phew

hey you. boy, what the last few days we've had around here. before i get to any of that, i wanna recap the awesome, amazing, rocking, kick bootay weekend we had with mom and steve here. 
basically, we ate and shopped. what better vacay could there be, really?! it was delightful. they arrived on friday night. we headed back to our place for chili and cornbread and to get all settled in. there was a ton of drama at the wedding business because A TREE WAS FALLING DOWN. nbd. jake had to run out and help with some clearing (the professionals did manage the situation), but he was kind of on call all weekend in case the tree really did decide to fall and crush all the wedding guests. bad for business. ANYWAY... we went to bed early and woke on saturday ready for some shopping! jake had to work a morning wedding, so me, mom, steve, and the babies set out for target and marshalls. what more does one need, really? m&s (as i will refer to mom and steve) got us many useful and pretty things for our little home here. it was such a blessing and so fun. we hit up the local "cook out" for lunch. basically a drive thru bbq/amazingness place near the house. i the kids napped. we went to mom's beloved dollar general, which she sadly does not have in the pacific northwest, and then all headed to dinner with jake. we went to mac's speed shop. it was a recommendation by the wedding coordinator we work with and it was DELICIOUS! steve really wanted some NC bbq, and it delivered! sunday we woke up and went to church and then went to my mom and i's beloved chili's for lunch. we heart it. then jake and i took advantage of free babysitters (:)) and headed out for a belated bday date for jake with josh and joy. when we got home we just sat around drinking wine and chatting with m&s. monday, steve really wanted cracker barrel, so we went to brunch. pancakes and biscuits galore. we hit up a few more stores and came home. after naps, we drove them around the "ritzy" part of charlotte, went to a lovely park, and went to dinner at this very random diner. we were told to go to this one place, but it was closed when we got there, so we punted, but the diner was no disappointment. after the kids were in bed, we introduced m&s to the wonders that is the movie "warrior". if you've never seen it, it's on netflix right now. leave this blog now and go watch it. amazing. and alas, tuesday came and off they were. it was short, but very sweet. lots of finley and audrey kisses and snuggles had, lots of calories consumed, lots of empty walls filled, and hearts full. thanks for coming, m&s. we all loved it. 

look! someone's coming!

so happy to see them

 then this weekend happened. on saturday, audrey started getting a runny nose. she got sicker and sicker all day and was having trouble breathing. she was up most of the night on saturday. her, jake and me got about an hour of sleep. sunday i took her to urgent care. as soon as i got there, the doc came in and said she needs to be at the hospital. they called an ambulance. i rode with her there. josh and joy came and picked up finley so jake could get the car and meet us there (lifesaver's they are). we spent a few hours in the ER of the levine children's hospital. they suctioned her lungs and gave her breathing treatments. they diagnosed it as a respiratory virus. it's not really a huge deal, but the problem is, babies have such a small airway that these little viruses can get very serious fast. they decided we should stay the night so they could monitor her. you guys remember how audrey is not exactly into doing things she doesn't feel like doing? yeah, she screamed a lot, and it was a rough day/night. she didn't go to sleep until midnight last night and was woken at 6am by the doctor. we were all very tired. thankfully, she was improving enough to get sent home! yay! i was so happy to hear that. hospitals and little babies is just, so tough. i can't imagine the things people i know and love have been through with their children and hospitals. honestly can't imagine. it literally pains my heart to think of little kids having to be in the hospital and what entire families go through. it humbled me. and reminded me i would take a crazy, insane, messy day full of strong willed disobedience and impatience over a baby who is sick and hurt. thank you, Jesus, for the health of the babies you've given us. and i only had to spend one night there. what do i know? anyway, we picked finley up at josh and joy's. so grateful he was taken care of for us, as well. all seems to be on the up here. audrey has been sound asleep since 7. just praying finley doesn't catch it. 

God's love is alive. and it makes me whole. and i am so thankful that the sweet Lord is near us. in sickness and in health. what a mighty God. 

i must crawl into bed now. and hopefully not wake until morning.

love to you.
mer