Coughs and Croup and Congestion, Oh My!

Once again, my kids are sick :( It's getting so old to have my kiddos sick. For what feels like the past several MONTHS, we'll have a few days where everyone is well and then someone will catch the next cold and start the whole cycle over again. That's really all it's been- just colds. But when my kids get colds, they get coughs. And they cough and cough and cough.... and no one sleeps. The other night from about 11 to midnight, David and I were literally passing each other in the halls as we went from one whimpering/coughing/crying child's room to the next. It would have been amusing if we weren't so in need of some sleep. Jude ended up with croup that night. David and I realized that if we were going to get ANY sleep, we'd have to divide and conquer. He ended up taking Jude and Francie downstairs to sleep. Francie was congested, so we knew she'd sleep better if she was slightly inclined in her swing. I was in charge of Aubrey and Alaina. Aubrey wasn't sick, so I knew she'd be no problem, but Alaina had been waking up fussing about every 5-10 minutes for the past hour. I figured I'd have a rough night with her. It turns out that I got the good end of the deal because I gave Alaina Tylenol and she never woke up again that night. Well, except once when she apparently bumped her head on her headboard?? It's a good thing I was able to get some sleep that night because last night with Francie was a doozy. I don't think she slept more than a one hour stretch all night. Whew, it was rough!

We've had some "winter weather" this week too. It's been rainy and cold and a bit icy. So, that means lots of time inside with these sickies :( I'm currently dreaming of warm days, summer nights, grilling out, dinner on the deck, evening walks.... it can't get here fast enough for me! I know that every time I update the blog recently, it seems like I'm whining about sleep... or lack thereof. But that's just kind of where we are right now. Maybe one day at least half of our kids will sleep through the night and I can move on to talking about more interesting things. Haha!

We did a lot of work on Francie's room over the weekend, and I'm liking the way it's coming together! I wasn't sure how I was going to like it. I decided to go the practical route and use Aubrey's old crib bedding instead of making new bedding. The bedding we already had is in great condition, so it was silly not to use it. It's not what I would pick if I was buying bedding today, but I do think this nursery is turning into a sweet little room for our sweet little Francie. :) Sadly, when we got ready to hang the curtains that coordinate with the bedding, they were too short for our window. Apparently the windows at our old house were a LOT lower than the windows in our current house. Quality curtains are SO stinkin' expensive! I put two panels in my cart at Pottery Barn several times but just could never pull the trigger. I scoured eBay for days and I finally bought two panels today that are originally from Pottery Barn. At a fraction of the Pottery Barn price, though. I hope they look ok with the bedding! As soon as they come in and we get them hung (we need some major light control!), Francie will FINALLY start sleeping in her own room!

In other news, Alaina turns three in a week and a half!! And I haven't planned a thing! I decided that we're just going to have our families over for dinner, though, so that shouldn't require too much planning. She's been saying for about a year that she wants a Minnie Mouse birthday party. Which is SO RANDOM because I wouldn't even say that she's into Minnie Mouse. But if the birthday girl wants Minnie Mouse, Minnie Mouse she shall have :) So yeah, I think we'll get some balloons and a few Minnie Mouse decorations and have our families over, and she'll be happy as can be! But I can't believe that she's about to turn THREE!

Well, that's pretty much our life in a nutshell lately: no sleep, coughing kids, house projects, and birthday party (not) planning! ;)