On Monday morning, I woke up ready to tackle the day. I had a list of about a dozen things that I needed to get done including grocery shopping, laundry (including folding and putting away), deliver the gifts from Hudson’s party to the local charity (the charity has rescheduled 4 times– oops), work on Music Camp curriculum, go to the UPS store, respond to emails, make dinner, make the Wild Dunes reservations, and go to my annual doctor’s appointment. That last one was put at the bottom of the list for a reason!

A dear friend of mine from church is an elementary school teacher and offered to come sit with Hudson so I could go to my doctor’s appointment yesterday morning. Hudson has been a little congested and she was so sweet to love on him and cuddle with him.

When I got home from my appointment, I put him down for his nap and he slept for almost three hours. Then he woke up and his head felt like it was boiling. He has never had a true fever– above 102– but I knew that he was going to be hot. Sure enough, the thermometer was up to 103 and he was no happy. I had to use the bulb syringe and the saline spray. TC had to rush out from work and get some children’s Tylenol with the proper conversion rate (are the infant Tylenols and generic brands STILL not back on the shelves?). I just hated to get Hudson out in the heat when he wasn’t feeling well.

Our day took a turn. My productive Monday turned into a non-productive Monday of cuddling and playing.

I have a sick little boy and when he’s sick he’s the sweetest little guy. He climbs up into my lap, rests his head on my chest, puts his thumb in his mouth and holds his Lovie close. And, you know? I was happy to oblige him. I was happy to rock and rock and rock.

When TC got home last night, we spent our time hanging out on the floor with Hudson as Hudson toddled around with his Lovie.

He was only interested in eating Popsicles and oatmeal and I let him. Popsicles and oatmeal are better than an empty stomach.

His poor Lovie has been through it. He has chewed on and carried this little elephant mini-blanket around since he was a tiny baby. Even when we wash it we can’t get the elephant’s trunk to turn back to its original blue color. He loves his Lovie.

Even with fever and super hot rosy cheeks, he was a happy guy. We let him run around the house in just his diaper right before bed and I think he thought it was pretty funny. It was good to see his spirits lift for a while.

Something about being in Mama or Daddy’s arms just makes you want to take a nap, I guess. He just snuggles up with his Lovie and pops his thumb in his mouth. So sweet, that boy!

TC puts Hudson to bed every night and last night he didn’t quite make it bed. Even after two 3-hour naps, he was still ready for bed right at his 8:00 bedtime. We are still giving him one bottle every day– just at bedtime. We just put the warmed up whole milk in his bottle for this transition time away from formula and bottles. He was only able to take 1 ounce of his 8-ounce bottle before crashing last night.

Even now, at 9:20 a.m., he’s still asleep from last night. I’m praying that he feels lots better today. But if we have to sit inside and cuddle again today in order to get him feeling better, I’m not going to complain.

I can’t say that summer is my favorite season. It’s just so stinkin’ hot here, so it’s hard to find a little relief. We’re already up to averaging 97 degrees every day. To me, that’s “stay in the house and stay as still as possible weather.” We need a swimming pool, but we’re not about to pay to install a pool.

We actually found a strong bit of relief when we got Hudson a baby pool at Walmart. And I got in with him and cooled off immediately! The pool was huge. All three of us, plus both dogs, could have played in there. But there’s just something yucky about dirty dog and dog hair in the baby pool. Baby pools are yucky enough as it is!

Boudreaux was wishing he could get in, too! And Fiona is not at all interested in getting in any water. Ever.

I think Hudson’s hair looks so funny when it’s wet! And he loves the train pool toys that his KK and Poppie gave him. Thank goodness for the UPF 50 swim shirts by Circo for Target. I’m a sunscreen freak when it comes to Hudson, so this way I can count on these little shirts protecting his upper body.

After we got Hudson all wrapped up in his towel, we let Boudreaux take his turn in the pool. Boudreaux may have been the hottest out of all of us. He has been dropping huge white fur balls all over the place. Poor guy. I think the baby pool cooled him off for a little while!

Anyone else out there prefer the cooler months to these high temperatures?

Tonight, I swapped emails with a sweet reader who emailed me to encourage me and to share the story of her father’s battle with melanoma. The blogging and Twitter community have brought some of the smartest, most loving and encouraging people into my life. Who says blogging and tweeting are a waste of time?

In our email exchange, we talked about the interesting and careful balance between the parent and the patient. She cautioned me to continue to treat my mother like my mother and not like the melanoma patient.

This was something I had been thinking about a lot over the past few days. And I’m sure my sweet mom has noticed it, too. I wake up every morning and the first thing I can think of is to call her to check on her.

“Are you in pain?”

“Are you able to get around okay?”

She hasn’t begun treatment yet, so I’m sure these questions will change as this road continues. And we still don’t know what treatment, if any, is required.

But why haven’t I thought to ask her what she thought of the season finale of Glee when she was finally able to watch it?

I love her so and I know that she is so grateful that my brother and I were able to come to Dallas to care for her last week. This is what the Lord would have us do and what I only pray Hudson will do for me someday.

“Honor they father and thy mother; that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12

But my heart was beating out of my chest tonight as I thought of how I’ve probably hurt her feelings by turning her into the patient and moving the precious titles “parent” and “friend” behind “patient.”

I know that for us, she wants our lives to press on. And I know that she has every intention of pressing on with hers.

Well, perhaps the best way for me to honor my mother is to not only care for her, but to help her maintain her identity. Her warm, loving, talented, creative, funny identity.

This whole melanoma thing will no doubt change us, but I only hope it will change us all for the better. I pray it will cause us to love more and focus on the fun stuff and hold her hand through the rough stuff. But I don’t want to take her identity away from her.

My prayer is that this whole process is just a blip in time and we will have 30 more years to laugh and love together. But in the meantime, we’re going to live like we do have 30 more years together. No matter what diagnosis we hear.

Happy Father’s Day to the two greatest dads I know.

Dear Todd,

21 months ago you found out that you were going to be a father. If you’re anything like I am, you were shocked. But as soon as our precious baby boy arrived, you wore that Daddy hat like it was the only hat you needed to wear. You have taken care of him, loved him, and loved me over the past year.

Hudson is such a lucky little guy to have you as his Daddy. You are so smart, so funny, and so ready to teach him everything you know. Such a lucky little boy!

I love the way you watch Hudson when he’s doing something new that we haven’t seen before. You are so surprised that such a little person can learn so much so quickly and the love in your eyes when you watch him is evident. Such a lucky little boy!

You’ve been such a great help to me as I have treaded through this first year, too, and I can’t imagine walking this road with anyone else. The look on Hudson’s face and the excitement in his voice when you pull up to the house after work is the sweetest thing to watch. He loves his Daddy so very much and can’t wait to tell you how happy he is to see you. What a great source of positive reinforcement. There’s no mistaking his sweet little feelings for you!

And I hope there’s no mistaking mine.

I love you!

Your Erin

Dear Daddy,

I’m not sure there are even words for me to tell you how much I love you. Just thinking about the man that you are, I get a little lump in my throat. I just wish we lived close enough to each other so I could see you on Father’s Day and look you in the eye. I’d probably cry and then you’d know what I’m thinking, but I guess we just know how to communicate that way.

I may look a lot like mom, but I get a lot of my personality from you. I see the good and the bad and it makes me proud just to know that I am who I am because of you (and mom, of course).

I’m so proud of the husband that you are and the kindness and love that you show to people. I love your tender heart toward animals and that I have gotten that from you. Your silly sense of humor and way of finding a joke in any situation is one of your best qualities.

More recently, I love the father-in-law that you’ve been to Todd and the way you’ve welcomed him into our family. And the Poppie that you are to Hudson has given me a glimpse of the kind of Daddy you were to me when I was baby girl. Hudson is so lucky to have you in his life, loving him and being a good example for him. I only pray that we can raise him up to be as great as the original.

I love you so much!

Erin