I was hoping that we would be past all the sickness by now, but instead we spent the weekend in the hospital with Chase. Between Friday night and Saturday morning Chase was having a coughing fit. Emilie checked on him and decided to give him some medicine because he had a fever. Shortly after taking the medicine he began coughing so hard that he gagged, thus expelling his medicine. Emilie became concerned when she noticed blood mixed in with his recently evacuated medicine.

Emilie took Chase in to have him checked and they performed a barrage of tests on him. He was negative for flu or H1N1, but they found that he had double ear infections and bilateral pneumonia. He was finally admitted to the hospital on Saturday afternoon. Emilie spent most of the day with him and then I spent the night with him.

I missed the insertion of the IV, but according to Emilie it took four nurses to help hold him down long enough to get the IV in. He was very cooperative and brave after that, but by Sunday morning it was apparent that he had had enough. Although he toughed out the breathing treatments, he finally said no to having his blood pressure checked.

Chase was released shortly before noon yesterday and has been doing quite well. He hates taking his medicine - sometimes he tortuously bears it and other times we have to force it down. His mood is still quite cranky, but his appetite seems to be getting much better.

Jaxon and Mason are recovered, but Bryce still has a lingering cold. We're just hoping everyone gets better by Christmas.

December was a month of serious partying. First, we had Bryce's big one year celebration. We had a small group of family over that consisted of grandparents and the "duckies". When it came time to sing to him he wanted to grab the flame so badly that he had to be restrained. Here's a picture of the moment:

Chase also had his birthday in December. Once again, it was a low key affair with just grandparents.

Christmas was a particular joy because everyone was fairly healthy - something we haven't enjoyed for years. We had a fantastic Christmas Eve out in Spanish Springs at the S. household. On Christmas day we went to Emilie's parents for a fabulous prime rib Christmas dinner. After dinner we spent the rest of Christmas at my parent's home. Between Christmas and New Years we had a lot of fun family time. As previously stated, it was doubly fun because no one was sick.

In addition to the family partying, we also attended my work Christmas party. The food was okay, but we were mystified that the Christmas party had a "Studio 54" theme. To make it all the more authentic, the ballroom was scattered with "exotic dancers". No joke. I'm not sure if they were intentionally trying to be offensive or if they just wanted to make everyone extremely uncomfortable. Either way, they certainly achieved their goal. They sent out a survey asking for feedback about the party. I said it was okay, but maybe next year it would be cool to have Andrew Dice Clay come do an act. Or they could do a "Silence of the Lambs" theme. That would certainly open up a lot of possibilities for dining and entertainment. We'll see if they actually take the feedback seriously or not.

The most exciting thing about the party is that we got real babysitters to come watch the kids for us. Not even family members - just a couple of young women from church. Shockingly, everything seemed to work out okay. Maybe one day we'll get to do it again. One day...

A few entertaining things from our kids lately:

Chase: While playing Rock Band a few weeks ago (a rare luxury that we enjoy every other month or so) Chase began playing along on the drums. He was drumming to the beat, but he was singing the words to "the wise man built his house upon a rock."

As Christmas approached last month Chase asked us if Santa was going to come down the chili.

Jaxon: At the conclusion of family home evening on Monday we had Jaxon say the prayer. The prayer was kind of a combination between his own words and the words I was telling him to say. That was kind of funny, but we were far more amused when instead of ending his prayer with "amen" he said "the end".

Bryce: A few weeks ago we were just finishing our nighttime routine, including baths. Everyone was ready for bed except Jaxon, who was still in the tub. Bryce had been extracted from the tub and had his pajamas on but apparently decided the party in the tub wasn't over yet. He climbed in fully clothed. This is something Jaxon used to do on a regular basis. I'm sooo glad that we still have a child who likes to do that.

Since our kids have been sick we've been giving them Gatorade to help keep them hydrated. For some reason we can't get any of them to call it Gatorade. It is simply known as "alligator". It's a blast when you have a room full of kids whining because they want "alligator". One of these days I'm going to put a real alligator in their cups to help them learn the difference.

All the kids are horribly sick, so that must mean it's time to blog. I'm quite bitter because I blogged a couple of weeks ago and my stuff didn't save. BAH! So I lost the inspiration to blog.

It started with Mason. He got a fever and was hoarse and coughy. He is mostly recovered, but still has a bit of fever. Jaxon picked it up a few days later and has been quite miserable. In a fit of delirium last night he freaked out and started screaming that he needed to be covered up. Emilie went up to check on him only to find that he was already covered up. The ongoing fevers led to a trip to the doctor today for Jaxon and Mason. The doctor says all is well - just a bad cold.

As Jaxon and Mason slowly rebound, Chase and Bryce have been in decline. They both had a horrible night last night. And of course that means that Emilie and I had a rough night. Emilie certainly bears the brunt , though.

To ensure at least some progress I'm going to leave this entry short and sweet and full of talk of sickness. More to come...