Valentine's Day

 Valentine's Day was pretty busy. We had our weekly ultrasound before school. While we were gone, Juliet had convinced Hannah that she was too sick for school and was laying on the couch feeling sorry for herself. Since I had already taken off like 5 days with all the various illnesses we had, I left her with Chris. Before I left, we gave her some Advil just in case something was bothering her. Chris and Juliet stayed home for about an hour. For the first half, she complained that she was going to miss her ice cream party and Daisy meeting. Then she insisted she needed a nap. Then Chris turned on the Olympics, and she perked up and was excited and ready for school. It was so random. She was fine for the rest of the day. The right event at the Olympics always perks me up, too. 

 After school, we had Juliet's Daisy meeting. Her troop is so much calmer than Leah's. After that we went home. Both girls had got flowers from Daddy. I had also given them each a squishy (Leah's obsessed with them and carries them everywhere--Juliet could really care less, but would be completely offended if Leah got one and she didn't), a book, and a small box of chocolates. They were pretty happy. 

We went out for Mexican which I declared is our new Valentine tradition (since we did it last year). I love going out. No dishes and I feel like we all talk and connect so much more than we do over the regular dinner table. 

I also appreciated the flowers and card Chris got me. I love having fresh flowers in the house. It was a good love day. 

100th Day and Valentine Boxes

In January, Juliet got a note in her folder about the 100th Day and her classes Valentine party. The girl was obsessed with both. Every day she asked if tomorrow was the 100th Day. Every day she wanted to review her outfit, and make sure that we had ordered all the accessories she deemed necessary. Most days she would panic that various items wouldn't arrive in time. She was devastated when Amazon sent an "old man dress up kit" instead of a kid cane. Then we couldn't find another kid cane that was less than $15 (my budget for something that she would use once), and she was so worried she'd be the only one without a cane. 

 When the day arrived, she was excited. She loved her outfit. Then I did her hair. After spraying it gray (which she had been insisting on for 4+ weeks). She got so sad. She was convinced that she was ugly or "hideous" as she kept saying. She was sure no one was going to dress up, and it was all a trick to make her look silly. So many emotions. 

 Then I offered to put blue eye shadow on her, and she immediately perked up. She was happy again. Then, she got in character of being a "grumpy old lady" and she was happy again. 

 We had spent a great deal of time crafting her Unicorn mailbox that weekend. She was proud, but worried that hers would be better than everyone elses and other people would be jealous. She was most excited about the fake flowers. Daddy was an expert with the glue gun and carving knife. I love when he takes on the worst parts of projects. 

 She also liked the tail or butt and thought it was funny. 

 Juliet was definitely one of the most dressed up kids at the 100th day, but she loved the attention she got. I know how these days are numbered, and think of how tired I am ALL.THE.TIME. So I cherish the times where we both are interested in doing something at the quasi "Pinterest" level. 

 Leah was so sad that she didn't get to make a mailbox. She loves to craft and was sad that she wouldn't get to put all of her creative energy into a mailbox. Randomly, the day before mailboxes were due I was at a birthday party with Juliet and ran into Leah's teacher. She asked what Leah was doing and I jokingly said, "sulking at home because she can't make a Valentine mailbox" (which is what she was doing when we left for the party). Her teacher immediately sent out a text to the class that they could bring in their own box if they wanted to. She kept apologizing saying "I thought I was being helpful to parents!" I told her it was fine to do it whatever way she wanted to, but she insisted that kids could bring their own if they wished. Leah was ecstatic and immediately started creating her own. 

 Leah also wanted to bring a little flair to the second grade for the 100th day, so we sprayed her bun gray. 

For the first time in YEARS, both girls agreed to send out regular boxed Valentines and treats just from Target. For the last few years, I've tied tiny bows or bought random "on theme" treats from Amazon because one kid or another had a very specific vision. This year, both had fun at Target picking from their assortment. It was nice and so much easier than previous years. 

Snow

 This is how Ollie appreciates the snow best. Curled in front of the heater cuddled up with Tilly. Both pets argue about who gets the spot closest to the heater. Ollie has gotten bossier and uses his paw to push Tilly over. Tilly doesn't appear to mind as long as he still gets to cuddle into Ollie. 

 The girls were very excited for a snow day. Luckily they didn't need to wear their jammies inside out, flush ice down the toilet, or put chalk on the window. The snow day was announced at like 5:00. Both girls had a ton of fun playing out in the snow over the next few days. Daddy even built them an igloo. 

When When All Fell Down

This sickness season has been no joke. After being so excited that we were all healthy throughout Christmas break, we were hit like a ton of bricks in January. Leah was so traumatized that she wrote about it in her journal. Most upsetting is that someone was sick every weekend in a row for 3 weeks. She told me I could share.

First Juliet got the flu. Poor girl had a high fever and was so upset that she couldn't come with me to pick out furniture for the baby boy like we planned. After a few days she was recovered, but had gave the virus to Chris. One of my favorite things about Chris is that he is not a whiner. He's a head down and power through type person. The second he said he wasn't feeling well, I knew he was sick. Chris also has the core body temperature of a reptile. So when his fever was 103, I was pretty concerned. I banished him into the guest room and he slept for like 20 hours straight. I was very scared I was going to get the flu, which is the last thing I need this pregnancy. In an effort to be a supportive wife, though, I threw him Gatorade and crackers from the door. Luckily, I didn't get that flu.

After Chris was on the mend, Leah invited a friend to come home from school on the bus with her and play. All the girls were having fun, and playing outside in the snow. After a few hours, Juliet came in and was ABSOLUTELY done with everything. She was melting down like nothing we had seen in years. I took her upstairs, took her temp (she didn't have one) and held her until she fell asleep (at like 7:00). We all went to sleep early. At 9:00 Juliet woke up and was hot. I gave her some Advil and put her back to sleep. 1/2 hour later she was completely delirious. She was crying with her eyes open, but couldn't make eye contact. She kept saying, "It's like.....It's like...." while pushing away air with her hands. It was so scary. It took her what felt like forever (but was probably like 10-15 minutes) to completely come out of it. At first she kept saying that she didn't know who Chris was. She eventually woke completely up. Then puked. We showered her off and then she puked again. Juliet then ran a low grade fever for the next few days, then got an ear infection, but was otherwise okay.

At the tail end of that, Leah woke up one morning saying her throat hurt. I told her that can happen in the mornings, but she would be okay. She promptly ran to the bathroom and threw up. The stomach flu took her down for a few days.

Finally feeling like we were all on the road to recovery, (Leah was still home because she wasn't eating anything besides crackers), I met a friend for dinner downtown. We had a good time, and I came home and went to sleep. I woke up an hour later to one of the worst stomach flus I've had. It was awful. I was in quarantine through the next day. That night, Juliet complained that her stomach hurt and then puked ALL OVER downstairs. Lucky me was still in quarantine. Chris cleaned her up, and she joined me.

Then Chris was on a mission. Despite that fact that we had been washing the towels, sheets, and bathrooms daily for the past 3 weeks, Chris was determined to end it without him getting the stomach flu. He did another big clean to the house. And it worked. And we all hope we don't have a big sickness run like that again.