Can I call in sick?

Thanksgiving was great at our house. We went to a friends house and enjoyed being with another family. Gabriel and I were reflecting the other day. We realized this is the first year in awhile that we have spent Thanksgiving with someone and the first year that he will not have to work Christmas day!! Santa usually visits our house the day after or day before, because daddy works in the morning. But this year Santa will be coming on the 25th!!! What simple pleasures I have!!

Anyway, just before Thanksgiving came our three little family members started to come down with something. Then after Thanksgiving we got nailed with it. (Hence, the lack of posting) Then the other night I was begging to call in sick and do you think they took my call?! I put all the kids to bed, Gabe was at work, and then finished picking up the house. Then as I was laying in bed, Natalie woke up screaming! I went in to see to her and she was all plugged up and couldn't breathe. I tried everything, but nothing seemed to work. So, after 1 1/2 hours of trying to get her to sleep I caved and brought her into bed with me. Hoping that if she layed on one of our pillows she could breathe. Just after we had settled into bed, Zach came in coughing up a storm. So, Nat and I put him back in bed, opened a window, got him a drink and propped up his bed. Then she and I went back to bed and got all ready to snooze and dad comes home! She was so excited to see him, it's 11:00pm mind you (she has never been up past 9:00, she's having a ball!!) He went to check on Zach, who is on the other end of the house and you can hear him hacking away. (I couldn't believe Evan was sleeping through all this, I wish they all were)

We couldn't get Zach to stop coughing and it was so constant and hard, it scared me at times. So, after about 30 min of none of us sleeping, except Evan, I took Zach into a steaming bathroom. Oh, how I hoped this would work. (All I wanted to do was sleep, even though with Nat in our bed I knew that probably wasn't very likely) It worked, Zach stopped coughing after about 10 min of being in the bathroom. A few minutes after that I took him back to bed, thinking how nice it would be to climb into bed and go to sleep. As I left his room relieved to be going to bed, what happens? No, no he didn't start coughing or Evan didn't wake up. Our blessed fire alarm goes off!!! Of all things to happen! So, of course everyone in the house is awake now and it is only midnight. All I could do was laugh! I just stood in the hallway and laughed. The boys were scared, Gabe was frustrated and Natalie was just happy to be awake in the middle of night.

Well, we finally all got to sleep. Yes, Nat stayed in our bed. So, no I didn't get a ton of sleep. But, hey, I got some. Needless to say Mom demanded that everyone go to the doctor bright and early the next day! They all got medicine and are now on the mend. My nights since then have been even more cherished. I hope the next time they let me call in sick though!

Sick little faces are just so sad looking, you feel so bad for them. And don't you love it when the kids are sick they sleep wherever. Hope you all weather the sick season better than we are!