Even though I was sick this week I still had to pick up my younger sister's kids (ages 10 and 8) from school on Tuesday and babysit my youngest sister's two children (ages 2 1/2 and 9 months) while she was in school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. This cold I have had all week was at its worst on Tuesday. I spent the day in bed or on the couch, except for the time I spent taking a relaxing bath.
Since I would not have to get out of the car, I picked up my nieces in pink plaid pajama pants and a gray sweatshirt (that was just a little too short to pass as a maternity top). I did not put on any makeup or do anything more than blow dry my hair. If you know me you know I always do my hair and makeup even when I don't plan on leaving the house. I feel better when I am all put together and ready. Except for when I'm sick...like on Tuesday...when I barely had the energy to move. I picked up the kids from school and drove them home. When I was walking them up to their apartment 8-year-old Brinlee told me that I looked pretty. It was so sweet and made me feel so good on a day when I was feeling pretty crappy.
I warned my youngest sister on Sunday night that I was sick, but she could not miss class and did not have anyone else to cover. She is 2 months away from graduating from Utah Valley University. Usually her mother-in-law watches her kids, but she was out of town this week and I had promised to fill in when my sister asked me at the beginning of the semester. I had made a commitment to her so I still babysat even though I was not feeling up to it.
It ended up working out...I survived and had fun playing with the kids like I always do. Dylan, the baby, was actually coming down with a little cold himself so he napped better than usual (as long as I was holding him, which was fine with me because I was tired myself). He's usually a squirmy kid, but this week-especially Friday-he was extra cuddly. I enjoyed every second of it--even if it was just because he wasn't feeling too good. On Friday he actually fell asleep eating in between bites during lunch! Even if he wasn't feeling well, he was still pretty happy and not as fussy as he can be sometimes. It is so fun watching him army crawl around and try to keep up with his sister!
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| Sweet Dylan being all cuddly |
Bailey, his big sister, is a really good kid. She's very outgoing, animated and smart. She constantly impresses me with the things she knows. For example, when I got there on Wednesday she was playing with some flash cards. I started holding them up for her and she knew all the animals and most of the other items including rainbow, unicorn, robot and volcano. Of the ones I flipped through, the only one she missed was astronaut! She even knew all the shapes including the difference between rectangle and square, and circle and oval. She even knew octagon (and just hearing her say that word is adorable!)
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| Bailey writing me a story about smiley faces |
I am getting sidetracked though...something Bailey does that I love is that she always tells you she missed you as part of her greeting. Every single morning when I walked in the door she said, "Hi Aunt Char! I missed you!" and ran to greet me. I always kneel down so she can give me a big hug. Friday morning she made me feel extra special for two more reasons: First, after she pulled away from our hug she told me that my eyes were pretty and that she liked my eyelids. It was sweet because I was wearing a new color of eye shadow and this little toddler was the only one who noticed. Being the cute kid she is she then closed her eyes and asked me if I liked her eye lids too.
The second thing that made my day happened minutes later when Bailey told me I was her best friend. I told her she was mine too--afterall we do have lots of fun playing. She told me I was her best friend several more times throughout the day, including once during nap time/quiet time while we all cuddled on the couch watching Miles From Tomorrowland on Disney Junior. I was holding a sleeping Dylan on my left arm and Bailey was laying on my right with her pillow on my lap: I thought she was sleeping too until she rolled over to face me, hugged my arm and said "Aunt Char, you're my best friend." MELTED MY HEART!
The last fun thing that happened this week: I received my first gift off of my Amazon Baby Registry! On Friday when I got home from babysitting there was a big box waiting for me on the front porch. We brought it in the house, opened it up and inside was a glider and ottoman from my dad. I got it all put together (fortunately it came mostly assembled) and will be enjoying it in my living room until our baby gets a little closer and we get the rest of the nursery furniture. THANK YOU DAD!! It is so exciting to get baby stuff in the mail! Waiting for my shower makes me feel like a child waiting for a birthday party (one more week!)!
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| Our new Glider! |
All of these things (including the kindness of my neighbors I wrote about in my last post) helped cheer me up during a week when I felt pretty down. I have been feeling a little lonely lately. Being sick always does that to me though. For some reason when I am home sick I just want comfort--I get that "I want my mommy" feeling you have when you stay home sick as a child. As an adult, I think I would feel content if Ryan could stay home and cuddle me until I am well. Instead we have to be grown-ups and so I lay around the house alone all day, not feeling social at all, but still feeling isolated. To make it worse Ryan was sick 2 weeks ago and missed work so he was been busy with work stuff and not home a lot this last week.
Besides the pregnancy hormones that make me cry when it rains on my clean car (or any time I don't get my way...I know...childish), I know part of the problem is that I function best when I am in a routine. Being sick, on top of pregnant (and babysitting which wore me out more than usual) I have had zero energy this week and have therefore accomplished nothing. I have not even made our bed this week--not once. My house is a cluttered mess. I have had errands to run, but have not felt up to it. We have been eating whatever we can find because I have not felt like cooking.
I am sure I will feel better mentally once I feel well physically and can get back to a clean house, cooked meals and my regular routine. I actually felt better yesterday and did run some errands and do a little shopping. In the meantime these little comments from children and one big baby gift helped to brighten my week.
I am also pretty excited for February to be over...one more month down, only 2 more (maybe slightly less) to go!
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