Thankful Tuesday

Inspired by MamaJ, Tuesdays shall now be the day for me to write about the things I am thankful for in the past week.

Now, the past one week odd has been rather awful. First of all, there was the terrible food poisoning incident. Then I was all stressed up and having milk woes while holding the fort on my own as The Husband was away for an overnight retreat. Next, The Helper had gastric and Anya developed hives which brought us back to the family doctor's clinic again. When the week neared the end, we thought things should be picking up. Unfortunately, Anya caught a cold (must be due to all the sleeping in an air-conditioned room to ensure that her body was cooled so that the hives would not flare up.) which resulted in runny and congested nose as well as a low grade fever. Then, on Sunday night, as her fever finally cleared, she had a sudden bout of redness around her anus and vaginal area which brought about a whole lot of tears. And Arielle has just caught the bug from Anya while now, I am plagued with constipation (probably the result of those anti-diarrhea medicine).

A tearful week

All of the above on top of having to feed a fussy baby every three hours where more often than not, she took an hour to finish 120ml of milk (we are suspecting colic as the culprit), preparing for the coming Chinese New Year and other daily chores around the house.

After an hour-long feed.

Sigh... Some week we had!

However, be it good times or bad times, the bible says, "..give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.". So, here I am, coming up with a list of things that I am thankful for/about this week.

# Arielle's developmental milestone as she begins to 'coo', 'ah' and even smile in response when we talk to her.

#Another of Arielle's developmental milestone where she is sleeping from 11pm all the way till 7ish in the morning (with some help in the form of patting and recovering her pacifier, usually from 5am onwards).

#Porpor who took a taxi over to babysit the little ones upon learning that I was in bed with food poisoning while The Husband had to finish up some urgent work.

# Having a trusty & genuinely caring family doctor in our lives so that we always know who to turn to when one / some of us is plagued with common or minor illnesses.

# The SIL dropping by with breads for a catching-up session but was really to show that she cares.

# The electric fan and air-conditioners that help to cool the rooms where the little ones could sleep comfortably in when weather is hot and humid.

# The loving nature in Anya who is never stingy with her kisses and affection for her baby sister even though she is still adjusting to the fact that Daddy and Mommy has to inevitably divert some of their attention away from her self to baby since the latter's arrival.

# The availability of full cream fresh milk and cheese, as well as yogurt products suitable for toddlers now that Anya decides that she has had enough of formula.

#Fellow mommies' encouragement and advices coming in when learned of my milk woes.

# Our Father's presence during frantic times where little ones' cries became inconsolable; His peace soothing them and us as well.

Wow. So there was a whole lot of wonderfulness happening this week too. We are indeed experiencing the joy of suffering. Praise God!