Gross update-- the queasy probably shouldn't read this

Okay, confession time... this is the true story of our lives.  I sometimes write blog updates but don't post them.  I don't want to sound whiny, grumpy or ungrateful for so much good in our lives.  It just seems like the past many months our family has been tossed from one tornado into another repeatedly.  We finally finished Sadie's twice daily injections.  She is no longer having nightmares about me hurting her when I have to give her pokes, and I no longer have bad dreams about giving her the shots.  Alyssa doesn't run and hide in her bedroom like she did when Sadie screamed from her fear of needles.  It was an unpleasant time for our entire family, and as of Halloween, it is over!
The first Friday in November, Natalie came home from school with an awful headache.  That night, she, Rachel and their dad went to Utah to visit their cousins and pick up our van from Uncle Ethan's shop (Elite Auto in Logan).  They came home the next day and Natalie still didn't feel good.  By Sunday both she and Rachel felt sick, but with very different symptoms.  To make a long story short, for the past week and a half our family has had strep throat, the stomach flu, ear infections and eye infections.  Pick a person, pick between one to three of those illnesses, and you will be able to imagine how much fun we have had!  Oh, and to our cousins, I apologize if we got any of you sick.*
When Sadie hadn't been sick after over a week of illness, I thought we had lucked out.  Unfortunately, she came home sick from school Monday.**   We spent a lot of time on the phone with the hospital throughout the night.  Our nurse advised me to give her an ounce of liquid every half hour to keep her hydrated.  Sadie couldn't keep it down.  We were worried about her getting dehydrated, keeping her medicine down and having her artery close off again.  She threw up every single hour until the hour I had to give her her pills and liquids.  For two hours nothing came up.  That was a huge blessing and answer to prayers.  It kept us out of the hospital that night.  She quit throwing up by ten and I couldn't handle getting up every half hour.  So, I set the alarm and got up every 45 minutes throughout the night to give her a drink.  In the morning, we were able to keep her meds down and get her to drink enough that she didn't have to go to the hospital.  (Which is good since I was too tired to drive and David was also sick at this point in time.)
So Tuesday afternoon, I am obviously exhausted.  Natalie got home from school while I was talking with our nurse at Primarys.  I hear Natalie say, "Uh, Mom, can I talk to you?"
"Ya, just a minute."  I keep talking on the phone with our nurse.
"Uh, Mom, can you come here?" The nurse and I end our conversation and I walk to the door and look where she is pointing.  "What is that?"  I look again.  Someone stepped in doggy poo and unknowingly walked through the house with her shoes on.***
I begin to clean up the mess and hear Natalie say, "Uh, Mom, can you come here?"
"Natalie, I'm cleaning up dog poop."
Again, "Uh, Mom, can you come in here?"  I walk into the kitchen to discover that a glass magnet has fallen off of the fridge and shattered.  I invite Natalie to clean it up as Trevin tries scooting into the kitchen.  She is put on baby duty and I clean.
A couple of hours later Rachel is doing homework and I hear, "Uh, Mom, there's a problem."  She had dropped a nail on the kitchen floor and couldn't find it.****  We found it, but I informed the girls that if I heard, "Uh, Mom," one more time, I was not going to listen.
That was our day.  I hope that comes across as amusing and not whiny.  It wasn't funny then but makes me smile now.
And that's our life.  Tonight, Sadie is feeling much, much better.  Things should improve starting tomorrow as nearly everyone is healthy again.  It should be a day without doctors appointments, shots or puking kids. Last night I was feeling frustrated and started to think of how many people have helped us these past 11 months and how much service we've received.  Remembering helped me change my attitude.  I am grateful for the love we have been given.

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Thanks for the continuous prayers and help offered to our family.  I am often asked how people can help us.  Other than offering psychiatric services, I'm not sure.  I've also been asked if we will take donations down to Primarys.  Yes!  We take Sadie down monthly.  New donated blankets, toys, crafts, etc. are always used and loved.  The toys are used as prizes for hospital bingo, when a child does something scary (get an IV or surgery possibly), used for the kids to play with in their rooms or the play area.  Crafts can be done in the children's rooms or in the play room.  Blankets are placed in their rooms to cheer them up.  A child can take the blanket home when he or she leaves or it can be washed and used again.  Any of these things helps make the hospital visit a little better and more cheerful.
When Trevin was born and a guest in the Madison Memorial NICU, people also donated cute receiving blankets, burp cloths and baby clothes.  One nurse and her son tye dye onsies for the babies to wear while in the hospital.  It cheered me up so much to see that tiny sick little boy in something bright and fun.  If anyone wants us to take something to Primary Childrens Medical Center, let us know.*****  Many hospitals have donation web pages that tell what they need.  The items are comforting and greatly appreciated.  The Ronald McDonald House also takes donations.


*David and I refer to it as "Curse of the Cousins."  Typically it occurs at all family reunions or holidays on both sides of the family.  One child gets sick and eventually every family has someone who gets ill.

** Sorry to those other kids and folks at her school.  We really hope that she didn't make any of you sick.  She seemed healthy leaving in the morning.

*** We don't have a dog.

****The nail had absolutely nothing to do with her school work.

***** loveforsadien@gmail.com  OR  daveandkim99@gmail.com