The promised updates...

I'm supposed to be getting ready for the garage sale I'm having on Saturday, but I wanted to update the photo site and blog a bit. So there!
I realized in uploading the pictures that I took almost no pictures in December. Slacker Mom!
I somewhat made up for it in January.

It's getting harder and harder to catch the good shots. Just when he's doing something super-cute, I grab the camera and capture this...
...and he's off!

My parents came up this weekend to spend time with the Fox (and us, purportedly!). After a day of trying to keep up, my mom looked at me and said "Is he like this all the time?" My answer? Of course!
It's funny, but I guess we're just used to him so we don't think anything of it. My nephew, Dylan, is a totally different type of monkey. He's funny, but he isn't as active and all over the place like Fox. No doubt some of that is his age, but I just don't see Fox changing his ways too much as he gets older.

Vance's mom is STILL plugging away at the Clean Sweep we started on 12/29! I am so proud of her - they have been in that house for 23 years (I think) and she's doing an amazing job of tossing the stuff she doesn't need and organizing the rest. While I was there, we did the living room and kitchen. Since I left, she has done the dining/craft room and her sitting room (that she calls her angel room), and started in Vance's old bedroom that will be a guest room. The only rooms left after that are their bedroom and the laundry room! I called her earlier to tell her what a fabulous job she was doing. It has been inspirational too...

I've organized my pantry...



...and my cabinet...


...and taken an inventory of the contents so I can cook all the food I've stockpiled!

See, the life of a stay at home mom is wayyyy too exciting, right?
Honestly, I have loved my time at home with Fox. I'm getting things done that I've wanted to do for almost 5 years (since we moved in) but never had the time to do.
I'm planning out our meals to use the food we've got, so we eat out less to save money.
I'm available to help people in need - when Robyn, the church secretary calls me, I can step in and do whatever it is that needs to be done.

Fox is the funniest kid. I love being with him and getting to watch him grow and help him learn. He is such a little man, and loves to be with people.


I love my job!

Fox is quite the talker too. He has actually said a few three-word sentences.
He will sometime put 'a' in front of the word he wants to say. Usually it makes sense.
A truck, a ball, a cracker, a help? Not so much on the help!
His latest funny word is 'bicycle'. Sounds like 'bi-kikle'.
He also says 'sit', but this is a family-friendly blog so I'm not telling you what that sounds like. ; )

Well, Vance just got home from the Men's group.
He told me Rebecca has been admitted to the hospital for overnight observation. The baby isn't due for another 2 months, so please be praying that everything stays put and the baby (and Rebecca and Michael) will be able to rest.

Got an extra kidney?

Have you been wondering how to reach out to others? Have you ever wondered if there is someone who needs your help; who the Lord might be leading you towards? opening doors in their direction?

Here is your opportunity to help a fellow blogger.

Spread the word about Kelli.

Many of you are probably familiar with her situation. (If not, you can catch up on it here.)

Kelli needs a kidney. She has been waiting and waiting and waiting... for a kidney. No one in her family is able to be a donor: her husband isn't a match and her children aren't old enough.

Obviously, this is something that you will want to spend time in prayer about before you jump into it. But perhaps you are the answer to this family's prayer.

The Lord works in mysterious ways.

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?"
Esther 4:14


The reason I'm posting this is because I'm going to see if I'm eligible to give Kelli one of my kidneys. Will you pray for us as we figure this whole thing out?
Maybe it's not my kidney that will be the right one for Kelli. Is it yours?
Pray, read her story, pray some more. Let me know if you hear from God about it like Vance and I have.

What a start to 2008!

We enjoyed ringing in the New Year at a friend's house, playing a few rounds of Mafia and catching up on life.
The week to follow was pretty laid back, we enjoyed visiting with friends and settling in after way too much holiday travel. Fox had a little cough at night, but it wasn't that big of a deal.

Sunday, the nursery workers reported that Fox wasn't his usual fun self, he was kind of lethargic and didn't want to play, just wanted to snuggle on one person per service. We came home and all took a great nap. Fox's cough was worsening, so I called the on-call nurse for the pediatrician's office. She really wanted him to be seen Sunday for an RSV swab test and a chest x-ray. She also insisted that he not be given a decongestant because he's under 2.

So after naptime, Fox and I went off to Patients First. They said it was just a cold, didn't do an x-ray or RSV swab, and sent me off with a prescription cough syrup. I picked up the Rx and headed home. When I got home and read the info on the Rx, it turned out to be a combo - cough syrup/decongestant/antihistamine. So I called the nurse back b/c I was concerned about the decongestant. She was still insistent that he needed the x-ray and swab, and said that we needed to get him to the ER for those tests.
We tried TMH, but there were no seats in the waiting room, and they said it was probably an 8-9 hour wait. So off we went to Capital Regional. We were in and out in 5 hours with a negative RSV test and no x-ray.

Monday morning I woke up around 5 feeling yucky, but nothing big. 7 am, that all changed.
I started throwing up (among other issues) and would continue to throw up for the next 12 hours. I couldn't keep anything in my body. (I'm trying to state all of this gently, but it is always a feat when you manage to vomit every color of the rainbow!)

It got to where I couldn't open my hands all the way and I was so scared. I have never been that sick in my entire life. So Barb came over after Vance put Fox to bed, and we headed to TMH. The waiting room was much less crowded, and after nearly three hours, I was given a bed in a hallway. Not just any hallway, but the hallway on the way to the trauma area. Where our friend Cynthia is a nurse. She saw us come in and got my IV started right away.

This, my friends? This is how I spelled relief. They gave me a great anti-nausea drug, and a pain killer that is apparently better than morphine. Within 5 minutes of the fluids coming in, I told Vance I was starting to feel like me again. My hands unclenched, I was able to relax and rest for the first time since 7:00 that morning.
We filled my phenergan prescription at CVS on the way home (I am so glad there is a 24-hour pharmacy nearby!) and I made it to bed at 5. Vance followed shortly after he sent an email to his boss about taking another sick day.

Today (um, I guess now it's yesterday - Tuesday) I slept until 2:30 and then was up for a few hours. Slept a few more hours, then got up and ate a little bit of Chicken and Stars soup. Thanks to Rebecca for the groceries!
Was talking to Vance, trying to figure out why I still had so much pain in my abdomen. He suggested I take a hot bath. As I slipped into the tub (gracefully, not accidentally!) I realized that my tummy was sore from all of the puking yesterday! Duh!

Vance will be heading back to work and I have a sweet friend from church coming over in the morning to help out with Fox. I am still super-weak and sore, and standing for more than 5 minutes totally wears me out. Keeping up after a boisterous toddler is not on the list of how to recover from the stomach flu!

So, just to keep you from being bored to tears with the medical drama that unfolded at the Casa de Rutherford this week, I leave you with Bacon.

Quick Updates...

Much like Julie and Darcy have done recently, I will attempt to quickly summarize some things.

Of course, Fox just woke up from his nap while I typed that sentence. So I shall leave you with a fun picture of Ms. Adah Bennage and I, not feeding Fox her ice cream cone as he plays with his hair.

I WILL POST MORE SOON!
Hold me to that, y'all.