February Adventures!

Feb 1 ~ We had a great topic this morning at Hearts In Touch! A panel of three men spoke about marriage. It's always eye-opening to hear from the opposite sex once in awhile :) They had a lot of great things to share concerning the blessings of marriage, what men need from their wives, and just what they have learned during the years they've been married. During our small group time we all contributed by voicing what we appreciate in our husbands and what steps we could take in order to better our relationships.

Feb 3-5 ~ Craig's parents came to visit us for the weekend. We felt bad because it ended up being a sort of busy and hectic few days...but it was still nice to have them around! Craig had to go into work for a bit on Saturday afternoon. While he was gone, Mom and Dad Essington treated Nattie and me to lunch at Culvers and to some much needed items at Walmart. That evening I had to go over to the church for choir rehearsal and to sing at service. Natalie woke up in the middle of the night with her first case of croup - fever, difficulty breathing, and an awful sounding barking cough. Craig ran a hot shower and steamed up our bathroom, and I sat with Nattie in there until the steam ran out. It didn't seem to help too much. At one point I was a little nervous about her breathing, so I made Craig call the doctor. The doctor on call ended up being Dr.Gardner who I don't particularly care for...but she said to just give her some ibuprofen and cough syrup and to try to make her as comfortable as possible...that we'd just have to ride it out because there wasn't much that could be done for croup, which we figured anyway. So it was a really long night with little Nat in our bed so we could keep tabs on her breathing. I got up early Sunday and made it through another choir rehearsal and two services...barely made it that is! Craig's parents did come to one of the services while Craig stayed home with Natalie. We all had dinner at our house before Mom and Dad E left to go back to Illinois.

Feb 6-9 ~ Natalie's croup seemed to get better throughout the week. On Monday I had to run an errand, so Natalie and I bundled up and rode in the van with the back windows cracked open...the doctor had said that sometimes cold air helps with breathing. By Wednesday I felt Natalie was in good spirits and we were both itching to get out of the house. So we had a mother/daughter brunch at The Village Inn - strawberry pancakes, bacon & hashbrowns. Thursday night we were supposed to meet Paula, Laura and their daughters for playgroup, but Natalie was still coughing a little and I wasn't sure if she should be around other kids yet. So Nattie stayed home with Daddy and I just went alone to the playgroup for some conversation with the other moms.

Feb 10 ~ So Friday rolls around and it seems Natalie is feeling better and doesn't have the barking cough anymore. But I still think I can feel some crackling in her lungs and it just isn't sitting real well with me. So I decide to call and see if I can find a doctor to squeeze her in before the weekend. Her regular doctor was booked, but Dr. Goldenstein at the Iowa City office was free. Had never met her before...I still like Nat's doctor the best, but this lady wasn't too bad. She listened to Nattie's lungs and said that it was good that I brought her in because she had pneumonia. It was just a real mild case, and pretty common so there were no worries. She put Nat on an oral antibiotic - amoxicillin - for 10 days and told me to make a follow -up appointment as well. She also said she could be around children again after 24 hours, so we were happy about that. When I asked the doctor what side effects I should be aware of with the drug, she was surprised to hear that this was Nat's first time on an antibiotic. She said most kids her age have been exposed to antibiotics already...we have been very lucky that Natalie has had very few illnesses.

Feb 11 ~ Craig spent the afternoon playing in a euchre tournament over at the Eagles Lodge in Iowa City. His partner was a friend and co-worker, Hiede Rodby. ( I am very bad at card games!) He and Hiede ended up winning and they took home $50, so that was awesome! After the tournament, Craig came home and our family took a drive over to Cedar Rapids for the evening. We planned on spending the tournament winnings on a big dinner at The Outback Steakhouse, but there was an outrageously long wait for a table. So we just ended up at Steak and Shake which was still pretty good. After dinner we took Natalie to see her first live hockey game - Cedar Rapids Rough Riders! We got a really great deal on tickets through Pearson...there also ended up being some extra tickets, so we invited the Kroegers to meet us there as well. It was very loud in there with the announcer shouting, the crowd noise, the cowbells clanking, the buzzer going off...but I think Natalie really enjoyed it (and so did Craig and I). Nat's favorite part was watching the mascot walk around. The mascot is supposed to be a horse, but he looks more like a donkey than anything.

Feb 12 ~ Tonight was Family Game Night hosted by the Brezinski family! We played a couple familiar group games...men against women of course and hilarious as always :) The food was excellent! - Heather had this gift certificate she needed to use that was basically like a party pack of sandwiches, salads, and cookies from Panera. Plus we all brought over snacks on top of that. We were without Ken and Ashley from our group, but Steff invited her friends Annie and Eric and their son Andrew to join us (I still don't know their last name).

Feb 14 ~ Happy Valentine's Day!! Craig and I had some small cards and gifts for each other, but other than that we were just going to stay home for the night. Well, last minute we decided that all three of us should try to find someplace to go eat. Of course there were the usual Valentine's Day waits at all the good restaurants - which we pretty much knew would be the case - so we just ended up at the food court eating Chinese. But it was fun, and we had a good time just chatting and following it up with some time at the play area for Natalie. The best news was that Craig found out how much he was getting for his yearly raise earlier that day. We weren't sure what to expect since last year the raises were lacking. I'm not going to mention the amount on here...but we are very pleased with what he was given. The biggest blessing is that it is just enough to cover some expenses that will be coming up in the next few months...so while we won't end up really financially ahead with this raise, we are so thankful that things will be paid for...and we really feel that God knew this and provided this for us through His perfect timing! Back to Valentine's Day - so what gifts did we give each other? Craig gave me a Michael Buble CD and I gave him (us) a book entitled 101 Nights of Great Romance. Craig and I gave Natalie a little pink stuffed frog that sings You Are My Sunshine when you squeeze it.

Feb 16 ~ Natalie and I went on a mall outing today! We started with lunch at Panera - bagel, fruit, milk. She sat in her chair like such a big girl and this older couple commented on how well-behaved she was acting...that is always a nice thing to hear! Then we went to the Children's Museum to play. We hadn't been there in a long time and I wanted to check it out again to see if it was worth it to get a yearly pass. There are a few things that Natalie likes to do there, but overall it's just not impressive enough to spend that much on a pass. It was quite a let-down finding out that they had temporarily closed one of the exhibits we wanted to see that day and also because it seemed as if many areas were not being maintained very well. There were some fun parts though.

Feb 17-19 ~ What a great weekend! I had been telling Craig for months that I really needed a weekend at home all to myself. And I think after Natalie's bout with croup and pneumonia I was definitely in need of that weekend soon! Well I mentioned to Craig during the past week that I wanted to sit down with him and plan out a time for him and Nat to go stay with his parents in Illinois so I could finally have this weekend I've needed. To my surprise he took it a step further and said "Well, how about this coming weekend?" I said yes and his parents were also all for it so I got my weekend! And I did exactly what I wanted to do...not much of anything! I relaxed when and wherever I wanted, took a couple extra long showers, and had all the time in the world to just sit and think and pray, etc. Before my family returned home on Sunday, I went and had a one hour massage and it was fabulous! I did manage to do a tiny bit of cleaning :) I love my husband and daughter to no end, but a weekend alone once in awhile is priceless!

Later in the afternoon I received an email from Julie Bates. Julie works in the music department at the church and is a member of the choir...she writes Christian music and has an excellent voice. Anyway - she emailed to ask if I was still interested in helping with singing for the upcoming women's conference. I emailed back and replied yes of course! Well, I saw her at choir in the evening and she explained that it was probably just going to be the two of us singing and helping to lead the visiting ladies in praise and worship music. Oh I was so excited but so nervous! I had prayed for an opportunity to sing outside of a large group ever since Christmas time when I totally messed up that audition with Scott. But the nervousness was because it had been like 10 years since I'd done much of anything outside of a choir setting...granted I'd be with Julie and not alone...but still nervous. But I knew I could get up there and do it and that it would be fun! So Julie just said here are the four songs we are doing and be there about 45 minutes ahead of time to practice! Yay!!

Feb 25 ~ Parkview's annual Women's Conference was today! I was up bright and early to rehearse a little with Julie before it started. We had some troubles with the microphones and such and only really got about ten good minutes of practice in. We sang four fairly familiar songs at the start of the conference: Come Now is the Time to Worship, Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord, I Will Live My Life For Him, & Offering. The only big problem I had was not being able to hear myself too well during I Will Live My Life For Him. Gotta tell ya - now I've totally got the itch to do more singing outside of the group! It was so much fun and I felt so at home. Don't get me wrong though, I love choir singing a whole lot - I am just thankful I got the opportunity to do this. Hopefully I can pull myself together in the future and do better at auditions.

The conference itself was great as well. We sat in small groups at the round tables in the auditorium. Amy, Heather B, Molly & Janna were at my table along with an older lady named Eleanor and also a girl in her early twenties and her mom. The speakers were okay - the thing this year was that the speakers weren't live...it was a simulcast event so we watched various well-known speakers on a big screen. So for me it didn't seem as inspirational and personal that way, but it still was a good time. I got to hear Beth Moore speak for the first time...I've always heard that she is just awesome and it is true. My favorite part was just talking with and listening to the ladies at our table during group time. The church also had a really nice brunch buffet set up. Julie sang some songs solo during the middle of the conference. Afterward, a bunch of us ladies were going to go to lunch but found we weren't too hungry. So we opted to meet at House of Aromas for coffee instead. Had never been there before - really excellent coffee! Coffee was me, Amy, Molly, Janna, Heather Pentico, a lady named Sally that I had only met once before, and another friend of Heather P's. Steffany also joined us even though she couldn't make it to the conference and Heather B. had to be home early so she couldn't make it for the coffee outing. It was relaxing and the conversation flowed well. Baby talk has been a big thing lately with so many of our friends pregnant or trying to get pregnant - so often we find ourselves endlessly talking about labor, fertility, or the possibility of adoption.

I made it home with just about an hour and a half to spare before having to head out the door again. Choir was singing during evening service. I've decided I want to start keeping track of what songs we've sung so I'm going to use this journal. This weekend we sang Only a God Like You, Let Creation Sing, Hallelujah Your Love is Amazing, I Will Worship, and O The Wonderful Cross. It was quite an upbeat set and just so much fun! I enjoyed each song, but love the line in Only a God Like You that says "To only my Maker, my Father, my Savior, Redeemer, Restorer, Rebuilder, Rewarder, to only a God like You do I give my praise". Each time I sing in choir it seems it is better than the last - can it possibly get any better? It is just so moving and brings me so much closer to my God - it just blows my mind how many different ways The Lord has given us to worship Him...whether it be through song, dance, instruments, spoken word, thought, prayer, action, or just daily living. The church also held communion this weekend. Choir sang during that time, so we held our own communion in between services on Sunday in the kitchen (which is kind of the choir hang out when we aren't singing). It was really wonderful being able to gather together to offer our prayers and praises as a group in a more confined space.

Feb 27 ~ Natalie wore underwear for the first time today! She was excited about her colorful Dora panties! I'm not sure she understood the concept though - by the end of the morning she had already wet through two pairs of underwear and pants. The first time she had an accident she stood at the top of the stairs with such a look of shame on her face...I had never seen that look from her before and it just broke my heart. I told her it was okay as I changed her clothes. During the second accident she was in the dining room and I could tell by the way she was standing that she hated having her pants all wet. In some ways I think she's ready to train, but in other ways I'm not sure. We changed back into diapers...maybe we will try again here in the months to come.