Thank goodness the kids are all getting better...

Wow! What a week and half. I never knew kids could get so ill. I am so grateful that each child is getting better, we managed to stay out of the hospital and amazingly, Abby was the one who was the least sick! Did I say that right? I am operating here on very little sleep. I hope I can "catch up" on that this week! I braced myself for her to be the most ill with her being so young and knowing how terrible this virus can be. Poor Micah was in the hospital for 4 days last winter when he had the virus. This time he managed to stay home although, he is on oxygen during the night. Poor Megan is pretty exhausted too! We are just so happy to see the kids feel better each day.

Bryce and Jesse are putting the final touches on their overnight Camp Klondike plans which will be tomorrow night. (Brrrrr, sounds cold, although I think they have it all covered with a new tent, heater, cots, good socks, snow pants etc. etc.) Hope it all works the way they are planning. They seem pretty excited. They will be up at Jordanelle. I can't say I envy them. I will be looking forward to sleeping in my warm, cozy bed with the heat turned up! I'm so glad they get to have the time together.

Valentines was great. Bryce and I went to a dinner/dance at Thanksgiving Point. We haven't been out on a date on Valentines for years but we planned this one and got all ready and out the door. When we arrived, we noticed that this was a semi formal affair which we had not planned on. All the men were wearing suits and the women were in really nice dresses. YIKES! We had dressed very casually. I was even wearing levis! Well, we immediately turned around when we saw this and went back to the car with the intention of driving home to change our clothes but then realized that if we did this, we would probably miss dinner as well as most of the rest of the evening so.... we marched right back in and had a wonderful evening!

Well, I will post more this weekend and get some more pics uploaded. I think for now, I will head to bed and see if I can start "catching up" on some much needed sleep!

All six babies/toddlers have RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus).....

Oh, I'm exhausted and Megan is too! (I could add Bryce and Wes to this list as well) This all started last Sunday, Feb 1, when Josh came down with a fever, cough etc. By Tuesday he was very ill and we took him into the doc's and he diagnosed him with pneumonia. We were able to get him on a prescription and by Thursday he was feeling much better. We went to Jesse's basketball game Thursday night and during the game Hallie just wanted to sit on my lap (very unusual since she loves playing with the other kids there) anyway, by the time we left her fever began to rise and her breathing began to feel more labored and by the time we got her home she was feeling very ill and breathing rapidly. Her fever was over 104 and we called the docs and this time ended up in the emergency room of the hospital where she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis and given a breathing treatment. Friday morning, we went back to the Dr's office and had him look at Hallie who was still having trouble breathing as well as Nathan who by now had developed quite a couch with no fever and acted fine. Well, Hallie was given another breathing treatment and sent over to the hospital for a chest xray while Nathan still appeared ok, except for his cough. The xray did not show any pneumonia so no antibiotic was given and again we went home. By that evening, Nate was developing the fever and Abby was coughing as well as Megan's 2 boys. Saturday was busy with sick kids. Abby continued to have a bit of cough but no fever, Micah stopped eating and his fever spiked and Megan and Wes were up most of Saturday night with him because of his fever as well as his labored breathing. Kolton's cough was sounding quite bad now, too. Well, Sunday morning, Meg & Wes took their boys into the Dr.'s and Micah was given a breathing treatment and a test was given which confirmed what these little kids/babies had been fighting - RSV! Wes picked up a machine for breathing treatments for Micah on the way home. By Sunday night, Feb 8, Micah was the worse now! He was still not eating or drinking much and by Monday morning Meg was back into the hospital where they gave Micah another breathing treatment. (Sigh) Abby's cough was worsening as well as her breathing . Meanwhile, my toddlers, finally woke up with no fever!!!! YEAH, Although, Abby still has a nasty wheezy sounding cough but she has never had a fever yet. Although the fever is not the dangerous part of this sickness, it is the way the baby is able to breath. We are watching her closely. Kolton's cough is also nasty sounding. Poor kids! We have hardly even had any sickness at all since the twins were born. We have lucked out. RSV is very contagious. The younger the child, usually the more ill he becomes. When an older child or adult is infected with RSV, his symptoms are more coldlike and they don't ever become very ill. The twins were given shots their first winter each month to prevent them from getting this virus. The shots were very expensive over $1,200.00/each per month given! I can't even imagine them being able to fight a virus like this when they were so tiny. I hope Abby lucks out and doesn't get it very bad. Micah had RSV last winter when he was just under a year, and he was hosptilized for 4 days! Very scarey virus. Well, today, all babies/kids are still coughing and Kolton, Micah and Abby are the worse now. The other's are finally feeling better although they have been so tired and a bit irritable unlike their usual happy dispositions and of course, the coughs all continue! So, that is what we have been doing. Meg did come over yesterday and the kids played together. I know they are all so sick of being sick! So it was a fun change of pace although our house looked like the sick unit at a hospital, kleenex boxes everywhere, kids in pj's, coughing, trying to get them all to eat and drink etc. At the moment, everyone here is asleep. (I better run and get a shower!!!!!) We are trying to finish up on a automobile purchase. Bryce found a car over the weekend to replace his poor dying car. It's really nice and will serve his purposes well so hopefully we will be able to get that all wrapped up today.

Jesse and Bryce went to the Globetrotters last night! They had a great time and said the show was so funny! I'll have to tag along with them next year!