We Now Interrupt This Season . . .

Our Christmas season has been interrupted with illness.  And what horrible illness it has been!

If any of you are friends of mine on facebook, I am sure you have heard me complain plenty about this. 

Sorry, I am going to do (what I hope is) the last of my complaining.

I just can't believe the wave of sickness that has passed through this house.

I had the flu a couple of weeks ago, and I thought maybe that would be it.

Of course not!

Caden came down with ear infections last week, which is not that bad.  But then on Saturday, Ciara woke up with a fever.  An hour later she threw up all over. 

The puking lasted all day.

Sunday, I woke up with the same illness.

Fabulous!

For me, stomach illness is the worst kind of illness I can have.  I just HATE it.

I would much rather have a flu with headache, chills, cough, etc. 

But when you through in nausea, I want to die.

So Ciara and I got through that, but my throat began to hurt like it has never hurt before.

I started to spit instead of swallow because it hurt so much, and because it choked me.

I couldn't drink anything because I would choke as well.

Yesterday, I decided it was time to visit the Dr.

I had a feeling it was a virus, and they would send me home and tell me that it would just have to run its course.

Nope.

Strep.

I have not had strep since I was a kid. 

Seriously, at least not in the last 15 years.  I can't even remember the last time I had this horrible illness.

Then late last night Ciara woke up complaining about her ear.

Great, another trip to the Dr.

Since I had recently been diagnosed with strep, they wanted to test her as well, which is understandable.

Ciara did not think so.

The started screaming, clamped both hand over her mouth, and curled into a ball.

I had to pin her hands to her sides, tilt her head back, and then pinch her nose closed so she would have to open her mouth while the nurse stuck the long Q-Tip thing down her throat.

All that work did have a purpose, since the test was positive.

So now 3 of us are on antibiotics.

Plus, I have the biggest cold sores.  And I do mean the biggest. 

I would post pictures to prove it, but they look so bad, I really don't want anyone to see them.

They cover about 50% of my mouth, and they are all over the inside as well.  Canker sore all over my gums, inside of my cheeks, seems like everywhere.

I am really a mess.

Plus, I really hate how antibiotics make my pee smell.

It is just gross.

**And on a side note, our boiler broke while it was about 26 degrees outside.  But luckily I was able to get someone out here to fix it, and it did not cost an arm and a leg.

To Foster, or Not

I have mentally written about 5 posts since the last one, but none of them ever seem to make it onto the blog.  Not sure why that happens. 

We have had quite the December.  I went on a girl's day trip to NYC, Rocky started his new job (and new commute), I got sick, Caden got sick, and now Ciara is sick.  I went to a Secret Sister gift swap, 2 cookie exchanges, and have been frantically finishing some baby books I am making for friends and family. 

Lately, fostering has been on my mind.  We (my extended family included) are sponsoring some children from Christmas (by sponsoring, I mean buying presents, and food, and anything else they need). 

One of them is a 14 year old foster child.  On his wish list, he listed fruit.  He doesn't ask his foster parents for it because it is too expensive.  For some reason, that really struck a chord with me.  It almost made me cry.  (I get pretty emotional around the holidays.) 

I have a pretty strong feeling that our family is complete, in that we will not be having anymore children.  Although now that I have put it in writing, some miraculous surprise is probably going to happen.

Seeing how much these kids need, compared to how much we have, I feel like we could do some good.  I argue with myself about fostering in general.  You hear all sorts of horrible stories about how fostering can go terribly wrong, and I do have my own 2 kids to worry about. 

But what about the good stories?  Foster kids are not throw-away kids. 

Then I worry about the kind of influence that a foster child might have on my kids.

To that, I try to think of the influence my FAMILY might have on an otherwise forgotten child.

There are way to many arguments for and against this to write down.

I have discussed it with Rocky, and he is not enthusiastic, but he hasn't ruled it out.  I think he is very concerned about what it could mean for our current kids.  He will be much more willing when they get a little older, I believe. 

For now, I hope that our 7 year old boy and 14 year old boy will have a wonderful Christmas. 

We may not be able to purchase everything you have requested, but we are sure going to try!

Hoping and Hopping

I can't believe the Holiday season is already here!  

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, with lots of family in town for the occasion.

We spent some time in Hershey, ate our way through Philadelphia (literally, it was a food tour of the city), and had lots of fun!

I decorated the house for Christmas (with the help of my sister and parents).

And now I need to get some presents under the tree.

And one other big change:

A new job for Rocky.

Yes, another one.  

I have to ask, "Seriously?"

I am tired of the job hopping.  I know that it is mainly economy based, since architects seem to be hit pretty hard during this time.  I am grateful that he has been able to maintain employment even though we seem to move a lot.  

I am not moving this time though.  At least, not yet.  

The job is in State College, which is over an hour away.  Neither of us are looking forward to the commute, but that should show how desperate he was to leave his current position.  

Today is his last day, and I hope it goes well.  Apparently they are trying to get him to sign some document stating he cannot market to anyone within a 50 mile radius.  

Again, SERIOUSLY?  Why would he sign that?  Are they crazy?

I could have a whole other blog with stories from his boss.

We also have more guests coming out after Christmas, so I am preparing for the craziness to start again!

I will miss all the parties back home with everyone.

I have been contemplating having my own party here, but can't decide when to do it.  

I was thinking New Year's, but I don't want to host a party while I have a house full of guests.

Maybe another day, or another year!