A poor sick baby and a wonderful sister

Within hours of posting last time, my little poppet came down with a vomiting bug. :( It might sound silly, but being the first time, I found it quite scary. I'm so over being vomited on and scrubbing vomit out of carpet. One of the evenings I went through three sets of pyjamas. Last night it was through my hair and everything. This morning we were just having a snuggle when all of a sudden I had a bubbling vomit fountain in my arms. It's just awful watching a helpless little one heaving her guts up. :(

I took her to the doctor on Wednesday afternoon, but he said she was doing okay and that it was probably a viral infection which had to run its course, and I came home feeling like a hypochondriac mother. But I have had so many worries and concerns over the last few days.... What if she dehydrates? When should I start to worry? Will I know when she's dehydrated? She's still alert and happy and her mouth isn't dry... but why has it been so long since she's had a wet nappy? Does her skin feel warmer or cooler than normal? Why does she just start to cry when I sit her on the floor? How should I tackle this latest vomit episode we're both covered in? What if I take her to the hospital now because I think she needs medical attention and they ask me how long it's been going on and I say three days... are they going to ask why I wasn't there two days ago and think I'm a neglectful mother and call DOCS and take my daughter away from me? :(

This morning at 8am was the last time she vomited, so I'm hoping she's turned a corner and is actually on the mend. My beautiful sister Meaghan has been an absolute gem. Yesterday it was dreary and rainy, and she came down to be with me... and knowing that there had been a lot of free-flowing vomit in our house, she went past Dusk on her way, and got an odour-eating candle, vacuum beads, and a beautiful rose and tangerine room spray - just as a gift. She went past my favourite bakery too, and bought me a delicious Neenish Tart to cheer me up. She cuddled Annie while I cleaned upstairs and got it smelling nice... then helped me with washing and dishes and everything. And she came back today to help me again. :)

But it was a glorious day, so instead of sitting inside and doing sensible things, we bundled the baby (plus multiple changes of clothes for us all in case we had to deal with a vomit episode!) into the car, and went down to Kiama for the afternoon. It was so lovely to get out... and I wouldn't have been brave enough to go out by myself with Anthea unwell. But I think it did her good to get a bit of fresh sea air... and it probably did me some good too.

I am so blessed to have a sister like Meaghan, and to have her just 45 minutes up the road.

Love you, Meaghan. xo

Very very blessed are we...

You know, I think we may indeed be one of the most blessed families in the world.

We have a beautiful landlord named Jim. He is about to turn 82, and is one of the most amazing, kind, gentle, thoughtful, considerate, generous, clever, wonderful Christian men that we have ever met.

For starters: he is renting his granny flat to us at a minimal rate, (which enabled us to pay off the $25,000 debt Alastair brought into our marriage just days before our first anniversary). Minimal, as in, we'd be hard-pressed to find a motel for a night, for what he charges us for a week. He does all the lawns and gardening, saying "you've got enough to think about with your little girl" whenever we offer any sort of practical help. And those two things are only the beginning of his kindness to us. It would take me a year to write everything he does to make our lives easier... we are just constantly blown away by his servant-heart...

Anyhow, yesterday, would you believe it... he installed an air conditioning unit upstairs for us! Whenever it gets above about 25 degrees outside, it becomes stiflingly hot up there, and the only room that is up there, is our bedroom (where Annie sleeps too). A few weeks ago, Alastair went and talked to Jim, to ask if we might be able to put a little portable air conditioner up there or something, because Anthea was finding it hard to sleep... and lo-and-behold, this is what he came up with!

I keep thanking him, but he doesn't want to hear about it. :) I guess I just want to say that even though sometimes I complain about living in a tiny two-room granny flat, that we are so infinitely blessed... God's love is constantly being shown to us by this grandfather-figure at the other end of the hallway. May God bless you Jim, a thousand-fold!