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- Well – the big question of the day is: Did Braelynn actually have the chicken pox?
If you were here last week, I wrote all about how Braelynn had developed a rash/some spots that instead of going away, seemed to spread. She never complained about them itching, she never had a fever, she was her normal, usual (crazy) self. But, I took her to the doctor (because, even though I didn’t think they were chicken pox, I wanted to rule it out) and he declared that they were, in fact, chicken pox.
This news, of course, sent our whole house into quarantine mode (strangely reminiscent of last March at this time). I settled in to spend the next 21 days at home, tending to two chicken poxed kids (assuming that Leander would soon come down with it as well).
WELL – it’s been 8 days since her diagnosis & I’m now doubting the chicken pox claim. I have watched Braelynn like a hawk all week & after the appearance of the 8-10 spots that showed up Friday morning (which were the cause of us going to the doctor) zero more spots have appeared (which is incredibly strange to me). Chicken pox are then supposed to blister, burst, and scab over – and when all of the spots are scabbed over – the child is declared not-contagious & ready to go back to normal life.
The problem is: none of Braelynn’s spots have blistered or scabbed over. They have simply faded & disappeared.
So, along with her lack of “normal” chicken pox symptoms (other than the 12-15 spots she had), we are simply flabbergasted. And now, I’m honestly on the fence as to whether Braelynn actually had the chicken pox or not. She simply had some strange spots, that appeared chicken-pox-like, but that’s it.
Thus enters the trickiest part of all: we just don’t know. Is it possible that Braelynn simply had the world’s mildest case of chicken pox? Possibly. And, if that’s the case, Leander should come down with chicken pox within the next week or so (it could be up to 21 days after coming in contact with a contagious person). But if she didn’t have chicken pox & it was just some weird rash? Then, we’re living in quarantine for nothing. But – we just don’t know.
So, ultimately: we’re playing it safe. Leander will remain in quarantine at least thru this week. Braelynn’s spots have completely disappeared as of Thursday – and today is the 10-day mark since they first appeared – so even if she did have chicken pox, she is now completely free of quarantine. (Which means, she & I can go attend her cousin’s birthday party tomorrow & Leander will stay home with Daddy, just to be safe.)
But, it’s just so frustrating not knowing. Welcome to life with kids, I guess. - Since we’ve been in quarantine all week – I knew I needed something to keep me busy (and sane). One of the Instagram accounts I follow was starting a spring cleaning challenge & so I decided that would be perfect. Week 1 was focused on tackling the bathroom – and not just giving it a deep clean, but really taking stock of everything, purging, organizing, etc. It took me three days to get thru our one bathroom (now, for context, I wasn’t working on it non-stop, and I do have 2 small children that need my attention about every 10-15 minutes or so). But I am SO proud of what I accomplished! I packed up an entire garbage bag full of random sheets, pillowcases & old towels to be donated + I filled almost a full garbage bag of random bathroom stuff that just needed thrown away. Not to mention the deep deep clean I did – I literally washed the walls, the ceiling, the floors, the windows (along with all the normal stuff you clean in a bathroom) – it was quite intense & I honestly don’t think my bathroom has ever been so clean!
Next week’s focus is the kitchen & I’m SUPER excited – there is SO much random stuff in my kitchen that I never use – I’m pumped to get rid of stuff! YAY for spring cleaning! - Thankfully, the weather all this week has been quite amazing, so we were able to spend lots of time outside (which helps SO much with not being able to leave the house!) Of course, that also means we welcomed our first “scrapes” of summer – Leander fell & scraped his knee & wrist up pretty bad, and then on another day, Abby knocked Braelynn over & she scraped up her thigh, knee, and ankle pretty bad. After patching everyone up, I just smiled & said, “This is just the beginning!”
- OH – duh – speaking of spring cleaning!! I GOT A NEW VACUUM CLEANER THIS WEEK!! It’s SO AMAZING. Our old vacuum was starting to get a little iffy & my sister (who is a professional house cleaner) was over & told Derrick that we needed a new vacuum, so he said, “Okay! Go get one!” Just in case we haven’t met: I LOVE to vacuum – it’s literally my favorite household chore. If I could just vacuum all day (in place of doing dishes & laundry & scrubbing the toilet) I 110% would. It’s my favorite. So, having “permission” to buy an “expensive” vacuum was SO EXCITING. Not that I needed “permission” (Derrick trusts me & if I think something is needed, I am 100% free to go get that thing) – but let’s be honest: getting a suped-up Shark vacuum is kind of a luxury. It came on Wednesday & omigoodness, it is SO GOOD. I promptly vacuumed my entire house with it & simply fell in love. I love it so much that it made it’s way into this week’s Abby’s Saturday photo. (Don’t be fooled – Abby hates the vacuum and runs & hides anytime I get it out – I had to exercise some serious bribery to get her to sit next to it!)
(I’m realizing that I wrote a lot of all-capital-letter words in this paragraph & it looks like I’m yelling – I’m so sorry.) - I was presented with the opportunity to receive this awesome star-light projector in exchange for a good review this week & I said, “Heck, yes.” It’s this super cool light that you plug in and it throws laser stars & different color light projections around the room. I’ve seen other people have similar things, but just never wanted to “splurge” and spend the money on one myself (yes, deep down I am a cheapskate – contrary to the evidence of me buying an expensive vacuum cleaner this week!) We’ve used it every single night as part of our bedtime routine & the kids just LOVE it! You see, unlike adults, kids actually need some high-energy time before bed in order to get all of their extra craziness out & to sleep their best. And so this week, we instituted the “pre-bedtime dance party” – we turn off all the lights, pull the curtains, plug in the star-light, and play some fun/crazy music in order to dance/jump/get all the wiggles out. And I must say: it’s worked SO well. The kids absolutely love it & it’s a lot of fun (plus, in combination with all the lovely fresh air & sunshine they’ve gotten this week, they’ve slept really well.)
