HFMD continued (pics of the rash)

So I have had several people ask me what Hand, Foot & mouth looks like. From what I have gathered from talking with my friends, no two children react the same to it. Lily had the fever and a few spots on the bottom of her legs and a sore in her mouth and it only lasted a day or so. Nothing on her hands or feet or body. Penny however broke out into a rash all over her body (I tried to get some pictures but she doesn't sit still). She did not have the blister-like sores on her hands or feet, just the rash. She did have sores on her ears and the rash was even on her scalp. My friends' kids experienced it differently too. The pictures are from today and she looks far better than she did on Wednesday!

Easter 2012

Unfortunately I have not gotten to take any pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses because I was on worship team for Easter and left before the were up for church. Thanks to my friend Beth I do have pictures to share from their first real Easter Egg Hunt with thier buddies Owen and Henry Nill. Kathy Knoll (Beth's mom) and I sang on worship team for Easter and then she invited us back to their house for an egg hunt and Easter lunch with some of our friends who were visiting from out of town. The kids had a lot of fun and their were a TON of eggs!! It has been really fun to watch our kids grow up together and form friendships, especially fun for their grandmas (Beth's mom Kathy and my MIL Jackie) who have been friends since 9th grade! Looking through the pictures did make me a little sad that our babies are growing up and not babies anymore! Enjoy the pictures!

Owen was such a good big brother and helped all the younger kids find eggs and left the easy ones for Penny and Henry to find :) love that boy!

Henry on a mission!

Penny had so much fun 

Owen, Lily, Henry & Penny

Henry and Penny

Owen and Lily begging to open more eggs for candy :)

Penny and her "strawberries"

My girls love olives (no one tell them that their not berries and are actually good for them!)

A month of illness

       March ended with Runny noses and a slight cough, I figured it was a "change of the seasons cold" no big deal. Luckily our friends' kids all had similar symptoms so we could still play together and go about our daily routines. The week before Easter I was struck with a sinus infection, double ear infection and broncitus! I was miserable but made it through singing at two rehearsals and two Easter services (with some good antibiotics). The next Wednesday I had to take Pen in to the Dr for her first ear infection. Got her on some antibiotics (first time either of my kids have ever had an antibiotic).

      We seemed to be better for a couple days and then the poo hit the fan. Nasal congestion, chest congestion, coughing and sneezing and a WHOLE LOT of crying and whining soon followed. Penny and Lily both stopped sleeping through the night (which means mom and dad did too). No one was eating well, so I just tried to keep them hydrated and as comfortable as possible. Don and I have been sick with nasal and chest congestion too, so we went into survival mode.

This is what our front room has looked like this week

Then Lily spiked a temp of 104 on 4/15/12. Neither of my girls is sick very often and have never had a temp over 102. I was really scared so I called our neighbor who is an ICU nurse, and she talked me through what to do. I am so thankful for my neighbors!! Lily's temp passed but I took her to the Dr anyway because I had heard that something called "Hand, Foot and Mouth" was going around Beaver Dam area and some of our friends' kids had come down with it. After two Dr.s telling me my girls did not have it, the spots appeared. Lily never complainedabout the rash itching or hurting though, and was eating and drinking normal, so I figured it was going to be ok even if they did have it.

1:00am 4/18/12 Penny wakes up screaming with a temp of 104. I did everything that I had done with Lily, but nothing seemed to relieve her pain, I alternated motrin and tylenol and cool bath. By 1:00pm she was screaming and ripping at her mouth and body. I have never seen a child in so much pain and I felt so helpless. I called the nurse and she said there was really nothing to do but comfort her until it passed. I had to put her in foot pjs and mittens to stop her from tearing herself apart. Penny reacted a lot different to HFM than Lily did, she had the rash all over her body from her head to toes. she had the sores on her mouth and ears, no blisters on the hands or feet as the websites had said. Thursday was better, she still didn't sleep thursday night, but Don and I have taken turns staying up with her.

My poor baby

So today is Friday and thank goodness my girls are acting like themselves again!! It sucks that my kids are so close together in age sometimes and I would never call it a blessing that they get sick at the same time, but I am so glad that this HFM disease is out of my house!! Hopefully Don and I can recover now and May will be a better month!

Jake the Pirate

Our friends Jake and Deb have been QUITE a topic of conversation in the Cupery household :)

Jake the Pirate

While sitting at church one Sunday, Penny got really excited when our friends Jake and Deb sat across the aisle from us. Jake is Penny's chiropractor, so I tried to explain to Lily who Jake was and why Penny was excited to see him. A few minutes later Lily's eyes got huge and she leaned in and whispered "Mom! Jake's a pirate." and started laughing and I said "No Lil, he is a chiropractor." thinking she had misheard what I had told her. On the way home she explained that Jake was a pirate with Peter Pan in Neverland. Apparently there is a TV show "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" she had seen at Nana and Papa's house.

Continued...

So a few days later we told the girls we were going to go visit Jake & Deb's new house. Lily asked "Jake the pirate?!" I said "No Lily, Jake is not a pirate." After pondering this for awhile she asked "Does he have a boat?" ... I knew she had me, because Jake and Deb just bought a house on Beaver Dam lake and they do in fact have a boat... I said "Well, yes he does have a boat but..." Lily exclaimed "THEN HE'S A PIRATE!!" 
                                                                                                                        

Lily's first movie

 Lily and mommy went to see The Lorax at the Beaver Dam movie theater on March 23, 2012. I was very hesitant to take her since she has a short attention span, but I had alot of encouragement from my friends that know Lily well and they thought she would do great. Lily was so excited to get her own bag of popcorn and her first orange soda! The popcorn was half gone before the movie started :)

Lily's first soda (she chose orange)

Lily sat really well during the movie and she really liked all of the colors and songs. The cute little bears her favorite part. After the movie we went to McDonalds for supper. It was really nice to have some one on one time just me and Lily, she really is growing into her own person. I don't remember the last time I had just Lily! Big thanks to my neighbors for watching Penny for me so we could have this special day.