I hate colds.

Still sick.... I hate it. Now the stuffy nose and sneezing fits have been replaced by coughing my lungs out. I'm not sure which I dislike more.... probably the coughing. Early this morning Drew had to move out to the couch to get some sleep because I was experiencing a coughing fit. And, to top it off, Liam also has the same thing now! We noticed it two days ago when he was extra noisy breathing through his nose. It hasn't progressed really beyond a stuffy nose, so that's something to be thankful for. Maybe the coughing part will just bypass him altogether, now wouldn't that be nice?

Liam's getting pretty good with his hand coordination these days. Every time I change his diaper, he's got an iron grip on one or both of his feet. And he tries really hard to put his feet in his mouth, but he's not quite there yet. It's really cute... and I can't believe how fast he's growing! His eyebrows are even starting to be more defined -- he's looking more and more like a little boy. He's 3 1/2 months old now. I think he should probably be laughing pretty soon, but all we've gotten so far are little squeals of delight, which are still very endearing.

I've been going to visit Simple Mom pretty often this last week. It's an awesome blog website written by a mom of two who lives overseas (kind of like me!), and she writes about everything from organizing to decorating to budgeting. It's really helpful. I've taken her advice about envelope budgeting to heart, and we now have envelopes for all our monthly expenses. It's really eye opening actually, to try and cut down on your spending, especially groceries. Before I don't think we paid too much attention, but right now we only have $48 left for the rest of the month.And it's only the 7th!! So I've been making meal plans each week, trying to get the most bang for our buck. Potatoes are a favorite right now, since you can do so much with them, and they're incredibly cheap. At Wal-Mart they're only 30 cents a kilo (about 15 cents a pound).

Well, I better go and start on dinner. It's cheap chicken tonight!

Under the weather

I'm sick today. Blah.

On top of it, Drew left to go to the villages today, so I'm all by myself with Liam. Did you hear the part about me being sick? Not fun.

So, I'm trying to sort of get simple things done (such as writing this entry) while Liam's awake and distracted by his toys. Soon, hopefully, he'll get tired and need a nap... then I will have a little nap of my own. I am so exhausted.

Fortunately, he has been a wonderful baby today. Hardly any crying, or even fussing, for that matter. The good mood started this morning when Drew went in his room to get him, and he had rolled over onto his back just cooing to himself and waiting patiently for us to come get him. I think he woke up on the right side of the bed. Ha. Ha.

So I could not be more grateful for his pleasantness today. I can't imagine trying to calm a crying baby while blowing my nose simultaneously. Thank you Lord.

Today I got some scolding from the lady at the vegetable shop. I took Liam in the Moby wrap (love it, by the way) on some errands, sick as I was. The last stop was the veggie shop, so of course his arms were a little cool by then. Well, Mrs. Chinese Vegetable Shop Owner was feeling his arms and saying how cold he was and how the color of his skin wasn't so good and that he would get sick if I didn't put more clothes on him. I just kind of smiled and nodded. There's really no use arguing with these people. But I did feel kind of bad because his hands and arms really were cold. So I took him home and he warmed up right away.

Now Liam's playing with his "jungle friends" as we affectionately call them. It's like a little "gym" (I guess that's what they're called) that we borrowed from a friend, and it has three little colorful creatures hanging where Liam can bat at them. When he does a particularly strong bat, the creatures do a little song and dance. It's pretty awesome, because he gets distracted by them for at least half an hour.

I think I'm gonna try and put him down for a nap now. Wish me luck.