ERUPTION!!!

One more Alaskan adventure to add to our list...Mt. Redoubt finally blew last night.

I so wanted that good night of sleep. I went to sleep at about 10:30pm...had to feed Kinley at 11:50, and then work called at 12:30am to notify Nathan that the volcano had erupted. Which, of course sent Nathan into motion making sure we were completely prepared. Which we are, and the ash isn't even coming our way as of right now, but it could. Nathan may have to move the jet to a different location if ash does come our way, so he would be gone for a few days. Nathan didn't get back to sleep until about 2:30am...and he wasn't quiet in the mean time. Kinley woke up at 4:50am...and again at 7am...will I ever get good sleep???

And, I was supposed to have my doctor appointment this afternoon....had to cancel that because Nate is sick. Then the pediatric clinic called to have a follow up appointment with Kinley (if you missed that story, read the next post). So, now I am taking both Nate and Kinley into doctor's appointments this afternoon.

Who knows...if I don't get to sleep for more than two hours soon, I might erupt!

I was trying to link a pic of the eruption, but that feature isn't working on my computer right now. Hopefully I will get some later for you all.

Adventures in Mothering...

So, last night, I had quite the adventure. Let me start my story with the fact that the night before, I had not gotten a lot of sleep, and I had no nap on Saturday. So, when I put Kinley to sleep at 9pm Saturday evening, I was hoping to get to bed early. But, Nathan and I stayed up and looked at stuff on the internet and talked about moving stuff, and then I took a shower and by the time I went to move Kinley from upstairs to downstairs it was about 11:30pm. When I picked her up, I noticed she was burning up. So, of course I decided to check her temperature. It was 101.1 degrees...which is in the danger zone for children under two months old. So, we decided that I should take her to the Emergency Room. Nathan offered to take her, but since he can't feed her, I had to go, and he stayed home with the other two sleeping children.

And, of course, we had a snow storm come through Saturday night. So, the roads on the way to the base hospital were quite treacherous. I prayed that the Lord would get us there safely, and He did. I got behind a truck and followed its tracks all the way to base. So, upon arriving at the ER, they got us in very quickly, because she was under two months old- praise the Lord!!! Then, the torture started. If you have children under two months, pray that they don't spike a high fever. They proceeded to check her urine (with a catheter, which of course was too big for her small body, even though it was the smallest one they had), draw blood, do chest x-rays, and the worst for me- the lumbar puncture. And, she was so tired through the whole process. She would just cry during each procedure, and then fall asleep in my arms until the next one. By the time they were done, I was nearly in tears as well. But, we were done with the tests. It was 2:45am, and we had to wait over an hour for the test results. So, I got her to sleep and put her in her carseat, and then I managed to sleep for about 45 minutes with my head on the table in the exam room. Finally, at about 4:10am, the doctor came back and told me that she didn't show any signs of a bacterial infection, and we could go home. I asked if there was anything I could do for her fever, and he said no, just to wait it out. If it spiked up over 101 again, to come back. OK- so we endured all of that for him to tell me to do nothing. GREAT!!! He then proceeded to tell me that the roads were really bad and if I wanted to stay at the hospital until morning, I could. I took a look at the hospital bed, and said that I would head home. It had snowed about 3-4 inches while I was in the ER. But, I headed home cautiously, and made it home by about 4:45am. I only even say one other car on the roads on the way home. Since there were no lanes visible, I just tried to stay in the middle of the highway.

I was so tired, but at least I knew Kinley was fine. She has still had a slight fever today, but not as high. We have slept most of the day. I am really looking forward to a good nights sleep tonight!!!

First Outing

So, yesterday I went on my first outing with all three children by myself. It was quite the adventure, but all did go well. Earlier this week, I started going back to Jazzercise, which is really good for me, and I love it. But, Nathan had to go back to work on Wednesday, so I had to take the kids with my if I wanted to go Thursday. So, we got ready and went to Jazzercise. That wasn't so bad. I didn't put Kinley in the childcare room, because she is just to small, and she slept through most of the class. I missed some of the strength training, but I still got in a really good workout. After Jazz, I needed to go to the grocery store for a few items. So, in we went. Kinley cried the entire time we were in the store. Thank goodness I only needed a few items!!! And, of course as soon as we were finished, she settled down and slept again. My car needed to be washed, desperately, so we went through the car wash. Nate is so scared of the drive through car wash, it is almost comical. The whole time, I have to reassure him we are just in a "shower for the car" and that it is almost done. By that time, it was almost lunch time and I was exhausted. So, after my nice workout, we drove through McDonald's. So healthy, I know.

So, I know I need to update...

But, I have been really busy lately. Let me try to think about what all has happened since the last update.

1) Mom and Bryce have come and gone. It was a good time with them, and Mom was such a big help. Bryce had a lot of fun playing Zelda on our Wii.
2) Nathan has been home most of the days since mom left. Really, he has only had to go into work three days, and one of them was for just a couple of hours. Technically, he has been working at home, for one reason or another. It is kind of funny, but also much appreciated. Did I mention he is working at home this week too?
3) We have started having open houses to try to sell our house. Not that it matters much, because lately, people have just been dropping by unannounced to see the house. We let them. Please pray that we sell the house in the next few weeks. Hopefully sooner than later, because it is really hard to keep a house clean constantly...with three little kids running around. At least Nathan has been home to help out.
4) We have been packing up lots of stuff. I think that I actually have most of the non-essential stuff packed away. So, when it is time to load the moving truck, it shouldn't be too overwhelming.
5) We got the proofs from Kinley's baby portraits. If anyone wants to check them out, you can at www.vanessamcdonaldphotography.com. Go to proofs, and then the username is Kinley and the password is Hendricks. We have had a hard time deciding what to get, because my children are just so beautiful.
6) Nate had a cold earlier this week, and now Kinley has it. Which means that I did not get to go to church today. I really miss church lately. I seems like it has been awhile since I have actually been able to sit through a church service.
7) I really need to go grocery shopping...maybe tomorrow.

That is all I can think of for now. Life is flying by these days. We have less than two months left in Alaska, and we have so much to do.