"These Are a Few of My Favorite Things . . ."

Micah's favorite things, that is: his thumb, a big brother, and his fuzzy blue blanket.

We gave him the blanket for Christmas. When it got cold back in November, I searched around but couldn't find any appropriate "boy" thick blankets, which was a source of great annoyance, since I know my Aunt Rocky made a big fleecy one with teddy bears and a red edge for one of the boys. It must be in some clever place, because I know I have seen and used it in this house . . . Anyhow, all I could find for Micah's crib was this really soft fuzzy pink blanket that someone in our co-op passed down to the girls. So of course I used that without a second thought. Hey, it's dark!

But then I realized Micah REALLY was liking the blanket. He was definitely searching for it in the crib, and he would sleep with his face on it. Very cute, but I really didn't want a fuzzy pink blanket to be his "lovey", LOL. So I found this nice soft blue blanket at Babies R Us, and he has taken right to it.

Now I have 2 "blanket babies"--Faith has her "Bear Blanket", which is another one my Aunt Rocky made, and she absolutely adores that. She always sleeps with it, and when she's upset, that's what she wants for comfort. No one else was really into blankets! A thumb-sucking baby with a blanket is soooo cute and snuggly . . .

Oh No!

Things have been going so well this post-partum time . . . but now I definitely have a clogged duct on my left side. It's so painful! I am praying desperately that it doesn't turn into mastitis. When I had mastitis with Anna, Mom and Dad were still here, so I could just lie around. That was good, since that was all I COULD do. And when I had it with Caleb, we were still in Ohio, and Mom came over to help with the others. What will I do now, with 6 kids and no one here, if it turns into mastitis?! Ack! Bob went to the store for cabbage, which I now have in my bra. Ummm . . . phew. And that is just the cold leaves! I haven't tried blanching them and then putting them in!

I have my 6 week post-partum appointment tomorrow (yes, it's been 6 weeks--isn't that amazing?), so I'll see what the doctor has to say. I'm not sure why the duct clogged this late in the game--my milk supply is well-regulated now, and I'm not leaking and feeling full all the time. I definitely nurse in a variety of positions, and Grace is a good, strong nurser, who I thought was emptying everything well. It's a mystery. We shall wait and see what develops. in the meantime, I'm taking lots of Motrin.

Although this seems to change the subject, it really isn't. You may remember me asking for prayer for my Uncle Jim, who is undergoing radiation therapy for cancer of the tonsil. He is in his second week, and these last 2 weeks, I have had something painful to remind me to pray for him. The first week, I had a very painful canker sore on the edge of my mouth, and everytime I opened my mouth, it hurt. I thought of his sores, and it was easy to remember to pray. Now this week, it's this blocked duct. I think the Lord knows that I can get distracted even when I really want to be faithfully praying, so He has made a way to remind me. I'm praying, Uncle Jim! I'm praying!