Saying goodbye (and good riddance) to 30

The last 24 hours of being 30 have not been my favorite. Last night at about this time, I started to feel... not right.  The thermometer confirmed it - I had a fever.  And my stomach started rolling.  I was NOT happy.

It's never fun to be sick, but I feel like we've had more than our fair share lately.  Let me relate the last 2 weeks...

Saturday, October 24 - Lily puked on me, Chase puked before he took me to the hospital, and I birthed our 3rd child.

Monday, October 26 - We came home and thought all was well.  Nope.  Lily puked again.

Wednesday, October 28 - Lily's fever finally broke for good and she was FINALLY able to hold baby Spencer, because she no longer had a fever!

Monday, November 2 - Connor puked late that night.  And puked.  And puked into early Tuesday morning.  Poor baby!   He went through 5 pairs of pajamas, and Chase and I each went through 3 changes of clothes in an effort to not expose Spencer to what Connor was fighting.

Wednesday, November 4 - Connor's fever finally broke late in the day.

Saturday, November 7 - I come down with a fever late in the evening.

Which brings us to today, November 8.  I seem to be coming out of this illness having experienced only aches, a fever and a yucky tummy.  Tomorrow I will be 31 years old, and we are going to have a gloriously HEALTHY start to 31!  (I pray and I'm trusting we will, right Lord?)

But in the midst of hard things, there is always something to learn, things to appreciate, and a silver lining if only one looks hard enough.  So here is what I have learned, looking back...

THIS GUY IS MY ROCK STAR!

This picture was taken only a couple of hours after Chase had come down with the nastiness that I'm recovering from.  Spencer was just born, and here his daddy is with him, even though daddy wasn't feeling well..  I was in NO WAY sympathetic enough to him while he was convalescing.  I may have been in labor, but he felt like he was going to die (if he felt anything like I did when I was coming down with it).  And he muscled through.  He encouraged me, stood by my side, and celebrated Spencer's birth in the midst of feeling horrible.  I don't know how he did it.

Not only that, but he took care of all of us when we came home from the hospital (he was feeling better by then), took a sick day to help care for Connor, and waited on me hand and foot while also caring for Lily and Connor while I have been sick.  And the ultimate proof of his total awesomeness: he reached out to catch Connor's vomit at one point. With. Bare. Hands. And because of his quick reach, I didn't have to clean up a mess on the carpet.

Sorry to get graphic with you, but I need to remember and appreciate all this man has done to serve his family in the last few weeks.  He's a keeper,and he's mine, and I'm keeping him forever!

Thank you, Chase, for the way you serve us.  We are so blessed to have you, and we know it!  I have much to learn from you.

Happy Halloween from my 3 favorite little ones.

And then there are these three amazing little creatures.  Spencer has stayed healthy through it all, thanks to the amazing antibodies provided by mommy milk.  (Wasn't God awesome when he made mommy milk provide protection to tinies?!?)  Lily and Connor may have been sick in the last couple of weeks, but they were sick with a simple virus - the kind that we didn't even need to call the doctor for, because it was just a fever and tummy troubles that would eventually pass.

These kids are healthy.  Their immune systems are strong, so their bodies can fight off junk like this.  And you know, even when they felt crummy, they were still delightful to be around (which is more than I can say for myself...).

I don't ever want to live these last 2 weeks again.  They have been hard physically and emotionally.  But, we have survived them, and we are looking forward to good, healthy days to come.  Days in which we're closer as a family because we've had to care for each other and days in which we'll cherish our health in a new way.

Goodbye 30.  This last patch has been particularly rough, but it's over and 31 is here with no mistakes (or sickness) in it yet!