I Hate Croup

Well, our old friend CROUP has visited Nate again...in a nasty way. It started Tuesday, and every night since has been no fun (between nursing Aidan every two hours and Nate waking up three times a night, I'm getting no sleep at all!) Luckily we think he's on the back end of it. This is the third time Nate has had croup, and everyone says he's too old to have it again, but here we are. So, the challenge hasn't necessarily been the terrible cough, or the trouble breathing, or even the middle-of-the-night trips into the cold air (which help a lot, actually). The challenge has been keeping Nate and baby Aidan apart. Nate is terribly upset that he can't hold, hug, and kiss his little brother. And he's equally upset that Mom is spending so much time holding the baby, and she can't comfort him all day long. It's brought us both to tears on several occasions. I realize now how much I've taken for granted--good health, spontaneous hugs, and good sleep. Hopefully next week will be better, and join us in praying that Aidan doesn't get sick, too. I'm not sure I could handle that!
OK, so I know that many of you didn't really care to read such a boring blog entry, and maybe you're just here to look at pictures, so here you go :)

Wanna see more? Check out my family's blog:

http://busathfamily.blogspot.com

Four Years Will Make You Forget...

It's been a long time since we've had a newborn in our home. I've forgotten...

*Baby poop is gross and it gets everywhere. Aidan goes through so many outfits, I'm doing laundry every other day!

*A mom with a new baby can fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Even sitting up.

*The world is eerily quiet at 2 a.m. and is equally quiet at 4 a.m. when we get up again.

*There is no sweeter feeling than a little infant curled up against your chest.

*I'm more likely to have a meeting with the president of the United States than get a shower by noon.

*Binkis (soothers for you Canucks), TV/movies, and McDonalds are not evil. They are tools necessary for survival.

*I will never find out what I did right, that made me lucky enough to be a mother. What a tremendous blessing, and what a tremendous responsibility! I'm humbled when I look at the little faces of my boys, and think of what they might become. Limitless potential. Wow.

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Aidan is two weeks old today and has figured out what lungs are for!! Last night was a little rough, but by one a.m. he was calmed down and asleep. I'd barely fallen asleep when, at exactly 1:08 a.m., Nate woke up with a wet bed. So I took jammies off, put on new jammies, switched out bedding, calmed him down, went back to bed and fell asleep. Luckily Aidan let me sleep for a little while. Poor Adam, he actually had to get up today and go to work...I got to sleep in until Nate woke up!

Introducing....

Aidan Michael Murdock

Born October 3, 2007 at 11:05 a.m.

8 pounds, 1 ounce

21 inches

Proud Daddy

Our First Family Portrait...Aidan is about two hours old

I look tired, don't you think?

Me and My Boys...I am one lucky momma

These brothers are going to be good buddies!

Aidan joined our family last week and we have been basking in the joy of a newborn in our home. What a sweet spirit they bring...so fresh from heaven. He was born by c-section last Wednesday and gave us a little scare in the beginning. He came out screaming but didn't turn from blue to pink very quickly. The atmosphere in the operating room was tense, and I could hear a lot of commotion as they brought in a pediatrician consult and called for a special team to come and take him to the "special care nursery." But I couldn't really see anything since I was lying on the OR table being stitched up... Needless to say, it was a scary situation but he ended up "pinking up" before they had to take him to the nursery and he has been given a clean bill of health, thank heaven. We didn't name him right away, since Adam and I couldn't agree on a name. The second night I woke up from a dream with the name of Aidan on my mind, and although Adam liked it well enough, he still wanted to name him Matthew. So, we decided to let Nate be the tie breaker, and he chose Aidan. We chose the middle name of Michael in honor of my father, and we were reminded later that it's kind of like giving him the middle name of Adam since the first man on earth (Adam) was the spirit Michael. Anyways, Aidan means "little fiery one." I hope we're not asking for trouble!

Since we've been home, Aidan has been a dream come true. He hardly ever makes a sound, he's such a calm baby. He looks just like Nate did when he was born (except he's two and a half pounds heavier!)

Nate is adjusting (I think) and he says, "I like my baby brother." He's been very helpful and sweet with the new baby, and I am so grateful that so far he's doing well. I am healing very quickly and haven't taken any pain medication since we got home on Friday. That is a tremendous blessing...I feel great!

We were so blessed to have my mom here for the birth and the days following. It was really sad to see her go (she left yesterday) but we've been managing okay without her. We have such amazing family members and we're so thankful to our friends and family who have been so helpful and provided so much service over the past week.

Life is beautiful, and we are so blessed!!!