finally, energy again.

I am finally feeling back to normal after about a week of being totally low-energy and sick.  I came down with a cold the day after Christmas (actually, most of Jeremy's family did).  It seemed like it was only going to last a few days, but it has been lingering on and on and on.

Yesterday, I suddenly felt very sick all over again.  I had zero energy, was very sore, had an awful headache all day, and was super tired.  I laid down on the couch at 7:30 after the kids went to bed, and then headed up to bed myself after an hour.  Boy, did I need the sleep! I have felt so weird the last week, totally unmotivated to do any of the things I have been wanting to do and feeling very anxious about getting them done, but never finding the strength to do them.

Needless to say, the kids ended up watching a lot of movies (although, we did unhook the TV and took it back out to the garage right before Christmas) and Jeremy washed a lot more dishes than normal.

Hailey was discovering Shea's "bed" he made in one of our cabinets.  I'm not sure how he fit in there with all of his dolls, but he made it work.  He was convinced he was going to sleep there at night! ha ha.

Part of this may be that Hailey got sick after me and was up three nights in a row.  I had to hold her upright, because this girl can not figure out how to sleep with a cold, poor girl.  She wakes up crying from not being able to breathe, so I bring her to my bed and lay upright with her.  After a bit, she gets very wiggly and starts asking for her "night-night" (her bed) so I put her in.  20 minutes later, she is up again because her nose has replugged and she can't sleep again.  This really wore me down by the third day.  The fourth night, she finally slept, but then Shea was up 4 times that night when he normally sleeps all the way through.  I definitely needed the sleep last night.

I took the kids outside to try and take a picture of them for my mom.  The only good one I got was in front of our window with the broom handle!  I don't know why I didn't choose a better location for a backdrop...

This morning, we went to story time at the library - the first time I have taken both kids since Hailey has been too big to just be in my front pack.  Luckily, she is kind of scared of people she doesn't know - especially in large groups, so she just sat in my lap through the whole thing, too scared to get up and walk around. haha.  I'm sure she will warm up soon though, and it will be a little harder.

New Years Eve we put the kids down to sleep at Jeremy's parents and then walked down to the Indianola beach for the polar bear swim they do each year.  We didn't go in the water, but they had a pretty big group of adults and kids run in.  There is a big bonfire where people bring their christmas trees to burn and they set off a bunch of fireworks.  The tide was out soooooo far!  It was beautiful.  I haven't been down there when it's been out that far in a very long time - especially not at night!  We walked down "big rock stairs" which are these super steep stairs (maybe 100 steps) closer to Jeremy's parents house.  We used to go down these when we were engaged all the time, but now we never walk up that far to get to the beach.  I felt like I was 19 again running around the beach at night like that.  It's amazing, because even though there were so many people by the dock, you can walk out and be completely alone.  Love it and miss it.

The youth party we threw was fun.  I had forgotten what middle school boys smell like, but I got over it pretty quick, ha.  We are planning a nice dinner and bible discussion in a week.  We are keeping things very low-key and spaced out so we don't get burned out.

Hailey hung out with us at the party, eating as many "cocos" (cookies) as she could.

So much more is going on!  The treasurer at church is going to be gone for the next 5 weeks, so I will be having to keep up with the bookkeeping a little more than usual.  Preschool starts tomorrow - which I am planing on spending a chunk of time tonight getting ready for the next few weeks.  I meant to plan all last week, but then I got sick and never got around to it.  We are also...getting chickens in a week!!  I'll have to share more about that later, though! :)  Loved hearing from everybody this week!  Here are a few more random pics from today, just because.

The kids played SO nicely this morning and after lunch before their rest.  Shea and Hailey are getting along together better and better every day.  It is so much fun to see them play and work things out on their own.  But let me tell you, once Hailey can really talk, Shea will be in trouble.  She comes straight over and says "shea shea!!" when he does something to her.  At least he is very honest and always tells us what happened.  Gotta admit, I'd rather have a boy who gets himself into trouble a lot and fesses up to it than a sneaky one who doesn't cause much trouble and lies all the time.

Shea was making ridiculous faces at me this morning.  Isn't his hair insane?  Both Jeremy and Shea are growing out their hair.  I give up. ha ha.  I almost have the shortest hair in the family!

and an over exposed selfie! WHY?  Because I actually got dressed nicely today and felt like myself.
My eyes are weirdly colored in this picture.