Pneumonia x Two

How was YOUR superbowl party?  We had plans to be at a fun one, but our night took a different turn and we ended up at Urgent Care with both of our kiddos, getting chest x-rays and looking at infected ears. 

Not exactly the night we had planned :)

This was our party crew, all cuddled up in warm hospital blankets and Daddy's arms.

I'll back up just a little...I was gone this weekend on a scrapbook retreat and of course, when I left on Friday morning, both kids were starting to show signs of a cold and a low fever.  Travis gave me the green light to go ahead and he stayed home most of the weekend with them, giving them plenty of time to rest and play.  On Saturday we chatted and he said they'd had a good day and were both doing well, just nursing runny noses and a cough.  Fast forward to Sunday afternoon, I was on my way home and when I called to check in, I heard Ava crying and could tell instantly, she didn't sound well.  Carter was napping when I got home but as soon as he woke up, I went to get him.  Normally he jumps right up in his crib and is all smiles and giggles.  Not yesterday though, he just laid in his crib and cried, too weak to even get up.  As soon as I scooped him up, I could tell he was running a good fever and his little eyes just looked awful.  He laid his head on my chest for a good 30 minutes and whimpered, which is SO unlike him.  So our plans quickly changed and we went to Urgent Care, just in time to hear the national anthem while we turned the DVR on. 

In case you're wondering, Superbowl Sunday is an EXCELLENT time to go to the ER or Urgent Care.  There was aboslutely no one there, except us and the staff.  We are so thankful to have a brand new ER 2 minutes from us and this is the second time I've been there now and we've been one of the only people there.  The staff were incredible to us, I think something about two little sweeties who look and sound awful gave us a pass for star treatment :)  They had a childcare advocate come bring us toys and popsicles and juice and she was so sweet.  She blew bubbles while the pediatrician on call looked in their ears and listened to them breathe.  The kids loved it. 

They also put the game on for us, which was a nice distraction from the sick babies.

Sweet little lambs. 

This was one of the only smiles I saw from Carter all night.

Honestly, it was nice to not really care who won the game this year! 

It made missing a party a little bit easier :)

Not a great picture, but I love Ava's face!  The bubbles were a hit and we were two grateful parents.

Poor Carter was just in sad shape.  He ended up with an ear infection (again) and both of them have a case of bacterial pneumonia.  Sad, sad, sad.  They are pretty young (especially Carter) to be so sick, but I'm grateful we took them in and caught it very quickly.  They both had to endure chest x-rays, which meant lots of tears from each of them.  Poor Carter had to be in an infant restraint system which was necessary but heartwrenching for his Mommy.  We survived and they did pretty well, considering.  Ava was crying and needed to look me in the face to stand still while they got a good shot, so I told her I would sing with her and asked her what she wanted to sing?  In her tears she blurted out "Jesus Loves Me" so I said ok, and started to sing.  She cried harder but through her tears, she basically "yelled" the song with me :)

Sweet girl. 

They sent us home with some high dose meds and within minutes, this little guy was out. 

Which again, is totally unlike him.  I'm thinking the last time he fell asleep while we held him was probably when he was 3 or 4 months old. 

Can you believe those long eyelashes on that sweet face??

Gratefully both kids slept all night last night and this morning I could tell they were feeling a little bit better.  Lots of naps and movies today for us, which is totally ok with me. 

I had tons of fun on my retreat and got 39 pages done in Ava's baby book, so I'm happy about that.  It was a rough re-entry however when I got home!  Taking it slow today and for the next few days, sounds just fine with me.

Ava was just THRILLED to look at her book with all my new pages.  She asked me when I got home yesterday, "You worked on my new book for me Mama?"  I was very happy to tell her I did.

We were both dreaming of warmer days while we looked through it this morning...the beach sounds just about perfect right now.

But as I wipe noses today, pour lots of juice and cuddle with two little lambs who call me Mommy, I'm reminded that all of this is God's grace to me.  Kids to care for, insurance that covers our expenses, husbands who sacrifice for me to get away, urgent care staff who provide excellent care.  Even pneumonia and a missed Super Bowl.  I've got lots of chances to love my babies, serve my family and praise the Lord this week, and for that I'm grateful. 

I hope you had a less eventful Super Bowl Sunday and I pray you have a wonderful Monday, while you look for God's grace in and through it.  It's always there, sometimes we just have to open our eyes and dig a little deeper to recognize it.  Have a great day, I've got some kids to love on this afternoon...