Under The Weather

We are wrapping up a full week of someone being sick in the Hoage household, and we are not through yet. It all started well, a week ago, when Miriam had a low fever. We weren't concerned at all and assumed she was just teething again. The next day, Matt got very sick ... a full-blown head cold which resulted in him only working half a day. Thursday we all thought things were maybe getting on the mend. Not so fast... Miriam woke up Friday morning with a temperature of 102.9. Oddly, she really hadn't been showing any other symptoms, but we called because the fever was so high. We all went in to the doctor that morning to come back with the diagnosis of "a really bad cold." We were told putting her on antibiotics wasn't really necessary -we just needed this one to run its course. Through the weekend, her fever remained high and Matt was still not 100%. This whole time, I seemed to be holding up just fine! I figured my "teacher's immunity" would carry me through this one. Anyway, Monday came and Miriam's fever was going down a bit again. We figured this was the end. However, Matt still was so-so and now I was dealing with a terrible sore throat and a cough. Then comes this morning: as we were taking Miriam's pajamas off, we noticed a rash all over her body. It wasn't extreme, it was just very noticeable. Thus, resulting in another call to the doctor. They wanted to see her again, so I headed off in below zero weather to the doctor... again. This time, they were able to diagnose her with something: Roseola. I had never heard of this before and really don't have a whole lot of an explanation for it... so I will let WebMD take care of that:

Roseola (roseola infantum) is a mild illness caused by a virus. It is generally harmless and is most common in children 6 months to 2 years of age. It is rare after age 4. Roseola often starts with a sudden high fever [103 F to 105 F] that lasts 2 to 3 days, although it can last up to 8 days. The rapid increase in temperature may be the first sign of roseola and often occurs before you realize that your child has a fever. The fever ends suddenly.

After the fever ends, a rosy-pink rash may appear mostly on the trunk (torso), neck, and arms. The rash is not itchy and may last 1 to 2 days.

In rare cases, a sore throat, stomach ache, vomiting, and diarrhea occur.

A child with roseola may appear fussy or irritable and may have a decreased appetite, but most children behave almost normally.

So, there we have it. Plus, she had an ear infection. The doctor said she was pretty much a textbook case for this and prescribed us with antibiotics and we were on our way. We are hopefully seeing a light at the end of this tunnel and will be a fully functioning family again. Please pray for our recovery :)

Following in Papa's Shoes, part 2.

...or, in this case, Auntie Kim's sunglasses! Either way, she sure has fun "dressing up"!

Following in Papa's Shoes

...or sweatshirt. Maybe in a few years, her legs and arms will show!

Is it really already a week into January? Christmas came and went very quickly this year (except for the fact that I started listening to Christmas music way back in October, so I feel like I got an adequate amount of time to enjoy it). We celebrated Christmas a bit differently this year. Usually Matt and I scrambling around between different extended families, but we were able to slow down a bit this year. As much as I love my Christmas traditions, it was fun to be able to just relax and have a longer amount of time to spend with family members. Matt had to work Christmas Eve with there being a few services at church, so we spent the evening at home after that and got ready to head to Owatonna on Christmas Day. We enjoyed being able to go to church together and have a quiet evening at home.

The next morning, we enjoyed having Miriam open up a few presents at home before we left. It was fun watching her tear into her presents this year! She's starting to get the hang of it. Then, we headed down to Prior Lake where we spent part of Christmas Day with my mom's side of the family. After that, we headed to Owatonna where I would remain until after New Year's. My brother, sister-in-law, sister and brother-in-law all came to Owatonna Friday evening so we could have our family Christmas then. We had a lot of laughs, a lot of food, and a lot of "500." It was a great time. Matt headed back to work for the weekend and next few days while I stayed back.

My time in Owatonna went by far too quickly... I was able to use the time to catch up with old friends who I don't get to see very often, along with some time just to relax (and often in front of a fireplace). We also enjoyed having a few relatives come down and visit while we were there. It was great having my own "Christmas break" this year.

We came back on Saturday evening (unfortunately in an ice storm) and have finally gotten back to life as usual at home. Our Christmas decorations are down and Miriam has become reacquainted with her toys once again. Miriam is beginning to add more words to her vocabulary every day... along with a few more teeth! Yes, there are now three (just three!) teeth coming in the top. This will bring her grand total up to five :) She is such a joy and we treasure our times with her.

Here are a few pictures from our long "vacation":

That was as good as we could get for a picture of Miriam in her Christmas dress... she is just too squirmy right now :)

She loved her new little xylophone!

Oh yes, and one last picture... showing off her Purple Pride! Unfortunately, the Vikings didn't pull through... but we enjoyed dressing her up for the game last week!