Hand, foot and mouth disease...and sprinkles

So, Jared apparently jinxed us when he posted about "wishing for hoof and mouth disease" to wipe out M's My Little Pony collection last week because now we have the real thing. HK's throwing up Wednesday morning turned to be much more than nothing. She, and now Matney, have hand foot and mouth disease. sigh. This crazy sounding thing is a real illness and is caused by a virus so there is NO MEDICINE to make it go away. It starts with high fevers and blisters in the throat and then they'll get blisters on their hands and feet. It normally takes 7+ days for all the various symptoms to appear so we'll be hanging out in this house for a while.

My thinking that HK's barfing was nothing didn't last long when she woke up from her nap Thursday with a fever of 102. We have had several days of crying and being awake most of the night rocking. When I had her at the dr on Friday morning we hoped for strep (and an easy antibiotic cure) but no such luck. It is now Sunday and M woke up screaming today with a fever of 102 too. HK does seem to feel a little better this morning.

Jared and I are so sad our girls are sick. I cannot begin to imagine how bad their throats must hurt. HK hasn't eaten in days and getting her to take any of her bottle is a fight. Before the dr we thought HK must really be teething because she was crazy drooling all of a sudden but it turns out that she just hurts too bad to swallow. Friday I went through everything in the house and all HK would eat was...sprinkles left over from her cupcakes. HA! I didn't care. Look at this pitiful girl and her dinner.





What really stinks is that for our 5 year anniversary I'd worked hard at the last minute to arrange a night away for Jared and myself. I'd booked a villa at Calloway Gardens and had dinner reservations. I had people to watch the girls. We were so excited. But, we had flashbacks of our cancelled Vegas trip as I called to cancel everything only a day after I'd worked it all out. AGH!
All week I hugged my sick girls and was thankful, even for a cancelled trip. We know know a sweet 3 year old boy who's been fighting cancer since he was 18 months old. Last week he had to have an emergency surgery because the tumor they prayed was shrinking from chemo has actually been growing leaving them with lots of questions and more treatment ahead. And Saturday, while we were having a great time celebrating Halle Kate's birthday, one of my best friends in college held her 4 year old daughter as she passed away. Rocking sick HK all night Thursday I couldn't think of much else except how my friend has just buried her daughter hours before.
Growing up my Dad used to always say "there but by the grace of God go I"...and I would roll my eyes. Now, as an adult, and especially as a parent, I hear that phrase in my mind all the time. No matter how much I try to have control ultimatly I know I do not. Once again I have been reminded this week to be more than thankful for our health. And someday, before the girls are grown, Jared and I will take a trip alone!