May 28, 2017

Sunday in Temecula.

Austin woke up in the middle of the night with such bad croup.  He and I sat huddled up in the pitch dark on a park bench outside.  He struggled for breath while I rubbed his back and tried to calm him down.  He was really bad.  He fell asleep in my lap.  As soon as I brought him in the house, he started tightening up again.  Luckily, I remembered that I had packed some steroids in the medicine bag.  I made him a little bed on a bench right under a window.  I packed cushions and mats all around him to keep him from falling off.  Then I helped him take some of the steroids, and waited with him until his breathing calmed down enough for him to sleep.

I actually didn't mind holding Austin on the park bench.  He needed me so much.  And I enjoyed stroking his hair and feeling the weight of him on my lap.  He's growing so fast; I rarely get to sit and cuddle Austin.  So I just held him, listening to Garr and Lill's little water fountain bubbling on the porch where it sits among all of the pots of varying size, filled with flowers and plants of all kinds.  It was a beautiful, peaceful little spot.  I could hear the crickets chirping, and eventually Austin's breathing quieted down enough for me to relax a little.  I've long ago determined that I don't need to sleep through the night.  So, instead, I was able to mother my little boy the best I could through a scary situation. I was so happy to be there for him.

We ended up leaving all of the kids home from church (besides Julia, who went with Kate to all three hours) and Greg and I went to sacrament meeting alone to hear his brother John speak.  John's talk was fantastic about family history work.  I loved it.

I couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated over the ironic fact that I had dragged everyone's church clothes from home, all over Southern California, only to not even use them.  In the end, we just packed them all up and brought them home.  Unused.  Oh well.

The good thing was that Austin felt pretty good in the day and was able to have a lot of fun.  The steroids were a life saver.  But by the afternoon, Lance was sounding a little hoarse.  That made me truly scared!

Everyone came over for yummy taco salads.  It was so fun to visit and play.  The kids had a fantastic day with their cousins.  We love California!