Sick of Sick

Well, my last post on this blog was almost one month ago, to the day. We've been up to various things, but over it all.. we've been sick. Yep, for almost a month! Here's the timeline:

Fri, Jan 20 - last post
Sun, Jan 29 - all 3 kids have fever, come down with cold
Thurs, Feb 1 - take Wyatt and Piper to doctor because they still have fevers... turns out they have nasty ear infections. Both go on antibiotics.
Mon, Feb 6 - start feeling a little pain/sensitivity on my left side
Tues, Feb 7 - wonder if I broke a rib? Pain has definitely increased.
Sun, Feb 12 - go to doctor because I now have a rash to accompany pain. It is shingles. Start taking an anti-viral medicine.
Wed, Feb 15 - take Piper to doctor because she has a rash and is still touching her ears. Turns out her rash is Fifth's Disease (common virus) and her ears are still infected. One even burst her eardrum :( So she begins a new course of antibiotics and ear drops. (Wyatt's ears are good.)
Tues, Feb 21 - take Piper to doctor because she has a fever (want to make sure it's not still her ears.) Good news: her ears look great. Bad news: that means she's got some new virus.

So today, she still has a low grade temp and now I feel like maybe I'm getting a cold too. Ugh!! But before I sound like I am complaining too much, I am thankful for many things. I'm thankful that I suspected it might be shingles and went to the doctor as soon as I saw the first spot (the earlier you get on meds, the more effective they are to decrease your rash). I am thankful for antibiotics for my kids!! They really do work wonders. I'm thankful that Ben hasn't had to go out of the country at all during this time -- and I'm thankful that he is so great at putting the kids to bed :) I'm thankful that with all this illness going around, Lila has only missed one day of school (at the end of January). Normally I go help one afternoon at school, but during the time I was suffering from shingles -- there was testing at school, so no volunteers were allowed on campus. Thankful :) I'm thankful I can be a stay-at-home mom. While it's difficult to be "mom" and be sick, it would be so much harder to have to be mom, be sick and go to work somewhere else! And finally, I'm thankful that though we are setting some kind of record for consecutive days of illness, it has all been pretty minor in the scheme of things. We have been blessed with three healthy kiddos whose bodies can fight off infection.

So even though I'm sick of being sick, I find myself being thankful. And ready for spring to come and stay! :) As for the rest of what we've been doing this past month, I hope to get some pictures up soon!