Sneezy

My kids are all little sickies.  They've had this horrendous cough/cold for weeks now.  Maddie was the first to get it, then Jude, then Claire, and last - but never least - Ms. Ella Bell.  Maddie is just about done with it, but Ella is still in the thick of the nastiness.

Now, when it comes to being sick, all of my kids have some sort of strange trademark.  Madelyn HONESTLY doesn't know how to sneeze.  Within days of her birth we realized it.  She starts with a half cough, followed by an "ack" noise, then this weird head jerk while making a "CH" sound, then a real sneeze.  It is the STRANGEST thing to witness, and people turn to see what the drama is all about every time she does it.

Jude has had asthma since he was a baby, so when he gets sick, all of his coughs turn into asthmatic coughs.  He barks, he wheezes, he sounds like he is going to vomit, then stops and goes on about his business.

Ella hasn't really been much of a cougher - but she is a sneezer, and she actually knows how to sneeze.  Ella sneezes usually 4-5 times/hour when she has a cold, and I kid you not, it is GUARANTEED that after every single sneeze she will look like this:

Did that gross you out?  Imagine wiping this several times/hour....AND this is only an average booger shoot.  Sometimes they hang well past her chin.  Oh, and it's even more disgusting when it happens while you are driving, have no tissues, and have to yell, "KEEP LOOKING UP!" so it doesn't spill all over her shirt and car seat.

BDEM:  Oh man, perhaps it is the grinch in me, but doesn't de-Christmasing sometimes seem as great (if not better) than Christmasing?  I feel like my house is finally clean.  Oh, and I even finished taking the tree down, getting all the decorations put away, vacuuming and dusting five minutes before the SURPRISE meeting Rob had at our house at 5pm.  I'm glad they didn't all show up at 4:30!