February 2018 in Pictures

"During the season of love, focus on loving more than just those closest to you.  Love everyone." -Unknown

I'm going to start out this blog post with a disclaimer...as I was going through pictures for this month, I realized something...I took a ton of pictures of Lizzie in February, and hardly any of Joseph.  I honestly don't know how this happened.  I certainly have no favorite child, and I typically take roughly the same amount of pictures of both of them (not on purpose, just naturally).  But this month something apparently went askew.  SO, please don't take the lack of photos of Joseph from February as anything other than a weird, unexplainable occurrence!  

The first couple of days of the month started off with a continuation of the flu.  David and Joseph slowly recovered right about the time that Lizzie came down with it.  Much like her brother was when he had it, she was so hot, lethargic, and pitiful.  I miraculously avoided the entire thing, possibly due  to the preventative Tamiflu.  In any event, Lizzie spent several days just laying around and sleeping.

Laying on Daddy's chest is the only thing she likes to do while sick

Once everyone recovered I still kept the kids quarantined at home for a few days so as not to spread germs.  These pictures capture that quarantine period perfectly...the chaos and misery of bored children.

Once the flu saga was over we continued on with normal life.  We went to the special "Wicked Plants" exhibit at the Science Center (about dangerous, deadly, and invasive plants).  It was pretty creepy.

My mother is extremely allergic to English Ivy, so I took a photo of this in her honor

We bought and planted a burning bush from New Garden Nursery back in the fall because we thought it was pretty.  Winning.

This Biblical fertility food is not for me.

I don't even know what to say about this, other than I think someone captured a photo of me on a Monday morning

"High Fructose Corn Syrup."  Interesting little statue.

We attended a Children's Dental Health Month event at our local library.  Joseph got to play the patient at one point.

David and I had a delightful Valentine's Date at Green Valley Grill, complete with this amazing dessert!

We went to the Mardi Gras party in my parents neighborhood...always lots of fun...

I took these fun pictures one evening when we were downtown eating dinner at The Corner Slice...

One other important thing from this month.  I mentioned this once on Facebook and also mentioned it in my blog posts about Katie, but I'll elaborate a tiny bit more here.  I got pregnant in February and unfortunately we miscarried that baby almost immediately.  I woke up one morning, took a test, and got a very very faint, but definitely true, positive (and I had been testing daily after my D&E with Katie to make sure that my HCG zeroed out and I was getting negative tests, and all of my tests were stark white an entire month prior to this, so we knew for sure this was a new pregnancy).  After all we've been through I have pitifully little reaction to a positive test - I simply have to guard my heart and can't bring myself to become overly excited too quickly (which, in some ways is almost impossible, as a mother's heart starts getting attached to that baby at the very first positive test).  I didn't have Heparin in my house and, while the line did darken on another test that evening, by the time I could actual get Heparin called in and filled the line was already rapidly fading.  It was incredibly disheartening to know that this clotting factor my body has can end the lives of my babies so quickly.  I was able to get my OB to call in Heparin for me to have on hand (it's currently sitting in a cabinet) so that, if there is a "next time" (and oh how I hope there is) I can start on it the moment of a positive test.  Baby #10 may have only been with us a couple of days, but oh how we love him or her and miss them, just like all the others.

Finally, here are all those photos I took of Lizzie in February, followed by some of both of the kiddos together!

Her mischevious face

Since Lizzie is my "rainbow baby" (baby born after miscarriage) it only made sense for me to buy her this outfit when I saw it at Carter's ;-) 

She can start ballet at age 3.  Can you tell that I'm ready?

Many of you know that we co-sleep, which leads to adorable picture opportunities, like this one I took at 4am one Saturday morning (I'd gotten up to use the restroom and, when I saw them holding hands in their sleep, I just had to document it)

Whenever I go outside during the day to check the mail or take something to the trash I often look up to this

Love these two!