Sick, Skin & Skates

The fall colors are definitely starting to pop in our neck of the woods and there is a serious chill in the air up here. I seriously LOVE fall.

What I don't love is sickness! Loki came down with his first REAL sickness last week. Overall, I would call Loki a pretty healthy kid. In fact, he didn't come down with a cold until he started daycare. And then (SIGH), he became one of those snot nosed daycare children. The kind with the eternal runny nose. I know it's good for him (especially since he's not vaccinated), but it's annoying that it NEVER seems to go away.

The cold wasn't a big deal and he seemed to deal well with it, but then he developed this weird seal like cough - we figured it was just Croup. He seemed to be fine during the day. So, we took him to daycare Monday and they sent him right back home again by 11 AM with a fever. We kept breaking the fever, but the damn thing kept right on coming back for a couple of days! The trickiest thing about this virus (aside from it's persistence and the fact that it was the first REAL virus Loki's gotten), was that I couldn't cuddle with him every minute of the day because I had to nurse Elora. There is nothing sadder (or more stressful) than watching your sick child cry and try to climb on top of his little sister just to get lap access which he was denied. But I am happy to report that we all weathered the storm and life is looking a little brighter on this side of things!

In other health related news, our children seem to be host to a variety of skin related ailments. Elora has had a nasty combination of baby acne and cradle cap. My midwives suggested that I give up dairy to see if that makes a difference. Well, her skin has cleared up (there is a chance that it would have done this on it's own - so it's difficult to say if the two are related) but we have also noticed that she is less gassy and uncomfortable when I don't eat dairy. So, I don't eat dairy. And let me just tell you - it is VERY difficult to give up dairy. You wouldn't believe how many products have dairy in them. I figured it would be pretty easy to give it up (except for the ice cream part). Well, I have developed a serious respect for people with dietary restrictions - imagine not being able to eat gluten! Whew! I'm counting my blessing!

Loki's skin issues are FAR more minor - just a touch of diaper rash that in more persistent cases, we treat with nudity! (Whitebread does not approve of the attached photo - but did not forbid me to include it - :D - personally, I find it HILARIOUS and GREAT ammo for any future tormenting with girlfriends!)

I seriously didn't intend for this to be an all health post - but it's what's going on in our world right now. I'm becoming quite the herbalist.

FYI ~ our doctor recommended Elderberry extract, in case any of us come down with the flu. It's supposed to be VERY effective - so, we've stocked up and we're trying to make sure that we're all strong enough to avoid a debilitating episode.

We've started our Ghost Tours and they're going pretty well. We haven't done many of them, yet. We do have alot scheduled for the weekend before Halloween and the weekend of Halloween. In fact, we've got a charter Halloween night for a group of 15 & 16 year old girls. We're driving them out to a party WAY out in the country and just to spice things up a bit, we're organizing a zombie attack of the bus! I'm excited and nervous. It should be a good time.

Since we don't have a tour this evening, I think I'm going to take the kids to a Roller Derby Scrimmage. This is seriously one of the coolest things to do in our town. I'd LOVE to be a roller derby girl. I even picked out a name - "Rainbow Fright"! Unfortunately, there just isn't enough time in the day for me to get involved...YET! :)

We're wishing you all a happy and HEALTHY fall.

Bunn Lovin's to ALL!!!