Day 356: Shut-ins

Well, today we were kind of like shut-ins, which are people who can't get out usually due to ill health.  Abishai was ill still with an extremely runny nose and "allergy" eyes, very puffy.  He didn't sleep long enough for his nap either.  Poor little guy.  I just don't know what to do to help our family kick this thing to the curb.  I really hope weren't perpetually sick all winter.  I can feel my nose starting to fill up as well.  It's very frustrating actually.  I've tried essential oils, homeopathic medicine, prescription cough medicine, regular over the counter allergy medication, home remedies, etc.  Just need to keep praying our bodies fight harder and get rid of whatever is going on.

Meanwhile, I'm glad we stayed home because we had a bit of catch up to do since we were out for a good portion of the day yesterday, and will be busy tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday of course.  The middles helped me wrap presents, so now only Jared has to do his portion of wrapping.  Usually I wait until Christmas Eve, but we will be out all day on Christmas Eve doing the Johnson family Christmas and church, so I'll be really tired by the time we get home.  It's a Howell tradition to stay up all night wrapping gifts.  I think this is one of the traditions I can let go of though, lol.  I'm also working on uploading and deleting pictures off of memory cards and such.  But everything was slowed down because of Abishia's super clinginess the last few days.  I don't mind taking more than usual time with him, but at the same time, I really do need to take care of myself and other things.  "Magic" needs to do her work!  I'm much better at not feeling guilty about actually taking the time with the kids and setting the work aside, but still, we have to eat, shower, and do laundry eventually, right?

It's a good thing I didn't post these yesterday because I didn't take many pictures today.  Baby selfies!  And baby/toddler can say (and wants) "me-sin" for "medicine."  And wanted to pick out his own bottle of medicine from the basket today.

He also reached for the salt at dinner and tried to put it on his potato himself.  He wanted butter and parsley, too.  And even pointed to the spot where he wanted Jared to put raisins on his plate.  I also observed him pulling the string on his blue doggie that plays music, all while snoozing and he knows when I shift if I'm lying next to him.  He's super smart!

The girls made sparkle snowman yesterday at Grandma's house.  I asked Justin if there was too much sparkle going on and he said, "No, it's fine."  He's going to make a fine husband someday.

It was Grandma's idea to get all the sparkle stuff, including glitter.  This from a Grandma who is girly, but not into glamor and lots of glitter.  What fun!

The girls' (and Justin's) work station.  They did this while the grown ups wrapped presents.  They also wrapped a few, too.

This is how clingy this child was today.  He wouldn't let mama eat!  And I carried him around way too much. My back is not happy with me tonight.  But he's so cute!

Sickness or no sickness, they still snuggle right up to their baby brother.

Justin wrapped Keturah's presents.  Out of everyone he could have done, he choose her.  That's pretty neat.  He also wrote out all the tags including clues/hints to what each gift is.  It's another Howell tradition that we write clues on the tags.   And some years, my dad would write the year and what the actual gift was on the backside of the tag BEFORE taping it to the package.  Yes, we had to be careful not to peek at the backs before opening the gift!

Very nice work, Justin.

Keturah also came up with the clues all on their own.  She helped with Abishai's and Justin's gifts that came from Mommy and Daddy.  Because she believes in Santa, I didn't want her to  get confused as to why she could wrap his presents so early.

And of course, it was another PJ day at the Johnsons.

Abishai went to bed at 7pm last night (usual bedtime is 8:30), so he got up at 6:30am this morning.  Boo for me because I  went to bed late.  However, at 8:30pm he finally finished his bowl of cheerios.  He's had very little appetite today because of having to breathe between bites and it probably hurts to swallow.  In fact, he ate some raw carrots and celery tonight, probably because he can't really smell or taste them because he's so stuffed up.

51 hrs until Christmas Day begins....are you ready for celebrating Christ's birth?  I have to wrap the baby Jesus figure from the Fisher-Price nativity so we can open it first thing on Christmas morning.  The kids can get their stockings when they wake up, but they can't touch the gifts under the tree until we're awake.  That will be much harder this year because we can't simply say, "You can't go downstairs" when it's a one floor condo.  It should be interesting.  But for now, my bed is calling me very early this evening.  Good night.