Last Wednesday, Evelyn woke up with this raspy horse breathing.  I would later learn that this is called stridor and that it is the calling card of croup.  As any self-respecting Anne of Green Gables fan would be, I was petrified to hear this diagnosis.  Do you remember when Anne was just barely able to save Diana’s little sister Minnie Mae from the croup?

Well, thankfully, this turned out to be much less dramatic than Minnie Mae’s case of the croup.  Thanks, in no small part I’m sure, to modern medicine (steroids), good old fashion cold air, and nice long steam sessions.  My little barking seal actually slept pretty well for a kid with the croup.  And I know this because I slept (didn’t sleep) on the floor (hardwood) next to her bed as the doctor told me she would probably be worse at night.  He was surprised that she had such severe stridor  during the daylight hours.  I think Evelyn’s stridor was just confused because the daytime seemed far worse.

This is the dirty face of recovery.

And on a much brighter note, meet Becca.

You will be hearing about Becca in the days, months, and years to come.  She is joining our family.  We have been getting to know Becca since this past summer.  She is an amazing young woman.  One of the things that I love about Becca is that she always seems to be smiling…or just about to smile.  She has the kind of laugh that makes you stop whatever you are doing and laugh with her because it is the sound of a joyful soul spilling over with happiness.

Becca is such a wonderful and welcome addition to our family for which we are so grateful.  At least most of us are grateful–more on that in a second.  We are humbled that her lovely mom and dad have given us their trust by allowing Becca to join us in our home.  We know that trust, when it comes to one’s child, is beautiful and delicate and deserving of reverence and kid glove treatment.

So there might be one member of our family that is having some growing pains when it comes to the expansion of our family.

This is the poster child for jealousy.  Cute isn’t she?

So Maxine is taking exception to some of, (okay all of) the attention that Becca is getting.  She makes her protests known in the form of loud (fake) cries of anguish.  While I am tempted to laugh often, I remind myself that transitions are hard for everyone.  And though I think that having Becca join us is good for our family, I need to respect Maxine’s feelings and work through the tough moments with her.  Putting her in the backpack seems to be just the thing to gently ease her into the routines of our new family.