February...where is the love???

I am so good to the month of February.

I decorate.

I throw parties.

I  bake treats and take them to neighbors.

I let the tots join in on the fun.

I make heart pancakes.

I leave personalized love notes on the wall.

I dress myself and my kids in red & pink as much as possible.

For goodness sake the Valentine's Fairy even comes to visit.

I celebrate with big Valentines.

So why has the month of love shown no return?

It started like this:

Tyler was told on Wednesday, Feb 1st, that he needed to be in Ireland for work on Thursday, February 2nd.

For 2 and a half weeks.

Okay fine.

I figured he would miss my talk in Stake Conference and our Annual Valentine's Day Bash, but other than that we could survive.

No biggie, right?

Well that 2 and a half weeks turned out to be just a few days shy of the whole month.

My talk and our party seem like years ago.

I wish that was the only excitement he missed around here.

We have had 8, I repeat 8, Dr's office visits since he left.

& trust me, that's not because I'm a paranoid mom...every visit was justified.

Here's what we've had:

Ashby

(fortunately, & somehow miraculously, she was the healthiest of us all)

flu...fever, cough, vomits

Linc

(his is a long list)

cold

ear infection

hives

yeast infection

failed hearing test

pukey stomache flu

Avy

cold

pukey stomach flu

Me

mastitis

flu

and the diagnosis of skin cancer

I realize a few things on this list are cause for explanation, but first let me just point out that our kitchen sink & bathroom sink were clogged for days...the week we happened to all be puking.

I called the property mgmt company and told them.  Nothing.  I called again 2 days later and left a message detailing how gross the sinks were and that we all had the flu and they needed to get here stat (thank you, heather), and they immediately, finally sent someone out.

Here you go.

The explanations:

1- Linc

hives

One morning he woke up then took his jammers off.

As soon as he ran past me with his nakey self, I initially thought maybe Avy had scratched him or hit him bc I saw this flash of red nakedness run past my eyes.

 I was like,

"Gus! Get yo hot bod right back here...what is all over you?"

Once he held still I started to freak.

I realized these massive welts and bumps were indeedy not the work of a big sister.

I threw everyone and myself in the car and headed to urgent care.

The doc said it was just a case of bad hives due to something.

Awesome.

I love when I get no answers.

She did say it was a common reaction to a brewing virus,

and low and behold, he and I both started throwing up later that night.

yeast infection

Poor guy.

I've never seen him in so much pain.

He woke up screaming one morning at 5 telling me his bum hurt.

He then continued to scream and fall to the floor in pain over and over again.

(A day before he did develop some strange rash on his bunsies, but I didn't think anything of it.)

Again, I threw the gang in the car and headed to urgent care.

We're regulars there now.

I'm sure when they see my car pull up they say,

"Oh goody! Here comes the circus again!"

The Dr. prescribed him a yeast infection cream & it seems to be working.

Thank goodness!

failed hearing test

So we've been a bit concerned about his speech.

He's just so stinking smart (just ask me) and gets so frustrated when he can't communicate with us.

So the go-getter in me kicked in and I started to make all sorts of appointments and fill out speech applications to get things checked out...in the event there is an issue.

He had an audiologist appointment last week and it turned out one of his ears didn't pass the test.

The Dr did say that this could be because he was on antibiotics and was recovering from the ear infection.

So we're going back for another test in a few weeks.

HOWEVER, no concerned mom (with her husband across the world, mind you) wants to leave the dr's office being told there's the possibility that her child has a hearing problem.

2- Me

I know.

Strange.

But also not strange seeing as how I am "abnormally white".

(Tat's words the first time we ever met)

Really, it was just a matter of time.

I am the perfect candidate for it:

fair skin- check

blue eyes- check

blonde hair- check

red hair- check

family history- check

freckle easily- check

no possibility of a natural sun tan- CHECK

So yeah, I'm still a bit shocked, but it's actually a good thing to have found it while I'm still young.

It's a HUGE wake-up call for me to be more uber sensitive to the sun & to make sure I am always covering me & my fair-skinned kiddles in hats and sunscreen.

I get this bad boy removed from my scalp in March.

So if I walk around with a huge bald spot and wearing one of these while at Gilroy Gardens all summer long:

you'll know why.

So let this be a lesson to you all:

Go visit a dermatologist for a little looksy at anything you think seems a bit strange.

DO IT.

NOW.

So that was our month.

Thank you Thank you Thank you

to the dear friends who have texted and emailed on a daily basis to make sure I'm not holed up in a corner twitching.

And for friends being so inspired to help, often without even knowing about the chaos going on here.

Thank you for dropping off dinners or bread or coming early to the party or taking my kids all day many days or asking what I need at the store or inviting us over to dinner.

Seriously, the list goes on.

I am so, so blessed.

And I couldn't possibly not thank my siblings for helping to save us too.

Whit-Whit held down the fort while I was often gone for Stake Play practice with the youth.

And Austy, well he was Superman.

There were many days he told me to go lay down and he would take over.

One day he even took Avy & Linc from 2-8pm.

They went to Golfland, dinner, a movie, and even stopped by the store for me.

He watched the 2 youngers while I worked in Avy's class a few times.

He let me bust out for a dinner one night with some friends.

He washed the non-dishwasher dishes out back with the hose.

Seriously.  He did.

He often watched a kid or 2 while I hauled myself and the others to & from the dr's visits.

I was going to cancel the V-day party but he told me no.

He helped decorate, run errands, then took the kids all evening & night.

And he even slept here the whole month because he knows I hate to be home alone.

What a champ.

Thanks!

Yes, we missed our Irish Tyler.

He missed out on quite the month over here.

When he called me from New York while on layover,

I said, "Are you really on American soil???"

And then I cried.

I sobbed.

I missed him a lot.

So overall, I guess the month of Februray did show me some love.

Life happens.

Crap happens.

Coincidentally enough a lot of really bizarre, unfortunate, every single day someone was sick, stuff happened to happen while I didn't have a husband here, but we survived.

Sure it didn't turn out to be the month I had hoped for.

But now that I've typed this and rehashed the past 4 weeks, I realize I am so loved.

There were countless tender mercies from the Lord this month that I would be completely selfish and ungrateful if I said February showed me no love.

Here's to a great March!

Afterall, isn't it the month o' the Irish???