the bella girl

This week started out pretty bad. Naya has been out of sorts for days and seems to get one cold after another. But what's been more concerning is Ella. On Sunday evening she started having what appeared to be an allergic reaction to something. When Josh went to bathe her he noticed she was covered in hives and her right knee was swollen, hot and red. This is also her smaller leg due to a club foot. She did not want to stand and limped if she tried to walk. The Dr said to bring her in the morning. She was much improved by the time I took her in Monday, and her blood work and X-rays came back normal. By Monday afternoon she appeared to be in alot of pain and literally could not even take a step. She said she had to go to the potty but she just stood there crying unable to lift her leg and take a step. I was on the phone with the Dr's office several times and they said to give her ibuprofen and wait it out. When that kicked in she started to walk but with a severe limp.
As every parent knows there is nothing more heart-wrenching than seeing your child in pain. All I wanted was to make it go away , to stop the tears. I was scanning the Internet for some possible explanation. I have this annoying knack for imagining the worst scenarios and for some how feeling personally responsible when my kids are falling apart. I kept thinking, could it be a bite of some sort or did I give her something to eat she's allergic to? And why is Naya so not herself? Mom's are supposed to be able to make everything better so when we can't and the whining won't end it's just exhausting. I came home from my girls group Monday night after having given them my flustered rant and starting feverishly cleaning the house until I thought, "why am I mopping floors at almost mid-night?" I felt slapped in the face with the fact that ultimately I can not keep my kids safe and healthy all the time. It's amazing how much time I find to get on my knees when something goes wrong. I spent a lot of that night just praying for Ella and thanking God for my family. I thought about all the parents who have children with chronic illness or disabilities. How do they cope when pain is their "normal" everyday life? I offered up a prayer for them. God give them grace. I 'm not even doing well with a couple of days. His mercies are new every morning. Thankfully when Ella woke up on Tuesday she seemed a lot better, no hives, no limp. I'm still baffled as to what is happening with her and ask for your prayers as I noticed some hives have reappeared again today along with an occasional slight limp again.

On a brighter note Ella's cousin Dove called her on the phone this morning, and the conversation sounded like this from our end;
" Hi Dovey, I comin to your house today." She then proceeded to sing loudly into the phone all of 'Jesus loves me' and a remix of 'The B-I-B-L-E' and 'Ee-igh,Ee-igh, oh' which was very amusing. Then she said,'See ya lata Dovey, wuv you."
Is there anything in the world more completely darling than two year old girls?