Sleep Baby, Sleep...

Well it's been 19 days since I posted that I'd been sick...we had ABOUT a week after that before it started running through the rest of the family. Bear first a couple days before Thanksgiving...and then she, Bean and Bubba had a really bad night the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving. I basically didn't sleep that night although I wasn't the one who was sick.

Bear needed me to sleep WITH her Wednesday, Thursday and Friday because every time I'd go back to bed either her ear would hurt really bad (apparently my AURA dampens ear ache pain, who knew?) or she would have really scary fever dreams...I TRIED to stay in my own bed on Wednesday night but by Thursday had given it up completely in the hope that SOME sleep would come my way. But even that was dubious at best because if I, by chance, dozed...that would cause Beanie to start that barking-like-a-seal cough that every mother dreads.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Bubba didn't tell me he was REALLY sick until that Wednesday...of course with the other two so sick, it's possible I ignored him. But by Thursday morning (3am) all the vitamin C in the world wasn't going to get rid of it...but he was OKAY as long as he slammed back about 8,000 mg every couple of hours...

Thanksgiving was kind of interesting. Now, I WAS NOT sick...just SOOOOO TIRED. (I've gotten to be such a sissy about sleeping all the way through the night. There was a time, when Bean was a wee one that I could be up 6 or 7 times in the night and still go to work the next day...BUT, I digress.) And at my house, I'm the main cooker, the main cleaner, and the main organizer, I do usually get some help with these things. But my helper, was WIPED out...He couldn't come down or go back up the stairs without needing a nap...so that made me the ONLY cooker, cleaner or organizer.

Go ahead and try it yourself...cook everything the same day (because you couldn't do it early, no, that would make things FAR too easy), clean every dish in between, put every dish away, put pretty dishes on the table (you know the ones you CAN'T just throw in the dishwasher because they are over 100 years old)...then clear the table...handwash all the dishes all on about 20 minutes worth of sleep. Oh, and don't forget to be joyful doing it.

Well, if you know me at all you probably realize there was no way I was able to do that all HAPPY. So I did as much as I could while maintaining my happiness and waited on the rest of them who were by this point pretty sick. On Thanksgiving we had Duck, Cranberry Sauce and Stuffing on paper plates with PLASTIC forks, thank you very much. On Friday, I did the greenbeans with something else and on Saturday, I'd had some time to dig out the kitchen so I made two pies.

Sunday I did NUTHIN'...except church.

By Sunday night, Monkey Face was really not feeling very well. I couldn't decide if she was really SICK...she was just REALLY crabby. So because Bubba was on the mend...still snotty, but perfectly willing to put on the Barbie movie du jour and sit around napping...I went to church at night.

Well by Monday morning Monkey Face had the snorts and snots...and an ear ache...and my aura wasn't working. Because she is a MAJOR crab when it comes to any of the natural things I force on my other kids (vitamin C - she doesn't like it, Garlic Oil in her ears - she screams and screams) and this thing hit in the middle of the night AGAIN...I resorted to a 1/2 teaspoon of baby motrin, arguing inside my head...pffffft...I gotta sleep. Well, I took her to our chiro on Tuesday morning and she felt a lot better the rest of that day...but again...in the wee small hours she wakes up with the OTHER ear hurting...so another 1/2 teaspoon of Motrin. And the next day she is feeling worse.

Long story cut a tad shorter...I finally got a clue yesterday and dropped the Motrin...made her accept garlic oil in her ear and made her take her vitamin C and garlic DURING THE DAY. It took 2 doses of the garlic oil in her ear (about 1 hour apart) for her ear to not hurt at ALL anymore. It was amazing. I hadn't been able to touch her ears for 2 1/2 days...the motrin would make it better for awhile but then it would come raging back. After that second dose, I could tink on her earlobes again. Woo Hoo!

And something else...she slept for longer than 15 minutes at a time. She slept almost 2 1/2 hours yesterday afternoon, ALL NIGHT (other than wanting a drink), slept until 9:15 this morning and is going on 2 hours now for her nap.

And she started giggling this morning. Ah, what a joyful noise.

And, while I'm sorry for gushing...isn't it a beautiful sight?



See ya around...