Ladies and Germs

It all started at Keira's Valentine's Day play date, where Ellie woke up from her nap and spent the next hour or two like this:

After 3-4 days of a fever and some horrendous diapers (whether due to the three teeth she had coming in, or a virus...who knows?), plus numerous nearly-sleepless nights, our Bug recovered and once again looked like this:

A day or two later, Keira came down with a fever and cough....and a day or two after that, I found myself huddled on the couch with my very own set of fever and body aches.

Last night at 1am, Ellie became Victim #3 of this latest plague, leaving Bear as this:

(You know...minus the gun. And the hat.)

So, in two weeks' time, I went from this...

to this...

...and because I went to work anyway (with only 3 days left until vacation, I couldn't bring myself to use my last sick days) and Bear was busy working and/or taking care of three sick girls, our kitchen now looks like this...

...and the rest of the house is no better, though perhaps it would be if I were cleaning right now instead of writing THIS!

Since I'm nursing and both of the girls are under age 6, none of us can take any of this...

...so we've activated an arsenal of humidifiers, Vicks night lights, steamy showers, cold night air, soft Kleenex for three sore noses, and Vaseline for six cracked, bleeding lips. And, we're hanging in. Take that, germs!

Having seen Keira rocket through the sleepless baby phase, the clingy toddler phase, and now into the independent "You can leave now, Mom!" preschooler phase in what, looking back, seems like ten seconds flat, I try to be a trooper when it comes to times like this. I know everything is temporary, so I concentrate on soaking up the extra snuggle time and just enjoying the moment, giving myself the occasional "It could be a lot worse" speech as needed.

A few nights ago, though, when Bear was working late, I found myself alone with two fussy girls and a disaster of a house. I had just taught kindergarten on two hours' sleep and was getting sick myself, and I realized a Mom Freak-Out was definitely looming on the not-too-distant horizon.

I finally got Elliana to sleep, bundled up poor, croupy Keira and myself in a giant bedspread, and took her out to the back patio for some cold air therapy. She curled up in my lap, lay her head on my chest, and mumbled, "Mommy, I love you so much. I love it when you make me feel better."

And then I felt like this: