After 10 days of a horrible hacking cough/cold nightmare, I thought I was on the upswing…until I woke up with the yuck again this morning. Seriously?? Is it possible to just keep giving it back and forth to each other?? Thankfully, Vann has escaped the crud, but poor Charlie woke up coughing Tuesday morning and has been sick ever since.

It’s probably a good week to be sick (if there is such a thing), as it’s literally 10 degrees outside today and just so brutally cold. However, entertaining a very active toddler with extreme cabin fever is becoming really challenging. I had to cancel our playdates and stay home from mom’s group this week, which really stinks, so it’s on me to keep her entertained…which you know most likely means lots of TV and lots of bribery.

Thank goodness for good friends…Ms. Kim has offered me the option of “sharing” her sitter on Wednesday mornings, so starting on the 10th I’ll get to drop Charlie off at Emi’s house to play from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, which will give Ella and I time to run errands and spend a little time together. (A little time with Ella means she sleeps and I shop, thank the Lord for newborn portability…)

And speaking of my girl Ella…well, she’s really pretty cute these days. She still fusses in the evenings…but she’s starting to really open up to the world and she’s been smiling and cooing quite a bit, which is just so rewarding after all of the hard nights. She’s still going from 10 pm to about 7 am…but we’ve begun the process of moving her back gradually in the hopes she’ll be a 7 to 7 girl soon. We unswaddled her for the first time and she slept the whole night! She’s found her hands and often has her fist in her mouth.

Next week also marks my return to the gym after a long absence, and I’m ready. My incision is healed and I’m anxious to be active again. Breastfeeding has done wonders for losing the baby weight, but now I’d love to really tone it up and our trip to Scottsdale in March is a great goal! I’ve asked my sweet husband for a round of training with my girl Tamme for my (gulp) 32nd birthday. 32??? Really??

And as for our hopeful move to Texas, there are definitely some great things on the horizon. Please pray that we would be watchful and faithful and able to make good decisions. God is good!!