It takes a village

This past week was a rough one for us. All three of us took turns being sick and we had tons that we had hoped to accomplish. I found this week that it really DOES take a village to raise a child... and I need to humble myself and ask for that help in raising mine.

Tuesday night, Ryan came home from work and looking pained, he quickly made his way upstairs to throw up. There is nothing I hate more than seeing my husband sick and listening to him vomit. I quickly made a reservation for Coranelle at the Rec center and we left Ryan to be sick and try to rest without Coranelle begging to play with her daddy. We think he had food poisoning from an undercooked burger he ate at a lunch meeting. He made it to work Wednesday on a weak stomach. Tuesday night, I attempted to sleep on the couch, just in case what Ryan had was the stomach flu. I failed miserably in getting any sleep, as I felt a cold coming on and couldn't stop worrying about Ryan.

Wednesday night was another restless night for me and I saw every hour of the night pass. I felt the cold growing stronger, but my stomach was also uneasy and crampy. I got up at my usual 6am determined to get through the day, knowing Ryan had to go to work. I had to sit down twice in the shower and then again when I got out because I was so dizzy. Ryan sweetly offered to get Coranelle ready and take her with him to breakfast burritos while I got some extra rest. Before he brought her home around 8:30, I got up to get ready and promptly passed out. (At the dentist tonight, they told me my blood pressure was 90/50, so that might have something to do with it!) Anyhow, I should have taken that as a sign to slow down and ask Ryan to stay home or ask someone to come help me out, but I stubbornly got ready and made it look as if I was fine when Ryan arrived. It was a LONG day and I felt weak and achy all day, but we made it through.

Friday, Coranelle came down with a fever and I have not seen her that sad or fussy since she was 6 months old. She just kept crying and crying and wouldn't eat or play. My mom and I tried everything, and finally had to give her the pacifier to calm her down. She fell asleep while we were rubbing her back within about a minute (which is unheard of with Coranelle). I think she had a cold and the 6, yes 6, teeth that are coming in are giving her a diaper rash and bothering her a lot. So, we pushed through the weekend with a very clingy and sad child. We had our Christmas services at church this weekend and it took about 45 minutes for Coranelle to warm up to being in her toddler room so that we could enjoy the service.

By this point, I was so exhausted and frustrated, I was almost in tears. And then, I stopped for a second to reflect. I was able to enjoy sitting next to my husband during the service, because some wonderful volunteer offered to take my screaming kid and just deal with it until the service was over. Meanwhile, my husband was rubbing my back and neck very sweetly. I glanced behind me the the whole row was filled with big, burly, tough men in leather coats with worn faces. One man had tears of joy in his eyes and I realized how much I love our church and the people that it seems to reach out to and take care of. After the service, Ryan was sweet enough to take Coranelle home and take care of her while I had the opportunity to volunteer in the toddler room for the next service. It's something I've wanted to do for a while, and it was nice that Ryan made the extra effort to make it work.

Three times during the past week, I heard from Ryan's parents. They were offering to come watch Coranelle, have both of us over so we could nap, and come deliver groceries- or anything we needed/wanted from ANY store. This is after they watched Coranelle last weekend and Bruce spent two days helping Ryan fix our door. Looking back on the week, I know I should have received help more humbly, instead of trying to go grocery shopping with a toddler when I felt so light headed. Yesterday, my parents came out and played with Coranelle so that Ryan and I could go for a walk, get some errands done and do some house projects. It feels so nice to have had a little time with my hubby and to have our basement cleaned and organized.
Even Coranelle was helping me out. She wanted to vacuum for me when I wasn't feeling well. She kept kissing me and saying "All Better" to try to cure me!

I cannot express how much I appreciate my family and all they do to take care of us when we have rough weeks and are fainting and throwing up and crying inconsolably. I also keep looking at our fridge at all of the lovely Christmas cards we have received from friends and family and am reminded of how blessed and lucky we are to be surrounded by such caring, supportive people. People that have passed along hand-me-down toys and clothes, people that have taught us something about parenting. People that have given up their weekends to help us move, paint our house, put in a sprinkler system or a patio. People that bring us cards and gifts of congratulations when they find out we are expecting. As we move towards Christmas, I am moved by the generosity shown to us by others and hope that we can reciprocate that in future days and weeks to come.

I hope you are all feeling loved and relaxed in these last few days before Christmas.