Sweet Lil Sickie

Last Monday afternoon, my mom called.  We chatted for a while then she said, "Wow, you sound great!"  I laughed and replied, "Its because after two weeks of having sick kids, we're finally all healthy!  This is the first time, in quite a while that I've gotten a full nights rest!"  

 She said, "Well, I can tell.  You sound so much happier!"  

I smiled.  It was true.  I was!  I couldn't believe how much energy I had compared to the weeks before.  But like it always seems to happen, I would soon learn that I spoke too soon.  This week would prove to be a doozy.

Wednesday afternoon the kids and I came home from story time at the library and started eating our lunch.  It wasn't long before I noticed that Addi was getting warm.  I wanted to believe it was nothing and she'd be cooling back down in no time.  But it became easy to tell by early evening the fever had set in, and I knew, Adelaide was sick.

Wednesday night was rough.  She refused to sleep until nearly 12am only to wake up again at 3:30 am crying and miserable.  I spent the next hour rocking, swaddling, talking softly and humming her back to sleep.  She seemed to be sleeping quietly in my arms.  I was certain I had her asleep only to lay her down and hear her cry out again.  She wanted me to hold her.  Exhausted, I held her close.  Holding her hot body next to mine, I kissed and stroked her head.  I felt so bad for her.  It was a little a while before I finally laid her down again.  This time though, she huffed a content sigh, rolled over and nestled her head into her blanket.  As much as I wanted to climb back in bed and rest, I was feeling a little out of sorts.  I was worried for her, and I wasn't sure how long I'd be able to sleep anyway before she woke up sad again. Before I knew it, I saw the sun peeking through the window.  The long dark morning was making way for a new day. And I wasn't feeling ready to face the day quite yet...

Sure enough, when Addi woke up a little later that morning, she was as grumpy as could be.  I spent most of Thursday holding her, and comforting her the best I could.  I gave her some Tylenol, as well as a cool bath, which she loved, and it seemed to help distract her from her discomfort.  She splashed and even smiled a couple of times.  Dan and I took her temp and kept an eye out for any other symptoms, but oddly enough, it was just a fever. 

By Thursday afternoon the boys were growing restless.  Most of my time and energy for the day had gone to taking care of Adelaide.  The boys and I needed to do something fun. 

One of the boys' favorite stories is "Not a Box" by Antoinette Portis.  This is a brilliant story about a little rabbit who uses a cardboard box to create all kinds of imaginary things.  Its absolutely adorable!!  Its so simple. I had saved a box from the week before and the boys and I went to work, creating a castle.

Making a castle was just the project we needed!  After I cut the castle out and painted it, Andrew was so excited to help me decorate it. Then the boys went to town setting up it up.  When Dan came home from work, the boys were thrilled to show him what they had made and Dan was so cute with them, adding some of his own ideas.  Turns out that the castle is a on-going project for them :)

Friday was much the same as Thursday.  Adelaide needed my constant attention.  She was so warm and uncomfortable.  By early Friday afternoon, I was exhausted.  I hopped on Google chat to talk with Dan. He asked, "How are you?"  I answered, "Overwhelmed."  He said, "I'll be home in a minute to help out."

When he got home a few minutes later, I was in the bathroom with the kids, giving all three kids a bath together. He stepped in and said hello to us and then went to work straightening up, making everyone snacks and boosting our morale with his happiness.  He even brought home a few movies for me to watch :)  It was just what I needed to make it through the rest of the day.

Saturday, Addi's fever started fading and it finally went completely away this afternoon (Sunday).  We actually started getting some genuine smiles and laughs around dinner time tonight.  I'm so grateful that she's feeling better!  I learned my lesson...I won't be telling anyone how healthy we are...I don't want to jinx it! ;) In the meantime, I will enjoy it while it lasts! :P