Where the last couple of months went

I love the start of new years and as usual I was very hopeful when 2013 rolled around. I had my new goals, which I kept very simple this year, and I was ready to get stuff done (and blog)! 

And then life took a turn for the worst! On the very day that I picked up my new couch and shelves for the living room makeover, Madoc had the flu. Two days later and everyone was sick but Micah. He hung in there and didn't get sick until day five.

This was absolutely the worst illness that Madoc and Charlotte have ever had. And it was pretty bad for Neil and I too. Luckily the girls weren't awful and Micah was only mildly sick. I've never been so thankful for shared antibodies and breastfeeding. 

It started out horribly with Madoc having seizures from temps topping 106. He had 6 seizures in all over a 24 hour period. It wasn't until after the third one that we even realized that they really were seizures. I have never seen anything so crazy, creepy, scary, bizarre as Madoc having a seizure and then the confusion that sets in afterwards.Luckily they stopped and we just had to contend with regular old being sick.

Except it wasn't regular being sick - it was all the pathogens in the world trying to kill our entire family. There was bronchitis, sinus infections, ear infections, coughing, sore throat, chest pain, headache, fever, fatigue, hot flashes, chills...  Everything short of pneumonia. It was so bad that on day NINE I was still laying on the couch bundled up suffering from the effects of fever. I think it's the only time in my life that I have had all four of my children voluntarily asleep at the same time in the middle of the day. They would all curl up on the couch with blankets and pillows and cups to watch a movie. And the next thing I'd know, Madoc would be out cold. Charlotte even curled up one day all on her own and went to sleep right in the middle of the family room. I don't think that will ever happen again.And it's been years since Sadie took a nap and yet she took one everyday. It was really crazy just how long this flu was and how you didn't slowly start to feel better - in a lot of ways it just got worse!

If he's mad, Micah now flips over in his chairs. He just won't stop rolling! And that doesn't work too well in a swing.

It was also really hard because I had trouble feeding Micah. Luckily I kept at it for the first week so he didn't get so sick but once he was sick it got to the point that I was only nursing him once a day, first thing in the morning. I would get everyone settled and then sit and pump in my fever stupor. He had to learn to take a bottle. So hard!

But then my mom came out after a week to help us. The kids went back to school the day after she got here but there were still enough germs in the house to make her deathly ill. Poor Mom! But if she hadn't come then I am convinced that we would have had to give up breastfeeding and Micah would be entirely on bottles.

Charlotte really likes salad. At this particular meal she had at least two helpings and that may have been all she ate that night.

Once we got better we started trying to put our life back together. Oh, the mess in my house! I am in the middle of furnishing/decorating our living room for the first time and the weekend we all got sick we had acquired a couch, four bookshelves, and two chairs. The front room was a maze! Then there were dirty bathrooms, floors, laundry... With my mom here we managed to keep the house from getting completely disgusting but then she left! So I was hard at work picking up the pieces when we got word of my grandfather and that took up most of February. 2013 really has not been kind!

What she does when she cries at the door but no one will let her out.

But some nice-ish things happened this year. We finally moved Charlotte to her trundle bed because Micah was rolling so much that the cradle was ridiculously too small. She didn't seem to mind the new bed. It wasn't much different for us since she got out of bed and cried at the door whether in her crib or the trundle. She does make a lot of noise some nights and will even get up into Sadie's bed to harass her so Sadie's been sleeping in Madoc's top bunk. I think in another month I'm going to have her move back in.

Micah, in a rare picture. I don't think this one looks a lot like him in real life.

The girls before bed one night. Sadie was reading in her bed (which she wasn't actually sleeping in) and Charlotte climbed up and joined her.

Just another proof that I really do love Micah. I love his round face.

Charlotte feeding the bird

So exciting, right?