a sick month so far

so much to catch up on, though none of it is glamorous! let's see, where did i leave off last week? ah yes, i kept ashford home from preschool on wednesday because he still had a low-grade fever and wasn't feeling well. azalea was seemingly healthy again, so she went to school. at dinner that night, i noticed azalea had a few red bumps that had popped up around her mouth.

 our little buddy ewan had the hand, foot, and mouth virus a couple weeks ago and it's been going around. it didn't take me long to put 2+2 together, that my kids must have caught it. ashford did not have the sores yet, but i immediately knew neither of them could go to school the next day because his were likely on the way.

thursday morning i called the pediatrician to make an appointment. thankfully they were able to get us in at 10am. neither kid had a fever by then, but azalea had quite a few bumps around her mouth (ashford still had none). the doctor examined them and while she thought it might be hand, foot, and mouth, she thought it was very strange that they didn't have any on their hands or feet. she also said it looked like a very mild case. we left without a definitive diagnosis, but she prescribed an antibiotic cream to put on their sores to speed up healing. she said they shouldn't go to school on friday, but could go on monday (and not be contagious) as long as they didn't have any new sores and the existing ones were healing. thursday and friday were loooooong days at home. ashford's sores started to appear friday morning. both kids were both feeling fine, but we couldn't go out because they were contagious. we played tons of board games, colored, watched too much tv, and i broke up a lot of fights. they barely napped. i did a lot of staring at the clock. i was only able to get the bare minimum of my work done. like i said, it was long. 

i was so ready for the weekend and thatcher's help. this was on top of being home last weekend too when azalea's fever started and thatcher was out of town. oof!

we did our best to keep everyone sane this weekend. we tried to get out of the house each day, though we wouldn't let the kids be anywhere indoors around other kids, much to their dismay ;) did i mention is has been in the 30's and snowing (ok, flurries but nothing sticking) for the past 3-4 days? so strange for seattle in early november! feels more like minnesota! so, we did what any normal people would decide to do and went to a beach. ha! we drove up to the city of edmonds (about 15 mins north of seattle) to kill more time in the car. we lasted less than 30 mins on the beach and playground. it was so windy and cold! 

we stopped at the pcc co-op on the way home and had lunch. by the afternoon, i was so ready to escape by myself for a bit. i went to starbucks and enjoyed a chestnut praline latte (i'm such a sucker for holiday drinks!) and read my book for an hour and a half. 

it was glorious. 

then i went to the grocery store. it was a much-needed break. we made dinner and watched "boss baby" which the kids thought was hilarious. we turned back the clocks before bed and hoped for the best come morning.

sunday morning ashford woke up at 5am. siiiiigh. we made him stay in our bed until 6:15. lucky for me it was thatcher's morning to get up with them. azalea bounded out of her room as soon as she heard them get up. i went back to sleep until 7:30. daylight saving time is brutal with kids. we contemplated what to do that morning. azalea's sores were looking 99% healed, which was great, but ashford's weren't quite as good. with the cold weather in seattle, our upcoming trip to minnesota in december, and the fact that the kids' winter jackets they wore last year are way too small, i decided we'd all head to the mall to get them new winter jackets. jcpenney sale for the win! now we need boots and snowpants (their request!). we came home for lunch, thatcher took a nap (he wasn't feeling 100% this weekend), and then i escaped to java bean to do some work. it was dark by 4:30. womp womp! we made dinner, gave the kids a bath, and put them to bed. azalea is definitely going to school today, ashford is still a maybe.

here ends the most boring recap known to man, but hey, i like being able to look back at this stuff. while waiting out this virus certainly hasn't been fun, i've read a lot of horror stories about people's hand, foot, and mouth experiences and i'm so thankful ours wasn't too bad!