First Birthday

I cannot believe it has been a whole year since Elizabeth joined our family.  I can remember being in the hospital with her.  I enjoyed being there, having time just the two of us, knowing that when we got home just us would include 3 others.  I could not get enough of her.  I always wanted to be with her, to hold her, touch her.  Even after we got home and she had a hard time sleeping at night I loved it.  I loved holding her, sleeping next to her.  I could tell from the beginning that she was a very sweet happy girl and she has become the sweet, happy girl I knew she would be when she was born.
There is always that sadness to see my baby growing up, but I wouldn't stop it for the world.  She is so fun to play with!  She lets me read to her now, she LOVES to explore different textures and sounds.  She enjoys climbing and sitting on her brothers, and tickling their bellies.  Elizabeth has an amazing ability to pull Benjamin out of a bad mood.  She laughs at just about everything now, and is always smiling.  She loves to play with big Lego's and knock over block towers.  She has been walking for 2 months now, and when I catch her with something she shouldn't have she turns to look at me, gets an impish grin on her face and runs for it.  She is such an imp.  She is our princess, but she is an into everything, always busy, lots of trouble princess, and we love every minute of it!
The morning of her birthday came and I was trying to get the house clean after being sick for a few days.  I started on the dishes and Benjamin started crying, he had thrown up and was running a fever.  So I called all of the grandmas and honorary grandmas and canceled the birthday party.  I had already baked the cake and wrapped the presents so I decided we would have a quiet family party.  I left off the house cleaning to take care of Benjamin only to find out Elizabeth was sick too!  Happy birthday, huh?  We ended up having a lazy day and then after dinner called John in Virginia.  We got on the computer and we set up Elizabeth's high chair in front of the computer so daddy could see.  We gave her her presents and she actually tore the wrapping paper off!  She got some books from mom and Grammy as well as some Dulpo Lego's.  Then I brought out the cake.  She tore into that like there is no tomorrow.  She picked up this huge piece and just started shoving it in her mouth.  It was a lot of fun to watch, especially considering that Glen didn't want his cake because it was sticky and he hated being sticky, and Benjamin wasn't interested at all in cake on his birthday.  She was the first one of our kids to go at it and we all enjoyed watching her immensely.
Even though three of us were sick, over all it was a good day.  I am so grateful for my sweet, happy girl.  She brings us so much joy! I am also grateful for the technology that allowed us to share her birthday with her daddy, even though he is on the other side of the country.  Happy birthday to my smiley, book loving, imp of a princess.

Fun food

I love doing fun stuff with food.  I think it makes eating yummy food even more fun when it looks cool.  Holidays are more fun too because we get to do all sorts of fun stuff with food.  We always have green eggs and Ham on Dr. Seuss' birthday, pot pie on Pi day, ghost pancakes on Halloween, Pink heart pancakes on Valentines day (you can do just about anything with pancakes. :)  This month we have tried a few new things out.  We arranged apple slices so they looked like a Christmas tree, next week we will make Santa bread as well.  Today we had snow man pancakes with bacon scarves and strawberry banana candy canes for breakfast.  Then for dinner we had turkey pot pie and I formed a fun little Christmas tree on top and tried to make it green.  The green did not work out as well as I had hoped, next time I'll dye the dough instead of brushing colored water over the top, but it worked well enough for my kids, and that is what really counts in my book.
I hope that my kids look forward to holidays and find them as fun as I do.  I wanted fun food to be a part of holidays, even the silly ones like Dr. Seuss day or Pi day because I think that little things can make ordinary days into a little party.  Little things like chocolate chip eyes in pancakes, or a Christmas tree on the pot pie.  Little things mean big magic for kids.

Two boys and breakfast

Sunday morning we all slept in.  I know right?  It happens occasionally.  Anyway, Benjamin came in and asked if I was ready to wake up.  I told him I would if he cuddled with me for a few minutes.  I ended up falling back asleep and I thought Benjamin did too.  About 1/2 hour later he came back in and said in the sweetest little voice "I made breakfast for you mommy, come see."  I got up, wide awake and very curious now, to see he had gotten out his almond milk.  I asked him what he made and he said cereal, but he needed help getting out the cereal and bowls that were up high and the cow milk that was too heavy.  We got everything all set up and sat down to eat.  He then asked "Do you know why I made breakfast for you?  Because I though you might want to sleep a little more."  I just about melted into a puddle right then and there.  So sweet!
This morning I got the same treatment.  Glen insisted that he make breakfast since I was not feeling well.  I always get a slight cough when pregnant and he heard me coughing.  He went into the kitchen and made cinnamon toast, apple sauce, and carrots "Because we need vegetables" and let's not forget the chocolate milk.
Some days these two get my blood really boiling, but most days they just melt my heart.

More then another retelling of the birth of the holy babe

Click to learn more about the story of Christmas.

"And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS; for he shall save his people from their sins." Matthew 1:21

The Story of Christmas is more than merely retelling the advent of a babe in Bethlehem. It is one of the seminal events in human history.

That babe in Bethlehem, born in a lowly manger, was Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world and the Son of God—our Redeemer.

Jesus Christ suffered and was crucified for the sins of the world, giving each of God’s children the gift of repentance and forgiveness. Only through His mercy and grace can we be saved. His subsequent resurrection prepared the way for every person to overcome physical death as well. These events are called the Atonement. In short, Jesus Christ saves us from sin and death. For that, he is very literally our Savior and Redeemer.

This season, we invite you to read the Christmas story anew with your family and friends. Look for the hope and meaning it can bring to your life.

We join with the angels of old as they announced the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to the shepherds: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." Luke 2:14

Magic

Last night the boys begged to sleep by the Christmas tree.  There is just something so magical about a tree all lit up.  So well all layed down in the living room looking at the lights and waiting for sleep to come.  It wasn't coming for any of us.  Something was missing.  Glen asked me to put on Christmas carols, so I turned some on and we all fell asleep looking at the Christmas lights, thinking of Santa, and listing to Christmas Carols.  The only thing missing was daddy.

Portal cake

Happy birthday Jacob!  This is half of his portal cake.  When I showed it to him I told him the candle sings "I'm still alive" and he asked if I was serious to which I replied, "No, it's a lie."  And that my friends are all of the portal references I will use for now.
The cake, the glowing portal, even the song are all from the game Portal.  It's pretty fun if you like puzzles, or infinite high fives, and stealing your friends robot head to use as a ball.  Ok, that was the last one, just for my husband, I promise.
Making this cake kept me pretty cheerful all day.  In the morning my baking buddy Benjamin helped me bake it and then I decorated it after the kids were all home and entertaining the baby.  :)
Since I promised not to use any more Portal references that you might now understand I have to stop writing because I can't stop making references, and I did, after all make a promise.  A promise which conveniently enough I could just delete.  Ah well, what more is there to say?  I did make Jacob hunt down the other half, just for fun.

Gone

John is gone.  He has been for almost a week now.  He is in Virginia training with a company who wants to hire him.  I have to say it's been tough, but doable.  Some days I have been just fine, and some days have been truly hard, but one thing amazes me above all.  I have discovered that he makes everything better.  Talking to him for just a few minutes can make the hardest day bearable, happy even.  He lights up my darkest days like I never imagined.  Just hearing his voice makes me want to laugh again, and get him laughing too.
It sounds silly to me when I say it.  It seems to me that after being married for over 6 years I would have figured out that he brings me so much light and so much joy, but having him gone has made it all so clear.  We have never been apart for more then a few days, so this is big.  10 weeks without him, it's HUG!
That saying "Distance makes the heart grow fonder." has been running through my head.  I never wanted to test it out, I always wanted to be with him and grow fonder of each other together.   I guess I took advantage of him.  He is such an active and attentive father and husband.  He did the dishes almost every day, often he would start a load of laundry and take out the garbage.  He was so involved with the kids, he was often reading to them, wrestling with them, and Elizabeth just adores him in every way.  Now that he is gone, we feel it keenly.  Now the house work all falls on me, except for the few chores I can get the kids to do.  He left some mighty big shoes to fill.  I am determined to fill them, but only until he gets back.  I am determined to not worry or stress him so that he can focus on what he has to do.  When I am determined, nothing will stop me.
One thing that has made my day each day is when he calls.  I love to talk to him, even if it's just for a few minutes, but there is something else, something so adorable I want to squeal.  As soon as he calls Elizabeth knows. I don't know how she knows, but she does.  She immediately crawls over to me and tries to grab the phone.  I say she is only a mama's girl right now because daddy is gone.  So when I put the phone to her ear she gets the biggest grin and starts to laugh and babble.  She only does it with John though.  If I give her the phone with grandma she will look at it and try to push the buttons or eat it.  She knows his voice and she just lights up.  John has that influence on us.  :)
I don't know if this has made any sense to any one or if it's just an opportunity to get my thoughts and feelings out, but there it is.
Tomorrow I will make a far more entertaining post about the cake I am making today.

She said it perfectly.

I know that this isn't my blog I am sharing, but her words are so wonderful.  Everything that is in my mind and heart, everything that I have not been able to put into words she has written so lovingly and so clearly.  I am proud to be a woman, I would not change a thing!
http://lemmonythings.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/the-mormon-feminist-protest-and-why-i-wont-be-there/

The Church of Jesus Christ at a glance (Mormons)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7o-ByARPf9w
This is a very sweet video.  I love how it describes our beliefs using members from around the world. My favorite part is near the end where that woman says "Ours is not a Sunday religion, it is an every day religion, it is who we are."  I know that, I feel it.  I try very hard to live my beliefs every day, to show with every word and action that I am a follower of Jesus Christ.

How to teach young kids to clean

The other day as I was planning  a play date with my friend I told her  I could come over after the kids did their chores.  She asked me how I get my young boys, age 5 and 3 1/2 to clean.  I told her a few things, but i thought I'd share a few more.

• Dishes, I have my kids help unload the dishwasher.  I make it fun by letting them stand on the counter (normally not allowed) while I hand the dishes to put away.
• I also have them rinse their dishes which is fun because they get to use the sprayer, also usually off limits.
• mopping, one of their favorite chores is to mop.  I move the table and chair out, get a bucket of water and give them rags. They call it slip and slid and have a blast getting wet.  Then I pull out towels and we dry it together.  Sometimes if they need a bit of encouragement I find the dry spots and pretend to try and keep it dry as they come at it with water.
• Laundry, if I have a lot of laundry to fold we have a laundry party.  Everything goes into one big pile and we pull clothes out and throw it at whoever it belongs to.  Then after the clothes are put away we  pick a corner and use mated socks to have a sock war.  Then we put away the socks.
• general pick up.  I make this fun by playing games like I spy.  I spy with my little eye something red, then they put away all the red toys until they find the one I was thinking of. We also have races, pick a number and pick up that number, or pull out a timer and see if they can get a personal best each time.  I also try to have them pick up a small amount often so the job doesn't get to big or intimidating.
• I also use rewards on top of the fun.  For every chore they get 10-20 minutes of a computer game or after each chore we play or read together.  Breaking it up helps a lot.

So what do you do to get your kids to help out around the house? I'm always looking for new ideas and we love making work more fun around here.

Looking at it all wrong

http://latinafatale.com/2011/07/21/how-to-talk-to-little-girls/
I cam e across this article today and something about it bothered me.  I thought about it for a while, because I have seen many articles like this in the past.  They all say basically the same thing, girls need to feel smart and know that beauty isn't important.  It's so mixed up though, it not about smart or beautiful.  I know a girl who feels beautiful, but dumb, a girl who feels smart, but ugly, and then the one that feels neither ugly, nor dumb, she just feels happy.  What's the difference?  It's not the way her parents taught her, it's not the way society spoke to her as opposed to her sister or neighbor or class mate.  It's about the way she feels about herself.  She feels beautiful whether others agree or not, she feels smart not because she gets straight A's but because she feels ok just doing her best.  My highest hope for my children is not for them to feel hansom and beautiful, it's not for them to feel smarter then everyone else, it is simply this, that they feel confident with themselves.
God created each of us just the way we are, the way we look, how smart we are, the gifts that we have, they are all what God wants us to have and with His help we can be all He wants us to be.  Confidence can take you places good looks and brains can't get you alone.
What do you think?

Rant against officials and professionals

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25601811&nid=148&title=parker-jensen-cancer-free-10-years-later&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-1
After reading this story I started doing a little more research into it.  It is so messed up, what the state and Dr. did.  I don't think the parents were being negligent, with no history of abuse or neglect, who did they think they were to make such a claim against the parents.

This bugs me, not because of the parents, but because of 

the Dr. and state officials who think they know best. With

 the experience I had with Elizabeth during her stay and at 

her birth, I'm very bugged.

I had a written document saying that Elizabeth was to stay 

with me at all times unless I asked for her to be taken to 

the nursery and that I was to be there for ANY procedure.

 None of the nurses paid attention to that and she was

 taken for shots, immunizations, and blood draws without

 my permission (Which I would have given, but I wanted to

 be there) and even without my knowledge. Then when she

 had RSV the Dr. insisted she have a spinal tap done and

 even though I said I didn't want it done on her they bullied


me into saying yes because she might die within days

without one, and

 what were the results, nothing was wrong, just like I 

thought.

Really, some parents actually do know best and our 

opinions 


and rights aught to matter more and carry more weight.



I'd like to hear your thoughts, do you think that Dr.s and state officials should get there way

 because there "might" be something wrong, or there might be consequences?  Or do you 

think 

parents should have the last say even if they may be putting their child at risk, do parents know 

best?

Vacation

Tuesday we headed out on our first family vacation.  The boys were so excited they climbed into the car and then had to wait for 1/2 hour for us to finish getting ready.

First stop Panguitch lake to go horseback riding.  Unfortunatly the lady we made reservations with forgot about us and wasn't there. Fortunately saving that money allowed us to get a motel the last few nights since Elizabeth was getting so dehydrated.

After a short tour of Panguitch, very short, I mean have you seen how small that place is?  :)  We had pizza for dinner and headed out to this farm that we first lived on when we moved there.  It's that house way back there.

Glen and daddy's manly stance for setting up the tent.

Ok, we kept hearing this buzzing noise and having visions of prehistoric giant bugs and we were all kind of freaking out that first night.  The

 next morning we noticed that a humming bird had built a nest right above our table and that was the buzzing noise.

Starting out on our hike to the petrified forest.

They are holding up the rock.

I swear Elizabeth is in there somewhere.

A "cave."

We didn't make it to the petrified forest, but we did see some petrified wood, learned how it forms and the kids were ecstatic that they had climbed to the top of a mountain.  Climbing to the top of a mountain was one of our goals for our vacation.

We were all pretty hot after our hike so I told the boys they could dip their toes in the water while I fed Elizabeth.  Before too long it turned into swimming fully clothed, but it was sure fun to watch and the kids had a blast in the water.

After the petrified forest we headed to St. George and our first stop the next morning, after a morning hike,  was at Johnson's Farm.  We saw a lot of dinosaur tracks, learned how they are preserved and learned about dinosaurs.

This track was as big as Benjamin.

Both boys have their hands on this track and they are olny covering up one claw.

Behind us are a bunch of little tracks.

After our day in St. George we were super hot so we headed to the lake for a swim.

Benjamin and I were chasing a lizard.

That is the end of the pictures because I lost my camera, but it wasn't the end of vacation.  We went to the St. George Temple, hiked the St. George narrows and did some seriously fun rock scrambling, swam at the motel and watched cartoons during the hottest part of the day, spent a morning at Snow Canyon where we learned about volcanoes and petrified sand dunes, spent a few hours at a splash pad, rode a carousel, and ended all the fun with a trip to Judds candy store where we had the best bread sticks ever, gave the kids $1 to get anything they wanted, split a cup of ice cream and bought chocolate covered bacon soda.  It was epic.  All in all it was the best vacation ever and we learned a few things.  John hates camping, who knew? Elizabeth does not do well at all in the heat, and camping trips need to be 3 days instead of 6.  Also we will probably get a motel instead of a camp ground because I think we all enjoyed it more when we had the motel.  I know, we are wimps.

Task list

Last night before I headed to bed I thought I would see if I could find what the book The Entitlement Trap  by Richard and Linda Eyre said about allowance.  I'm not sure why it crossed my mind other then to give me an idea (more on that later)  So then right before I went to bed I had this truly brilliant idea that I just had ti write down before I forgot.  It was one of those life changing moments that keep you awake at night if you don't do something about them.  John is rubbing off on me so I'll give you a bit of background information (20 minute explanations seem to run in the family.)  :D
Before I got pregnant with Elizabeth I totally had life under control.  Silly me, I wasn't even looking for the other shoe to drop, I just thought "Yeah, I'm awesome!"  I was going to the gym 3 times a week, had a clean house, happy kids, we did learning time every morning, and I was so patient, I figured I was doing pretty good at this whole mom thing.  Then the Lord must have seen how huge my head was getting because he humbled me pretty fast.  Being pregnant with Elizabeth was terrible hard and everything fell apart.  My house was always a disaster, I hadn't the energy or gumption to discipline or teach my kids well and patience was non-existent.  I had gone to the opposite side of things.  After she was born I thought I could get life under control again.  It would just take a couple weeks and I could get back our old schedule and everything.  Oh, how wrong I was!
So fast forward 4 1/2 months and we are still pretty much in the same boat as were were before minus the crazy emotion roller coaster.  I still couldn't keep the house clean, have happy kids, and I had no energy for any of it.  I was seriously on the verge of a break down from stress and burnout.  Then my idea came! (I told you I'd get here!)
k, so the book said- no, I need to put my thoughts, not necessarily what the book said.  What I got from it was that allowance should not be given to kids just because, it needs to be earned, just like a job.  That tiny little paragraph I read plus a pintrist idea set things in motion for this beautiful list and the one below.

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday
Write in Journals:	garden	Gym	garden
Glen	Dust	Outside	sanitize
Benjamin	Science experiment	Library	Art
Elizabeth	teach one chore	teach one chore	teach one chore
write a note to someone	Strip bedding	Wash walls	Mop

Thursday	Friday	Saturday
Gym	garden	Gym
Organize	deep clean	Iron clothes
Geography	Math	bath kids
teach one chore	teach one chore	clip nails
Vacuum back of house	wash windows	Practice flute

The kids have their own list of daily tasks and then extras as well.
In my mind there are certain tasks that must be done every day to have a well functioning house.  I can't put them on a check list because then it makes it hugely long and I focus too much on cleaning. With this list I have learning opportunities for the kids, time for extra chores I usually neglect, and then a few extra things.  Basically, these are the extras.  I have to schedule the extras or I get too focused on the other stuff and skip time with kids, small chores and having fun.  Every one has their daily tasks and then the kids have the choice to do extra chores to earn a movie or computer time (They work for that instead of money and I work for a chapter in my book)  I really like this because I do the daily stuff anyway, like laundry, dishes, and vacuuming, and then I get extra stuff done like deep cleaning the bathroom, teaching the kids to wash dishes, playing with them and since today is Friday we all did moth together.  It also helps to to make sure I am not neglecting one area of their education to focus on reading or math.  I got tons done today, I was in a great mood, and I didn't feel bad about leaving the laundry to do the dishes.  I know it may need to be tweaked a bit, but today it worked great and I just know that I have finally found my 3 kid groove!
Feel free to steal and tweak this idea if it helps you, I share it in hopes that it will.  Have a great night!

Better half or other half?

I used to love it when I heard husbands talking about their wives, saying things like "Where would I bee without her?"  "She is the boss, I just pretend." "She is my better half"  "I'm her assistant."  Let's put a little emphasis on used to.  Lately I have been thinking that those husbands are just putting themselves down. I can understand why they say things like that.  Husbands want their wives to feel loved and important.  As women we are so hard on ourselves that we need to be built up constantly by others.  It's just too easy to feel ugly, stupid, or like your a bad mother or wife.  I love that they try to help, but I think there is another way.
I do not want to be my husbands better half, or have him be my better half, he is my other half and I am his other half.  Together we are whole, we compliment each other.  I do not want to be better then him, ahead of him, or dragging him along.  I want to be his equal, walking beside him hand in hand.  I didn't marry him to feel good about myself, I married him because I love him and he completes me.
I feel loved and need when he notices how hard I worked to clean the kitchen, or says thank you for cooking a meal.  I feel important when he comes home early because he missed me or when he teaches our boys to respect me.  I feel special when he opens my door or gives me his seat.  When he carries something heavy for me, or tells me to go sit down so he can put the boys to bed.  I am perfectly capable of doing all these things on my own, but when he gives me a hand I know he does it because he loves me and wants me to feel loved.  He does it because then he feels needed and important.  If I did everything on my own just because I could he would not feel like my other half, he would feel like I didn't need him at all.  It goes both ways then, doesn't it?
Let us build each other up my by putting ourselves down, but by showing through our actions and words just how important the other one is.

Mommy son date

Since Elizabeth came along Glen and Benjamin have been having a hard time getting enough attention from me.  Between having to feed her every two hours,  having her get RSV and spending a week at the hospital, and all the other time it takes to take care of every need a new born has I can't really blame them, so John and I decided it was time to start dates.
Sunday I asked Glen to go on a date with me.  He was so excited, it's all he talked about all week.  On Thursday John was home so we headed off for our date.  We went to this awesome place called Scheel's.  On the way there I asked Glen what he wanted to be when he grows up and he said a super hero and we talked a lot about super hero's and their super powers.  When we go there Glen ran around to open my door just as this huge truck was pulling through and I though he wouldn't see Glen and he was going to hit him so I opened my door really fast so he would see the door and I could pull Glen in onto my lap, but he ended up seeing Glen just in time and stopped.  My heart nearly stopped, and I had Glen on my lap and put his hand to my heart so he could feel how fast and hard it was pounding.  He asked why I was scared and I told him why and hugged him tight.  Then I put him back down and said "Let's try that again with out the big truck almost hitting you, and closed my door again.
At Scheel's we rode the Ferris Wheel.  I am very afraid of heights so the whole time Glen was saying it would be ok, don't look down mom, ok, now you can look down (when we were at the bottom) and I was trying hard not to clutch the bar too tight, gasp too often, or cry, but Glen had fun and I think he liked the idea of protecting me.
After the Ferris Wheel we headed over to the play area and we played indie, then ran around the store playing tag.  Glen ran too far and I couldn't find him, but I figured he had just gone to far and would find his way back so I waited for a minute before going to look.  Sure enough in less then a minute he ran up with a store employee and said "That's my mom, we are on a date, just the two of us!"  She thought it was very cute.  After that we played DDR a few times before he got bored and wanted to go play miniature golf.  Scheel's has this area where you can try out the different kind of golf clubs in an area that is about 6 square feet.
After he finished we headed to Wendy's to get frosties and a fry.  We talked about Primary, kindergarten next year, and a few other things.  I showed Glen how to dip fries in a frosty and he tried it, then he showed me how to dip fries in ketchup and then the frosty and I was brave and tried it.  It was not that bad, I kind of liked it.  :)  After he finished his frosty he asked why we were sharing a fry and I said that sharing is fun, so he asked "Mom, since sharing is fun, do you want to share your frosty?"  I laughed at that!  He is so smart.  I did want to share so while he dipped more fries, this time in my frosty, I told him why I thought it was so funny.
I am grateful for the opportunity I had to go on a date with Glen.  We both had so much fun and he got two hours all to himself.  I hope that starting early will help us both learn to take this time to talk to each other about what's important.  At 4 there isn't all that much I already know about him and he doesn't struggle with too much, but when he is older I know we will need not only that time, but that habit I am trying to form for us both.

RSV and the flue

Glen is comforting Elizabeth just before we take her to the hospital.

Elizabeth at the hospital on oxygen.

I just thought I'd give you all an update, I know I have been sadly neglecting my poor little blog.  As you can see Elizabeth took a trip to the hospital.  When she was 3 weeks old She started with this yucky sounding cough.  I took her in the next day for her check up and our Dr. said her lungs sounded ok and not to worry unless she started having a hard time breathing or eating.  That was in the afternoon.  By the end of the day I thought she might be having a hard time breathing, but I wasn't sure.  That night she didn't wake up often to eat, she had no wet diapers, and she needed to be held the whole time.  By the next morning I was worried.  She was coughing even more, but she didn't have the strength to cough or cry.  She ate hardly anything, and she was definitely struggling to breath.  A call to the Dr. sent us to the ER where we went from the back of a line of about 20 people to the very front and immediately got a room.  She was hooked up to oxygen, an IV, heart monitor, breathing monitor, O2 monitor, and swabbed for an RSV test.   After the Dr. came in he told us she had RSV and we were being admitted.  We had to wait for about 6 hours to get a room, the hospital was jam packed full of kids with RSV.  We were in the hospital for 5 days ( 3 of which John stayed home with puking boys) before being sent home with Elizabeth on oxygen.

It just broke my heart to see my little girl hooked up to all those machines, so weak and so pale, and me helpless to do anything.  She has been steadily improving while we have been home, we were almost sent back once, but it was a false alarm.  He nose had gotten really swollen from so much suctioning and when we gave her a break she started breathing easier.  Hopefully with in the next few days she will no longer need any oxygen.

I, needles to say, am exhausted.  Sleep has been in small amounts, and what sleep I do get is quickly interrupted by one child or another.  Elizabeth is eating well again, but that means more wake up calls, and she still wants to be held because she is uncomfortable.  I have been functioning on 2-5 hours of sleep for about 2 weeks or more now and it is really kicking my butt.  I sent my kids to bed with books at 6:45 tonight because I just couldn't handle it any more.  My husband is super helpful when he is here, but unfortunately with school and work that is not very often and I am left to bear the brunt of this on my own.  Thank goodness for such wonderful neighbors who are always willing to help.  Without them I think I may have been admitted myself...into a very comfy little padded room.  :)

Well, I think my little family has had plenty of sickness to last us quite a while and I am very ready for a break.  Here is to a few months without so much as a sniffle!