What We Have Been Up To...

First of all, I could kick my own ass for not writing on a more regular basis! Something cute, funny and memorable happens everyday and I worry if I don't write it all down that I will start to forget some of it! I will be a better blogger in 2009. In fact, I was at the bookstore the other day and I bought something there to also help preserve my memories of motherhood. It is called a promise journal and it has little quotes and sayings and scripture about mothers and children, and it is in a journal format so I can write in it for Jack and Emma. So whenever they do something cute or funny that I want to remember I will write it down in my new journal. My other 2009 goals are to cook more often...I have a great kitchen...I should probably use it. I think I may quit wearing bras altogether, too. They are uncomfortable and I really don't have anything to put in them...I am going to own and be proud of my 12 year-old boyish figure in the new year!

But back to the present...since I last wrote a lot has happened! Jack turned 3 and he has since pooped on the potty a whopping one time! He has very little interest in the potty. He asked me the other day, "Can Jack poop in his pants?" Yes, he talks in the third person, and he really said that. I said that I would not be mad if he pooped in his pants but that it would make me really happy if he would poop on the potty. My happiness obviously means very little to him. He proceeded to poop his pants and then politely asked me to change his diaper. At least he said please. So, anyone who is wondering about Jack's potty training...it is still a work in progress. Emma however, makes such a production about pooping her pants that we have enough time to put her on the potty and she is happy to deposit her treasures there.

She is 15 months old and she poops in the potty more than her 3 year-old brother! She is 15 months old and also refuses to walk on her feet, though. She is a knee-walker. I have never seen a kid do this before, and it really is funny to watch. I really think she walks on her knees so that the fall to the ground is shorter when Jack knocks her over. She is a very sturdy knee-walker, and she can walk on her feet all by herself, she just prefers not to! What's funny is that Joel and I will refer to her as "knee-walker" instead of "Emma" and Jack has picked up on it. Occasionally you will here him call her knee-walker like that's her name. It is hilarious.

We had Jack's 3rd birthday party earlier this month, too. It was a Thomas the Train party. It was not near as chaotic and crazy as Emma's party! There were a lot less people here for Jack's party. Partly because everyone was coming down with the flu, and also because the snow that day made it hard for people to get here! We had a great time, though, and more importantly, so did Jack!

Jeff, Janey, Gabe and Katie couldn't make it the day of the party, so they came up the next day and we had a great time all together! I was so happy that I finally got a picture of all 4 kids together! Jack and Gabe are both 3, born a week apart exactly, and Katie is 6 months older than Emma. I am going to treasure this picture and that memory forever!

About a week after the party, I hurt my back! Not an injury that is conducive to mothering and housekeeping! And I am so embarrassed to say that I did not hurt my back working out or doing something fun...no, I was simply bending over to plug in the Christmas tree! Isn't that pathetic? And it got to the point that I had to go to the doctor and get medicine in order to function because it hurt so bad! I will admit that I am the worst and whiniest patient ever. Nurses are not good patients. As soon as my back started feeling better, both kids and I all got sick. There was so much snot in this house! Thank goodness that is all in the past! Everyone here is feeling good now.

We took the kids to the zoo to see the Christmas lights earlier this month, too. It was so cold that I could not feel my face! Emma was so bundled up that her arms were stuck out to the sides and her hat kept falling over her eyes. She was probably wondering why we had her wrapped up like that since she couldn't even see anything! Jack had a good time, though, and so did Joel and I. We went to see the zoo lights on our first date 6 years ago. I remember it was so cold that night, too, but I didn't complain because it was our first date and I didn't want Joel to think I was a whiner! Of course, I have no problem complaining now since he married me. After 2 hours of almost freezing to death, we called it a night. The lights were very cool and pretty, but thinking back on it, I don't remember seeing a single animal!

I had a memorable experience at work this month, too. Have you ever felt like you were in exactly the right place at exactly the right time exactly as God had intended you to be? It was that kind of experience.

I got my assignment when I got to work at 7 and learned that one of my patients had been made a hospice patient that day, but since there were no beds available on the hospice floor, he was going to stay where he was on my floor. I had no problem with this as I feel that a nurse is a nurse is a nurse and I will care for any type of patient. I'm happy to take care of anyone who needs a nurse. I read in the patient's chart that he was expected to live 2-3 more days. I went to see him first after getting report, and although he didn't make any sense when he was talking, I know he understood that I was there to take care of him. I gave him medicine for pain and to relax him some, got him comfy and went to see my other patients while he rested. I peeked in at him every 20 minutes or so to make sure he still looked comfortable.

Around midnight, he was stirring a little so I went in and washed his face and brushed his teeth. I put a little pink pillow that one of the volunteers had made behind his neck. I combed his hair and even put some Blistex on his lips. He looked so peaceful and comfortable when I was done that I just had to stop in his doorway on my out to look back at him again and it made me smile. About 20 minutes later, I went in to the room next to his to check on my two patients in there and one of them asked for a sleeping pill. So I went out to get it, and as I walked by, I glanced into my buddy's room like I had been doing all night, and I noticed that his breathing pattern had changed.

So I went in and put my hand on his chest to see if he was breathing, and sure enough his chest rose and fell under my hand. And that was the last time. His last breath. Right under my hand. I left my hand there for a bit to see if there was anything more and then put my stethoscope on his chest to listen for heart tones, even though I knew he was gone.

I stayed with him for a few minutes before I went out to the station to ask another nurse to get that sleeping pill for my other patient. And then I went back in to see my buddy again. It was really special to know that in the 86 years he was here, I was the very last person he saw, heard, and felt.

I like to think that he was so comfortable in my care that he felt like it was okay to let go. The only thing about the experience that really bothers me is that his wife will remember getting that phone call from me that night for the rest of her life. I told her everything I just told you, though, so I hope that she found comfort in knowing I was right there with him. It was actually a very spiritual experience being there with this man as he took his last breath...it kind-of felt like while I was holding one hand, God was holding the other.

My job isn't always like that, of course. Sometimes it is frustrating, and sometimes it is fun...it is never boring...and sometimes, like that time, it is a true honor.

I promise to write all about our Christmas fun very soon. Right now, though, I must call it quits for the night! Christmas has turned my house into a disaster area, so I must go to bed so that I have energy for disaster recovery tomorrow. In these three days since Christmas, I have had to look at the poem I keep on my fridge quite frequently in order to keep my cool amidst this mess! And so, I will leave you with that...

Thank you, dear Lord,
for things to do;
Tasks to complete,
that are never quite through.
Thank you for the laundry,
that piles up so fast;
For the tub I just cleaned,
though I know it won’t last.
Thanks for the toys,
That litter my floor;
For the mud-caked shoes,
that sit by the door.
Thank you for the fingerprints,
On once-clean glass;
Thanks for my carpet,
Now covered with grass.
Thanks for the kitchen,
That never stays clean;
For the skillets to scrub,
That lay in my sink.
These things in my life,
Just prove that I’m blessed;
God gave me a family,
I can live with the mess.
By Sheila Hammock Gosney