A wonderful weekend planned...epic fail.

 We sure did have a fun weekend planned....and OHHHH how things took a turn.  A really bad one.

On our agenda we had a sleepover planned, 4 birthday/baby reveal parties to go to, a possible reunion with the Johnstons that were in town, church and a baseball practice.  That plan quickly got turned upside down in about 10 minutes.

My friend Paige and her daughter Mari-Morgan came over Friday night for a sleepover and Eli was already here too and he and Brayden had already made this cross completely their idea and nailed it and everything. 

We were sitting around eating pizza when all of a sudden I started feeling nauseous....like REALLY nauseous...and quick.  The pizza smell was grossing me out and all I wanted to do was lay down.  I told Paige how I was feeling and it went downhill fast.  She decided to end the sleepover (good call!) and offered to take both Karis and Lucy home with her for the night and Marybeth agreed to come get Eli and take Brayden home too.  I absolutely HATE asking for help I am a do-it-all kind of mom and God used this experience to totally humble me!

Oh and did I mention Jay was out of town...like out of the country...in INDIA (which is why I needed help and why Paige was coming over for a sleepover)!  Every time he goes out of the country somebody (or all of us) get sick. Without. Fail. Every. Time.

So to spare you the details, I had the stomach bug.  I was ok as far as the sickness by the next morning but was still VERY weak...like couldn't get off the couch or bed for hours (which is NOT like me).  But about lunch time I went and picked up Brayden and Paige brought the girls home (with lunch in tow...what a great friend!).

The girls had a blast of course and I snapshotted these pics Paige took while they were there.  Glad they were having a good time because I clearly was not. 

So by Saturday afternoon I had to get out of the house but I knew we couldn't really "go" anywhere so we went to a playground around our house that nobody really goes to.  I let them play for hours while I made myself a little pallet to sit in the sun and read.  That is about all the energy I had.  Yea and that banana...didn't eat it. NO appetite..none.

Our neighbors ended up coming by and (after I quickly warned them not to get close to me because I had been sick), they offered to take my kids to their family belated Easter Egg Hunt they were having that night.  I said yes and was glad to come home and take a shower when I got a call saying Brayden wasn't feeling well.  UGH!

Yep so Brayden had a rough night and he too got sick.  Our weekend plans were clearly out the window and 3 kids were devastated (understandably so...I was disappointed to but we didn't want to share the germs).   So Sunday Brayden was feeling weak as I was but he bounced back a lot quicker than I did.  I decided to take them fishing at the nearby lake because again we were going crazy in these 4 walls!

So how does one tired momma survive this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad weekend?!  A mocha frappucino (yep...venti!) works every time...even with no appetite.  For the record I normally get a grande but after no appetite for going on 3 days I figured I could splurge!  And I drank every drop!

Whew...what a weekend.  Glad it is over and that the girls didn't end up getting it.  Being 5 days post-sickness and having cleaned our house completely, I hope our house is in the clear.

JUST IN TIME FOR DADDY TO COME HOME THIS AFTERNOON...isn't that the way it always works?! By the time you read this, we will be on our way to pick him up from the airport!

Either way I can not wait to hug and kiss that man...I have missed him terribly!

A hard week.

Wow what a few days.  After last week's busy week I was hoping for a reprieve this week.  Well that didn't quite happen.

Monday started off very productive and I got my whole house cleaned.  It was almost like "nesting" for an event I didn't know was about to occur.

Monday night Lucy woke up about 11:00 moaning and I knew it didn't sound good.  She threw up everywhere in the bed and I knew I was in for a very long day/week.  I made her a large pallet in the den floor (with LOTS of towels, blankets etc. around her) and I slept next to her on the couch.  I put sheets into wash.  She woke up about an hour later and threw up again.  Load #2 in the wash and then went back to sleep.  Luckily she didn't wake up again until 3 a.m. asking for something to drink and I knew that was good news.  She drank a cup and then went back to sleep and never got sick again.  I didn't sleep much because I was worried about her, listening for her, watching her, washing clothes etc.  You moms know how it is...ugh!

Well woke up the next morning and I knew instantly I had an infection.  Soon after Brayden's asthma got worse throughout the day and he was on breathing treatments every few hours.

After I got off work that day, I went to the doc and got some meds for my infection and we went through Chick-fil-a drive thru on the way home.  Once we got home and ate, I realized that Brayden was getting progressively worse.  I knew I had to make a decision fast.  It was supposed to snow that night and did I want to chance an asthma attack at night when we could be snowed in???  No.

So I called a friend to come over to watch the girls so I could take B to the Emergency Room.  We got there about 9:00.  Later my dad drove an hour to relieve my friend MB and ended up spending the night with us to help out just in case I needed him.  I was SOOOO thankful to have him here!  Thanks dad!!!

A couple of hours later, we were in a room.

Somebody got some sleep, somebody else did not.

We finally saw the doctor and were discharged at 2:00 a.m.  They gave him another treatment and some steroids and we headed home.  It was snowing hard on our way home but none of it seemed to be sticking.  But we woke up the next morning to this.....

A WINTER WONDERLAND!  

It was our 2nd snow of the season and schools did not let out (shocker!).  

So after 2 nights of little/no sleep, 2 antibiotics, a steroid, 3 sick people, an ER visit and multiple breathing treatments, I am hoping we are on the mend.  

OH and did I mention Jay was out of town all week in Chicago at a conference???  So in the midst of all this I was a single parent.  I am sure everyone will be perfectly healthy by the time dad gets home tonight.  Isn't that always how it works?!  :)

Karis was the only one who remained completely healthy this week....

This morning Lucy put on her "Tangled" dress and she said Brayden was her protector (her "knight in shining armor I suppose?!).  It was sweet.  He does do so well in protecting her.

Whew!  Hoping for an uneventful week next week!!!

In the midst of my rough week, I opened up my Bible to do my quiet time and this just happened to be what I read....

"Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me,“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Corinthians 12:8-10

Thank you Jesus for that.  I needed reminding that despite how rough my week had been, things could have been so much worse and there are many single parents out there who do it by themselves all the time.  Instead of whining about my week, I should delight in my weakness(es), hardships and difficulties.  

Because with Christ, when I am weak, then I am strong.  His grace is indeed...enough.

TWO down with the flu...

For the first time in who knows how long...I have no pictures to post!  And not much of an update either except that we now have TWO down with the flu...ugh!

Karis started running fever yesterday morning and I took her in to the doc today and flu test came back negative although she is showing same signs and symptoms as Brayden.  Doc said the test isn't always 100% but checked for strep too.  It came back negative so he treated her for flu.  So K has been in the bed most of the day and Brayden seems back to his wild, hyper, loud boy self today...he must be better. :)

I am so sad she will miss her Valentine party tomorrow.  :(  She already missed the Halloween party this year and now Valentines and possibly her field trip Tuesday too (and I was going to get to go with her!).

After days stuck at home snowed in and then 2 kiddos with the flu...I am about ready to get this crew back on a normal schedule and out and about.  I am starting to go crazy in these four walls!!!  I have watched more TV/movies with the kiddos than I have wanted to and you would think my house would be spotless...but oh no.  It's bad!  I need to get back to normalcy fast!

Now, watching the Grammys with hubby and there is some weird stuff going on!  Lady Gaga incubated?  Muppet show?  Katy Perry...not bad! I love Lady Antebellum's song Need You Now and she got 2 grammys so far for it!

Bad news and good news...

We are still stuck inside for the most part because it is still super cold and my boy has had 102 fever since last night.  :(

We have had to get really creative but I am running out of options!  Karis has done alot of drawing, making things, etc.

So Lucy has wanted to "color" just like her sissy.  But she has to have THIS pencil and THIS Dora book to draw in.  If she loses it, we all panic and search the house over until we find it.  Nothing else will do.

You can see in his eyes my boy doesn't feel so hot.  I made an appointment to take him to the doc because his cough was AWFUL and fever was still up.  

While dad was shoveling snow off of our back porch, he got this "i-cle" (as Lucy calls it) and the kids were excited!

And Karis attempted to help dad shovel snow...it is way bigger than she is!

On our way out the door to the doc :(

Waiting in the doc office.....

It always gets interesting when you are stuck in a room with 3 kiddos for an indefinite amount of time.  They end up going crazy like this and I don't blame them...

Since Karis had lost her two front teeth, when she smiles, she sticks her tongue out haha!

BAD NEWS is that the doc diagnosed Brayden with the flu.  :(  He can't have the flu shot because it has egg in it and he is allergic to eggs.  He prescribed him Tamiflu...however our insurance doesn't cover compound prescriptions so $101 later we walked out with the meds.  UGH!  But I want my baby to get better and hoping no one else gets it!

GOOD NEWS is that the girls and I came home to a delivery.  :)  Jay and Brayden ordered us girls (me, Karis and Lucy) flowers for Valentines Day.  I love that he thinks of the girls in addition to me and that this year he included Brayden in it.  The girls feel adored by their daddy and he is teaching Brayden early on how to treat a lady. :)

Job well done boys!

Brayden has spent most of his day in our bed watching cartoons and getting the special treatment.  We are giving him around the clock motrin for fever and he gets to sleep in our room next to our bed. However we let K and B go to sleep in our bed until we came to bed.  Brayden slept with his bodyguard I guess and they both have their shirts off haha!

OH and before bed, Brayden put his non-working real cell phone by his bed and said....

Brayden: "Mom if someone calls me in the middle of the night can I talk to them?"  

Mom:  "Well who is going to call you???"  

Brayden:  "I don't know, maybe Nathan."

Mom:  "Ok if he calls you, you can talk to him!"  haha

Jay and I were supposed to go to a Valentine steak dinner at church for missions but because of Brayden having the flu, we weren't able to go.  So Jay went to serve and then brought our steaks home so we could eat them together.  So after the kids went to bed, Jay and I rented The Social Network off of pay-per-view and had our Valentine dinner together.  :)  We came to bed and found this....

Thankful for my little blessings.  There is nothing more precious than sleeping children.  :)