survival mode

This very well has probably been one of the worst weeks of my life.

• It started Saturday night when David woke up with a fever and racing heart rate. After keeping him up for a while and calling a family nurse, we decided he had probably just had a nightmare. He cooled off and heart rate went down. We gave him some tylenol and he went back to bed. Sunday morning we wake up to him throwing up.We call the doctor and they said it appeared to be a stomach virus. Just to give him tylenol for the fever and fluids until he kept it all down. He was still under the weather Monday, but was getting better quickly.
  

• On Tuesday, we decided that everyone was great and decided to go eat lunch with Tim at work. I get about 5 miles from the house and my car slows down and won't go over 10mph. It is shaking and vibrating. Tim was in a meeting, so I call my dad. He says to drive slowly to the nearest car place. It's amazing how long it takes you to get somewhere going 10mph. The first 2 places we made it to were no help so I decide to chance it and drive 5 more miles to Toyota. It is the same distance from where I am to either make it home or go there, so that's why I went. Tim calls back and I tell him we are not going to make it to lunch and that I'll call when we get to Toyota. Normally, I would stay on the phone, but I had one arm reaching in the back seat giving Mackenzie her bottle while driving. Give me a break, okay, I was driving 10 mph. People walk faster than that and we were NOT stopping. I was afraid we may not go if we did! Toyota was super helpful. Since it was lunchtime and we were supposed to picnic with Tim, we decided to picnic at the dealership. It was quite a sight, we looked like we were moving in....stollers, infant carseat, blankets, food, and oh....did I mention I had a bag of pool toys in the back of the car I brought out? Hey, we needed entertainment. At one point, the store manager came out with our beach ball that had blown across the parking lot. Tim decided to come to us for lunch and find out about the car. It ended up being my drive shaft and the mechanic told tim he could totally replace it himself since he has worked on cars. This was awesome b/c we saved $600 by Tim fixing my car.
  

• Wednesday, I was carless while we were waiting for the new drive shaft. Also on Wednesday, Mackenzie started rapidly getting sick. She had a 103 degree fever in the morning and then started not eating/sleeping by the afternoon. The pediatrician wanted to see her. I make an appointment and then remember, I don't have a car! Luckily, my best friend just moved in 10 houses down and happened to be working from home. She lends me her car and off we go!We get to the doctor and immediately after looking in her mouth she is diagnosed with Hand, Foot, and Mouth virus. I had never even heard of that and it sounded like something you could only pick up in some other country! I told him the only public place we had even been in the last few days was the pool (besides toyota today!) Apparently, she caught it crawling around at the pool. It is nasty and I don't wish it on my worst enemy. Blisters and sores coat the mouth and throat and then can also appear on the hands and feet. High fevers, ect. No wonder she didn't want to eat.
  

So, over the next 48 hours I concentrate on just keeping her hydrated. The only time she'd take a bottle was when she was on motrin and half asleep. We took many car rides so I could get her to drink. She slept on my chest while I sat on the couch during the night because she was in so much pain.

• In the meantime, I guess I am so sleep deprived that I wake up this morning with a fever and sores all down my throat. Awesome. I have now caught it! Adults aren't supposed to be able to catch it so the virus "mutates", but my symptoms are pretty similar : fever, chills, aching, and sores so it is hard to eat.
  

The only good news is that my car works so we have been taking "drives" a lot.

In the middle of all of this, it is so hard to be sick and take care of sick little ones. We did have some help from Tim's sweet parents, but really I don't want anyone over here because they might catch it!
It is just being sick though. It is not permanent. Next week will be a new week and hopefully everyone will be well. It has made me really thankful for the fact that our family is normally healthy.
It is a blessing.
The Lord has definitely increased my capacity. He has to for you to be a mother and take care of your children. I am thankful Tim is home and doesn't work on the weekends also. Alone this weekend might have been my breaking point.
And for that, we have entered "survival mode" and wait for it to pass.
My friend, Mary, wrote recently "Motherhood is not for the faint at heart." I think being a mommy is one of the hardest things I've ever done, especially with 2. Even with all the bad days we have, there are more good than bad and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

• Please also pray for my sister and her family, the contract fell through temporarily. The family that wants to buy it is going to "look around" one more time this weekend and maybe get back to them next week. Crappy, but praying they'll come back and do it.