I am still alive (I think)

I have had every intention of posting about my wonderful sweet favorite 5 year old daughter in the whole wide world and the exciting festivities that rang in her 5th year of life last week.  It was such a fun birthday with family and friends and I have so much to write about but life took over this week and it sucked every bit of energy that I have out of me.  Hannah's birthday post will come soon when I am in a little better state of mind. 

This past week has been tough.  It started Monday when I took Lily to be officially tested for her peanut allergy and found out that not only is she allergic to peanuts, but to eggs and milk as well.  I was more than a little shocked and I am still trying to wrap my mind around cooking for Lily with no eggs and milk.  So we received that news Monday afternoon and then that night Lily woke up with the unmistakable cough that comes with croup.  There was no sleep that night between her fits of coughing, us running the shower to try to see if steam would help and rocking her pretty much all night trying to console her.  As if that were not enough, Tuesday night Lily woke up with a 104 degree temperature and Matt and I were back in bathroom, this time putting her in a lukewarm bath trying to get her temp down. Thankfully we had medicine to help us that night.  Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, Wednesday night Hannah threw up right before bed time and was up way in to the night with tummy troubles.  Thursday and Friday were no better with Hannah's tummy problems and Lily's sickness.  Lily continued to run a high fever and we were back at the doctor yesterday.  All the drainage from Lily's croup had given her the beginnings of an ear infection, so we were prescibed some good medicine that has finally helped.  After a really high temperature of over 104 last night, Lily's fever finally broke and she seems to be finally feeling better.   Hannah seems to be improving too and so I am hoping that everyone will sleep soundly tonight so that when Easter arrives tomorrow my girls will be ready to hunt a few eggs and enjoy some quiet family time together.

All of this sickness during this week leading up to Easter has really put me in mind of how Mary must have felt watching her son suffer so profoundly before his death.  It has been so hard watching poor Lily this week.  Three nights we have been so close to taking her to the emergency room with her extremely high temperatures and breathing problems.  At times truly being scared for her well being.  As hard as this was to watch and experience as a mother, I can only imagine what Mary had to go through during the time leading up to Jesus' death.  The pain that she must have felt watching the child that she loved so much suffer so horribly and knowing in her heart that he was going to die.  I find so much comfort in Mary's strength as a mother and her faith in God and I am so glad that I have her example in times of trouble.  She has provided me with much comfort this week and cannot tell you how thankful I am that Hannah and Lily seem to be on their way to better health.

I hope that you all have a wonderful Easter.  I will leave you with these pictures I took today of Lily.  I can't tell you how great it was to see a smile on her face again and I knew she was feeling better when the princess attire came back out of the closet...