What an April!

We've had quite the April (well, some of it spilled into late March, too) around our house!  Sickness, more sickness, and sickness galore!  We literally made at the very least one trip per week to the pediatrician and some weeks included two trips!  In the month of April we had:

• Four people with pink eye
• One child with two ear infections
• Another child with an ear infection
• One child with strep (well, I think technically it was Scarlet Fever, but they don't really refer to it that way anymore)
• One child with "almost" pneumonia
• One child with vomiting
• One child with random, unexplained high temps of 102 for a day or so
• Two with deep, come from your toes, keep you up at night coughs
• One child with a rough allergic reaction to eggs that we learned later should have required us to use our epi-pen, but we are still learning all this allergy stuff and didn't use the epi-pen...

Each time we'd get hit with one thing and we'd go to the doctor and get it all cleared up I'd think...phew!  The worst is behind us!  We are finally well and can get out of the house.  That would last for a day or two and then the next one would start with symptoms of the next thing.  It seemed to go on and on and on.  We've been a pretty puny bunch lately, but as I write this we are all well and I pray it remains this way for a very long time!

Not sure if you can see it, but Grace's rash was pretty horrendous when she had Strep.

You can see more of the rash on her face.  She was so pitiful.  She would just lay down in the middle of the floor, wouldn't eat for days, and really didn't talk much either.  It lasted about a week, but boy were we glad when we got our Gracie back!

Joshua's allergic reaction.  You can see in the photo the redness and hives around his eye and how huge his lower lip is--very swollen.  This episode was the worst reaction so far (other than his very first reaction--before we knew he was even allergic to eggs) and it was entirely by mistake!  We have him on a no egg diet, but Mommy overlooked a product with egg!

This month has had some trying times, but it all makes me all the more thankful for our health and helps me realize how fragile life is.  What a sweet and precious gift it is to know the Lord holds each of us in the palm of His hand.  While mothering many who were ill I found so much peace and rest in knowing He was ever present with us through the trial.  Oh how I long for the New Heaven and New Earth where sickness will be no more!