A Few Bumps Along the Way...

We started this year out with a bang! New Year's Eve (at midnight) found Kate and I at the Urgent Care. Kate had a terrible cough and was having difficulty breathing. Luckily, Aunt Melissa was working-- she was a bright spot in our miserable night! After a couple of days, Kate still wasn't feeling better and I took her to our family doctor. Diagnosis: Croup. I'd never experienced croup and now I can say it was one of the most miserable experiences! However, I love our family doctor!! He told us to turn off Kate's bedroom heat, crack open her window and have her sleep in her snowsuit! Sounds crazy, but it worked! The cold air soothed the swelling in her throat and within a week she was better.
While Kate was sick, colds prevailed at our house! Only Sydney escaped. I got a double whammy-- I threw out my back, too! After a week of coughing and sniffling and probably a million tissues, everyone was better-except me!
I finally agreed to go to the doctor and was given an antibiotic for an ear infection and a sinus infection.
On the same day that I started antibiotics, our van was being looked at. (Insert ominous music here.) As with most car troubles, this was not a cheap fix-- and there were multiple fixes!!
Well, the car was fixed, everyone was on the mend and January is about over. But, our bumps are not! Just before finishing my round of antibiotics, I started getting a horrible headache and my face started twitching. I thought maybe all the worrying and sleepless nights were catching up to me and tried to ignore it. But, by Monday (two days ago) I couldn't ignore it anymore. The right side of my face was numb and tingly, I couldn't feel part of tongue or close my right eye. So, into the doctor I went, again! The semi comical conclusion to our month is that I have Bell's Palsy. It's not very serious, but it is frustrating and somewhat painful! (see WebMD for details.) I have a minor case. It feels worse than it looks, thankfully! It's hard to eat with half of my mouth not working and it's almost impossible to make up on an eye that won't stay closed! But, Brian is trying to keep me upbeat and has taken to calling me Lilo and Twitch!
Now, before this post begins to look too much like list of complaints, let me get to the moral of the story:
I am so grateful for my blessings and my trials because they are mine. Heavenly Father knows each of us so well. I can handle my trials because He is always there for me and my family. I can chalk this month of bumps and bruises up to experience. I am coming away from all these little trials unscathed. I am blessed.

Serious Reflections

Sydney shared a very serious 8-year-old thought with me on Sunday evening: "Whenever I sing 'Families Can Be Together Forever,' I remember childhood memories." I asked Sydney to give me some examples, and she listed some every day experiences. What a sweet little girl!

Payton was watching Brian kill a spider. It was a tiny spider, so Brian was teasing us about not killing it ourselves. He asked Payton, "What if the spider jumps on my hand and eats me?" Without missing a beat, Payton replied, "We'll have to get a new dad." We laughed, but it also made me think about how grateful I am for my little family.