What a week this has been. Sickness has infiltrated the Sinclair household and I am the last one still standing (knocking on wood as I type). Here is a quick recap:
1. Dan had an upper respiratory infection at the end of last week and came down with the stomach bug on Monday.
2. Grace decided croup would be a fun way to start the wee hours of Tuesday morning.
3. Dan stayed incredibly sick on Tuesday but somehow managed to watch Grace enough while I went to work for a few hours.
4. Wednesday morning I walked into Grace's room only to smell the dreaded sour smell of an upset stomach that has made it's way out.
5. Grace had thrown up all over herself and her crib which would not have been so terrible except that the pipes had frozen and we only had scalding hot water in our bathtub. I believe Dan manually filled the washing machine with 50 gallons of water that day to clean Grace's crib bedding.
6. She seemed to be fine yesterday, despite her ongoing cough, until the poor thing threw up again last night.
While all this would be terrible enough on a normal week, when you stack it up the week of Valentine's Day on a lingerie store owner (who does a month's worth of business in about five days) you can see where my lack of sleep and stress has made the week seem a bit overwhelming. Not to mention, I had to have the Dr. call in a prescription for antibiotics because I woke up this morning with the beginning of a very sore throat. Again, normally all this is manageable but on top of the crazy weekend ahead at the store, I leave for Vegas on Monday morning for market. Deeeeeeep breaths.
Well tonight God smiled on us and laughter flooded our home during a week when there has been little to laugh about.
Tonight we were putting Grace to bed and started saying our prayers with her. We asked her if she wanted to say them and she said, "Thank you for Elmo, thank you for puppy, thank you for daddy, and mommy, and Grace." At this point, Dan and I started tearing up because she usually just bows her little head, mumbles something inaudibly, and then gives an emphatic "Amen!" It was just so sweet to hear her actually be thankful for something, albeit stuffed animals. The best part came next when she said, "You guys say prayers." (She has started calling Dan and I "you guys." "Good night, you guys. Love you guys. C'mere you guys.") We bowed our heads only to hear Grace pass gas like a grown man after a late night barbecue run at a truck stop. So then we started laughing so hard we couldn't breathe and were still crying from her sweetness only moments before. Dan somehow made it through a very sweet prayer with tears streaming and a huge grin. It was one of those amazing moments as a family where you think God couldn't possibly bless you anymore than He already has.
As I'm typing this Dan just said, "I really needed that after this week." I could not agree more. Here is to a better tomorrow. But even if it's not any better, there is no one I want to go through it with more than my amazing little family. God is so good.
