Over the last several days there have been many things that triggered my "I should put that on the blog" reflex, but time and circumstances have conspired to keep me offline. Now let's see if I can remember it all.

On Friday morning (4/18) after putting Daniel back to bed after his 4 a.m. meal I felt the bed shaking. I thought John was twitching in his sleep. He felt it too and thought I was rubbing my feet together to warm up. Then we heard the closet door rattling. "Are we having an earthquake?" I asked. In fact, we were. It was centered more than 200 miles away in southern Illinois, and most people I talked to slept through it. But thanks to Daniel, we can say we felt the great Midwestern earthquake of 2008.

Our Saturday started before dawn as well when Daniel woke up coughing pretty violently around 2:30. I held him until he calmed down enough to eat, then fed him. Then he started coughing again and seemed to be having trouble getting enough air between coughs. Then he coughed so hard he threw up all over me. That's when I got on the phone to the 24-hour nurse advice line. She walked me through a sort of phone triage that ended with, "I think he should be seen in the ER." So off Daniel and I went to the newly opened Emergency Treatment Center at University Hospitals at 3 a.m. John stayed home with sleeping Edward, and luckily, was able to get back to sleep himself.

The new ER is like none I've ever seen, though admittedly I don't spend a lot of time in hospitals. There wasn't a single person in the outer waiting area when we came in. We walked right up to a registration window, I gave Daniel's name and the reason we were there, and a nurse opened the door to usher us right in to get his vitals. Then we were taken to our own room, where we stayed the whole time (except for a trip to x-ray) and we never saw another patient. At one point I heard someone start to scream in apparent pain. Within seconds, the resident who had already evaluated Daniel was in the room saying, "I'll just close the door for a bit." A few minutes later he was back to open it and all was quiet.

In addition to regular vital signs, they measured Daniel's pulse oxygenation and found him at about 95, which is the low end of acceptable. (On Tuesday when we were at the doctor for the conjunctivitis, the nurse was concerned about his chest retractions, so she measured it and it was 99.) They also took a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia or other bacterial infection. It was quite eerie to lay him out on the table and watch while they immobilized his arms over his head and weighed his legs down with a (lead?) pillow. Then we stepped away to shoot the picture. He didn't cry or fuss though--not then or really the whole time we were there. Just as we were ready to leave he was fussy so I stayed to feed him there, expecting that he could then fall asleep in the car on the way home.

The diagnosis was viral bronchitis, so nothing we can do but wait for it to clear. He's still coughing, but hasn't had any violent episodes since early Sunday. He's generally sleeping and eating well and has not had any fever. So we'll just chalk it up to building his little immune system and hope it goes away soon. Edward is also coughing, but at least I know he'd tell me if something was hurting. Plus I'd recognize a decreased activity level--anything other than full speed would be a warning sign.

So after getting home at 5:30 and sleeping until 7:30, I got up, put on my new March for Babies t-shirt and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. John was surprised to see me (he was of course already up with Edward) but I repeated what his mom says about being tired or sore while preparing for the walk: It's nothing compared to what Will went through. I can manage.

We had eight die hard Team Kenyon walkers this year plus Edward and Daniel in the stroller. Daniel slept the whole way (I had fed him in the car when we got there) and Edward basically ate the whole way (there are five sponsored rest stops along the way and they all offer treats like granola bars, graham crackers and cookies.) It was cool, humid and cloudy, but not raining, so we were good to go. (We weren't going to take the kids in case of rain--even before the ER adventure.) Thanks to all who supported us in many different ways. I know our team raised over $1,400, but more than that, we keep Will's memory alive and continue the work he started in his short life.

Saturday afternoon was nap central around here. Then Sunday morning we had a flurry of activity in preparation for our first open house. We left at nap time and headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's. It was a gorgeous sunny day, which makes our house look great, but it's not the kind of day people want to spend indoors. Especially in someone else's "doors." Our realtor seemed happy with the turn out though, so we're still in waiting (and cleaning) mode. It is really difficult to keep the house "show-worthy" on a daily basis. Mornings are that much more stressful. I know the house looks really nice this way, but once we sell and move, I'll go back to my lazy housekeeping because I just don't want to spend as much time as it takes to keep it so pristine.

6:30 p.m.--edited to add pictures and this anecdote:

Last night just after I put Daniel back to bed after feeding him (I'm not even sure what time it was--maybe around 2?) I got back in bed and then jumped out again after hearing a distinctive THUD from the next room. Ed had fallen out of bed. Those who have seen his room may be surprised that this happened. The head and one side of his bed are against walls and there is a solid bed rail penning him in on the other long side. The foot is the only open area, but sure enough, that's where he fell. We know he's an "active sleeper" based on the dried drool and snot pattern on his sheets, but I didn't think he ever got all the way down to the bottom. Guess I was wrong. I'm not sure he fully woke up. He didn't even start crying until I was already half way across the room to pick him up. John got his juice and he had a quick drink then went right back to bed. He didn't mention it this morning (and neither did we!) so I'm guessing he doesn't even remember.