Hand, foot and mouth...x3!

Let me start by saying this week was full of crazy days.  I'll start with the good of the last week and a half and then get to the bad and the ugly.

Last week we took the boys to a parade for the 4th of July.  They were great!  I would post pictures, but I'll talk more about that later.  It was hot, but it was fun.  We also did a little birthday shopping on the 4th.  Lots of mixed feelings there.  We also got a swingset!!  Our neighbors were done with theirs and generously offered to give it to us.  They gave it to us last summer and even bought us baby swings for a baby shower gift.  This week they, along with some help from guys at our church, put it up.  I can't wait to spend many days out there playing!  The boys love swings, so we are very excited and grateful.  I also had a great visit from a friend who just left a little bit ago.  (Nancy, I'm sitting, aren't you proud :))   Another great thing is that Noah started clapping this week and Reese got his 7th tooth!  Aiden is still working on tooth number 2 and Noah has 2 teeth.  It's fun to see all the differences!

Now on to the bad and the ugly.  Saturday night Reese had a fever.  It was 101.7.  He still had a fever Monday morning.  Thankfully I had help available on Monday.  So I left Noah and Aiden home with our neighbor Megan and then the boys' Oma Marry (an honorary grandma).  Long story short he had hand, foot and mouth disease.  The Dr. told me that Aiden and Noah would almost certainly get it.  Sure enough by Tuesday Noah had a 102.7 fever and Aiden a 101 fever.  Hand, foot and mouth causes a rash, fever and blisters in the throat.  Nasty!!!  So soft diets and crabby boys followed.  Just when I thought things were looking up Reese had a tummy ache this morning (nasty diapers, enough said).  I cried.  It was the 3rd time I just had to break down and cry this week.  In addition to all of this our computer got a virus and crashed, which also means our home phone won't work.  A couple of other things happened in the mix as well.  It was hard to have a positive outlook this week.  The hardest part of all is that my parents were on vacation this week.  My parents live less than 5 minutes away so it's never a big deal to have her come over.  I've learned how much I miss having her close to me and how much I wish Nate's parents lived closer (they live about half an hour away).  I'm thankful for great neighbors and great help that we can call when we need them, but I still need my mom.  That being said here's what I realized through all of this.  I need to be more thankful for the fact that I normally have healthy kids.  This is temporary and will pass.  I will be more appreciative of our parents.  They sure put up with a lot raising us!  Finally, I've remembered that along with the hard part of having multiples, we get 3 times the kisses, hugs, giggles and love.  I just need to put that into perspective sometimes.  This too shall pass!!!  Let's just hope it's soon.   :)