snaps! I love ginger ale! (Ginger beer is good, but I don’t like it too strong.) But what I love most with ginger is pepparkakor! My December and Christmas are not complete without it, more specifically, Nyåkers Pepparkakor. One could even say I luuuurve it! (Brad, that was for you!)

I thought Bairno’s first Christmas I was going to have some serious withdrawals. The poor boy was days/weeks old and his little nursing tummy could not handle all the ginger and clove I was ingesting so I had to stop cold turkey and let everyone else eat my beloved Nyåkers Pepparkakor. It was oh.so.hard. Now he loves it as much as I do. Seriously, I have never seen another person’s eyes light up like they do when he takes a bite. Well, except my own. He is his mother’s boy!

I stayed home from church today as my oldest boy was feeling rather ill and I am still fighting a fiery sore throat. We can not get Nyåkers here so our sweet Dutch friends who drive a bit more than an hour to attend our church brought Scottish me (OK, us) some of these lovely Swedish yummies. Moggie walked in and handed me the tin and said, “I’ll leave the two of you alone now!” She knows me well. Now that makes these an international gift, right?

See more of my December Photo Project 2011 on flickr.
And for the rest of the participants, here.

Today is the third Sunday of Advent! Gaudete, gaudete! (Rejoice, rejoice!)

Gaudete, guadete

Rejoice, Rejoice, Believers

Rejoice, rejoice, believers, And let your lights appear;
The evening is advancing, And darker night is near.
The bridegroom is arising And soon is drawing nigh.
Up, pray and watch and wrestle; At midnight comes the cry.

The watchers on the mountain Proclaim the bridegroom near;
Go forth as He approaches With alleluias clear.
The marriage feast is waiting; The gates wide open stand.
Arise, O heirs of glory; The bridegroom is at hand.

The saints, who here in patience Their cross and sufferings bore,
Shall live and reign forever When sorrow is no more.
Around the throne of glory The Lamb they shall behold;
In triumph cast before Him Their diadems of gold.

Our hope and expectation, O Jesus, now appear;
Arise, O Sun so longed for, Over this benighted sphere.
With hearts and hands uplifted, We plead, O Lord, to see
The day of earth’s redemption That sets Your people free!
— Laurentius Laurentii, 1660-1722

These are quite delicious and oh so delicate! These are not for the faint of heart as the recipe starts with a cup of melted butter.

See more of my December Photo Project 2011 on flickr.
And for the rest of the participants, here.

Compromise! Well, I got the C7 lights (the yucky plastic faceted ones – see next sentence). RevMrKnowTea got the newer LED cool ones. The children got lights that can be either white or multi-colored. So we bought these sets that are cool touch, faceted, plastic, multi-colored or white C7 light sets. I guess we all win!

See more of my December Photo Project 2011 on flickr.
And for the rest of the participants, here.