Over The Weekend...We Be Sick & Stuff!

Although we survived the weekend with sickness we still managed to go to the city to see Peter and The Wolf at the Guggenheim. Had I paid extra fees on the tickets due to illness, or an emergency I would have canceled, and gotten a refund, but because I didn't we sucked it up, put on a smiling face and went anyway. We passed the contagious phase so it was okay to go to the show. Luckily our seats were the last four in the front, and we didn't cough too much! 

a side order of food poisoning.

This past weekend my two youngest children had a little bit of food poisoning. 

Usually I panic when any of the kids get sick, but I was calm, and handled it pretty well. When these kids are sick they are so mindful of each other, and very sweet. They do sick really well, and I can't begin to tell you how grateful I am for that. Especially when you're all alone. The last time Noah got sick Jon happened to be off. Not this time. 

Losing that extra hour of sleep while the kids are sick didn't help. Then again, it's probably a good thing daylight savings time kicked in the night before because Noah woke up early this morning puking too.

Chelsea had some bad tomato soup on Saturday, and unfortunately Noah had too much dairy in one sitting last night which is not good for a kid his age. He loves milk, and lots of cheese in our lasagna, but when he eats too much of it he obviously gets sick. We definitely learned our lesson on that one.

Now the house is pretty quiet. Noah has been sleeping on the rocking chair for the past few hours. Chelsea is laying on the couch watching Mary Poppins, and is slowly falling sleep. She is recovering quickly, and I know that tomorrow Noah will let all the energy that was bottled up inside today come out tomorrow, and I'm prepared for that.

Sincere motherhood totally takes over the instant my kids get sick. I jump at the drop of a hat when any of my kids cry, yell out 'mom', or start puking in the wee hours of the morning.  

The five year gap between all my children has been a huge blessing throughout my life as a mother. Sometimes I wonder how I would handle sick kids if they were a year or two apart. Not sure, and I'll never know. I'd probably cry a lot. Wait a minute...I cried a little today so it doesn't make a difference how far apart in age children are. 

But I'm a strong mama, and tomorrow is a new day. 

I signed up for this job as a mom with kids who will get sick, and I'm so happy I did.  

It's part of life as a mother.

I'm sick yo.

January for others may have been a jerk, because of so many getting sick with the flu, but it looks like February is the one being fickle. At least for the Jorgensens.

Lexie, and Chelsea were sick. Now I'm sick. No fun! At all!

February is one of my favorite months because of Valentines day and the fact that it prepares me for spring. I haven't been sick in two years so I guess it was time for my immune system to build up. 

I'm sorry that there are no major updates, or anything interesting to blog right now. I did however go to church yesterday, and only lasted an hour. I had to go home to get some rest, but I am grateful that I was able to at least attend sacrament meeting. Partaking of the sacrament is the most important part of church...at least for me.

Hopefully I'll be better soon because this weekend is going to be busy with the girls camp fundraiser being held at our church. 

Sierra also has an audition at the University of the Arts in Philly this Saturday so- uh, yeah...I better be better by the weekend! 

Having an active boy in the house motivates me to make myself well too. Luckily he knows when mommy isn't feeling well, and he'll go about doing his own thing. For the most part he is snuggling with me on the couch watching cartoons. I snapped this photo real quick (nice huh), while Noah is glued to the TV. I just hope that he doesn't get sick next! 

We do look forward to the five day weekend, and hope that we can do something fun as a family. Snow, sleet, rain or shine we will make it a happy weekend. I just hope I'm completely recovered from this wicked, wicked flu. I'll be glad when this coughing, aching, sneezing, stuffy head crap will subside. (So much for drinking lots of orange juice, and popping those VC chewables!) 

Oh well...have a great week y'all! 

surviving the flu.

The feeling of worry, stress, and calmness were a mixture of my feelings this past week. Alexandra missed a whole week of school due to the flu, and I honestly don't know where she picked it up from. It seems like the flu is out there floating like a rage, and it scares me to death. It has me buying tons of orange juice, and overstocking my shelves with all kinds of remedies. I don't think I've ever washed my hands so much in my life! 

The kids have always been pretty healthy, and hardly have ever experienced any major sickness The very first time I experienced having a sick kid was when Sierra developed pneumonia in her freshman year, and missed a whole week of school. Thank goodness she recovered from that pretty quickly. 

Now poor Alexandra has fallen ill, and is trying so hard to recover. She is feeling a little bit better. Noah attempts to play with her, but I have to remind him not to get too close to her. He still manages to kiss her on the forehead in hopes that she feels better. I think it helps. 

Then there is Chelsea...

I got a phone call from the school nurse on Friday letting me know she had a fever of 101, and that I needed to pick her up from school. **This is one of the blessings of being a stay at home mom. 

She rested all day, her fever went away, she went to bed early, and felt better in the morning. 

There was a Faith in God activity at the church yesterday that she wanted to go to so I let her go. Guess what happened when she came home? 

Her fever came back, and I gave her some motrin for her fever to go down. She had no energy, and rested all day yesterday. Even though she seems a little better today I kept her home from church.

I can tell the girls are not used to missing church, but I don't want them to reinfect themselves or someone else until they are completely well. They know its for their own good, and hope that they will get back to normalcy this week. I'm sure the Lord will forgive for that!

Me...I'm a bit tired and can catch up on some sleep, but that hardly ever happens. Sometimes I wonder how we mothers do it. The whole mom, nurse, teacher, therapist thing. We sure do have a lot of roles that we play when it comes to being a mother. 

But I love it, and I learn so much from it as I continue to grow as a mother. 

Having sick kids brings back so many memories of how my mother tended to me when I would get sick. I remember her worrying, but what I mostly remember is the time she took to make me feel better. No matter how many times I'd throw up on the only teddy bear that I had "Cuddles" she wouldn't get mad. She would wash him by hand and give him back to me only to throw up on him again!. I don't even think she freaked out like I do nowadays when any of my kids have thrown up. I also remember her having lots of energy, and just being strong.

Little by little I am realizing that no matter how healthy we think our kids are they get sick. My solution to surviving the flu, or any kind of illness is to get through it with priesthood blessings, lots of rest, medicine, tons of fluids, and a lot of TLC.

...and then this too shall pass. 

A long night

Why is it that whenever Sierra goes off to camp or any other church related activity one of the kiddos becomes ill. What's more bizarre, (and I see this as a positive thing) is when one of the children do become ill...my husband is off of work, and that is a huge blessing for me. Especially when you have two other children in the house to take care of.

This time it was little Noah. He began throwing up late Monday night, and we tried to figure out what the culprit was. It turned out to be milk that was left out all night without being refrigerated. I was surprised he drank it because usually he will take a sip of his cup, and if it tastes bad he won't drink it. As I re-tracked back to what he ate earlier in the day... that is the only thing that turned up which was yucky!

He was still throwing up yesterday, but still doesn't seem like himself today. Jon was my hero in staying up all night while he was throwing up. They both stayed in the living room and slept on the yellow mat. This is the yellow mat that is used when one becomes ill, and has the need to throw up. We are slowly giving him fluids and some crackers. My poor babe, he's probably lost a pound or two with all the hurling he did. I know there will be a lot of sleeping today. 

The girls and I have learned our lesson in making sure to check all the cups for spoiled milk before handing it over to him. This rarely happens in our family among the kids. I think all of our girls have had their share of eating or drinking something bad which caused them to become sick. Let's hope this doesn't cycle! It's exhausting when you have a little one sick.

So, for all the mothers (and dad's) out there-when you give your babe some milk in a cup... make sure it's fresh, and that it wasn't left out all night!

Spiritual Healing

"Always do your best. Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgement, self-abuse and regret."

~ Miguel Angel Ruiz

Trying to endure to the end is a little hard to do when you are sick. Especially when you are trying to serve others and do your church calling the best way that you can. It was in the middle of the day this past Friday when I literally felt a tingle in my throat which turned into a bad cough, hence losing my voice. I may have to blame it on being in and out of air condition in this high humidity (at least that is how I've become sick over the years), trying to do so many things for my family & friends all at once, and adding on a little bit of stress. I have not been this sick in over four years, and today I missed church. I know that I need to rest, and make myself well so that I can be able to serve others. This past weekend I noticed a few people serving us, and I became aware of the little things that I sometimes take for granted which has made me feel especially grateful for them today.

*Small things such as leftovers. One will usually whine about eating leftovers, but when you're sick and don't have the energy to cook, having two self sufficient daughters that can feed themselves, and a husband who can cook is a blessing. Leftovers are a blessing. I am grateful to have kids who are not picky eaters.

 *My husband's work. We only have one car at the moment, and I consider myself lucky that Jon's work is a 15 minute bike ride or a 40 minute walk. I was so weak on Saturday that I couldn't pick him up from work, and so he walked home. He didn't mind... he said it gave him quite a workout walking in this humidity.

*My neighbors. Some of my neighbors call me the "revolving door", and pretty much know when I am home. If they see that the car is parked and see no sign of me or my kids...they'll come to my door to see if I need rescuing.

*Technology...I never thought that I would say this but I am actually grateful for recording devices so that in case I miss a very good talk at church my better half can record it for me on his iPhone.

*My sisters at church...I love them all. When my family came home from church they mentioned a few sisters who asked for me. That made my day. I also received a few texts from my sisters asking how I'm feeling. That also made my day. I received a sweet phone call from my daughter's new Young Women President to ask me if I needed anything, and I just read the most genuine Facebook message from one of my favorite sisters...that completed my day.

My middle daughter took this photo of me and Noah. As soon as they all came home, guess who was the first person to jump onto my bed and fall asleep in my arms...

 After listening to my family telling me about their day and the talks that were given, I felt as if I was there in spirit. There is just something about attending all your meetings (which in our church is three hours), that uplifts your soul, and rejuvenates your spirit. It's not about the association with your brothers and sisters (although that is nice too), but for me, it's about what you get the most out of the talks, and hope that I can apply that to my own life, and pass it on.