Under the Weather and Other Things

Chicken Chili Stew

~Mara Kate has had a cold for 2 weeks. I thought she was getting better after her nose stopped running, but it has started again and she is so miserable. When she is awake she is fairly happy, but very congested with a cough. We were up several times in the night last night trying to help her get resettled after several coughing fits. Part of her problem is once she starts coughing she has no control over what she is coughing up. She has a lot of "gunk" some of which ended up on her pillow and all over her face at one point last night. Poor little thing. We called the pediatrician's office this morning and described her symptoms. The nurse said there is nothing they can do for her. It's just a really nasty, long lasting cold. She did suggest getting a cool mist humidifier for her room, which we did today. Maybe that will help some tonight. Hopefully so, as we could all three use a better nights sleep tonight.

~The weather is cooling off here, finally. It actually feels like Fall and I am loving it! It usually still warms up in the afternoons, which means we are still dressing in layers that can be removed partway through the day. I like the cooler weather and soup season. I made White Chicken Chili last week and this week I am going to make Chicken Chili Stew or Taco Soup. Yumm!

~We had a great weekend together as a family. We didn't have much planned so that was nice. We did go buy Mara Kate's birthday present from the IKEA Children's section so I am glad to have that taken care of. I am excited about her Elmo themed birthday party we are giving her in a couple weeks. I think she will love it when she sees everything decorated for her party. Even though her birthday isn't until the end of November she has already received a birthday card. It came from Publix grocery stores (we are members of the Publix Baby Club) and she loves that little card. It has a cake and balloons on it and she carries it around and says, "Birthday Card". Her ability to talk still amazes me. I'm having an actual conversation with my baby?! Weird.

~I am almost finished with the fiction book series I have been reading. It is actually 3 different series' about the same family. I just started book 1 of the 3rd series (which translates to book #11) It is by Karen Kingsbury and it has been a great read. I have been thankful to have something relaxing, fun and entertaining (not to mention uplifting) to do during the evening hours Kane is working or grading lap reports.

~I am starting to get excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas!