And she's down for the count... (and more)

This weekend afforded me the unusual, but wonderful ability to have a "date night" with my LITTLE man. Since Billy and Calleigh are sick, I took my (mostly well) boy to Songfest and we had a blast. He got to hear a lot of fun music and dance with some of his friends.

Cooper with Amber... one of his favorite "girlfriends"!

So this weekend has led to an interesting Monday. Calleigh hasn't been acting like herself all weekend, so we have treaded lightly with her and made sure to keep her as comfortable as possible. A somewhat low-grade temp exasperated her other symptoms of runny nose and general crankiness, but it wasn't until today that I really began to wonder if something more was the matter. I took her to the clinic and guess what... she has a NASTY ear infection! Ahhh!!!! She is now on antibiotics and a decongestant to hopefully bring this thing under control.

While she and I were in the clinic, I asked the doctor more questions about Billy's pneumonia (that we forgot to ask last week) and I found out that he would likely be dealing with this another 2 weeks (which was a TOTAL shock to him) and that he could relapse if he were not VERY careful. We are both more committed to making sure he gets well and stays well. He taught 2 of his 3 classes today and slept for the 4 hours between those classes. I am "teaching" his 2 classes tomorrow and a wonderful savior/friend is watching the kids for part of the afternoon so Billy can rest a lot.

The only "fun thing" I have let Billy do today is we went out to eat for his 35th birthday just a few blocks from our house. We were gone a whooping hour and a half, but it was nice to be out with just the 2 of us. It has been almost a YEAR since we have been out without kids! Amber and her mom were kind enough to watch the kids and take them to the park.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention how blessed we are to have such wonderful and caring friends here. I'd be afraid to start listing the friends who have helped and the friends who have offered to help. There is no way I could properly show my gratitude for everything and everybody. The Lord really has taken care of us thru the "angels" here in York. Thank YOU!

Looking forward to tomorrow... it's GRATITUESDAY!!!!

Stay away...

Oh gosh... I can't begin to say how physically and mentally exhausted I am. But I am well and that is more than I can say for anyone in my household.

Yesterday, Billy was diagnosed with Pneumonia. He hasn't had a fever since around midnight last night and other than a continuing cough, sore throat (when he coughs), and fatigue, he claims to be getting better. Got to love modern medicine!

Cooper is getting better and other than his persistent cough, he is "back to normal". Calleigh, on the other hand, has had a terrible day. She basically whined ALL DAY LONG! She would want to be held and then she would wiggle down and fuss when she got got down. Nothing made her happy except Cooper playing with her (for a little bit and then she would start fussing again). About 3pm, I started getting her ready for her afternoon nap and I changed her diaper, which lead to the need to change her clothes. When I did that, I noticed that she had a little sunburn (at least that is what I think it is) around her neck and the back of her head. It wasn't terrible, in fact it was kind of cute. She now had some color!

It wasn't much longer before I noticed that she seemed to have a raised rash on her back AND she was REALLY scratching at her neck. I laid her down for her nap without her shirt on because I had lotioned her down pretty good. When she woke up an hour later, the rash has spread. It was rapping around her chest and was "crawling" up her face. After a frantic call to the clinic (it was 10 minutes until 5, i.e.- closing time), we were told to try some Benadryl, an oatmeal bath, and aloe lotion. We did all of it before bed and she was still scratching, whining, and running a low-grade temp. We were told to watch her temp and her breathing.

I suppose I am asking for prayers for my family. Seems as if they all could use it!

They are dropping like flies...

Well, not really, but I know that all of my family is now sick except me. Coop has been sick for more than a week and it got progressively worse, so we took him yesterday to find out that he has a "child's version of bronchitis". He was prescribed a plethora of drugs and hopefully we will see a significant improvement in the next day or so.

Calleigh has been a little bit under the weather for a few days, but not as bad as Cooper. Well, she woke up very early this morning due to a coughing fit and was a pitiful little girl until she finally fell back to sleep. Thankfully she has napped very well all day today and was fine until about 6pm tonight when she started running a fever. We are praying for a restful night for both children.

And now to the last... the "big boy" of the house, Billy. He has been sick since yesterday and he is pretty sure it is just his allergies. Let's hope after tonight's "comfort food" supper and another good night's rest will do the trick for him.

Now for a quick funny story. We put C & C in the tub tonight just to help them get comfortable and to hopefully bring down Calleigh's fever. Well, we have learned that we should always put Cooper on his potty BEFORE we put him in the tub. It seems that he has figured out that there is "more than one way to skin a cat" and is interested in learning how to pee standing up. Anyway, as he stood over the potty he began to make the "hissing" noise similar to well, to someone "peeing". :) Billy and I had a very hard time not laughing our heads off! Ha! Ha!

Pictures from yesterday and today

One of Calleigh's new outfits from Lulu. I LOVE the leggings! She is so hip!

Cooper discovered that he liked leaves... jumping in them and racking them!

Silly and amazing coincidences...

Tonight Billy decided to bathe both of the kids as a deterrent... They are both under the weather and were really wanting to go to bed around 6. (We needed them to wait so they would actually sleep thru the night.) As I gathered "post-bath" things, Billy got the kids ready to climb in the tub and in the meantime, he put Calleigh on Coop's potty. I walked in and hurriedly ran for the camera as I thought it was just too cute to not document (her belly poking out so far, not to mention the fact that she was actually sitting on a potty). I snapped my pictures and Billy pulled her off the potty to put her in the tub only to discover that she actually peed! I am sure it was a coincidence, but I am going to start putting her on the potty more often. Who knows... maybe she is a peeing protege! :) Ha!

Day is done... gone the sun...

Well, the sun has set on another magnificent Sunday, I was greatly blessed by it. We enjoyed a morning of singing and reading scripture at church and then an excellent meal at Kerry's. (Don't be surprised, but we ate too much!)
We made it home in time to QUICKLY take some pictures of the kids and then whisk them off to bed. Neither made a peep for a couple of hours and so Billy and I enjoyed naps too. When we all woke up we headed outdoors for the most beautiful afternoon.

It was somewhere between cool and warm and just perfect for the kids to play outside and for us to take a walk. We had such a nice time that we completely lost track of time and didn't start home until after 6:30. Once we got home, the kids got a snack and a bath and then they were off to bed.

Yesterday was an exciting day for the kids as well. We took them to an Easter Egg hunt at a friend's house.

They both had a fun time and I think Cooper really enjoyed the candy. Had it not been so windy, we probably would have stayed as long as possible because Cooper found their slide! Happy little boy! I am hopeful that this week will be nice enough for us to go to the park and let him slide to his heart is content.

Fridays are the greatest!

Today is Friday and while nothing major is happening, I am just so happy to see the sun and to have gotten out of the house for a little bit this afternoon. I am looking forward to tomorrow when we take the kids to an Easter Egg hunt. I will take tons of pictures and hopefully some video.

Part of our time out of the house today included a trip to Walmart and a stop by the College. I thought we would just pop our head in on a couple of our friends and ended up spending more time there than we expected... but that was ok! Miss Gayle (and President Eckman) spoiled them with Animal Crackers and Calleigh didn't want to leave her. We then went down the hall to see Miss Jackie and Taylor. I wanted to see Miss Gail (M) too, but we missed her. Coop tried on Taylor's motorcycle helmet (I hope that is the CLOSEST he gets to a motorcycle for a LONG

time) and loved it! I thought he looked like the "Vader" character in the movie "Space Balls".

Too funny. After that visit, we went to Hulitt to pick up a book for me and the kids got to see the McNeeses. Calleigh LOVED Miss Bev and was heartbroken when I took her. It took a few times to leave because she kept lunging for Miss Bev and well, Miss Bev seemed so happy to hold her that she kept taking her! It was so cute!

After naps and a quick supper, we went out to the YC softball game. We only stayed for a little bit since it was rather windy but before we left, we took the kids to the small playground next to the field and both kids loved the slides. Loved them so much that Cooper cried the whole way home!

Calleigh didn't mind going home...

...but Coop wasn't as happy!

I know we all feel amazingly refreshed from the little bit of time in the fresh air and sunshine.

Praise the Lord for springtime!

In "other news"... last night the kids got to open a big box sent for them from their Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins in Alabama. They were birthday gifts for the kids and let me tell you... they were a HIT! They are Leap Frog animals and they play music and are customizable so they will say the kids' names, etc. I had to take them away last night just so they would get ready for bed. Aunt Jennifer also got them "Future President" shirts on one of her recent adventures. I will have them try those on soon for pictures.

Here are a few of the kids last night enjoying an extended Cooper birthday and an early Calleigh birthday...