we've been sick

it's been a long month of sickness in the garrels household. i've had a deep & enduring cough since the end of december which at one point got so bad that i drove myself to urgent care to make sure it wasn't pneumonia. i'm sure like the rest of you i've been over-prescribed antibiotics over the years, so this time i was determined to fight back naturally, even if it dragged out my sickness. & after 5 weeks, i won! finally, last night before bed as i was going back over my day i realized i couldn't remember coughing once. i have been hoping & praying that the cough would be gone before the birth so that i would have my full strength to give to birth-giving.

at this moment, heron is still sick with a cold + bad cough, & josh just came down with a sinus infection... so, baby garrels, maybe you should wait a few more days to arrive?

still, it's been a good month. i'll do another post with an update on me, josh, & heron individually. but as a family we've enjoyed lots of togetherness. we've recognized that this is the last month as a family of three, and we've poured lots of love into each other (interspersed with some "terrible two" moments, heron has been such a delight!). it's been a vital time for both me & josh as this month we've been able to dive further into embracing our identities as parents (after being parents for twenty months now... maybe this will be an ongoing process?) and our spirits feel much more ready to welcome another child into our family.

due to sickness + lack of touring it's been a fairly quiet & house-bound month, though we had the pleasure of hosting josh's parents mike + marti (or, as heron calls them, "grahpin" and "grahmin"), and trace + becca bundy twice. we love visitors, & look forward to this coming month as friends & family arrive to greet the littlest garrels!