Valentine's Day

On Valentine's Day, Lea was kind enough to watch my kiddos so that I could go and have a lunch date with Brian. We ate at Gloria's Little Italy, and got to sit at "Our Table". (Yeah, we've eaten there only twice, sat at the same table by the window both times. It's officially our table. It's next to a window on University Avenue, and I can see the Provo Center temple construction. It's a great table). After lunch, we went to Smith's to get balloons for the kids, and then went back to Brian's office to tie the candy that I bought for them onto the balloons.  When Brian came home after work, the kids were SO excited for their balloons and goodies. Rachel had her first sucker:

We made pink heart-shaped pancakes for dinner.

And spent the rest of the evening just hanging out with our kiddos. 

This year, we felt so much love from grandparents for our kids. My parents sent chocolates for Michael and a little bear for Rachel:

Brian's parents mailed them both cards. Michael loved getting something in the mail. 

We were also blessed with a very special Valentine's Day package from Michael & Rachel's newly adopted grandparents in Kansas, Grammie Bobbie and Papa Joe. They sent letters for Michael and I, a card for the family, a semi-truck for Michael, and a little doll for Rachel. 

Michael was in heaven!

And Rachel loved snuggling her new baby. We felt so loved and remembered. We're so blessed to have so many people loving on our family!

Sickies

On the evening of February 1, we noticed that both Michael and Rachel had rotten little coughs. We decided that we should probably keep them home from church. It was more as a precaution for the other kids. Michael handles his illnesses like a champ, rarely letting anything slow him down. Well, the next day (Sunday), we sadly watched our little boy lying around the house, not moving or saying much. Not complaining, but obviously not his typical Michael self. Rachel was a little cranky, but we gave her medicine to help her. At one point, Brian was cuddling with Michael, reading him books. Then, he passed him over to me. Michael was burning up! We checked his temperature and he was at 103 degrees! No wonder he was just laying around. We gave him some medicine, and by the next day, he was doing much better. 

But, Tuesday morning, Rachel was a lot worse. She was miserable--even though she had medicine in her system. She was completely inconsolable, had a horrible cough, and wouldn't sleep. As soon as the doctor's office opened, I called and made an appointment. As soon as the doctor heard her cough, he said, "Oh, I know what that is. Croup." Croup. Flashbacks to Anne of Green Gables and Anne administering Ipecac to Minnie Mae while everyone was at the Rally. Croup. No wonder my baby was miserable! He gave her a shot to help her breath better and said that cold wet air was the best thing for croup.

So, we went home, and invited Sam and her kids to join us on a walk since her kids were sick too. We bundled them up and headed out into the cold, wet weather.

And it started snowing on us while we were out. Thankfully, we had a plastic shield over the babies, so they stayed dry, and the other two just loved the ride. I'm sure anyone driving by must have thought we were terrible parents, but we were just following doctors' orders. And by the time the kids started feeling better, I'm pretty sure I got sick. Oh well, what do you do? It was the first time Rachel had ever been sick enough to go into the doctor, and he was impressed that she made it that long. Still, it was really sad having my babies sick.