Please excuse my absence from LIFE...

I definitely want to be a part of this mentoring program! Just a quick Taylor update... She is doing pretty well. Bedtime is definitely not as big of a pain as it was in the past since we decided that she just needs one of us in her room until she falls asleep.  She is doing fine with this. I'm working gradually to get her to let me go across the hall to my craft room instead of actually staying in her bedroom.  Right now, we are only in the "talking about it" stage.  She's not liking that idea.  She is still coming into our room to sleep on the floor every single night.  While this is not the most ideal situation, it could be worse.  We're letting it fly for the time being but are in the "talking about it" stage of not doing it anymore.  She's not liking that idea either.

On to other topics... Hi! Did you miss me?  You know, when women decide to become wives and mothers, they really should be encouraged to get their nursing degree, as well. It would have definitely come in handy last week!  Let's take a stroll back to when I last blogged... February 28th.  I had my booth at the Fort Wayne Home & Garden Show again this year.  Sales were down from last year, but the crowds were definitely down, as well.  I was still happy with the outcome and am definitely doing it again next year!  While I was at the Coliseum for the weekend, Mike began to feel a little under the weather.  He was really congested and had a fever earlier in the week.  Taylor was also starting to feel a little off and was complaining of her ear hurting.  We treated her symptoms with OTC meds and she seemed fine.  After the show, I decided to take Monday off to get myself caught up around the house, and get my things put away.  Turns out, Taylor was still feeling icky and needed to stay home anyway.

Tuesday was a normal day.  The girls went to school and daycare, and Mike and I went to work.  Tuesday night is when it all started to take a turn for the worse.  Mike spiked a 102 fever and Jaden was complaining of a sore throat.  She also had a fever.  Taylor was still complaining about her ear.  I decided to keep them all home on Wednesday and made doctors appointments for all three.

We woke up Wednesday to 10+ inches of snow!  I went out to tackle the driveway so I could get the girls to their 9 a.m. appointment.  After 45 minutes of shoveling and only getting a quarter of the driveway done, the neighbor man across the street brought over his heavy duty snow blower and finished in about 15 minutes!  I got the girls to their appointments and discovered that Taylor did have an ear infection in her right ear and the start of an infection in her left ear.  We got her a Rx for her ears and orders to treat her cough and congestion with OTC meds.  Moving on to Jaden.  Her glands were super swollen.  They ran a strep test on her and that came back negative.  Turns out, she had a virus that caused a sore throat, fever, and upset stomach.  No Rx, just Ibuprofen every six hours.  Afterwards, we stopped at the grocery store for Gatorade, apple juice, and a cart full of medication.

Later in the afternoon, I took Mike to his appointment.  While he was back with the doctor, a mother was seriously teaching her children to do cartwheels in the lobby!! After her youngest got mad because she couldn't master the legs-over-head move and decided to cry, they moved on to somersaults and crab walking.  In the lobby.... of the DOCTOR'S OFFICE.  I'm not even joking.  Anyway, Mike came out and declared acute tonsillitis.  We got his Rx and went on our merry way!

Thursday morning, Mike woke up with a tightness in his chest and fogged vision.  I decided to take him to the ER.  They ran tests and got an IV hooked up.  Turns out that he had bronchitis and was dehydrated.  We left with four more prescription notes.  We got home and I sequestered Mike to the basement.  I made my rounds every 4 hours, passing out meds.  I also made the girls take hand-washing breaks.  Personally, I chugged Airborne like it was my job!  I washed and sanitized my hands about every 5 minutes.  I was NOT going to catch this!

By the time Friday came around, things were starting to look up.  Taylor was completely fine.  Jaden was fever-free without meds.  Mike was still out of it.  I decided that if Jaden woke up without a fever, she was going to school, Taylor would go to daycare, and I would head to work.  I went into J's room around 5 a.m. and she felt a little warm.  I decided to call in for a half-day and see how the morning went.  Jaden's fever broke before she woke up.  She was perfectly fine all morning.  At 10:30, we headed to drop Taylor off at daycare... only after checking in on Mike and making sure he was medicated.  I dropped Jaden off at school around 11 and made it to work my 11:30.  Everyone survived the afternoon!  Mike still had a fever.

On Saturday, it was like someone somewhere decided that enough was enough!  Mike's fever finally broke and things started to get back to normal!  Our counter was cleared of most of the medication.  Mike actually made it out of the house for a couple of hours to get a haircut.  The girls went to their grandma's to play for a little bit.  I was ALONE in the house, crafting in my craft room!  ALONE.  No medicine to pass out, no fights to break up, no temps to take.  Just me, myself, and I... and a TON of tulle, yarn and felt to keep me busy!  It was a good day :-)

Our regular Sunday routine happened... We woke up and went to the grocery store for breakfast and shopping.  Then we came home and did laundry.  We ran a few errands in the afternoon... Totally normal stuff!  WE ARE ALL WELL!!  I thought that week would NEVER end.