By Christmas Eve both girls were full blown sick like their momma. Keagan spiked a fever first so off to urgent care we went for a positive strep test. After that I was sure Riley had the same thing so the incredible Dr Reed called Riley in an antibiotic as well. Christmas Eve dinner was at our house. Nana cooked a great Italian meal and the girls and I barely made it thru. Keagan was so miserable that Taryn called the Chalk’s and they came over so Darren could help Todd give both girls a priesthood blessing. Of course that generous family came with all kinds of goodies and it was definitely a bright light visit.
It was a long night of coughing, whimpering, aching and exhaustion for all three of us so none of the fun of Christmas Eve anticipation was even a thought. I did have a special experience though that I got to tell Keags about in the middle of the night when she was up crying. I got to see Santa when he brought the girls gifts! It was so sweet because he said when he got to Spring, TX our house was his first stop because he knew we were so sick!
On Christmas morning the girls did their darndest to muster up some excitement but it fizzeled very fast. Riley saw the Doc McStuffins cart and Hatchimal Santa brought her and then just wanted to lay on my shoulder. Keagan was more excited about her Hatchimal and BB8 remote control robot and dug deep in order to open a few of her gifts from me. I am SO sad to say I fell asleep watching her open them! How pathetic is that? I woke to her giving me a weak hug saying “thank you for the art kit, fingerling, stomp rocket, and squishes mommy” before she collapsed on the coach.
Them right after seeing what Santa brought and not wearing Christmas jammies...
All three of us literally slept thru most of Christmas Day in the family room all together with breaks to cough, take medicine and visit the restroom, that’s it! I’m sure it was quite the pitiful sight! Around 4pm we woke up and had ramen for Christmas dinner and some leftovers and goodies people had dropped by. Then we spent over an hour flopped on the floor getting the Hatchimals to hatch out of their eggs. I know, could this blog post be any more dreary?!
When Christmas Day turned to Christmas night both my babies got worse. Why does that always happen? It was more then obvious that Riley was dehydrated so out of worry I decided to take her to urgent care which led me to drive to TCH in the Woodlands because I knew that’s where she could get an IV. After finding the wait was over 4 hours there and looking at the cesspool of germs in there, I turned right around. Seriously urgent cares, ERs and pharmacy’s are packed this week with flu/strep/etc just everywhere! Thankfully Jaron and Laura Black sacrificed part of their late night on Christmas Day and came over with their IV Hydration Station drip materials. It was quite a production but with both of them working plus help from Sami and Taryn, we were able to get an IV in Miss Riley’s foot to pump her full of fluids, vitamins and minerals. I was SO thankful to get one too and immediately started feeling better! It’s amazing what the human body can do to fight on its own when it has the tools it needs! I am SO grateful Jaron and Laura have their business and used it to bless us when we were so desperate! And the fun all of us had despite the crazy is unforgettable too! Miss Keagan negotiated no needles but she missed out!
The days after Christmas have been better then Christmas Day but they are still up and down. We have lots more energy, feel a ton better but we still cough, have gone thru a crap load of tissues and have taken naps every day. We eventually opened all the gifts including a tennis bag for Keags, costumes for Riley (she is particularly obsessed with the Paw Patrol one) and super exciting stuff from the girls dad and Grandma Debbie. Keagan was shocked and beyond thrilled with the Nintendo Switch, games and accessories and Riley loves her ball seat and play dough sets. I felt spoiled with Nanas gift for ancestry analyzing and Sa and Todd’s incredible gift of 3 months of prepackaged great FHE lessons plus very sweet homemade cards and trinkets from around the house wrapped up from sweet Keagan.
Taryn had us all over for a delicious traditional Christmas dinner that was postponed because of our nasty germs. Quite unfortunately we shared those with Nana and she is sick now too. Otherwise we have played with our new fun stuff like we should, especially Just Dance and playdoh, watched too much tv, taken naps, not put anything on but pajamas and stocked up on meds, tissues and more meds.
Each day we get a little better even though Riley has now started breathing treatments and a steroid. And we talk about how miserable Christmas was and how we are never going to forget it. But we are on the upswing, we still have a few days to get better before Disney, we were blessed substantially and felt SO many people praying for us, and we were all together. So yes it was a pathetic little Christmas, but it was ours together. Like the first Christmas over 2,000 years ago it was simple, humble and quiet but maybe that’s just what we needed to help us pray a little harder, and remember a little better.
We remember our Savior always and we will remember this years celebration of His birth. Unforgettable!
