First Night Exhaustion

I'm not sure how much sleep the bunkers got last night. The boys are napping now. I was in my bedroom reading. Elle was in the kitchen drawing, coloring and writing. I fell asleep reading and soon realized it was way too quiet. I went to find Elle and this is what I found. Right in the middle of the hallway, on a way-too-small Dora couch.

Looking Up

Things are looking up around here. We had an excellent weekend. Everybody is well. We're still having a few teething and napping issues, but the spring forward did wonders for us today. I'm hoping it springs us back to normal.

Some friends and their two girls came over for dinner last night. We had such a great time that this is the only picture I have. I'm not sure how many other appropriate photos I could have gotten. The older girls played dress up but spent much of the time in little more than their underwear. Grady got in there though at the end, and put on the Cinderella dress and high heels. And Mary Aplin made us smile the entire night, despite Grady insisting on calling her a "he". She wasn't the least bit discouraged by it.

There isn't much as refueling and refreshing as good food and fellowship with other believers. We were so refreshed that we skipped church today and put together bunk beds for Elle and Grady. You never know how those kind of things are going to work out within a married couple. Hanging pictures, driving somewhere new, putting furniture together. If you complete these tasks and are still speaking to one another, then I'd say chances are pretty good for your future together. Steven is the "visual" one and wants to just look at the wall and put the nail where he "thinks" it should go. I like to read the directions at least twice and measure everything, twice. Today, the bunk beds came together without a hitch. Without one argument. We just might make it after all!

The Bug

Seems like the common theme among lots of you these days is sickness. Not wanting to be outdone, we Salters jumped right in with a 10 hour night of the throw up bug last Thursday night. All three of 'em. Thankfully, it was short and after a lazy day recuperating {and doing 134 loads of laundry!} on Friday, everyone was better. Or so we thought.

Then ole Steve came down with something on Sunday and spent about 30 minutes the whole day not shaking, shivering, breathing heavy, or moaning in the bed. He was better yesterday morning, but I'm not sure if Grady is 100% yet. He's cried and complained of his ear hurting for the past two days and has a lingering wet cough, so we're going to see if we can have another 28 minuter in the morning to check him out.

I really try to remember "it could always be worse" and I know there are many families out there who would give anything to have a little stomach bug or an ear infection. I truly am thankful we have only experienced minor illnesses. BUT, in spite of these truths I remind myself, mommy is a bit weary and exhausted!

28 Minutes

I had to write this down because I'm sure it will never happen again as long as I live. I went to the pediatrician's office yesterday and was in and out in 28 minutes.

No, that's not a typo. You read it right. Twenty-eight minutes. I have never, in all my multitude of visits to the pediatrician's office, come out of there in less than an hour. Usually I dock at least one and a half hours there per visit. Well visits, sick visits, morning, afternoon. Doesn't really matter. And 95% of the time, all three children are with me. I try to make the most of the time by thinking about how I could make the office run smoother. I have a lot of great ideas. But then I remember when I worked as a nurse in a doctor's office, and I cut them a little slack. Maybe 30 minutes slack. But then I remember the time Grady stuck his hand in throw-up on the floor under the "well" side play table before I could get to him. And I subtract that 30 minutes...

Anyway, I thought Reese might have an ear infection. The good news is his ears were clear, but his gums are bulging with four top teeth rearing their painful heads. The little guy didn't finish a bottle all day and wouldn't even drink a sip at bedtime. His nose was a faucet and the diapers... Oh my! But none of that is associated with teething:).

Two down, one to go

I am proud to announce that

1) we've gotten Grady to dress up in something other than a princess dress and

2) the knight is potty trained!

It really went a whole lot better than I had envisioned. And maybe that's why... low expectations. He was just ready. We only had to bribe with candy for the first few times. He didn't really care about character underwear. If fact, he would rather not wear any, which I think is pretty funny. I guess the freedom from 2 1/2 years of diapers was so amazing, he just can't bear to put anything else on. He didn't really care about a sticker chart, which we did, or toys after a certain amount of success, which we did. Basically, he just wanted to be free. We are so proud of him!

And this little guy went from crawling to pulling up on everything in about a day! I had forgotten how much freedom I had when he was not mobile or standing on unstable toys or chairs or heading for all things containing cords or the fireplace. I finally set up the pack-n-play in the den so I can achieve "containment" when necessary.

And this precious girl. We gave each other pedicures the other day. I was smart enough to choose a clear glitter polish for my color. Otherwise, I'm certain my entire foot would have been red. We have plans to "make her dreams come true" when she turns 5 in May with a Disney vacation. She is already so excited she can't stand it. We are Disney amateurs, so bring on any advice you have for tackling Disney with a 5 year old, almost 3 year old and almost 1 year old.

Gifts

Those of you that know my husband know he has an amazing talent leading worship. He was able to do this most of our college years and the early years of our marriage. But over the last couple of years {and three babies!}, he really hasn't had much free time to play. I'm so thankful that he uses 99% of his free time to be with us, but at the same time, I'm sad because he has not been able to use his gift. Or bless others with it.

This past weekend we went to Cashiers, North Carolina without children but with four others couples plus Tommy {a great friend for 15+ years}. Steven, along with some of the other very talented folks there, played and sang and led us in worship for hours each night. And it was so wonderful.

We did a lot of other fun stuff. We laughed a lot. We ate a lot. We breathed in smoke a lot {from the fireplace}. But I thought it best to leave the picture taking to the professionals so check out Darby's recap and Abby's recap for great photos and highlights of our weekend. Fortunately, there is no picture of the massive bruise on my backside from my sledding adventures. Even though I'm getting on up in years and I probably shouldn't be sledding like that, it was totally worth it! One of the best weekends I have had in years!

The flip side of my husband's great gift and talent is that every time he has a chance to play and sing, the guitar hunt ensues. He has been to seven guitar stores in the last three days and has come home with print outs of guitars he has found online. He was telling me about one he found today and I said calmly, "Is it in the car with you now?" To which he replied, "Not yet." It's only a matter of time...

On another totally different note, some of you may remember the triplets. Yesterday, after 392 days in the hospital, Samuel came home to his family. I wish you would read some of their story and be so amazed and encouraged at what God can do, for babies who need Him and parents who need Him even more.

Snow Pictures

"There are no pictures of me enjoying the snow because they played while I napped. But, that's okay. I probably wouldn't have really liked it anyway. And besides, I might have missed all that was going on outside, but I won't miss anything inside anymore. I can crawl! I've been going in reverse for a few weeks, but now I have my forward gear down too."