Good News & Bad Moms

I never made it back yesterday to update on the court hearing, but everything went fabulously. There is a small bit of paperwork that needs to be finalized, but once that is done - we've got a court date to finalize! It is currently scheduled for December 22nd... and we are praying earnestly that nothing changes - because we can't imagine a more fitting Christmas gift, and conclusion to 2010 for our family.

The birth father was our main obstacle and there was a slight possibility that he might show up at the hearing and cause problems... but he didn't show up as we hoped and expected... so that was a huge blessing for us!

In other news - I'm really starting to hope that everyone in our house is on the mend from the yuck that infected us last week/weekend. James seems to be the last hold out - his tummy is more sensitive than anyone else in the family... mine being a close second to his, but this morning he's already had more formula than he had through the entire morning and part of the afternoon yesterday.

It looks like little dude is also cutting a tooth - there is a jagged little ridge on his bottom gum on one side... so that may also be partly to blame for his delayed recovery. It's hard to tell what might be a symptom of teething versus a symptom of the virus.

Can I just say that the nights are HARD?! Especially when I'm going solo... I mean honestly - it's when I want to run out to the car and drive away sometimes. (only for a brief moment and then my sanity comes back) I guess I'm not "mother of the year" because ya'll, seriously... nothing makes me more irrationally angry than these two ganging up on me in the middle of the night.

Last night for instance... I had James in bed at 7 - and the kid didn't move (literally) until 12:30... but then he was up at 3:30, 4:15, and 5:45... at which time I put him in his swing with his movie and I tried to nap on the couch. It's now 7:45 and he's back asleep... he did drink milk at each time - and finally took a full 4 ounces at 5:45, and then another 2.5 ounces at 6:45... which like I said is WAY down from his normal intake, but better than the 2 ounces every 4 hours or so that he was taking.

And Tyler... my little trooper during the day turns into super-needy pants at night - or it feels like it - because of the combination of the two of them together. Tyler took an extra long time last night to fall asleep... so I think we both went to bed around 10. He was then up at 1, 3, and 5... and has been asleep ever since.

So, as you can see... I was pretty much up from 12:30 on... hopefully James is truly on an upswing... if he continues to suck down the milk today - I might have hope for him sleeping a little better tonight, but I suspect that until he's back on his normal eating routine - it's just not going to be sleeping through the entire night. I'm a little freaked about pushing him - as that is when he had the relapse... and lets face it - the kid has some reserves to help him make it a day or two on reduced calories. I think he could live for several days just on those chubber cheeks!

Anyway - my plan is to get him eating full bottles for the remainder of a day and then try to move him back to solids. He honestly needs the fluids more at this point anyway. Our pediatrician told me during our last experience with the stomach virus that a good indication of dehydration in babies is to feel their soft spot... if it's sunken in... then that's a sign that they are getting dehydrated. Well, James' is a bit sunken in - so if I'm wrong about the upswing in his eating pattern, I'll be trying to give him some juice or pedialyte to hopefully get him rehydrated.

That's what's happening here... along with me trying desperately to chip away at Christmas. My entry way looks like Santa's workshop blew up in it... because I've gotten most of the shopping done, but NONE of the wrapping. We also had a family from our church give us 5 (FIVE) huge trash bags full of clothes for the boys in sizes 12 month - 24 month... and maybe a few in the toddler sizes too. So I'm going through those as well and organizing... they are also in my entry way right now - so it's a huge mess that is making me nuts. Hopefully I can change that statistic here today...