Snow and Sickness

This weekend, we enjoyed several inches of snow in Nashville--a rare treat considering that the last major snowstorm was in 2003. This was definitely the most snow that Kaitlyn had seen and she couldn't wait to get outside and play. Until she discovered that fun snow was covered by a layer of ice! She did not like walking on ice at first. She cried for a while and wanted Daddy to pick her up. In the picture below, you can see her walking very cautiously across our yard.

But as with everything, she gained confidence along the way and was soon running and romping in the snow. The snow wouldn't stay together for snowballs or snowmen, but she had lots of fun picking up ice chunks and throwing them across the yard to watch them shatter into a million pieces.

Kaitlyn and Jeff.

Sadly, this was our only excursion outside in the snow. Poor Ethan never even made it outside this time because he was sick with a bad cold. But we did enjoy other cold weather activities like drinking hot chocolate and making snow cream. Jeff braved the icy roads a few times--being from NJ taught him a thing or two about winter driving. And he also rescued me when I got the XTerra stuck on a hill today taking the kids to the doctor. Alas, being from the south, I haven't had many opportunities to hone my snow-driving skills. I freely admit that I have no business driving on icy roads. But when your kids are sick and your husband has to go to work, you do what you have to do!

Speaking of sickness, we are officially calling January the "Lost Month." We have had so many illnesses this month that we barely even remember anything else that happened. A stomach bug that went through the whole family. Kids with prolonged bowel issues. Severe diaper rashes. Nasty colds that turned out to be RSV. A baby who wheezes when he breathes. Ear infections. Seriously, for a family who rarely gets more than a mild cold, this month has really taken a toll on us. I'm sure it's because Kaitlyn is in preschool now and is picking up all sorts of germs that she's never been exposed to. And then she inadvertently "shares" them with the rest of us. But we're (desperately) hopeful that February will be a better month for us.

On a happier note, when Ethan is not sick, he's a busy, busy little boy. He loves to empty all of his clean clothes out onto the floor. Too bad he doesn't know how to clean up after himself yet!

And just for fun, here's a picture of Kaitlyn doing the exact same thing when she was his age.