In Like A Lion

March comes in like a lion, like a lion, like a lion.
March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

March comes in with a great big wind, Great big wind, great big wind.
March comes in with a great big wind, And goes out with a breeze.


Everybody is sick. Well, I'm not convinced that I actually caught it. My crud could simply be seasonal allergies, but the rest of them... they're sick! Etta had it first, she caught a new cold on the tail of her Valentine's cold. She was out of school most of last week. This one was worse than the last and it involved sporadic low grade fevers, a cough, and an awful lot of snot. One by one, they fell. Keith was next with his "man cold", though he seems to be on the mend already. Then, today, my worst fear... four-month-old snot bubbles. Daniel had a cough for a couple days, but I believe that was the tail end of the first small cold Etta gave him. No fever yet, but he can't sleep because he can't breathe (through his nose) and he just cries and cries because he's sick and sleepy. He falls asleep in my arms for 5 to 15 minute intervals, only to wake up crying again... Poor guy! I'm hoping my "teacher immunities" keep it to the minimum sniffles for me cause there is nothing worse than sick kids AND a sick mom!

My mom and Bill came up on Thursday for a long weekend. They were given fair warning about the sickies, but they chose to come anyway. They hadn't seen the baby since Christmas two months ago and he seems to have doubled in size since then.

 

Friday was a STORMY day! Well, I take it back. It didn't storm the WHOLE day. A storm rolled in and out first thing that morning. Our power flickered, but nothing serious. The day actually turned nice after this. partly cloudy skies with a high of 81! But the air was really unstable. You could feel it. We had been hearing in the news about the possibility for tornadic storms in the afternoon. They said Nashville would be in the "bulls eye". They closed schools early and many businesses sent their employees home early in anticipation of the severe weather.

That morning, my mom and I took Etta to the pediatrician because her cough sounded deep (Bill stayed home with Daniel). I'm not one of those people who rushes their kid to the pediatrician every time they're sick. I know with most colds, "you just have to ride it out". So, I use my best judgement, or I call and ask the Phone Nurse at the pediatrician's office. I really didn't think E needed to even go this time, but it was Friday and that cough didn't sound good and I didn't want to have to take her to a walk-in clinic if it got worse (even though our awesome pedi practice holds limited weekend appointments for sick kids). So, we went. And............ it's a cold! And........... we just have to "ride it out". The doctor went ahead and wrote a prescription to hold on to. She told me that if the snotty nose was still there IN A WEEK, then I am to fill the Rx to treat a sinus infection. E's actually feeling much better today. Still a bit of a runny nose, but I'll send her back to school tomorrow.

So, after we stopped to get Etta her french fries for "French Fry Friday" (and as a post doctor treat), the girls headed back home to hunker down with the rest of the family for the afternoon storms. We had the news channel on all afternoon/ evening and I had our bathroom set up so we could dive in there if a twister decided to blow us away. The tornado sirens went off a couple of times, but the suspected tornado was up on the north side of the county (turns out it was a small EF1 tornado that did some damage, but thankfully did not cause injuries/death). So, while we did get some stormy weather, the scary stuff went to the north and to the south of us. Whew! (Thoughts and Prayers to those who were not so lucky in Kentuky and Inidana)

That evening, Etta helped her Nana V and Grandfather chop ingredients for dinner.

There was also some dancing involved.

Oh, and this was when Keith started to feel sick. :(

We spent the morning Saturday just hanging around the house. Etta was still so amped about helping cook the night before that she wanted "help" "please" with the step stool that was "stuck" next to the fridge. I got it for her and set it up at the counter, even though there was not any cooking going on. The pre-k teacher in me grabbed some bowls and measuring spoons and measuring cups and a wooden mixing spoon and a little dry rice and let her go to town scooping and pouring and stirring and generally making a mess. She was a good helper with the sweeping up afterwards.

That afternoon, after the kids went down for a nap, my mom and I got out for some one-on-one time. We went shopping, of course! We went up to the TJ Maxx HomeGoods store in Brentwood and seriously lost track of time. It was fun.

When we got home, we sat down to a home made chicken noodle soup that Bill whipped up to help Keith feel better. It was really good. Reminded me of Panamanian Sancocho.

They left this morning to head back home. We miss them already, but I'm sure they'll have a little something to remember us by when it's done incubating in a couple of days...

***It generally takes a GOOD part of a day to write and put together one of these posts. It's worse now, with two. I started writing this post at about 1:00 this afternoon. It is now 6:56. I said earlier that he had not run a fever yet. The update is that around 3:45, he had a little fever. :( It was 101.4. I dosed him with Tylenol and was pretty liberal with the nasal sailene spray. Poor kid thought he was drowning. He's asleep now, but I fear we're in for a long night...