We Are Fam-i-ly!

Being part of a family means that when one person gets sick, we all get sick!!  This weekend we took turns taking care of each other's nasty colds.  Yuck!

Thursday night I knew Rachel had croup, but I was trying to hold off so that I could go to the pediatrician's office instead of the ER.  I was so indecisive about it and weighing all the pros and cons, which proves to be less effective at 2am with very little sleep.  There were lots of factors, but anyhow I opted to wait it out, so we watched movies, spent time with the steamy shower and the humidifier.  (Brandon had to go into work super early just in case you were wondering where he was during all this.)  She finally fell back asleep on the couch at 6am and slept for about an hour while I got Andrew fed and ready just in case we needed to get somewhere fast.  When Rachel woke up, she had the scariest croup-coughing-panic attack, and was seriously struggling to breathe - I was so scared and nearly dialed 911.  I hated the feeling that I may have waited to long - all to avoid the ER.  I grabbed her and Andrew and made my way to the car.  I held her close to me and tried to remain calm - thankfully she calmed down and her coughing wasn't as violent.  I got her in her carseat and she fell back asleep.  So here it was - only an hour or so before my doctor's office opened and I was headed to the emergency room for something that could have been treated so quickly and easily at my doctor's office - I just needed the steroid for her - we've obviously been down this path before.  I was nervous for when she would wake up again, so I had a few plans of where I would take her - I only made it to Banner Gateway and I really felt like I had to get her in fast.  We had to be there for over 4 hours for the whole ordeal, which is exactly what I was hoping to avoid.  I had both kids in tow and looked like a disaster mess.  A nurse asked me if I had help coming - because it probably looked like I needed quite a bit of help, but I didn't - Brandon had a big deadline at work and so I just dealt with it.  I had to remind myself that I can do hard things.  Andrew was being so good and patient with the whole process and Rachel was so brave.

I took these pictures a couple weeks ago and thought they were appropriate for this post - Rachel was playing with her doctor kit.  She loves going to the doctor and she actually loves going to the hospital too.

This week wasn't all bad.  To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I took the kids up to Fountain Hills and saw the big fountain that they turn green.  It was as close as I could get to the Chicago River being dyed green!  It was such a beautiful night and it was at a darling park with lots of green grass, so I'd like to go back again next year and make it a tradition.  I also went with the Young Women to do Baptisms at the Temple on Tuesday and on Monday, Brandon came home early (like 1:30pm) and spent the day with us - so fun!!  We went to the Chandler Mall to shop and then stopped at a park afterwards to let Rachel get out some energy.

p.s.  I used BLURB and got my first blog book printed.  I have it printed up through the end of 2009 and I was SO pleased with the final product.  Although I still think Blurb's program is a little finicky and obnoxious, (like I spent countless hours reformatting the whole thing) but it was worth it!

Fountain Hills, AZ - I forgot to bring a camera, so I got this one online