Hello friends! How was your Christmas? I hope that you have all had a good holiday season. I have missed chatting with you in this space. Here's an update from my house, and I would love to hear how you are doing too!
December and January have been rough months for me physically, but I am hopeful for better days ahead. I had a bad flare up with my gastroparesis early on in December. For almost a week I was on a soft foods/liquid diet, and even with that I couldn't eat much because my stomach wasn't emptying well. It is the longest I have gone without a substantial amount of food, and wow, fasting with a chronic illness is rough! Thankfully, things started improving after 6 days, and over the next couple of weeks I regained some strength and energy. And just in time to feel a little better for Christmas!
My parents and sister came to visit us over Christmas break. Before they came a friend asked me if it was going to be hard on me to have family visiting for Christmas. She was concerned that having extra people in our home would make extra work for me and wear me out. I told her that, no, they don't add any extra work to my plate! They all help to take care of William and Adelaide. My mom does all of the laundry while she is here, and she prepares meals. My dad fixes things around our house. As Adelaide says, "Opa can fix everything!" They even offer to babysit so that Will and I can go out for a date if I am up for it. Talk about helpful guests!
If I am too tired or have a migraine and have to go to bed, no one is offended. They all believe me when I say that I am not feeling well. They never pressure me to do more than I can or should physically. I wish that every person with a chronic illness could have a family as helpful as mine. I am truly blessed to have such a caring family.
We celebrated Fourth Advent together. Pictured above are my dad, mother, and William.
Here are William and Adelaide with my sister, Krista. And that's my plate of Christmas cookies and treats!
My mom suggested that we have Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and that was such a good idea. Spreading out the activity made it much easier on my energy levels. Will smoked a turkey on the grill. I helped Krista make the sunshine salad and roll up the crescent rolls. Those are easy tasks and I like to do what I can to help. My mom cooked everything else for us.
We all ate Christmas dinner in the living room because that is easier for me than sitting up at a regular table. I ate at the children's table while sitting in my chair from Arlene.
Adelaide and William on Christmas Day
William and Adelaide were so patient on Christmas morning. They knew that they had to wait until I was awake and out of bed before we could open presents. I don't think we started opening presents until the afternoon, but they waited patiently. When the time came to actually open presents, these are the excited faces that I got! Haha! I love those two.
We had such a nice visit with my parents and sister. It was refreshing and fun. I wish that everyone with a chronic illness could have a family as helpful and caring as mine. They are the best.
