And like dominoes they fell . . .

As of last Monday, you may recall Ian's tale of woe with the "ick". Now, I will admit since he was already five days into his illness, I was prayerful that rest of us had some sort of super immunity. Unfortunately. . .

. . .my hopes were dashed when Rich returned from a business trip on Wednesday complaining of similar symptomatology. Of course, adults with the "ick" are a little less needy than young ones and, since Ian was on the mend and Kyra was as chipper as ever, I figured 50% of the household wasn't bad. Until . . .

. . .the cry in the dark somewhere between Wednesday and Thursday morning. Yes, the princess was confirmed sick with the ick. Alright, well it could be worse: one on the mend and going back to school, a responsible adult though ailing but capable of caring for a pathetic princess and a germ-free office for me to escape to. Surely I could outrun the bug. But . . .

. . .there was no escape to be had. By Thursday evening, I knew what fate had in store for me. Yes, by Friday morning, Kyra and I cuddled up on the couch watching endless princess movies. By Saturday, Rich and Ian were doing well enough to escape the sick girls. I took the opportunity to nap when Kyra napped. Now . . .

. . .one may think that this tale of woe is over. But sadly, no, we shall not forget our beloved four-legged friend, Mel. You see, while I napped on Saturday, Ms. Mel climbed up one of the dining room chairs and helped herself to an entire tray of Hartman's cookies (and for those of you who KNOW about said cookies, I heard that gasp!) I'd like to think that it was only because they were cat-shaped and purchased to support a local cat rescue that she ate them out of spite, but it just goes to prove that no one can resist their powers! Now, having consumed enough cookies to equal at least the volume of two-days worth of her chow, you would think the "darling" would have stopped there. Oh no! Not my little slink! She also helped herself to an entire box of graham cracker bugs! Needless to say, I was none too pleased when I woke up from my nap and discovered the "evidence" (or, shall we say, lack thereof) of Mel's handywork. So, that night as we were getting to bed, Mel assumed her usual spot between us. All of a sudden we started hearing very strange sounds coming from our precocious pooch . . .

. . . and, yes, by Sunday morning, even the dog was sick!

Of course, now we are all on the mend and slowly but surely on the path back to "normal." At least we can one day look back at this and laugh.

Stay healthy, my friends! (and keep those cookies high!)

Poor Little Man

Sometime in the middle of the night between Thurday and Friday (I'm a little fuzzy on the time; I don't function well when woken from a deep sleep), Ian came down and told us he was "hungry" except it wasn't hunger he was feeling but a severely upset stomach. Needless to say, the past few days have been anything but pleasant in our house. Ian has been a real trooper but this bug has just wiped him out. He was actually looking a little better last night and was excited about returning to school today.

Well, his hopes were soon dashed this morning when the bug reared its ugly head again. I did end up taking him in even though I knew it was viral and nothing really could be done and it just had to run its course. Nonetheless, it gives me a certain piece of mind to have him checked out. The doctor recommended that he stay home from school through at least Wednesday. I've notified school and his teacher will prepare a homework packet for me to pick up.

I feel so bad because Ian is really enjoying school this year and I could tell he was disappointed when the doctor told me how long to keep him home. Please pray for the bug to exit (both Ian and this house).

A couple of down days

Kyra had a cold last week and is finally turning the corner. Of course, she shared a little of the love and I've had some symptoms that I have been trying to stave off with Cold-eze. We've essentially spent the last two days in the house but that hasn't been all that bad. We've had manicures and bubble baths and have even managed to catch up on some much needed tidying. Of course, now I am ready to get out of the house tomorrow.

Ick - Go away!

Last week on Wednesday, Kyra came down with a "wonderful" stomach bug that lasted through Friday. On Saturday, I was down for the count (not sick to my stomach, but definitely not in any shape to go anywhere). On Sunday, Rich and I headed out to a Superbowl party only to be called home by the babysitter during the 4th quarter because the ick had struck Ian. He stayed home from school on Monday but was feeling better on Tuesday so he went back. Of course, this morning, he was not feeling well again. I am so sick of this ick! I think the only reason Rich hasn't caught it is because he's been traveling so much! You an't catch what you're not around to get, right? Calgon - take me away!

LOST

LOST: my voice. If found, please return to me ASAP. I really don't feel bad, but it's really annoying when you are around friends you haven't seen in a year and you really can't talk to them because all you do is squeak. UGH!

Did anyone get the number of that truck?

We had dinner last night at a local restuarant and I ordered something that was on "special." UGH! Big mistake! This has not been a pleasant day around here. At least Kyra was a sweetheart and Rich came home and took the kids out for dinner. I'm feeling a little better as of now, but I doubt I'll be visiting that establishment any time soon.i

My trooper

It's 11:30 and I'm still amazingly awake. No, it's not because I drank one too many Diet Cokes before bedtime, but Ian is not feeling well. It started with just a cough this morning and around 11:00, I got "the call" from school. My heart just poured out of me when I saw him lying there in the health room. Of course, we ended up going to the walk-in because I didn't want this to linger over the long weekend. The cough is currently quiet thanks to some albuterol and Pulmacort, but he's still feverish and we've had a rather large incident of "ick". So, I sit here standing guard an periodically going in to check his temperature. Hopefully this will be short-lived, but it's going to be a long night!

I'll see your finger splint and raise you . . .

Last week, the bad year for our family's hands ran on when Rich broke his finger on the lazy river (yeah, I'm still not going to let him live that one down). But having met the family deductible for our insurance this year already, I couldn't let him one-up me.

Yesterday my thumb that I cut in my prior accident began to hurt in the afternoon. By the time Rich got home from his trip, it was swollen, red and hot to the touch. Rich passed me the walk-in clinic frequent flyer card and I was diagnosed with cellulitis and given some antibiotics but was also told to return if it got worse.

Fast-forward to this morning when I can barely lift my arm above my head. A return visit to the walk-in clinic ensued where I received an IV infusion of some stronger antibiotics, an IV catheter for my return trip to the walk-in clinic for another antibiotic infusion and an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon for Monday.

Now, I just have to make sure that Rich steers clear of all power tools so he doesn't try to outdo me on this one!

A little more like herself

Kyra is doing a little bit better today though she is awfully congested still. At least the fever seems to be gone. We've switched from the "purple candy" ibuprofen tablets to the Triaminic quick-desolve strips although they don't disolve quickly enough for Ms. Kyra's taste! We've begun serious negotiations to get her to consume them. Thank the Lord for Ian's candy bowl (and it's never-ending variety).

Ick - AGAIN!

I don't know why it is, but Ms. Kyra seems to pick up every single last bug that is out there. She has this weird stuff/fever thing going on since yesterday morning. I'm trying to keep her in good humor with children's ibuprofen, but she has now decided taht the chewable grape tablets are now bad news as well. Heaven help us if she ever has to take any "real" bad tasting medicine. I did manage to get her lunchtime dose down by bribing her with strawberry Nerds. I'm just hoping this is over with soon.

A spoonful of sugar does not help the medicine go down

Yesterday after Bible study, I walked over to childcare only to find Kyra in the hallway with one of the caregivers and she was inconsolable. It was a different kind of inconsolable than a "she took my toy" or "I don't want to share" 2-year-old inconsolable moment though. I took her home and sure enough within 15 minutes of being home, the "ick" has hit our house (again).

When I can get medicine in the poor child, she is in very good spirits. Unfortunately, she is getting wise to my medicinal deceptions (although blending it with her applesauce worked last night). So, today before nap, I attempted to give her small baby spoonfuls and alternating with M&Ms. Although a good idea in mom theory, little missy wasn't buying that plan either. She now just looks at me and puts her hand over her mouth. If anyone has some sort of brilliant suggestion on how to get Tylenol into the system of a 2-year-old, please help!

But she still doesn't want to miss church!

Well, we had a fun morning - NOT! We drove to church this morning and right as we pulled into the parking lot and I turned off the car, Kyra threw up! YUCK!!!! At least she wasn't in the nursery yet! So, we turned the car around to head home yet the whole time Kyra is screaming "I WANT TO GO TO CHURCH!" While I admire her willingness to go, momsense prevailed and she came home to take a bath and get a dose of Tylenol. (Of course, I did bring her back a new VeggieTales from the church library when I went back for second service).

And lest we forget the other "player" in this drama, Ian gets a hi-5 for his commentary on the way home: "I think I'm going to breathe through my mouth now." I love that little guy!

Product placement

Ian has been battling a cold all week. Yesterday he started with his cough. I always dread when he starts coughing because usually it turns into pneumonia, so we started him on Albuterol last night. I just knew he wasn't going to be feeling well in the morning and would probably keep him home from school. Sure enough he was in our room at 6:15 to let us know he wasn't feeling good.

I was able to get him in to see the doctor and thankfully it has not developed into pneumonia (yet). However, she did prescribe him Pulmicort to try to heal his lungs quicker. After Kyra's nap, we went to the grocery store and I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and have it filled at their pharmacy. Of course, they don't stock it! UGH! So, my attempts to multi-task were thwarted so off to Wal-Mart we go.

After dropping off the prescription and doing some shopping, we head back to pick it up. I think the whole city of Manitowoc is sick judging from the length of the pharmacy line so we wait. And what does an 8 year old do when forced to wait in an excessively long line? He wanders up and down the aisle looking at the pretty packaging - on the CONDOMS!!!! Thankfully, he did not start reading the labels out loud else I would have had to have made a swift bolt for the door!