The Week After Christmas

We awoke on Christmas morning to realize that Santa had, indeed, arrived.  Later in the morning we headed to Grandma Judy's house for brunch and presents.  When it was time to eat, Elliott in a dramatic manner announced that he didn't feel well, and that his throat hurt.  As all good parents, we ignored him for a while, and then after even opening presents didn't jazz him up, Ross decided to take him home.

Around 10:00 pm that night, he puked.
Around 12:30 am, Wyatt puked.

Both boys had the flu.

A perfect start to a LONG week.

On Tuesday, Ross took all three boys to the doctor.  Elliott and Wyatt had the flu, and later that week Wyatt's test came back positive for strep.  Quinn just had a runny nose and a bad attitude.  My normally lively, wild and happy to be alive boys were slugs.  Sleeping all day, couldn't sit up and there wasn't much I could do to help.





Early in the morning on the Wednesday after Christmas, my dad came out to sit with the boys while I drove Ross to St. Mark's outpatient surgery center, for, well, surgery.  He was having some procedures done on his nose, a septoplasty.  It was a quick procedure but a ridiculous recovery.  We have learned since that:
1) Ross' pain threshold is different than mine and I need to be nicer.
2) Narcotic pain killers (percocet) do not mix with Ross brain and seem to melt his ability to ration, reason and function.
4) Strep throat, sinus infections and surgery recovery do not mix.
3) Annie needs to work on her patience.

Now that we are two weeks out from the elective procedure, and I've finally started sleeping upstairs again and not in the basement, things are on the up and up.  But, I tell you, we struggled.

Once the boys started to feel better, as their dad was feeling worse, the four of us managed to do a few things.  We went bowling for Willie's birthday.  We walked around temple square to see the lights before they got turned off.  We went to a movie.

It wasn't our best Christmas.  I'm sure it won't be our worst.  I so enjoy shopping and planning for my boys - it just makes my heart happy to PREPARE for Christmas.  But, the actually day always bums me out and makes me sad, and, the blur of days between Christmas and New Year's is exhausting.