I Feel The Earth Move...

Yesterday it snowed all day. It didn't amount to much...just a few inches. Last night as we watched the 10 o'clock news they were calling for strong winds today. Snow continued throughout the night. The snow plows came by all night long. Periodically, I'd wake to a snow plow driving by.

This morning at 4 am, we were woken out of a dead sleep.

We could hear a loud growling noise.

That must be a snowplow.

However, the whole house was shaking.

Did the snowplow hit the house?

"Jeff! Jeff! What's going on?", as the bed shakes violently.

Is it wind? But if it's wind, I must be Dorothy and he's Toto because I've never heard or felt anything like it.

Those 10 seconds lasted for 5 minutes. Then suddenly, it's over. Jeff and I scurry out of bed, over to the window. Neighbor's lights start coming on. Good, it's not just us. Everyone felt it too.

Jackson comes in. We reassure him it was just strong wind. If we admit it's possibly an earthquake, he'll never go back to sleep. Jeff helps him back to bed.

We never fall back asleep. The adrenaline of being shaken awake in the middle of the night was too much. The sound of it was so startling. The earth was groaning. It was scary.

Those poor people in Haiti.

The epicenter was just about 5 miles west of here.Ours was a 4.3 magnitude. I cannot imagine the terror of anything stronger.

But, we are safe and sound. My kiddos are snug in their beds and I'm grateful for a well built home.

Miss D and Her Troubles

Delaney has had quite a week and a half. A week and a half ago, she lost her first tooth! She discovered it was loose back in December, while we were at Grandma and Grandpa Clark's house for Christmas. We'll while eating lunch 10 days ago, it finally succumbed and she was thrilled!

I'd found a cute tooth fairy pillow to put it in, because we've lost many a tooth to the covers and pillows in Jackson's bed (you try finding a tooth, in the dark, in the midst of all that bedding...not easy!). We had a babysitter, Nicole, here that night. I love Nicole because she does great things like send me a text, reminding me that the tooth fairy needs to come. Well, unfortunately, the tooth fairy didn't heed the babysitter's text and forgot to come. So, the next morning when Delaney woke up, excited to claim her riches, she was highly disappointed to see her little tooth staring back at her.

After deciding that the tooth fairy probably didn't come because she was nervous that there was a babysitter here, Delaney settled in for a second night with her tooth under her pillow. Two hours after lights out, Delaney comes running into our room, crying and yelling, "You have to wash this!". She is some how covered in neon blue goo. After a few seconds, I realize she has thrown up all over herself (blue, you ask? She was at a birthday party earlier, so I assume there was blue frosting). I go into her bedroom, and somehow she has managed to throw up on everything. We're talking every pillow, blanket, quilt, the carpet, the curtains, the dust ruffle. So, we begin operation strip-down of the entire room. Jeff starts the loads of laundry (the thing I love about this experience is I know every mom can totally relate!), and I help Delaney into the shower.

After seeing the neon shade of blue that came up, I assumed it must have been bugging her tummy and am sure that's the last we'll deal with for the night. We tucked her into her makeshift bed of mis-matched sheets, beach towel blankets, and a giant bowl, should her stomach feel the need to wake her again.

Not twenty minutes later, I hear her coughing. I rush into her room, and sure enough, she's throwing up again. This time, though, she had the bowl so it's easily contained, and she's off to sleep again. But then, twenty minutes later, coughing again, throwing up again, and cleaning out the bowl again. Every.twenty.minutes.for.four.hours. At this point we're into the wee hours of the night. I've gone through an entire container of Clorox wipes and I'm begging the tummy-bug gods for some relief.

See, I think my husband is perfectly perfect in every way, but he cannot do puke. Namely, he cannot do puking. If he hears, sees, or smells it, he will start, too. So, I've learned it's much better to deal with it alone, rather than have two pukers to deal with if he gets involved.

So, finally around 2 am we all fall asleep for the night. Miracles of miracles, the tooth fairy found her way in between all that mess, and left Delaney a $5 for that tooth ($5 for the first, $1 coin hereafter). It took a few days for Delaney's tummy to right itself all the way, but by the next weekend she was back to normal.

But, as the story with kids always goes, by Friday she'd started a cold. Sniffle, sniffle, all day long. By Sunday she told me her right ear felt plugged. I told her it was all that sniffling and she should blow, not sniffle. By Sunday night, the inevitable happened, and it was an ear infection. All the doc-in-a-box places close early on Sunday (why on the day all other regular doctor offices are closed???), so we figured we'd weather the night with Motrin. Again, she was up all night, tears and wailing from the pain. For some reason the Motrin wouldn't relieve it all the way. So, by early on Monday morning, we head to the walk-in clinic, long before our pediatrician opens. Sure, enough, it's an ear infection. We take the script, head to Target, and within an hour, she's on antibiotics.

She spent all day Monday sleeping and laying around in the fetal position. She really wanted to go the library for story time that evening, and by the time she came home, she looked miserable. I figured that for sure, by the next morning, after being on antibiotics for a full 24 hours, she'd be back to her old self. But, nope, by the next morning, there's more pain and crying. Now she's telling me her whole ear is sore and her head behind her ear is sore. So, I call the pediatrician and soon enough, we're on our way. Note to future self...the actual pediatrician is highly insulted at the fact we went to a walk-in clinic. Try to never have to admit that to her again.

As it turns out, Delaney's ear drum burst and now the bacteria that caused the inner ear infection has also caused an outer ear infection, so she has swimmers ear! So, another day home from school, nursing a sore ear. Finally, yesterday she perked up enough to go to school. She came home looking worn out and moping around, but after some more Motrin, she felt great again.

So, here we are. Both girls are actually on antibiotics. Delaney for her ear, Addison for a sinus infection. Both girls are on Motrin (Delaney's ear, Addie's darn canine tooth). And me? I cannot wait to get out of this house. I've been cooped up for weeks with grumpy, sick kids.
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But, on a more positive note, Chicago has given me a gift this year! We have stayed well above 0* all winter. We haven't even really come close. Most days it is 25* or warmer! For the past three winters, we have had weeks on end of 10* or below, and every winter we've had days that have gone below 0*. Remember last year? So, thank you Chicago. It is a gift I am grateful for, and am not taking for granted!