The Time We Got COVID-19

Dear Kiddos, 

Literally, days after I wrote my last post, we realized that our family was hit by COVID. We avoided it for almost 2 years and as an afterthought, I felt like we were very fortunate to have gotten it when we did. 

On the 6th, I started feeling a bit more tired than normal and my throat started to feel a little bit scratchy. I chalked it up to seasonal cedar allergies (which were very bad at that time) but to be safe, I took a home test and it turned out negative. 

Friday morning, I woke up with a slightly sore throat, convinced that I administered the test wrong, I took another one that morning and was again surprised that it was negative. That day, a neighbor who we had a play date with let me know that her kid was running a fever. The kids came home and were fine. 

Saturday morning, right before we headed out to martial arts, I get a text from the neighbor to let us know that her son tested positive. As another precaution, I used our last test on Nathan and he tested positive. (Thinking back, we probably caught COVID on the plane, transmitted it to our neighbor, and you kids remained asymptomatic, while your friend developed a fever. Who knows.) 

Immediately, I thought of Hailey. How long has she been exposed, does she have it? I started to be a little anxious because of your heart condition. Would we have to quarantine Nathan in a room by himeself? Make everyone wear masks at home? If we could just know if you also had COVID, we would know what we need to do. Luckily,  another friend in the neighborhood offered us a test and I gladly accepted. It turned out that Hailey, you tested positive too. 

So, then started our week of quarantine. 

I took Hannah to get tested at our school district's testing hub on Monday morning and she was negative, which was a complete surprise. On Thursday I took her in to be tested again and she still tested negative. She went to school the next day. 

Nathan went back to school the following Monday. And Hailey, being unvaccinated didn't start school until 10 days after she tested positive. 

All 3 kids were completely asymptomatic and were completely normal (as normal as you three can be). 

So, this time, we basically fully quarantined for a week. With cedar pollen levels off the charts outside, we spent almost all of it indoors. This time around we were home, which made it pretty nice. 

We had groceries delivered and spent the whole week making gourmet meals to pass the time.  

I pulled out all the old pantry items and let you guys iron chef it to use up things like 2 year old boxes of pudding mix. 

After a good rain and at least 5 days of quarantine, we went outside for a short hike. Already then I started to feel short of breath just walking. 

We also did all sorts of weird science experiments and art projects. 

And we baked some more. 

Thinking back, our quarantine came at the perfect time. Things had been pretty hectic and it was nice to have a reset, to slow down and just spend time with each other at home without having the pressure of a bunch of school work. I felt pretty crummy with cold symptoms for about 3 days and basically was back to normal, with the exception of getting out of breath easier and a slightly elevated resting heart rate. This lasted for about a month. 

After our quarantine was over you big kids went back to school and Hailey we resumed our weekly playdate with our friend. That week we explored the Wildflower center's children's garden. 

Hailey, you wanted to create a recipe with all the things. 2 times I let you go nuts in the kitchen: The first creation was pretty good, palatable. The second one you took a bite, half- convincingly proclaimed that it was delicious, but quickly followed with an "I'm not hungry right now" disclaimer. 

Your princess drawing skills have become quite impressive. 

You are not a big fan of feeding animals from your hands. You are ok with serving them the food from the safety of your coat sleeve. 

Nathan, I took down the baby nursery decor (I made one of my first posts about setting up that nursery for you) and refreshed things to Pokemon theme. You drew some of the artwork and I colored them in with paint. 

Nathan you went to your first birthday party in 2 years a few weeks ago. While you were there, we had your friend's little brother come over to play. Essentially, we traded sons for the night. Hailey loves playing hide-and-go-seek with this friend and we played that for about an hour or so. Hannah, the next day, you admitted that entertaining little kids is very hard work. 

The Lunar New year also came and went. On the night before Lunar New Year, we made some dumplings. Hailey, you helped wet the dough to make it sticky. 

Hannah and Maddie helped wrap the dumplings. 

And the boys did a great job in inhaling down the dumplings. 

Nathan and Hailey, you two have become closer after being stuck at home with COVID. Here, you  two are making a story together. 

AISD has started to give their teachers a day off each month for the rest of the year. That day Daddy also happened to have a big presentation, so we booked last minute tickets on Austin's duck adventure tour. It was fun to be tourists in the city that you live in. 

We even stopped by Voodoo doughnuts and everyone got to pick out a doughnut. We love going there also because they have vegan doughnuts that Hailey can have. 

 Nathan and Hannah have their best testing this week in martial arts. They are looking forward to it. 

Hannah started taking tennis lessons once a week and Nathan will start spring baseball soon. Nathan, you just had tryouts this past weekend so we look forward to seeing who from last year is on your team again this year. 

I am pursuing a path down children's book writing and illustrating. I'm still working on my first book, so we will see where that goes. I have also started a job at Hailey's preschool. I will start out as an assistant teacher, and we will see where this opportunity takes me. I just had my first day today and it fills my heart to be back in the classroom. 

Things are looking good for us right now. Until next time, 

Love, 

Mommy