January 7, 2008 | Mama Smith

recovery

We survived the whirlwind of Christmas and the illness that swept through the house claiming 8 of the 9 family members as victims. The highly anticipated restful, relaxing holiday with my family was anything but that.

Our first night away from the boys (an anniversary celebration), I woke up at 2am clutching the toilet for dear life and finding the only comfort I could on the hard, cold bathroom floor. As Matthew brushed back my hair and covered me with towels, I thought to myself, that this just might be the worse month of my life yet. You knew we were in need of a night away when the only instructions we left were as follows…

It was the sarcasm that came back and bit us in the butt as I was sprawled on the bathroom floor in the middle of the night. So much for our first uninterrupted night of sleep in almost three years.

But we survived December. The shed building production every Saturday of that month. The constant colds that jumped from Brighton to Levi and back again. The preparations for the arrival of family. The incessant rain from the moment my poor London parents stepped off the plane until the day they left. And now it is finally, finally January and hopefully some rest is ahead.

Levi has a little under a month before his first birthday. Where did this year go? His unfortunately was not quite as documented as Brighton’s but he’s making up for it by outshining his older brother already – attempting to stand on his own, saying “ball” and “nigh-night” and “mama”, fighting back and defending his territory from a bossy toddler. Honestly, it’s fun to see him grow up and become his own little person in our family. Matthew and I were never big baby fans anyhow.

Matthew is loving his new office downtown and I’m loving having the house all to myself again…although we do sometimes miss the daily interactions…but not enough to ever go back to “working” in the same 2000 square foot area again.

I’m continuing to fall in love with Greenville and more than anything, the friendships I’ve found here. Maybe that’s why the blog has slowed down and the house has a tendency to gather more dust than it once did. A day spent outdoors with companionship other than that from a 2 year old and an almost 1 year old is far better than wandering around the house cleaning, cooking and blogging by my lonesome. But as you’ve so kindly let me know that the absence has made the minismith heart’s grown fonder, I will try , dear readers, to pick up the updates and continue to share with you glimpses of our new life here in the south.

The Christmas victims. All that is, except for my dad, how do dads always escape illness? Shouldn’t it be the other way around? Since moms don’t have the luxury of a “sick day” and have to keep going unless they’ve lost a limb or are uncontrollably bleeding from the head.