Illness abounds at the Beaven house!

We spent last weekend in Raleigh, just enjoying each others company and spending some quality family time before yet another deployment. We had a blast and I'll post pictures soon. It seems as though we brought back some type of bug as each of the kids are sick. Marshall actually started while in Raleigh. On Sunday night he developed a fever. He had a small cough for a few days, so I guess I wasn't too surprised. I had to manufacture my own liquid medicine with some motrin from my "the kids are working on my nerves" stash in the car, a sharp knife, hot water, lemon juice and a little bit of sugar all stolen....ahem, borrowed from the hotel's continental breakfast area! He drank it like a champ though it was surely a nasty concoction! Abby never had the cough or runny nose, but started mentioning that her ear hurt on Monday. We didn't think too much of it as she tends to be a bit on the dramatic side and if anything ACTUALLY hurts, you'll find her curled up in the corner crying. By Wednesday she was ready to go to the doctor and was diagnosed with a middle ear infection and a small perforation in her eardrum. WHOOPS! So much for being able to rely on her actions to tell how sick she is. After 12 hours of thinking maybe she is coping with pain differently as she ages, she had a miserable day on Thursday and was, as stated before, crying in a heap in the corner. Sometimes she even added a special little twist to it and followed me crying...... FUN! Another phone call to the doctor and some tylenol #3 sedated her to the point that she was happy to just lounge around reading or watching tv. Amelia is following in her brother's footsteps and is just a few days behind him. We have to get all this over and done with as next weekend is the big birthday party....Just in time for Jeremy and I to get whatever they have, I'm sure!