Sunshine and Cabin Fever

It's been 6 days that we have been stuck inside! Well, not literally. Thankfully we have had lots of sunshine this week so we have played out in our tiny backyard some...but the kids have been sick with some icky spring colds, as well as Hope having the chickenpox.

It all started Monday morning at 4am with Hope coming into Andy's and my room wheezing and barking like a seal. Then, as our day progressed Josiah starting coughing more too. At some point in the day I noticed Hope had two "bug bites" on her wrist...hmmm...she must have gotten those while playing outside? On Tuesday morning I noticed the 20 or so red dots covering her torso and more on her wrist...that seemed like quite a bit of "bug bites" and the more research I did on the internet and talking to others realized that Hope had come down with a mild case of the chickenpox! This was a surprise because she was vaccinated when she was 12 months old, but now come to find out that the vaccine is only 95% effective and Hope seems to have fallen into the 5% to actually get the chickenpox. Thankfully since she was vaccinated, her case is very mild. She has no more that 30 "lesions" (as they're called) and hasn't been too itchy. She has had a low grade fever, headaches and loss of appetite, but overall has still had a great attitude. As the week has continued on, Hope and Joey have developed runny noses with their coughs and just today (Saturday) Hope has complained that her ear is hurting, which I am guessing is an ear infection. I gave her some Tylenol and asked her tonight how she was doing and she said, "You mean how is my ear doing?" and I said, "Sure, just how are you doing in general?" Hope replied, "I'm good....(pause)....my ear still hurts, but I'm good." What a week! Andy did remind me that this is part of the excitement of being a mom, and he is right, it's kind of monumental to take care of a sick kid with the chickenpox (seeing that most kids are vaccinated and don't get them any more these days).

The highlights of my week include watching "Bug's Life" EVERYDAY with Hope as we cuddle on the couch while Joey and Livia nap, celebrating Livia's 4 month birthday, and having TWO picnics outside in the sunshine! I LOVE being a mom and will endure cabin fever for my kids any day!

(it's late, so there will be no editing done, sorry if there are misspellings or run-ons or fragments etc...) :)