Thankful Thursday

As I sit here, freezing cold, hating winter, dreading that I have to take two sick babies out in negative temperatures, I am overcome by a feeling of gratitude.

Here me out, this is not an "I realized winter ain't so bad" post. Never.
I am thankful for healthy babies.
When I was pregnant with Kendall I remember reading through some blogs, women who were also pregnant, and some of them had not such great pregnancies/births. I couldn't bring myself to read some posts because the reality was I had no idea what kind of pregnancy I would have and what the outcome of labor and delivery would be. I couldn't bear the thought of something awful happening and no one should ever have to experience such tragedy.
Fast forward, two healthy pregnancies, births and babies later.
I am pretty sure I can count on one hand the number of times I've taken Kendall in for a sick visit. She' s got a great immune system and even preschool germs don't affect her. When we go in for her, now yearly, well checks her pediatrician is always so surprised that there are no blue slips in her file {indicating a sick visit}.
James hasn't been as fortunate, however. He's had more ear infections in 18 months than she's had in 4 years. He got RSV/bronchialitis right at Christmas time. We've probably had just as many sick visits as we've had well checks with him.
Today they are both sick. They both have this nasty, nasty cough. Kendall is fever-ish. Last night, around 10:30, James woke up coughing so hard he couldn't catch his breath, completely freaked Jimmy and I out. His eyes were watering, his face was so red, he kept looking at me like, "Mom, I feel awful". After sitting in the steamy bathroom, hot water on full blast, we got the coughing to stop and he was able to fall back asleep with no more issues through the night.
But I don't think either of us felt at ease sending him back to bed so we turned the motion detector back on on the Angelcare monitor, something we turned off months ago. He didn't wake up again and seemed to sleep pretty good. But, needless to say, we are going to the pediatrician today.
Today I was feeling bad for myself. I have to drag both of them out in this winter wonderland {our high today is 3 degrees}. Why are they both sick? Why is it so cold? Where is spring?! Wah wah wah.
But then I realized how minute my "problem" is in comparison to kids who have terminal illnesses, spend their days in the hospital, and parents who wish their biggest "problem" was a sick visit to the pediatrician.
So, reality check, I'll stop my complaining, bundle the kids up, get them to the doctor, pick up a Starbucks along the way, and get them better. It's really not that bad.
I'm thankful for their health, for an amazing doctors office where I love all the pediatricians, for a warm car with remote start so I don't even have to brave the elements much, for warm clothes, a warm house, and hot chocolate/coffee to warm us when we come home.
That is what I'm thankful for today.