Brandon's Varicella Quarentine is Over!

It's been a month since the kids had their varicella shots and that means it's once again safe for Brandon to be around his siblings! We will have him home with us very soon, after his month long vacation to his Nana and Autie's houses. He has very much enjoyed his time away, he went with my sisters to the beach and has had a blast hanging out with his cousins each day. But, I think he is a bit homesick and misses us too! And I can't wait to have him back.
In case anyone missed it, because of Brandon's bone marrow issues, even though he is still in full remission, he can't be around anyone who has recently had the Varicella vaccination as it is a live virus vaccine. Because of this, all the children were born near or after his diagnosis have been unable to get their chicken pox shot. As our family has grown, we're arrived at the point where six of our little ones didn't have it. And just as being around someone who is recently vacciated is a danger to Brandon, being around someone who actually has chicken pox is also dangerous. And with six unvacciated kids, the chances of someone eventually getting it and bringing it home are pretty substantial. So the best solution was for Brandon to go spend part of his summer vacation with Nana and his aunties and cousins, something that was much looked forward to and very special for him. Then as soon as he started his vacation, Albert and I took our children to see their pediatrician for their shots. Even Jackson got one, although he had already been vacciated, he was due for a booster.
The kids did great.I had expected a mob of crying, horrified children and had spent the whole morning planning in my head how to best go about getting through all the shots. Would it be better to start with the oldest and work down? Or would that give the littles too much time to be afraid and build up into hysterics? Should we do youngest to oldest or would the older kids be too uncooperative by the time it was their turn? In the end, We played a bit of a trick on them...we had Jackson get his shot first, and asked him to pretend like it didn't hurt a bit. So, being a good sport, Jackson stepped right up and got his shot. He smiled big and said "That was fun! It doesn't hurt at all." Well, as you might expect, Brice decided that he wanted whatever fun Jackson had just had, so he too stepped forward and thrust out his arm. The nurse gave him his vacciation and not to be outdone by his older brother, Brice plastered a smile on his face as well and exclaimed that his shot, also, had not hurt. By this time, a small chorus of "me, me, me" and "My turn, my turn" had broken out in the exam room. The nurse made her way down the line, giving each child their shot. Every single one of them had the same reaction as the one before. They smiled and exclaimed proudly that their shot didn't hurt. A couple of them actually tried to get back in line for a second shot. This wasn't the reaction I'd been prepared for! But I wasn't complaining!
Finally the nurse made her way to Mia. Mia got her varicella and her MMR and she was less than thrilled with either. She was, in fact, the only Fontenot child to cry. And cry she did! I comforted her and she quickly settled down and was fine.
I can't wait to have my baby back! I'm so excited!