I went back to last year's blog post about our Christmas to try to determine which year was worse, this year or last. It's a toss-up (like my pun?). Last year the sickness started a few days before Christmas and ended before New Year's. This year it started Christmas Eve and, so far, has gone on for 11 days with a few days of "wellness" mixed in here and there. We may or may not be done. I haven't gotten it yet!
Aubrey was the first to fall victim. She woke up at 10:30pm Christmas Eve with severe diarrhea for a few hours and then added vomiting for a few more hours. We didn't get any sleep that night. Christmas Day was very, very sad. Aubrey had to miss out on the Moffat family gathering. Several members of our family shed tears that morning. She and I stayed home while the rest of the family went over to Grandpa and Grandma's house with the great-grandparents and all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. Two days later Greg got it, and he was down for two days. Three days after that, Joel got it. It was Sunday, and we decided we'd better all stay home from church to keep our germs to ourselves. Turns out, that was a good decision because Grant wasn't feeling so hot that afternoon, and the next day (New Year's Eve) Kari wasn't feeling well and had some tummy trouble. Grandma and Grandma M, who had both gotten the plague earlier in the week, came over so Greg and I could go out and see Les Miserables, which we thoroughly enjoyed (didn't love Russell Crowe's singing, but Anne Hathaway's, along with the rest of the cast's more than made up for it, we decided). After the movie, they stayed and played cards with us until New Year's east coast time at 9pm. We had some sparkling cider with the kids, said good-bye to G&G, and went to bed.
Greg went back to work after New Year's Day, and we thought we were done with illness, but then Aubrey got it AGAIN. I don't know why or how, but she did, and it was bad--up most of the night again. She was miserable; we were exhausted and just plain cranky. Aubrey was on the floor in our room. We'd changed her bedding multiple times already and kept encouraging her to use the bucket. We'd hear her start to stir, and Greg and I would both say, "Bucket, use the bucket." One time, we just said, "Bucket!" in unison. It sounds funny now, but there was nothing funny about it...until about 3am when, after throwing up for the fourth time and still leaning over the bucket, Aubrey, in a dramatic yet pitiful little voice said,"I just can't take any more of this!" That struck my funny bone, and I had to turn away to hide my giggles. I chuckled about it off and on the rest of the night and thanked God for returning my sense of humor. Apparently, she could take more, because she did. Poor thing!
So, Christmas break/Greg's vacation was a bit of a bust. We didn't get to go out and do fun things as a family. We didn't get to see any of our friends. We didn't get to go play in the snow when they went up to the mountain. However, we have spent a lot of time at home together as a family, and a lot of that time has been good. Those of us who were well have played board games, played games on the new Xbox Kinect, worked on puzzles, read books, and watched movies and shows on Netflix together. I had time, in between massive loads of laundry, to organize the post-Christmas chaos, sort toy bins and closets, and just get things in order for the new year. That always feels good. The kids don't go back to school until Monday, so we're hoping for a good, healthy weekend together. We'll see if we get it!
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