Bring on Spring!

I don't know about everyone else, but I am completely over winter. When I was in college, it really was one of my favorite times of year. I loved walking across campus in the cold and refreshing air, while drinking my coffee, and getting to wear my pretty sweaters, coats and mittens. Of course, I still love the pretty sweaters, coats and mittens, but now they are of a much smaller size and cause me great consternation as I struggle to get them onto the wiggly bodies of my two babies, while exclaiming to Phillip, "Are their ears covered?!"

My children, thankfully, are extremely healthy 99% of the time. The last couple of weeks, however, have been the exception. With our recent swings in temperature of fifty degrees Fahrenheit, Sophia developed a little cold about 2 weeks ago, a seemingly no-big-deal thing. But being 11 months old, she sees no reason why this should stop her from putting Isabella's sippy cups and pacifiers into her mouth anytime she feels like it, despite my very best efforts to intercede. (Oddly, Sophia refuses a paci of her own, but something about Sister's paci just seems so appealing to her).

Of course, Isabella came down with a cold as well, and lucky me, I had two coughing, sneezing, dripping, whiny babies. This wouldn't have been so bad, as kids are super-resilient and tend to get over these things with speed found only in the youngest immune systems. However, as luck would have it, Phillip managed to get it, too. Now I have 3 pitiful babies to take care of. Okay, that's fine. Mommies do this all the time, right?

Now, let's add to the mix that Sophia's temperature hasn't been below 99 for 8 days and I'm starting to get a little concerned about ear infections. Sure enough, I take her to the doctor and she has a double ear infection, even though she has been playing, eating and acting fine for days. So, now we begin the antibiotic regimen. No problem, right? Well, the fun thing about amoxicillin is that it can cause "mild" diarrhea in children. There was nothing "mild" about it where my sweet Sophia was concerned. We were up through the night changing not only diapers, but also her pajamas - I'm sure you can guess why. Life was becoming even more fun.

I think the best part of the last few weeks was when my handsome husband woke up yelling in pain during the night last Saturday with a pinched sciatic nerve. I don't know how he did it, but now I had one with an ear infection and diarrhea, one with the remnants of a cold, and one flat on his back in the floor, unable to move at all. Phillip, being the caring father that he is, didn't want his little girls to get scared by seeing their daddy in so much pain. He asked me run interference between him and them, which I did - like I had nothing else to occupy me.

While Phillip is literally in the worst pain of his life and I am worried sick that he perhaps has something worse than a pinched nerve wrong with him, Isabella is still concerning me because like her sister a few days before, her temperature just won't be normal! After two miserable days and nights of seeing Phillip in pain and helping him do everything from eat, to shower, to roll over (keeping in mind he still has his cold, which is causing him even more intense pain each time he blows his nose or coughs), I am able to leave him long enough with the help of my sister-in-law, to take Isabella to the doctor. Sure enough, Isabella also has an ear infection. So, more antibiotics, more diarrhea, more nighttime fun. The blessings just seemed to keep coming.

Finally, after much worry and prayer, it seemed like my little household was getting back to normal. Phillip was able to work from home on Tuesday and was back in the office Wednesday morning, the girls' diarrhea had tapered off and they seemed to be back to their sweet, playful, precious selves. Life was good again, or so I thought. I really need to not let myself get lulled into a false sense of security. This morning, Isabella woke up whiny and with a temperature of 101. I am just praying that it is simply a fluke or one of those "toddler things" that pop up for no good reason and goes away before you know it. I realize that it is impossible to get the same bug twice and she is still taking her amoxicillin, but she could also have a whole new bug and is now poised and ready to give it to Sophia again, and God help me, Phillip, too.

I have never been more ready for spring.