Hubney's B-day and one sick little pipsqueak

(Do translate: Hubney is a cross between HUBBY and HUNNY)

Today is Mattie's Birthday!!!!! He is 29 years old-still such a young pup despite his lead on me by SIX years (temperarily). He always gets an 'extended' birthday. It always works out that way. Friday we had dinner at his parents' house, yesterday had his birthday cake, and tonight we are going on a kid-free date (except for Peanut who has ASSURED me s(he) will be polite and quiet through dinner.) . With Matt's birthday being the day before Valentine's Day-it is neat because we will be killing two birds with one stone as far as 'dinner' is concerned-without the Valentine's Day rush! :-) The Lord has blessed me abundantly with such a wonderful man and I am constantly amazed by the Lord's goodness and mercy towards me in bringing him into my life. I could not ask for a better husband or father and regardless of how many years we have together, I will always be in awe of the blessedness of having been given the chance to be together-even just a moment. The celebration of another year is a gift to him from our Maker but a gift to me as well. So really, I guess I am getting a present too. The most wonderful one of all.

Last night he got to open ONE present (he ALWAYS opens a present before the actual day. His puppy pleading just does me in every time.) and it happened to be the one from Corynn...a box of Lucky Charms. No. Not generic. NAMEBRAND. SUPER special.
Corynn and I stopped by his work today and delivered a Happy Birthday balloon for him. We are now anxiously awaiting his return home from work because as I type-his present is waiting for him in the middle of the living room. AHHHHH. The suspense is KILLING me (and I already know what it is!) :-)

Yesterday I stayed home from church for the first time since Matt and I have been married. On Saturday Corynn had a fever. I never take her temperature because I am not one to freak out about illness or run to the doctor every five seconds. But she was SO hot I broke out the thermometer for the second time in her life. It read 104.5. Woah. I kind of freaked out then. Matt was gone all day on Saturday-leaving me without a car so I did what anyone would do. You make due with what you have. I put her in a lukewarm tub and let her airdry, I gave her tylenol, dressed her in cooler clothes, and prayed. I had to FORCE her to eat icecream. Sunday wasn't much better but the temperature had dropped to 102 something. She would feel better for a while after the Tylenol but would quickly crawl in my lap to 'sleep on Mama'. She would just lay in my arms, completely limp and snuggled in, murmuring and wimpering in her sleep. It brought tears to my eyes. As I stroked her eyebrows (just something I do) I got choked up thinking about how sweet she is and how sick she was feeling. It is so hard to see a little one struggle so hard with illness. And I was so thankful for 1) That I live in an age where there is Tylenol...a quick fix for a high temp. I thought of living 'back in the day' when you just had to wait and struggle and work so hard for so long before any change was evident. I am so glad I live in today's age and we have a means to quickly reduce a fever. And 2) Corynn has been such a HEALTHY girl ever since she was born. I can count on one hand the number of times she has been sick and I have NEVER had to take her to the doctor for it. This was by far the worst she has ever been. Today, after TWO days of eating NOTHING-she ate a whole sandwich for lunch. She looks pale and has rings under her eyes-and I am sure she has lost some weight, but she is eating little bits now and drinking lots of fluids-and her temperature is nearly back to normal. Praise the Lord for the watchcare of his little children!

I will leave you with a few photos I have been meaning to post-and one from last nights' homemade birthday dinner. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and thank the Lord for your lover-he is the best gift of all.