Sick Ward

I had grand plans for my week off of school, in between spring and summer semesters.  I was going to blog every day, take my kids to do some fun things, get some much-needed stuff done around the house...

And then....

Hadley woke up last Saturday, in the early morning hours, throwing up.  She was pitiful and it was awful.  She couldn't even keep down the smallest sips of water.  I ended up having to take her to the doctor (after not peeing for over 12 hours or being able to keep any fluid down for the same period of time) and they gave her some zofran.  Luckily that helped and she was able to start taking some sips of water.  I had a cold that day, but spent the day cleaning and disinfecting my house.



David was scheduled to go out of the country on a business trip that Monday for a week.  Perfect timing, yes?  So he packed his bags and got well out of dodge!  Hadley took a few days to perk back up, but she finally started getting back to her old self, just in time for Griffin to go down.

Griffin woke up Tuesday morning just happy as a lark, but when I took him upstairs to get ready to take Hadley to school, he threw up all over me.  I cleaned him (and me!) up and realized he actually felt quite warm.  I took his temperature and it was 102.5!  He pretty much went downhill after that and ran a 102.5-103.7 fever for the next two days.  He only threw up the one time, but he clearly didn't feel good.  He was so whiny, clingy, and didn't want to eat.  I spent most nights just walking him around because it was the only way he was comfortable.



His fever finally broke, but he still didn't want to eat.  I saw something white in his mouth when I was brushing his teeth that night and upon closer examination I realized--he has thrush!  I looked a little more and realized he had sores all over his throat.  This poor kid had hand, foot, and mouth AND thrush on top of that.  I have no idea where he picked that up.  He's had some blisters pop up on his hands and feet, but not too many.  Most of them showed up in his throat.



So, we went back to the doctor to get something for the thrush, but the HFM just had to run its course.  And now, here we are a week later!  The best laid plans got pushed to the side, I got no blogging done last week, but quite honestly, if everyone was going to be ill, that was the best week for it.

I spent a lot of time thanking God that these sicknesses waited until my break from school to occur!  I can't even imagine how I would have done schoolwork after being up all night walking my babies around.


Am I the only one who wants to walk around like this all the time?  ANYTHING to prevent the stomach bug.  ANYTHING.

And we couldn't have done it without my grandmother and aunt, who came to the rescue.  They were so helpful and I can't thank them enough for how amazing they were!

Hopefully we are all on the mend now and I can get back to school and my blog posts!  I hope you all faired better than we did this last week! ;)

Earliest Childhood Memory

I'm following a 31-day blog challenge, although I've altered it and am doing one every Friday.

Today's challenge is to blog about your earliest childhood memory.  I'm having a hard time remembering, haha!  My grandmother and I were just talking about this recently!  Do some of our memories exist because we remember them?  Or do we remember some of them because people have explained them to us and they've made their way into our memory?

For example, David remembers vividly the day his mom's arm got severely burned.  He can tell you the story, the cartoon that was on, what happened, etc.  But all of the adults who were there that day swear he wasn't there, that he was with someone else (his mom was 2 weeks postpartum having his sister.).  So...was he there?  Or is he remembering years of others talking about the situation that have now become embedded in his mind?

I have a great habit of getting side-tracked, don't I? :)

I don't remember my earliest childhood memory, so I'll just write about one of my favorite, okay?  Okay.

Growing up, I so wanted a pet.  I really, really wanted a dog.  We didn't have one and no amount of begging worked (at first!).  My mom finally relented and said if I wanted a dog, I had to save up my money to pay for one.

So I did.  I saved and saved my allowance.  I can't quite remember how much I saved, but it was around $350.  And I have a sinking suspicion that my mom probably paid whatever the remainder was.  Either that, or dogs are severely over-priced these days, haha!  (And she did pay for all the food, vet bills, etc.  Looking back, I had no idea what it "cost" to have a pet, haha!  Thanks, Mom!)

When I finally saved "enough", we started looking in the newspaper ads.  (Remember that?  Newspapers? Hahaha.)

*Seriously, bless my heart.  I sure am glad I grew into my teeth, haha!*

We found a family in our area who bred golden retrievers.  We went, picked out our baby, and visited a couple times before our girl was ready to come home.  I named her-- get ready for this-- Goldilocks.  Yep, I named my golden retriever Goldie.  More specifically, her name was Goldilocks Noel, because her birthday was Christmas Eve.

She was the best dog ever.  She was so sweet and kind.  Typical of a lot of goldens, she loved to "retrieve" but not bring back.  So me and my cousins would chase her around the backyard for hours. My cousin Amy, only three years old at the time, was the only one who could ever "catch" Goldie, and it's because Goldie would run slow enough that Amy could get her.

*Goldie hated being dressed up.  She never would smile....ever, if we dressed her up.*

Many mornings before school, she would hop up on my bed and crawl up to my face and lick or nudge me awake.

If she needed attention, she would go into the dirty laundry and pull out underwear and walk slow circles around the living room circle.  That was always fun when we had guests over! ;)

And she loved to have her paws scratched.  She would sit at your feet and put one paw on your leg for you to scratch.  When you were done, she would switch and put her other paw up there.  Crazy girl!



She passed away my first semester of college.  My mom got another golden and her middle name is Noel, in honor of her big sister.  Goldie is definitely one of my favorite memories from my childhood!

 *Goldie and her BFF, Cara (my cousin's dog)

Alright, leave me a comment.  What's your favorite childhood memory?

"Are You Happy, Mama?"

A month or so ago, out of the blue, Hadley asked me, "are you happy, Mama?"

"Of course!" I replied, "I'm with you!"

At the time, I just thought she was being my funny, sweet girl.  But she continued to ask me that occasionally and I started paying closer attention when she did.

My girl has a tender heart.  She definitely wears her heart on her sleeve and displays every emotion she has to the nth degree.  There is no holding back for her!  I love it (most of the time, ha!) She sings at the top of her lungs, laughs the biggest belly laughs, and has the most beautiful smile.  She's smart, and witty, and says the funniest things.  She gives hugs and kisses throughout the day, randomly stops what she's doing to say, "I love you, Mommy!".  Frequently lists off the people who she loves and who love her (she includes herself on this list. "I also love myself.  Do you love yourself?" Gut check, people!  If we want our daughters to love themselves, we have to start with us!)  She also cries and wails at the top of her lungs if she gets sent to her room, screams angrily if she thinks things are "unfair", and if she sees a drop of blood, you would really think she's losing a body part.  

She loves fiercely and feels deeply, my girl.

I started to notice she would ask me after she got in trouble.  Something small that really isn't "trouble" in my eyes, but more of a correction in attitude or a warning reminder that she needs to be careful.  I also noticed that she would be doing something, stop to look at me, look my face, and then ask me if I was happy.

I realized that Hadley was studying me.  She would study the tone in my voice when I spoke to her or around her, she would study my facial expression, my posture.  And based on what she heard or saw, it would give her pause, the wheels in her head would turn, and she would ask the only thing she knows to ask when judging me: are you happy?  Are you happy with me?

At first, I felt a lot of mom guilt.  What am I doing that my daughter is going around questioning if I'm happy?  Why would she think otherwise?  It really made me reflect on how I present myself, how I parent, and how I phrase my words.  During my bible study recently, I ran across this bible verse:

"Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear it." Eph. 4:29

It stopped me in my tracks.  What words come out of my mouth that serve no purpose?  That my little girl hears and tries to make sense of?  How do I conduct myself that she is noticing --and even though she doesn't have the words, is trying to discern why Mommy doesn't look or sound happy?  Even if I am!

I have really tried to incorporate this verse into my everyday.  It's caused me to think about what I'm going to say before I say it, think about how my reprimands will come across to her little ears, and the ultimate message I want her to receive.  I want to guide her and uplift her, not staunch her spirit.  I want to give her grace upon grace, because the Lord knows I'm not perfect and He supplies me with grace everyday, too.  What a gift He has given me, that I can now shower upon my daughter!

Little eyes are always watching and little ears are always listening.  Today, I am thankful for my beautiful girl who has taught me such a valuable lesson in carrying yourself with love and an edifying  purpose.

Life Lately

If you follow me on instagram, chances are you have probably already seen most of these pictures.  But it's been quite a while since my last "Life Lately" post, so I'm well overdue for one!

I can't believe April is almost over.  It's gonna be May (yeah, yeah, I see you N'Sync fans!) which is month 5 of the year, which is practically half the year!

Anyway, here's a little of our life lately:

 We flipped Hadley's car seat around.  We made it to almost 3 1/2 years before she turned.  And she will still say she missed having it the other way (because now she can't see the iPad!)

 I didn't move fast enough for this kid.  He wanted a snack so he got his hummus out of the fridge and his veggie sticks out of the pantry--and dumped them all over the floor.  Easier to dip that way, I guess!

 Like usual, we were rushing Easter morning to get everyone ready and out the door, so we snapped a quick cell-phone pick with my little loves.  

 Hadley has discovered make-up and got into my lipstick the other day.  She said, "I'm beautiful, am I!" 

 We went strawberry pickin' and ate our weight in strawberries!  So yummy.

 We've had many sleepovers in Mommy and Daddy's bed.  (Hadley swears she'll sleep in her bed "when I'm five."

 Our "play-date pet" Ted Turner has come by for some treats.

 Griffin has decided he prefers to eat his dinner on the floor.  #whateverworks

 They have actually started playing quietly together.  Also, I said, "clean up your mess!" and their mess is all shoved under that train table. Hahaha :) Jokes on you, Mom.

 We discovered with all of this rain that I am essentially "blonde Monica"!  

 We've gotten to play with our besties quite a few times!  Summer is going to be so fun.

 Re-take of our Easter outfits!  Since I shamelessly forgot to take a "sibling picture" on the actual Sunday of Easter.

 Hadley has the best great-grandparents.  She mentioned wanting to ride in the horse drawn carriage downtown.  They set it all up for her.  She dressed in her princess dress, princess shoes, and waved at all of her loyal subjects.

 Prince Charming got in on the waving action as well.

The coachman, Mr. Michael, played every bit his part and made her feel so special.  People on the street would wave at her and say, "You look beautiful, princess!" which was icing on the cake.  

There you have it!  A little bit of our life lately.  It always seems to be full, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it!

What's In a Name?

Heading back to my 31 day blog challenge, that is going to take the rest of my life to complete! ;)  Today's question was, "what's the meaning behind the name of your business?"



Well...I don't have a business.  Momma ain't got time for all that.

So, I thought I'd tell you the meaning behind my blog name instead.  It's really not much of a story, but let me tell you, I agonized over the name of this silly blog for far too long, haha! I felt like it had to be absolutely perfect.  It needed to be catchy so people would want to read it!  It needed to be some cute play on words!  It needed to reflect how in-depth my thoughts would be!



I'm serious, friends.  I have no idea what my problem was.  (I so wish there was a laughing crying emoji for blogger.)



In the end, I settled on a short and sweet description of our days.  Right now, in this time of my life, I survive on coffee and with two toddlers- we are constantly wiping off, walking on, and sleeping with (ha!) cookie crumbs everywhere.


*Exhibit A: Crumbs.  Poor second child had to get his own snack.  At least it was healthy? Haha :)

This blog is really just a journal for me and my family, if they choose to read it.  Every once in a while I do some fun posts about my thoughts on certain subjects or what toys my kids have loved at what ages because those kind of posts have been so helpful for me along my motherhood journey, but mostly I post about my kids.  And our life- our fun times and our struggles, our dreams and our realities.


*Girlfriend found the lipstick!  Doesn't she look beautiful?

So, my blog name, "Coffee and Cookie Crumbs" is just an accurate depiction of any random day at my house in this time of sleepless motherhood and messy toddlerhood.  Maybe one day, if I get some fancy blog design, I'll add a tagline like: "Finding joy in the messy moments of life" or "Our quiver full of messy blessings" (based off Psalm 127:3-5...you know it--children are a heritage from the Lord...blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.")

*My quiver.*

Anyway, I added a whole lot to this blog just to tell you the meaning behind the name, haha!  I hope you all have a great weekend!  I know I will...I turned in my last assignment of the semester this morning!  Now I have two glorious weeks of nothing before summer sessions start up.


*Doing the happy dance at 5:30 this morning after finalizing my policy brief and turning that bad boy in!

And please--I'd love to know the meaning behind your blog names!  Tell me I'm not the only one who  had such a hard time coming up with the "perfect" name, haha!

Spring Break 2017: Days 5-7

The rest of spring break, we spent around town.  We did at least one "fun" thing a day and just explored our little city.

We...

• Ate doughnuts for breakfast one morning

• Went downtown and discovered all the "Mice on Main" with Aunt Jess

• Grammy came to visit!

• Visited our small zoo

• Dyed Easter Eggs

• Mommy and Daddy went on a date night! (Woo hoo!)

• Went to an Easter Egg hunt (and had our own!)

*Don't judge the pumpkin.  #secondchildprobs

• Got ice cream at the town square ice cream station

*The dog in the background kills me. Just waiting on his opportunity to get G's cone!

• Watched a baby giraffe get born

*Yes, Hadley watched. She said, "well I bet that's smelly." Hahaha :)

• Went strawberry picking!

All in all, it was a great spring break week.  I love taking the time to explore and do things with my kids.  They are just so fun to be around.  These days...are about as sweet as those strawberries. ;)  (And that's pretty dang sweet!)