Upgrades... and not so much

We've been working REALLY hard on the kitchen, it's one of the few big projects we have left. Many moons ago I posted about our new appliances, which have sat looking awesome surrounded by a sea of... not awesome. Very dark cabinets, still stamped with their "Proud Product of _____ Cabinets, 1979." A little dated, say I. We wanted white, aaaaallllll white, so we started with those new white appliances and then started painting last month.  Lots and lots and LOTS of painting to take those very dark cabinets to very white, kicking ourselves and our color choice after our 4th coat on everything, but in the end we upgraded THIS:  

 To THIS:

 We're not done, we bought new countertops and a new sink and faucet, and you can spy (with your little eye) white subway tile laying on the counter in the top upgrade pic to replace the brick veneer, so then it'll be REALLY sparkly & new. I may even be forced to stage before I take finished photos.

Ethan upgraded from "beached whale" to "sitter extraordinaire." Yay! A new level in "the rotation" (my hip, Bumbo, excersaucer, tummy time, now the floor")

 Patrick, unfortunately, downgraded to ... THIS

We're not sure what it is. On Tuesday morning he had one bump on his jaw, which itched; we figured it was a bug bite. By the end of the day he had 5 or 6 itchy spots on his face, we upgraded "bug" to "mosquito stuck in the bedroom." The next morning he came into my room at 6:00, crying, "I itch!" and had itchy red spots all over his arms, neck, and face. ESPECIALLY face. I had a sinking feeling as my deep-seated fear (Joe says paranoia, he's probably right) that we were being invaded by bugs seemed to be blooming before my very eyes. We have absolutely no evidence of ANY bug infestation, but Joe & the boys enjoy watching freaky nature shows on Netflix, including "Infested" which has an episode on bedbugs. The day after I unfortunately watched that episode (stupid! stupid!) I learned that Pueblo is ranked #14 of Worst Bedbug Cities in the entire U.S. PUEBLO?! This very large nation has plenty of cities to choose from, so it's not a good thing that small-town Pueblo hit the top 50... even the top 20!  Denver, for anyone thinking, "dang, Pueblo is ghetto!" was ranked #6. So I've had bugs on the brain ever since that show (stupid! stupid!) and I wanted the Doc to rule out bug bites. We took him in to see what was going on and they first definitely ruled out bug bites (SIIIIIIGH of relief) but then they got stuck. Our pediatrician called in her partner, who called in his 2 med students, and all 4 doctors were fairly stumped. They leaned away from chicken pox since the bumps aren't quite right and they're confined to his face/neck/arms, so they suggested a few other possibilities that I can't pronounce, but that aren't dangerous, just ugly. Basically, it's a viral infection, much like chicken pox, but it isn't chicken pox. No fever, no achiness, but also no friends until he's clear in 1-3 weeks. Fingers crossed for 1.  Kari said "now you'll NEVER be able to convince me to join a gym," and I'm beginning to think she's got a point since I believe the gym daycare is where my kids also picked up the stomach flu; for two workouts I've basically lost a month of my life. No treadmill is worth that.