March

Wow, once again, time is flying by
The past couple of weeks have been a struggle for all of us. Nathan started with an early morning emergency room visit because he could not breath. His croup got so bad we were not able to break it with the usual steamy shower. We spent a couple of hours where I work, not working...
Then when he completed his prednisone he started running a high fever...so, the nurse in me thinks this is now pneumonia. I had Jim stay home from work and bring him to the doctor. Jim comes home and says the doctor told him it was just a cold.
The next morning, I get home from work to a completely dark house. By this time, the kids should already be at school...no one is up. I go in to wake Jim and find he is burning up. His temp is 104! He rolls over and says "Amilia has been up all night, she is sick."
So, I go check on Amilia and find she has a fever of 103.8!
Nathan has a fever of 101!
Next I go to the store to stock up on fluids...Gatorade, ginger ale, Popsicles. Anything that I think I can get everyone to drink.
I also get cough medicine, Airborne, Zicam, and two different types of yogurt that are supposed to boost your immunity.
I start making my rounds, medicating and pushing fluids...this is after working 12.5 hours in the emergency room overnight.
Because I have three sick kids (HAHA), I have to start writing down times of who got what when because I started not remembering what I gave last.
By noon, I collapse into bed, Jim crashes on the couch and the kids continue to sleep or watch TV. The next day, they are all still very sick. I have continued to medicate every 3-4 hours to try and keep the fevers down.
At one point both Jim and Amilia start getting delirious...It was actually quite funny. Jim kept insisting that it was Saturday when in fact, it was only Wednesday. Amilia kept telling me what Nathan was doing wrong...Nathan was not even in the room.
In the middle of all of this, Jim's work calls (After I called and told them he was very sick), and calls and calls. They called about 8 times before Jim finally relents and says he will go out to British Columbia. He is still running a high fever, he gets weak and tired just moving around.
I am also getting very worried because a cold should not make you this sick. I finally found the paperwork that Jim brought home from the doctor and find that Nathan does indeed have the flu...what a relief. These symptoms are typical flu symptoms...And I got my flu shot!!!
Nathan got better and returned to school. Jim left for British Columbia and Amilia continued to feel sick through the rest of the week. By the weekend, she was feeling much better and went to school on Monday.
On Monday afternoon, she started complaining of a bad headache...I too had had a headache and lower back pain for the past couple of days. So Amilia stayed home on Tuesday through Friday. Every day, she complained of a headache and she was not eating. I took her in to the doctor on Wednesday and she just had another virus. She also has lost 4 pounds since July! So we changed her ADHD medications (again) and hope that she will start eating lunch!
On Thursday, I started coughing and running a fever and still had the same headache that I had had since the weekend and my lower back was very achy. So I did not go to work on Friday night.
On Saturday, I woke up...no headache, no backache, no fever! Finally I felt normal!
Amilia woke up the same! And she started eating again!
So yesterday, we spent much of the day cleaning the house. The kids have been doing great with their "chores" that they have to do each week. We make a list, then each week, they take turns on who picks first and they pick their chores. One of the chores I still have a hard time believing they like to do is cleaning the bathrooms. And they do a great job!
We have to get the house completely organized and cleaned as Nathan has his big birthday party on Sunday. I have been using my sun room as a catch all for everything that does not have a home. I pulled everything out into the living room, vacuumed and have gone through most of the boxes and junk in there.
Today we finish the organizing so my house looks like I have lived here for awhile instead of still having boxes of stuff everywhere...
Jim is supposed to get home on Tuesday then have off until the following Monday. Time to recover, clean the yard and be ready for the party on Sunday.
The weather has been rainy and windy. But we expect to have warm sunny days in the next week. Nathans party day should be in the high sixty's and sunny.
The bulbs we planted in the fall have started flowering. We have had crocuses for about a month, the daffodils have been up for a couple of weeks. I have Hyacinth's that I did not expect for another couple of weeks.
Last week (when everyone was feeling a little stir crazy from being in the house), we went out and got tons of seeds and starter pots. This afternoon if I get the living room cleared out, we will plant the seeds inside. Next week, we will plant a bunch of flowers all around the house as I do not think we will have any more frosts.
I started weight watchers about two months ago and have lost 22 pounds! I still have a but to go, but some of my clothes no longer fit! Such a great feeling!