February Challenges and Mimi Comes to Help :)

February was a month that we wished had passed a little faster. It wasn't like a Biblical plague or anything, but I was starting to think: "What could happen next!!??" :) The first thing to happen was a problem with my back. One night I was playing with Jacob and my back went OUT! I couldn't move for a minute and I had tremendous pain in my back and shooting pain in my legs. For the three weeks prior, I had been letting Brett know that my back was starting to hurt pretty badly. That night, it gave out from carrying my almost 22 lb baby and made it so that I could hardly walk. For the next three weeks, I was not to pick up anything heavier than 10 lbs, which made it very difficult for me to take care of Jacob. Basically, someone had to babysit me while I babysat Jacob. It was pretty funny and logistically difficult. So, the very weekend that I hurt it, Brett had class and was going to be away from the house from 2pm-10pm Friday and from 9am-9pm Saturday. We were going to have to pay someone to stay with me for all that time so that I wouldn't injure it further. So. . . Mimi came to the rescue! Praise the Lord for my sweet mama! She came to pick up Jacob for me and help me take care of him and then helped me do all kinds of housework that I couldn't get to myself. It was definitely one of the most thankful I have been for to my mom (second only the weeks following Jacob's birth!).

Jacob loves his stroller that Papa Stan got for him!

On Saturday morning, Brett woke up and said that he had run a fever all night. When we finally got him to the Dr. later that day, he had a bad case of bronchitis. His cough was really bad and was keeping him uncomfortable most the night and day. By Sunday, Jacob was sick too and had lots and lots of congestion with a bad cough. He woke up multiple times at night for about a week there. I was thinking, "if we can just make it through Febuary. . . " :) Praise the Lord, Brett got over it finally after about two weeks, Jacob's sickness cleared up about the same time, and my back continued to improve drastically. When it rains, it pours, but we had lots of blessings along the way through good help!

Here is little man snuggling up for his last bottle one night. At the same time that we were having a few sicknesses at the Sanders, we had lots of close friends that were battling ilnesses with their little ones. Many of these were sicknesses and problems that had those babies hospitalized. It humbled us and really drove home what a blessing it is to have a healthy baby. We were a bit sick but were able to stay together and keep our little one at home. As I followed others' stories of 10 day hospital visits, I thought about how much my priorities had changed in the past year. Now there isn't anything Brett nor I wouldn't do to have a healthy baby.

That precious smile!

Sweet baby cousins holding hands!