Chicken Pox

Harry on Sunday  - he didn't want to smile for me

One of these days I will look back on this time and smile. I will be able to make Harry laugh about how he looks. We have been invaded by the chicken pox!  Two weeks ago the kids were unknowingly exposed to chicken pox. My thought was that this wouldn't be too bad. If they got them then it wouldn't be such a bad thing. I remember having them when I was young. I knew they were very itchy and simply irritating. I didn't realize they could be as bad as Harry got them.

I noticed some spots on Harry Saturday night after bath time. I didn't notice any spots on Kathy until the next day. We stayed home from church and did some crafts to go along with a Bible story. We took it easy. I thought, "This isn't so bad." Harry woke up Monday morning covered - his back, chest,  face and neck had little red spots all over. Kathy only had about half a dozen. Harry was miserable all Monday. I stayed out in the living room with him Monday night so he wouldn't wake up Kathy all night long. Every time he cried I felt like crying too.  He looked terrible.

We suggested a bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) bath. He refused. The sight of the spots all over his chest scared him. We did get him to hop in the bath for a bit on Tuesday and it seemed to help him.

All this while Kathy was getting new pox but very few. Even now I think she may have two dozen. Harry must have a few hundred.

They are finally on the mend. I have learned that soda baths definitely help, and cream is better than lotion. I was also able to find some children's Benadryl at the local pharmacy. The kids slept pretty good last night.

Even then, it really hasn't been too bad. They've been pretty good about not scratching. Instead if it itches really bad they just rub that area lightly. I've seen Harry pat his head lightly - the ones in his hair are pretty annoying.  It looks funny because it seems like he's smacking his head. 

I hope they're pretty healed up by Christmas next week. Last year we all had the stomach flu the week before Christmas. Hmmm...what will we get next year? :)

December

Okay, so I've been wanting to blog again for a while now, but had put it off because I really didn't want to sit down and write out what we've been doing. For one thing it's a pretty normal life we lead now...uh sorta.  So, I thought I'd change the way I write about things.  I'm just going to add some pictures and write a little about each. Kind of just some highlights of things we've been doing. (since I can't seem to get the layout I want by putting pictures and text on the same page, go to PHOTOS to see the pictures!)

We started off December with a renewed tradition. One we hadn't been able to do in 2 years - decorating for Christmas!  We added a new tradition of making cookies together. The kids had tons of fun!

I have a dishwasher. Pretty amazing, huh?  Well, I hadn't used it at all since we got here. Then last week we had a party and I used it! Now I have suddenly remembered why I was so excited when I heard we had a dishwasher!!  I just load it up during the day and after the kids go to bed I turn it on. The next morning they usually help me unload it.

I've also been pretty creative this month. We get a lot of glass jars from jam, mayo, sauces and other things. These have to be recycled. So, I have a bag of glass jars sitting in my laundry room. Then I got pinspired!  (I'm pretty sure that's not original, but I like to think I came up with it :) I used a few jars to put our toothbrushes and toothpaste in. Some I even added ribbon and flowers to. I finally found a medicine jar for only 50p at a charity shop to store my cotton balls in. (I love charity shops!) I'll work on making it a little prettier.

Other pinspirations include a 3D  snowflake(I like to think of it as a star, it looks more like a star), paper snowflakes and organizing the kids colors and coloring books. Side note-don't look too closely at the carpet in the picture!  Yes, it is pink!!  But it's in the play room, so not a huge deal.

Another crafty thing I've been working on is stockings - that is Christmas stockings. Kathy and Audrey didn't have stockings. I bought plain ones and personalized them. They're far from perfect, but they're cute.

Audrey passed four months on the 3rd of this month. Shortly before that she started turning over belly to back. This gets a little annoying because she'll wake up screaming from a nap and be laying on her back. She gets upset since she can't turn back over. Then just the other day she turned over back to belly. She hasn't done it since, but I think she'll master that pretty soon:)

In a week and a half it's Christmas and a week after that it's the New Year. Then my birthday :D!

Hope you're having fun this month. I sure am!!

Another thing I plan to do before the Christmas: make some salt dough ornaments - I need to find a recipe that tells me the temp and time for a Celsius oven. Kathy never got a "Baby's First Christmas" ornament and Audrey needs one, so I plan on making those and some personalized 2012 ones (like with our family name and then a new fun one for Harry and Kathy each - think train and princess crown?).

Merry Christmas!!!