Currently, January Edition

What's going down around here, currently

When it rains, it pours right?! Always. I have a bunch of cool posts that are 90% finished, but if you follow me on the 'Gram, you know that Teddy was in the hospital for a weird virus that caused him to be unable to breathe. Check out this post for the details if you missed it. Of course, that happened over MLK day, so all the kids were out of school, and hubby and I had to divide and conquer to get everyone taken care of. Does anyone else's school have TWO days off for MLK? Because we do. That was rough, on many levels! Anywhoo, I've had exactly zero minutes to finish those awesome posts, so here I am, scrambling on a Wednesday to get one out. I thought it'd be appropriate for just a good ol' fashioned life update! Here's what's going on, currently:

Teddy's health status:

He was in super rough shape for 24 hrs but turned a massive corner after a full day and night in the hospital, with the highest level oxygen they'd give an infant outside of the ICU and hourly to every-other-hour breathing treatments. He was negative for flu, negative for RSV, and the virus that caused this remains unidentified. After nearly three days in the hospital, he was able to come home to us! I was so thankful that my husband brought him into the ER when he did... I'm anti-ER trips. Since we have a nebulizer, my stance was to give him breathing treatments hourly until his pedi opened up (they open at 7am, so it would have been about a three hour wait) but he insisted that he should go in. I rolled my eyes and said, "go for it then" and stayed home with our other three kids. He showed improvement from our nebulizer and his lips or fingers weren't turning blue, so I didn't think it was a *true* emergency. Welp, I was wrong and he was right.

Look at that teething slobber! Also, the twins' eye color is insane - they change from green to grey to gold to blue daily

I can't help but think about what would have happened if I'd have been home alone with all four kids and this would have happened... Would I have called 911? Would I have woken up all the other kids, put them in the car and exposed them to all the germs at the ER? No, I wouldn't have. I'd have used our nebulizer and waited until morning. So while all of this was inconvenient timing, I'm SO SO SO thankful it happened during the first week that my husband was actually home in January! With four kids, you've got to divide and conquer to get everyone taken care of. If I was solo, I'm not quite sure how I'd have divided myself. It was a true blessing that this happened when both mommy and daddy were home and able to care for everyone!

A final note about Teddy's hospitalization: I was absolutely FLOORED at the generosity of my Dallas friends. Nearly immediately, I had friends coming over to help me with Henry and Otto, bringing me meals and calling/texting/messaging me if there was anything they could do. Here's something valuable I learned - if a good friend of yours gets into a stressful situation (kid in the hospital, sudden or random divorce/separation, deceased parent or some other tragic event), claim your space. The best things that happened were friends who were like, "I'm coming to take your other kids on a play date, be there in an hour!" or "I'm stopping by with supper for tonight! Any requests or food allergies?" When people asked if they could do anything, I wasn't sure what to say. But when people simply told me what they were doing, I was SO relieved - it was one less thing I had to do. Be that friend. Don't ask - just start doing. And to all the followers who reached out or commented on my post, with positive thoughts or prayers, THANK YOU. Teddy showed no improvement until all those started to pile in. I read every one of them, even if I didn't respond (still trying to catch up!) but felt so loved and supported and lifted up in prayer from y'all. You're truly the best people on the planet. Thanks for making a personality you know on the internet feel loved!

He was 7 or 8 months old here. What a little pumpkin!

Ok, on to lighter and brighter things that are going on this month!

My new skincare routine:
I'm not big on telling people to buy things - there's definitely enough materialism in the world. A few months ago, I crowd-sourced what skincare systems people loved. I got AMAZING responses, all of the brands mentioned were brands I'd be interested in. I went with K'pure Naturals because I loved that there were minimal ingredients, that I could actually pronounce and were all natural (think coconut oil, vitamin E, etc) and it was a four step system, so it included a face wash, toner, serum and moisturizer. It's also cusomizable, so whatever your skin needs are - acne, anti-aging, combo skin) you can change the products to reflect your needs. At checkout, I realized another bonus! It's a small company based in Vancouver, so the prices listed are in Canadian dollars! Currently, if you're in the US, that's a benefit to you. My total price with shipping was $102 for the four step program. But because of the exchange rate, it was only $83 US dollars! That was an unexpected *bonus* 25ish% off. If you're on the hunt for a natural skincare line that is natural, that uses glass over plastic, that you can pronounce everything in it - this is your brand! I cannot speak highly enough of it.

I highly recommend using their skincare line with this rose quartz roller too - it helps the toner and serum set in and feels GREAT, not to mention promotes circulation and the cool stone helps de-puff your face/minimize eye bags. It's on sale for $16 (HALF OFF) and there's an Amazon 5% off coupon to apply too! Yay sales. Def worth the money!

My thoughts on cleanses:
If you checked out this post, you'll know that I did my first juice cleanse ever. Well, not only that, but my first cleanse ever! I generally don't believe in diet gimmicks, and I definitely don't think it's a means for weight loss, but holy heck did I feel and sleep better when I did it and after! In fact, I plan on doing this cleanse every quarter. Next one will be after my trip to New Mexico to visit Jaelan from Making Mrs M at the end of March (I cannot WAIT to see you, my love!)

The BEST diapers we've found:
With Henry and Otto, we only had about 12 months of crossover of two being in diapers, and they weren't the same size at the same time, so both got organic cotton, fragrance free diapers (we used this brand with Henry and this brand with Otto). Having twins is diapers is another story! It's expensive. You burn through your whole stash quickly. I've found that the Kirkland diapers, which are chemical softener and fragrance free, are about the best diapers we've ever used. In fact, I wish I'd have discovered them for the older two, because we used to spend $240/mo on diapers and now, even with twins in diapers, we spend $35. A MONTH. Because you get 180 diapers (full disclosure, that lasts us about weeks so not quite a month) but the cost savings and the quality are so amazing, I just had to share! We've been wholesale club members at several places for years, but just really started using our Costco membership. If you have a large family and like organic products, I highly recommend them, both the diapers and everything else Costco offers. I'm sure soon I'll transition most of my weekly grocery shopping there - especially when the kids hit puberty and REALLY start eating (we already go through several loaves of bread, several gallons of milk and about 40 eggs A WEEK. Good grief, I can't imagine what life will be like when they're teens - and then they bring their friends over! Sweet goodness, we'll have to take out a second mortgage on our home just to feed them!)

Great reads:
I'm currently reading The German Girl, and don't love it. It's very repetitive and a rather distressing story, although I'm only 50 pages in. I'm hoping I get more into the story and it becomes less of a buzzkill. Two reads that I really enjoyed, though, were In A Dark, Dark Wood and The Woman In The Window. In fact, I finished The Woman in the Window in about 3 days, which when you don't have lots of spare or leisurely time (hello, four children) is fairly impressive! Both are thrillers and both are page turners for sure. If you're looking for more great titles, check out this post I wrote and stay tuned; I'm going to do a short list of my most current favorite reads soon! I shared how watching less TV and being on my phone less were goals of mine for better mental health in 2020, and so far I'm sticking to it! I only watch Hometown (I love them as a couple, don't you?) and Vanderpump Rules, because I just can't quit my trashy TV. I'm also in awe that most of the cast is my age or even older (Jax is the same age as my husband! I mean, how do you still act like that?!)

That's what's going down around here lately. I'm feeling good about sticking to my 2020 goals, but - it is still January. I'm looking forward to a healthier February. I hope. And I really, really just want spring to get here. After Christmas I'm like oooookkkkkk we can return to warm weather and long, bright days please! I know I'm not the only one. I'll check y'all next week with all that great content I have lined up, including how to have an indoor herb garden in the winter, a fitness update and some thoughts I have on "gender inclusive" parenting. It's gonna be good!