The Sickness Crazies

I have to be honest and admit that I've kind of felt like I'm going crazy lately. We've been cooped up in the house too long, with little to no outside socializing. This is not a good thing for my girls; or me, either, for that matter--who am I kidding? Still, even as I say this I have to recognize that things haven't been that bad.

One thing I've been grateful for is that we live in California! The snow is fun and everything, but it can also make you feel like you're trapped, especially when you have sick kids. At least when we are stuck at home, we can go outside and we have a backyard to play in. It really makes a difference. Plus, it got up into the 70's lately, which was especially nice. In fact, yesterday I actually put my bathing suit on and laid out in the sun during quiet time. In February! Joe laughed at me when he found out but it really was wonderful. I love to be in the sun with a book. It's one of my favorite things. I don't think I have ever really done this since I had kids, except a few times during the summer when we lived at my parents' house and had access to a pool and and also when I've grabbed some time during a vacation or something. It's not even the tanning, although I wouldn't mind a decent tan. I don't need a pool, either, although it helps when it's 100 degrees out. It's just feeling the sun and truly relaxing. I am realizing that not only should I not feel guilty about this, but I actually need time like this, doing whatever relaxes or rejuvenates me. When I'm not taking time for myself, I'm actually less productive because I'm feeling too drained to do anything useful so I waste a bunch of time on the internet or something, and the list of things to do gets longer and longer.

Another blessing is that the girls have really done surprisingly well with all of this, probably better than me. It's pretty amazing to me that they can play and have fun together every single day and not get (too) tired of each other. Natalie will still let Elizabeth boss her around a lot of the time and Elizabeth will still take the time to patiently teach Natalie something. Don't get me wrong: they fight a lot, but I think it really is less than it could be. They are good friends.

One day I found them in the backyard like this:

I'm hesitant to show you a picture of our nasty side yard but I do want to remember the moment. They were taking pictures of each other with blades of grass as cameras.

Also, I was finally able to get Natalie an appointment for her 2 year check-up which she had this week. She missed her 18 month check-up because it was in the middle of moving and changing insurances and what not and just never got done. The result of that was that she was SO excited to go to the doctor, simply for the sticker that Lizzie came home with after her chicken pox visit. I told her she'd be getting shots and she said, "Yea! Shots!" Elizabeth knew better but I tried to keep her silent about it. Anyway, Natalie did great and only whined a little while they gave her the shots. She was over it quick when she realized she'd get 2 stickers for 2 shots. She also got her blood drawn today. It was a little more traumatic but she was still over it quick and back to her happy self.

Here she is showing off her stickers:

Sadly right after I took this picture, Elizabeth was running somewhere and completely mowed her over. She felt really bad about it, though, so she made Natalie this comfy seat and went all over the house looking for things to make her happy. It was really cute.

Here is Natalie, obviously over it but milking it nonetheless:

We found out at the appointment that Natalie is in the 80th percentile for height! I thought she was tall, but I didn't think that tall. She's in the 30th percentile for weight, which is actually better than I thought it would be since she seems so skinny. Basically, she's healthy. What a blessing. Elizabeth has her check-up tomorrow. I believe she will be getting shots, too, which she is very nervous about. Wish us luck!

Here's one last picture for good measure.

I found Natalie sleeping like this one night:

How do kids do that?