We are slowly recovering...

It is way past my bedtime and I'm leading a Bible study in the morning so I've got to get sleeping.  However, I did want to mention that we are slowly recovering here in the sick house, and to thank you for your prayers (and to ask them to keep coming!).  I hope to post a lovely account of our 7 visits to the doctor in only 2 weeks, (plus the two dentist check-ups), the "how to kill an hour in Wal-Mart with your sick kid" (a real nail biter), and a tribute to slippers.  You may never hear of the joy of crazily disinfecting the whole house in just over a day, but I'm sure many of you can imagine that one (because you've been there).  I just wanted to check in and say that we're alive and we're on the road to recovery (except Kevin, so pray that his doctor visit tomorrow is super-productive and yields quick results!).  Thanks for so many messages of prayers and love.  Oh, and yes, we're unharmed by the tornados.  All good news.

It's not just allergies

'nuff said.

Sickies

Last week Spring Break ended, the hubby went off to a conference, and I thought life would get back to it's normal routine.  Anyone know what this means?  Yes, fellow-parents, you are correct - the girls got sick.  

In defense of Savannah, she's had an ear infection since before Easter, so she just remained sick (we're on antibiotic number 3.  Could tubes be in her future as well?  I have some extra kid earplugs for bathtime...).  

Sydney, however, thanks to her asthma inhaler, has been MUCH healthier this fall/winter/spring than the last couple.  We had a real humdinger sometime in January (oh man, it was bad - like four, crazy, unrelated illnesses at one time) but since then, we've been great.  Not so last week.  Though she never coughed hard enough to vomit (sorry for the description, but I was so grateful), she came close a couple times, and really wasn't able to function too well.  She had some throat pain that prevented swallowing even her favorite soft foods, and had to miss church on Sunday, which is a pretty major deal for us.  <---- (here I  would like to interject a thank you to my Mother-in-law, who not only made it possible for me to keep Sydney home and still teach Sunday School, but also spent a good portion of each day this past week helping me juggle the two sickies and their competing wellness schedules.  THANK YOU!)

Dad took Sydney to the doctor on Monday (and then got on his airplane) and they said it was probably a virus that should pass by the end of the week, but guess what happened Wednesday morning after breakfast.  "I'm really okay to go to school mom..." she insisted, as she barely ate some yogurt and then doubled-over onto her chair.  I told her to go to the couch and here's what I found maybe three minutes later:

Yep!  She's asleep.  Out cold.  This child NEVER falls asleep on the couch.  She's got the amazing willpower of her dad and can practically make her body do ANYTHING (including stay awake at ridiculous times and for ridiculous reasons).  I knew this was serious.  Just look at this face!

So, I called the doctor, called my Bible Study co-leader, and settled in for a day of nurse mom.  It turns out that she woke up from her little morning "nap" with a fever of 101.  Hooray for us, we won the doctor prize, and got ourselves an antibiotic.  When I took Savannah in on Friday (oh yes, it was a 3-fer), she was exhibiting all the same symptoms Sydney had had all week, but it turns out it's just the persistent ear infection rearing up again.  So we stopped one antibiotic halfway through day eight and are trying again with something even stronger.  At least this is only given once a day,  keeping my med checks mostly confined to the morning hours.  Add in Sydney's trip to the dentist the Friday before and my trip to said dentist just before Savannah's appointment yesterday and it's been a banner 10 days.  And it looks like my dear hubby is home just in time for my throat to get scratchy.  It could be allergies, right...? 

What I learned in April

We've had a great couple of weeks hosting some folks and enjoying my mom's long visit, but it has meant a lack of blogging!  I've got some thoughts rolling around and thought I'd get out a couple of quick ones before I plunge into the deep and vast pile of papers that is my desk.  Here are some things I've learned over the last couple weeks:

1.  My children love to take out the garbage.  Sydney loves to do anything "by myself" and Savannah loves to do anything that Sydney does - including emptying garbage cans, tying up the bags, and taking them to the cans outside.  Syd especially enjoys hauling the recycle bin from the kitchen because it's "Really Big Mom" (it's also really light).  Apparently the size of the container means that she is strong.  And let's hear it for those tiny boxes I had so that Savannah could also carry something (without sharp points) to the blue bin...

2.  Savannah is a toddler.  She's 18 months old but doing all the toddler things.  This morning's treat?  A rousing game of "Chase the Naked, Wet Baby."  Who needs a towel after bath time anyway?  Even if it does have a cute little froggy hood.

3.  Tired = tired.  It doesn't matter how you slice it, if you've been sleep deprived for years, you can't recoup in a mere 10 days.  Thanks for letting me try, though, mom.

More later...