Our Week

Well, at last, everybody is all better! We skipped small group on Wednesday morning because they both still had diarrhea and I'm so glad we did because Cullen threw up again later that afternoon. The diarrhea still isn't completely gone, but it's not nearly as bad as before. I called the doctor again on Wednesday to ask if it was normal for them to still be sick after a week and he said yes, babies often take much longer to heal from the stomach flu than adults. They still are a little extra fussy, but it's not too bad.

A funny story from the other day: Cullen wasn't feeling well when he woke up on Thursday morning. He insisted on being held and rocked for a couple of hours (this is extremely rare, usually the kid wants nothing to do with me and is busy exploring and banging his toys around). Well, I quite enjoyed the extra cuddle time and was loving just sitting in our rocking chair with him all morning. Jack was crawling around the room but eventually he came over and wanted to get on my lap too so I scooped him up and put him on my other knee. Well, Cullen wasn't having any of that, he was not interested in sharing Mommy. So he started hitting Jack and trying to push him off the chair!!! I could not believe my eyes, they always get along! Sure, sometimes they fight over a toy and if one is already in a bad mood that can cause a terrible meltdown, but they usually share with each other. Anyways, I have to confess, I did laugh for a minute- pretty hard actually- but then had to sternly talk to Cullen about not hitting his brother and sharing. I don't think he understood much, but I know that he's at least beginning to understand when he does something wrong. They definitely don't like hearing the word "No" nowadays.

I think it's fascinating to see their little selfish and self-centered personalities coming out already. When they were first born I thought they were the most perfect, innocent creatures on the planet. But now I'm just beginning to see that they really are tiny little sinners who need to be disciplined from time to time. And this is only the tip of the iceberg, I can't even imagine what they'll be like when they're 2... or 8... or 12... or 16. We are already praying now that we can know how to lovingly discipline them in the future and convey to them that they need to be forgiven for the wrong things they do. I hope that by showing them discipline, love and forgiveness now, they will be able to better understand it in a few years. What a challenge we have ahead of ourselves!

Anyways, we had a pretty quiet week again since we were still recovering. I rarely left the house and when I did it was only to go grocery shopping. We went to church today and I was very glad to be back. Because of traveling, serving in the church nursery, and being sick, I hadn't been to a service since the week of Thanksgiving! It is refreshing to be at church again! Last night, we also had some good friends over which was also wonderful; I can't even remember the last time we had dinner with friends. But, this semester, Brandon and I have two nights together every week instead of only one so we want to hopefully catch up with friends in the next few weeks. I was excited to cook again since I don't get the chance to entertain much anymore. I whipped out my Barefoot Contessa cookbook and made some delicious pork chops, a potato gratin and some coconut cupcakes. And I'm not gonna be falsely modest here, the cupcakes were pretty bomb. I've eaten 3 in the last 24 hours. Although, Ina gets most of the credit, I adore her! Here's the recipe, enjoy people!

Here are some pictures of the boys from this week:

What's for dinner Mom?

I want THAT!

Helping Mommy put away groceries

I was reading on the couch and realized they were being waaayyy too quiet. This is what I found when I peeked around the coffee table. There were alot more tissues wedged under the coffee table too... alot more.