Where Have We Been??? Nowhere fun.

Oh, hi, yes it's the end of January. It's not been the most fun of months around here. Although more fun than January 2009...when no one was sleeping and no one was blogging. But anyway....

Two weeks ago we went to a play. The Children's Theater version of Going On a Bear Hunt, to be exact. It was very fun. Although, I think I liked it more than the kids!



Two days before the play? Colin was throwing up. The morning AFTER the play? Gillian was throwing up. FUN TIMES. It was our first gastro disease with kids. (I know we are so darn lucky to have made it four years) Daddy and I were terrified that we would catch it too, but thanks to excessive hand washing and lysol using, we managed to escape.

The next weekend we drove north for 24 hours for Matt and Rachel's annual Burns' Dinner. And returned home to a dying refrigerator, a leaking bathroom sink, and a Mama with a sore throat. So, that's where we've been. Nowhere fun.

Sick Days

We've been QUITE busy around here the past week or so! Well, really last week we started off SICK. Boo. I was concerned, not because this was a nasty illness, but because we were throwing a birthday party with 11 three year old guests last weekend! I really didn't want two sick birthday kids! Both kids stayed home sick from school on Tuesday and we played and crafted!


(G had to wear her Purple Outfit even though we stayed home, just because her class did!)

Gillian's Sick Day Parrot!


And Colin's cow! With mustache. And shoes.


By Thursday Colin was feeling better so he went back to school. Gillian still hadn't kicked her low-grade fever, so she stuck with me. Poor kiddo; I had so many errands to run pre-party that she had to go to three stores and work the book fair with me! Thankfully she was a good helper.

She didn't really kick this until Saturday morning. But she managed to party hearty anyway.

Oh, mid-week bird nesting. Always help defeat germs, right?

Easter Adventures, Better Late Than Never

So, we have not had an easy month. First Colin had a cold (and wheezing), then Gillian had a nasty upper respiratory infection (and wheezing), and then Colin caught the nasty virus (and wheezing). Our apologies on the lack of blogging, but I think we're on the mend now and can resume normal life (and wheezing).

Easter! I had some Spring Break left after making up snow days, so I took the kiddos up to GraGra's house Thursday before Easter. Daddy has been working crazy hours to get a project in, so he had to stay behind to work. Colin and Gillian and I drove up on Thursday morning and they were so good for me in the car. Colin likes to point out trucks, and they each got a smidgen of a nap. We went directly to Great-Grandma and Grandpa's Smith's house for lunch. The kids loved being able to run around their big yard in the sunshine, and Grandma and Grandpa enjoyed their lunch companions, I think!

After lunch we settled into GraGra's house for our visit. On Friday morning we went into DuBois to visit some friends of GraGra's at the hospital. We also visited Noonie and Grandpa Greg. Then we stopped at Kohlhepp's to visit DickieDoo and all his work-buddies. Busy morning!

Gillian was feeling pretty poorly by this point, and we could swear she was wheezing on and off. So, GraGra had a PA-friend check her out. She did have a little fever, but she thought her lungs were clear and she couldn't see her ears for all the wax. Poor baby.

After the kiddos napped, I took them to Grammy Lynn and Grandpa Frank's house for dinner, and Daddy met us there after work! C&G had a fabulous time running around the yard and playing in their new wagon that Grammy and Grandpa got them for Easter. But, by the time we got back to GraGra's house, I was pretty sure Bean was wheezing again. So, Daddy took care of Colin's bedtime, and GraGra and I took B to the ER. It was probably overkill, but the first time Colin had a wheezing episode, I let it get too far and he got REALLY sick and ended up in the hospital. Fool me once, but not twice, I suppose.

Anyway, the trip to the ER was pretty much a bust, in retrospect. The dr. said her ears were clear and she wasn't wheezy. He did send her for an x-ray, which was inconclusive, but perhaps showed something in her right lung. So, he gave her a z-pack and sent us on our way. (As an aside, she was still feeling very badly on the Wednesday after Easter, so we saw our own pediatrician's office. And, YES she was wheezing, and YES she did have an ear infection. The PA didn't know HOW the ER dr saw her ears since they were PACKED with wax. It took about five days of antibiotics and four days of albuterol before she felt better).

Ok, on to the pictures! We finally got some pictures once Daddy came. On Saturday night we had dinner with the Smith family and a little Easter Egg hunt with Sarah and Benjamin.

GraGra and I had made some cream pies from scratch with homemade whipped cream. Gillian totally enjoyed the whipped cream:


Colin totally enjoyed being spoiled rotten by Grandpa Greg:


Gillian was a wicked good egg hunter. She caught on SO fast, had so much focus, and had a keen eye for an egg.



Colin was a good egg hunter too. He totally fooled me because I thought he was paying NO attention to learning how to hunt eggs, but when it was time, he really knew what he was doing! Good boy.


Oh yeah, after the egg hunt, Gillian hung on to her bag of eggs for dear life. She walked around with that thing for like half an hour!


On Sunday morning, the kiddos got up and found their Easter Storage Bins from GraGra and Grandpa (the Bunny left their goodies at our house because he knows how full our car gets!).



We all got ready for church in our spiffy Easter duds. We tried really hard to get a nice picture, but with two tired, sick or getting sick 17 month olds, we did not have much luck. This is what we got:

Eh, not fantastic. Next year.

So, after a (ahem, busy) hour at church, we went to Grammy Lynn and Grandpa Frank's for lunch. We got to visit with Great-Grandma Hannold and the Keisters. The kids again enjoyed playing in the yard and riding in their wagon, well mostly Colin did. Bean was still feeling not-so-great and was a little strange with all the men-folk.

It was a busy, fun, sniffly, wheezy holiday. That seems to be our norm lately.

Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease

So, the reason I am so behind on blogging is that the kiddos got sick last week. It took me a while to figure out that they are sick because, on the surface, they seemed perfectly fine! No fever, no runny nose, sleeping well, nothing of the usual signs of illness! However, there was a BIG uptick in crankiness and a BIG down swing in appetite. After four days of fighting them to eat and the appearance of Colin's 9457th rash, off to the pediatrician we went. Didn't take her long to diagnose hand, foot, and mouth disease; apparently it's rampant around here at the moment. Anyway, it's a common, relatively harmless childhood virus. It causes blisters on the hands and feet, and ulcers in the throat. Fortunately, we had a very mild case with only a few mouth ulcers. We dosed them up with Tylenol for a few days and they seem much happier now. I am hoping that their appetites are on the rebound, and they do seem a little hungrier today. The joys of childhood.