Summer Sickness Stinks!

You can't tell it based on these pictures, but sickness has been taking over the Picker household! Last week on Monday, I had to take Kennedy to the doctor for the bladder infection I mentioned last post. Then, Wednesday, I had to take Ansley to the doctor to find out she had croup. (Of course this would all happen while our wonderful pediatrician is out of town for the week!) We had a leftover steroid from her last bout with croup in March, and the doctor we saw told us to give her that and then call on Friday if we needed another one. Since she wasn't improving, we called on Friday, only to find out the office was closed for the holiday! We talked to someone on the after hours line who told us we would have to take her to an after hours clinic. We held off, and finally on Saturday decided we needed to take her in. She had been having fevers near 104 for four days straight. They gave her another dose of steroids, and she has improved greatly since.

This week, Jeremy is in town, but staying on a campus of a college nearby, while the youth group is participating in a mission week here in St. Louis. My brother and his group from Houston are here helping as well. This afternoon the girls and I were on our way to the church offices to see everyone when Kennedy kept saying how cold she was. It was certainly not cold, but I didn't think much about it. Then at Jeremy's office she kept mentioning she had the "willies", or what most people refer to as goosebumps. She also fell asleep in the car twice today, which rarely happens. So when we got home, I decided to take her temperature, and sure enough, it was 101! So I don't know what's going on with her. Honestly, I'm not feeling great myself either. All I know is I'm ready for everyone to be healthy again!

In much better news, Ansley's sleep situation has greatly improved. We spent all last week trying to let her cry it out/comforting her/etc., and basically once we realized she was sick, doing whatever it took to get her to sleep! She still would cry every time we put her down to bed. I was dreading this week of being home alone and dealing with it. But wouldn't you know, that last night (my first night alone without Jeremy) she laid right down without a fuss and went to sleep? I thought maybe she was just really tired, but then she did the same thing at her nap today, and then again tonight! She started to stand up and acted like she was going to cry tonight, and just praised her for laying down so good and clapped and told her what a good girl she was, and she smiled at me, and laid back down. I haven't heard a peep from her since. That's not to say she won't end up in bed with me at some point tonight. She still has been getting into coughing fits and waking up, and the easiest way for us to both get some rest is to sleep in my bed. Who knows, with Kennedy not feeling well, I may have a crowded bed tonight...maybe it's a good thing Jeremy isn't here!