Speaking of my boys.... does anyone else's children do this? By do this, I mean be right under your feet? This is in my bathroom floor while I'm getting ready. Super dad says that we could build a 20,000 sq ft house and it wouldn't matter because they would be right in our room with us. Except for the times that I trip over toys and about break my neck, I really don't mind if they do. For I know the day that they don't want to hang with mom and dad will be here all too soon. 

My superheroes!!
This fall I took advantage of a big costume sell at Party City right before big G's birthday and Christmas. It was one of the best investments I have made. Between that purchase and a couple outfits from Grandmother, these boys are set in the dress up department.  (Halloween should also be taken care of for the next several years ) 
Big G changes costumes several times a day. His laundry pile is 3 times the size of everyone else. I never imagined that his "interest" would be super heroes. As my dad said, that boy makes more noises than I've ever heard. Maybe he can get a job when he grows up as a voiceover! He can have a fierce battle with his own hands. I am not lying when I say these boys run everywhere they go. If we are at home you can expect big G to either be sitting on the couch wanting to watch a show and then he is up running circles around the house. If he goes to the potty, he's running. When it's time to go to bed,  he runs to his room. These boys are WILD WILD WILD, but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

SMH

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I saw this abbreviation on Facebook for about a year before I learned what it meant. SMH=Shake My Head Well, I have been doing a lot of that over the past few weeks. A lot of SMH's, quite a few, Here we go again's, and a lot of, You've got to be kidding me's. S.I.C.K. SICK SICK SICK is what we have been around here. My motto through it all has been, "It could be so much worse." Let me just start with saying that there are so many friends of ours that we are praying for every night. Friends who just wish that their child could see the outside of hospital walls, and friends who are praying for just one more day with their loved one. So yes, we have been sick, but it could be worse! It is hard enough when one child doesn't feel well. It is REALLY hard when all 4 kids don't feel well, and neither does momma. Yes, the FLU has hit the Harrell's! And it's not just the flu. It's those dadgum secondary infections that come along with it. Let's just start from the beginning. Besides Lila's bout with the stomach bug right after we came home from the hospital with GT, we have had a relatively healthy fall. GT did get his first ear infection at 5 weeks! Talk about a hysterical momma! Since he was born, he has just always sounded congested. The Dr. assured me it was just up in his head and not in his lungs. Over Thanksgiving, everyone kept commenting on how rattley he sounded. So, off to the Dr. we go. I was a little concerned about another ear infection or pnemonia. She said his ears looked great, but that she wanted him to be tested for RSV. RSV!!!! Breakdown #1. RSV never even crossed my mind, so I immediately was brought to tears. Thankfully, that test was negative. She decided we should try a a breathing treatment. Breakdown #2! I know you are thinking, it is just a breathing treatment, but I have never had to do such a thing, and my baby looked so sad and pitiful lying there with that thing over his face. After 2 treatments, she told me that although it helped, it did not open him up all the way, so she wanted to do a chest x-ray. Yep, you guessed it...Breakdown #3! We just did a frontal x-ray and she sent us home with a borrowed nebulizer. It did seem to help and he seemed to not sound so bad. We needed to return the nebulizer the week before Christmas. As we traveled to East TN to our parents house, I noticed that GT was wheezing. This totally freaked me out. Thanks to social media, I sent a message to an old middle/high school friend who is a nurse practicioner in my hometown. I just wanted to see if her practice would see him the next morning. When I wrote her, it showed the city we were currently in. She just so happened to be traveling to visit Opryland Hotel and figured out that we had to be close to each other. She told me to call her and we figured out we were only 5 miles from each other, heading towards each other AND she had a nebulizer in her car! NOW that is GOD right there! We were both suppose to have left hours earlier than we did. If we would've, we wouldn't have been there at the same time. She called me in a prescription, and I was able to give him breathing treatments through the weekend. I did see the Dr. there and he advised us to purchase a nebulizer when we got back in to town. So, here we go the day after Christmas back to the Dr. Loading up all 4 kids required daddy to join us there. The Dr. informed us that yes, we did need a nebulizer, and that BOTH of his ears were infected. He did a recheck for RSV and again it was negative, so I was thankful for that. I was, however, totally bummed about his ears. I knew that meant we would be going to see ENT sooner rather than later. I was totally freaking out about the germs at the Doctors office, so we washed hands and hand sanitized more times than I can count. Guess What??? IT DIDN'T WORK!! Thursday I started coughing. By Friday I was not feeling great. I assumed it was my yearly bronchitis or a sinus infection. By Saturday I was layed out on the couch. Both g and I started running a fever. We were down for the count. I knew it was the FLU! Back aches, fever, chills. I literally could not get off the couch. I also knew that because I am nursing, they would not give me anything for it. I am not one for being in the house for very long, and at this point, I didn't even want to step outside. Luckily, Michael stayed home with us on Monday to take care of us. It is a good thing, because Lila started running a fever. Of course G started everything next. We were dropping like flies around here I tell ya! G is like his daddy...not a good patient. I can't even begin to tell you who was up in the middle of the night, who was in and out of our bed, who was crying and who had fevers. We had to keep a log of temperatures and medicine. I can tell you that at about 1:30 am on Tuesday, G ended up in our bed. After giving some him some Tylenol to help his fever, he had a coughing fit. That led to him vomiting up the only thing he had eaten that evening. A banana and RED pedialyte on my new freshly washed white sheets, that had only been on my bed for about an hour! Inside I was yelling.... NOOOOO!!!! Daddy put him in the bath while I cleaned up the vomit. Boy that boy knows how to do it. It was in more places than I could ever imagine. All the commotion woke up Bug, then g, and then of course, you guessed it, GT. Everyone was on FIRE and needed fever reducer again. We finally got everyone calmed down, and got a few hours of sleep before it started all over again. 103.7, 103.8 and 101.5. Momma is freaking out! I do not like seeing any fever, but especially not that high. I was especially worried about G because it had only been 2 hours since he had medicine and his temperature wasn't reducing. I called the Dr. She said she was actually worried about g, because he had been fever free and then started again. Super Dad ran to the store to get more Pedialyte and medicine for fevers. When he returned he saw it all over my face that he needed to stay home. I was still so sick and knew there was no way I could take care of 4 kids who just wanted me to hold them and who were crying out in pain. I know it sounds like I've given lots of details, but this is just a touch of those few days. Everytime we turned around it was something. I slept most of the day on Wednesday and Thursday, as I still felt like I couldn't get up off the couch without being exhausted! I hadn't even stepped out of my house in over and week, and I didn't want to. For anyone that knows me, I can't normally stay in the house for more than a day and I'm about to go stir crazy. You know I am sick when I have no desire to get out. Michael did return to work on Thursday. I asked him how he felt to be out of the house. He calmly answered that when he got to the end of the neighborhood, he put his truck in park, got out, threw his hands up in the air and shouted as loud as he could....FREEEEEEEDOM!!! :) Bug was suppose to start back school, but that obviously did not happen. I already had a 4 month well visit for GT on Friday. Well, that turned into 4 sick visits! We started with GT. I knew from the look on her face, it was not good news. She looks at me and tells me that his ears are not getting any better. That would explain the inconsolable crying in the middle of the night EVERY night that week. The crying was also due to the fact that where I was so sick I was extremely dehydrated and barely had any milk. The poor boy had lost an ounze from the week before so I knew he was hungry. She informed us that we were going to need to go see ENT now! She also listened to his chest and decided that she wanted to send us to the imaging center to get a full chest xray. Here come the tears!! Next was Garrison. It didn't take her 2 seconds to tell me that he did indeed have pnemonia. This time I just flat out layed my head on the table!! Michael burst out laughing. You know that SMH moment I was referring to ^^^^. Yep, this was one of them. The Dr. said that this was very common after the flu. Luckily, she said that Big G and Bugs lungs sounded good, and that they were hopefully on the upswing of the flu. No one ran on fever on Friday, so I was so hopeful. After being at the Dr. for what seemed like for hours, we made it over to the imaging center for GT's xray. THAT was stressful. He was so miserable, and I just don't handle infants screaming very well. Let's just say, I hadn't left my house in 9 days until then and it. WORE. ME. OUT! I was glad to have gotten out, but was so ready to just be back home. Then.....Saturday happens. I STILL feel like doo doo. DOG doo doo. Worse than DOG doo doo. I'm coughing my head off, my head feels like it really is just going to pop off, and I've been dizzy for 2 days. I knew that I needed to feel better. For myself, my husband, my kids, my house, my work. It was time. I had thought several times throughout the week that I should probably go to the Dr., but I just never had the energy in me to even go. I called late in the afternoon and they were available right then, so off I went. I DESPISE going to the Dr. It's kind of like when you are pregnant and you are in labor, but you don't want to go to the hospital because you are afraid they will just tell you to go back home. That is how I feel about the Dr. I'm afraid they will just tell me I'm fine and that I'm just being lazy. I feel so dumb complaining about a cough and my head hurting. I get there and end up saying, "I'm fine, I'm really fine, but I just don't feel good." Although, I hated that I was sick, I'm glad I didn't make a fool out of myself by going and nothing being wrong. Bronchitis, sinus infection, and both ears infected. I got a big ole shot in my booty! Also on Saturday, BIG G was very whiney and crying and we noticed he was very warm again. I immediatly worry about a secondary infection after g's secondary pnemonia. On Sunday, when he is STILL running a fever, we decie he needs to go back to the Dr. I had Michael take him so we didnt all have to go. He called me to tell me the news. Although G was on day 6 of the flu, he still tested positive for it AND he tested positive for STREP THROAT!! STREP THROAT!! REALLY!! SMH! WE haven't been anywhere in 12 days except for the Dr.'s office and he gets Strep. Poor guy. G is also my child who since Tuesday has cried and whined every time he walked because he said his legs hurt, his knees hurt, his elbow hurt, his head hurt, i'm pretty sure he even said his pinky toe hurt. My dream of him just laying on the couch and watching TV the whole time did not pan out. He was in a lot of pain, and was sure to let us know it. Out of all my kids, if you had to choose a child to be sick, he would not be my first choice, or my second choice,....or my third. You get the point. Monday came and Lila was back to school. Graham started off rough, but after nap seemed to perk up a little. A sweet wonderful generous friend brought us dinner and her adorable 4 year old little girl over. Well, the fact that she just giggled at G immediately made him act like as if he hadn't been laying around the past 6 days. I was mortified, because here my sweet pregnant friend had spent all this time making up dinner because we have all been so sick, and driving and hour round trip to deliver it, and it looks like we are all just fine!! I knew as soon as they left he would be back to not feeling well. We sat down to eat and he started crying about how he didn't feel good and how his head hurt. Well, of course it did. You are sick, and have been running around here like a crazy person. He acts as if he is on his death bed. He throws his head back, puts his head on his hands, and wails, " Why can't God just come down here and heal me right now?!?!" We couldn't help but laugh. SMH. I really truly thought that we were for real on the upswing this time. Today, we take Lila to school and head to the grocery store. Soon after we arrived, G told me that his ear hurt. I'm thinking to myself that he is on an antibiotic, so it should knock out anything else going on. I really didn't need but a few things at the store so it should not have taken us very long, but he only got worse and continued to scream and cry. "Momma, my ear! It hurts, it hurts." SMH! I knew he wasn't playing when he turned down picking out a treat. The only thing I could think to do was to go home and get him some tylenol. By the time we got in the car, he was wailing and crying so much that I decided that I would take him right then since I drive right by the office. We pull in and it takes forever to get in because of all the crying. I knew it was almost time for GT to nurse, but he started screaming. So now, not only do I have the 4 year old who seriously sounds like a dying wailing cow, (I'm reminded of when he screamed and cried the night we brought him home and my dad kept commenting on his set of lungs. Boy oh boy is that boy LOUD), but I have the baby sqawling! I'm trying to comfort G because I want him to know I am there for him. He won't let me hold him for long. All he can do is walk around in a cirlce holding his ear screaming that it hurts. g was super sweet and was trying to calm down GT. He dug through the diaper bag and pulled out a toy for him. Since G didn't want me to hold him, I got GT out of the carseat. Oh....OH....NO...I DO NOT feel what I think I feel! Oh yes I do! Can you say BLOWOUT!! SMH! I really don't know what to do now. g has taken off running across the waiting room. I don't even care. I am bouncing GT and shooshing him, while trying to calm G down. The whole waiting room is looking us and the next you know, here comes this sweet little old lady. "Now, honey, I know you don't know me, but is there anything I can do to help you?" Me: NOOOOOO ( as I just start to cry) She asks me if she can hold my baby because she can see my other boy is in a lot of pain. I tell her she can't hold my baby because he has poop all over him and I don't think she wants to hold him. She offers to sit with the other boys while I go change him. They of course want to come with me, but her even offering was so sweet. We make it to the bathroom. G still sounds like a dying cow, GT is still screaming at the top of his lungs, g is back and forth between lifting up the nasty toilet lid and opening and closing the door, and I am drenched in sweat from being so worked up. I finally get my sweatshirt off, hair up, and g to sit on his bottom and to stop screaming. I have to just let the other 2 cry. I was a little nervous about the contents on my diaper bag. After our Dr. trip friday, I knew I was running low on supplies. I had taken the bag in to restock, but never did. It was sitting by the door, and I grabbed it at the last minute because I knew we were going to the store and I thougt I may need a wipe or something. I didn't know I was going to have to clean up a BLOW OUT!! Diaper Bag fail #1: I don't have an extra outfit Diaper Bag fail #2: I have 1, count them 1 wipe!! Diaper Bag fail #3: I have 1 diaper! Shew, that's all you need right? Well, I am cleaning the poor baby with wet paper towels. (Don't forget the background noise of wailing, screaming, crying) As I am putting on his diaper, IT BREAKS! The stupid tab on the diaper BREAKS!! I only have 1 diaper, so I have to try and tape it back together. We finally emerge from the bathroom with only G still screaming and they call our name. HALLELUJAH!!! The nurse was super sweet. She offered to hold GT and I had to explain about the poop again. She opted to get G some ibuprofen and a warm compress. The verdict is that G has "A raging ear infection" and we are switching anitibiotics, because what they had prescribed for the strep was not his first choice for ears. SMH After about an hour after the fever reducer hit and after about 2 1/2 hours of crying, G finally calmed down and actually fell asleep on the way home. GT still hadn't nursed, so we got to do that while we waited on the presciption to be filled. Although G didn't want to eat lunch, he did drink up the yummy spinach smoothie I made as soon as I got home. I'm going to have a sky high water bill from my over worked washing machine. I've washed every blanket, sheet, and towel anyone has touched and My house pretty much smells like a combo of bleach, sented lysol, and onions (have you heard of the cut up onion trick?) Michael begged me to remove them because he said his nose hairs were going to catch on fire and he was going to die. I told him if those onions didn't soak up all the germs then we were ALL going to die. By golly, we will get better around here! As I am typing this, GT just woke up screaming. I took his temperature and yep, you guessed it....FEVER! SMH You can't make this stuff up folks!

I'm so glad my kids love each other. Don't get me wrong, of course they have their spats, but overall, they like to stick together.  We've especially been blessed with older siblings who welcome new babies into our home with open arms, lots of love, and hugs and kisses. Each time I've had a baby I've worried that the current baby may  have some jealousy issues. Each time I've been blown away by what a NON issue it is. I was especially worried about little g this time because, at the age of two, he was our oldest baby when we had another. He got carried on my hip much longer than the others and was a tad bit more spoiled,  being number three and all.  But once again he proved me wrong. From day one he has loved all over his"little buddy".  " i wanna kiss him!" " Hey there little buddy. " " Let me give that little buddy a kiss" These are just some of my favorite sayings of his. There are often many tiffs over who gets to hold GT first. Like when Big G says" Heyyyy, I wanted to hold that little guy first."  
But my favorite saying came from my big girl this weekend. "Look at those lil fat cheeks. You are soooo cute I could just eat you up. You look just like a lil yummy pie I want to eat! "
Yep, yummy pie! That about sums him up, don't ya think?

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

Today is the national championship game! Number 2 University of Alabama is playing number 1 Notre Dame. Let's hope that all changes tonight! Before taking Lila to school this morning, I put my A on the side of the car and flew my Alabama flag. In the car I was chanting... Roll Tide Roll Tide Roll Tide! Garrison said to me you're so silly mommy! Then Graham says to me, if Alabama scores tonight I'm going to spank your bottom to where You can't even walk....FOR REAL!! Who is raising these kids?!? Well, here's to hoping for one more national title! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!

Be my Baby

i will admit it, I am little sick over the fact that I am posting that my precious little one is 4 months! My hands are shaking a little as I type this post. 1 is because.....WHERE has the past 4 months (or 3 years) gone? Another is I am so mad at myself for not jotting down new things as I should. I have really just been trying to relish in these preschool, toddler, baby years and spend some good quality time with my babes, so I haven't taken...errr,not had a lot of time to blog.

I was reading a FB post by a friend the other day that talked about starting cereal with her little guy who is the same age as g. I literally bursted into tears. Although in my heart of hearts, I don't feel as though he will be my last child, it is a very real possibility that he will be my last baby. With those thoughts swarming through my head, it made me think that I do not want to start him cereal, but keep him a little tiny baby forever!
Garrison, you are THE SWEETEST thing ever! Thank you Jesus for giving us such a wonderful child. You love to just be talked to and held....sometimes. You are like your siblings in that you are most relaxed when you can just be put down. You usually nap in the swing. What i did without that swing with the other two, I have no idea! It has been a lifesaver. We put you in your bed at night (which is still in our room at the moment) and you go right to sleep. I will be honest and say that I do not have you on the best schedule. We run so much that you are mainly a cat napper during the day. You sometimes FINALLY go to sleep late afternoon and sleep a lot, which is probably not such a great idea. You typically sleep till about 6:30 or so, but you have nights where you will wake up at 4 or 5. Because I worry to much about my milk supply, if you wake up I go ahead and nurse you. I laugh when I think back to how rigid I was about everything with Lila! With g, I am so much more relaxed AND he is my easiest baby so far. I wonder if that has something to do with it.
Garrison, you LOVE your brother and sister. You are a little more into your sis, but mainly because G hasn't quite learned how to be gentle with you. He loves to lay beside you while you are on your playmat, but he ends up hitting or kicking you. The first thing Lila wants to do when she wakes up in the morning is go see and play with you. I don't ever have to worry about you not getting enough facetime because she is there to entertain you!
You are now 16 lbs and inches long. You have such a long torso that even your 3-6 month clothes are getting too small! NOOOOO!! You are such a big boy! We practice sitting in your bumbo seat a few minutes each day. You do like it, but only for a short time. You also rolled over from your belly to your back, but only twice. Now, you just lay your head over to the side. You smile and kick your legs in excitement all the time. You are my sweet precious angel and I honestly don't know what we did before you were here! I feel as though our life is easier now that you are here! I love you my handsome little guy!

Precious child

A friend of mine posted something on facebook about stepping out and doing something out of her comfort zone, all because the Lord told her to. She then posted the verse Isaiah 41:10. Without looking up the verse I posted, "Here I am Lord, send me," and asked if she was going on a mission trip.
It just so happened that Michael came home wearing one of his Nicaragua T-shirt with that verse on it, "Here I am Lord, send me." However it was Isaiah 6:8b. I realized that I had the references wrong. Knowing that 41:10 sounded familiar, I asked Michael, "Well then, what is Isaiah 41:10?" Not even knowing that she was listening to our conversation, Lila chimed in and said, "Isaiah 41:10 was my bible verse in jungle journey!" So I asked her to tell me what it says. "So, do not fear for I am with you" she told us. I'm pretty sure this was her verse the 2nd week in June. Oh this precious child. What a sweet kiss from Jesus. I pray she continues to hide God's word in her heart always.
On another note, the Friday after VBS at church, she was telling my mom what she had learned. Out of all the lessons, she chose to tell her, "God gives us gifts and he is going to give me a baby sister." This was one week after my D&C, so you can imagine the pain in my heart. SIGH!
At dinner tonight, we sat outside on our deck around the patio table. We have 6 chairs and the one on the end was empty. Lila said, "When you have my baby sister you will have 4 kids and she can sit in that chair." Oh, my sweet sweet precious child. I had to write down the sweet memories, although I'm pretty sure I will never forget!