Good riddance, March!

March was supposed to be "family month" for us. It was, but it also ended up being "illness month." Not fun.

We were scheduled to see every one of my siblings except for my youngest sister, and every one of Jason's siblings except his youngest sister, and all 4 of our parents. The first week of March, my sister was going to fly out with her 2 kids. Her daughter got the flu 2 days before they were scheduled to leave, so they had to cancel their trip. Bummer.

The second week of March, Jason flew to San Diego for a work convention. I flew with the boys to New York, dropped them off at Jason's parents' house, and flew out Tuesday to join Jason. We had a great time and got to see two of his brothers, their wives, and their combined 6 kids, including meeting an adorable new nephew for the first time. Holding him made me so baby hungry. While we were gone, Colin got sick. We flew back to New York Friday night, and visited with Jason's parents and his brother, his brother's wife, and their 3 kids, who live in Manhattan. It was very fun to see them, but the fun was offset by the fact that Colin was vomiting, miserable, and totally not himself. Poor kid. Luckily no one else got it. More about that trip in a happier post. 

We flew home the following Monday (now the third week of March). Two days later, my other sister flew out with her 8-month-old, and my younger brother and his wife and their newborn baby boy (Mark) arrived at my parents' house. But Colin was still sick, so we stayed away. We were able to join them on Saturday for Mark's baby blessing and again on Monday evening.

Erin left on Tuesday morning (the last week of March). I knew it was going to be an insane week, because the last Thursday of the month was the quarterly enrichment dinner, and I was recently called as the enrichment leader. Jason and I prepared dinner for 50 women, and it was ambitious and busy. (I'll probably post about it later.) It was made even harder when Colin started vomiting on Wednesday. He has vomited every day since. That's 7 straight days so far. I got it Thursday, and lost 5 pounds of fluid between the time I woke up and the time I crawled in to bed. I missed the enrichment meeting, and Jason was gone most of the day trying to get the dinner done. Jason got it Thursday night, while working the overnight shift at the hospital, and Ethan on Saturday.

Jason hasn't thrown up, because he's been popping Zofran like it's candy. Ethan is a middle-of-the-night vomiter. 98% of the time he's thrown up in his life, it's been after he's gone to bed, and this time is no different.

In the last week, I've dealt with more vomit and diarrhea than I have in the nearly 5 years I've been a mom combined. I reached the end of my rope on Saturday, and now I'm at the point where I can't even see the rope anymore. I'm burning all our belongings (furniture, bedding, clothes) and selling the house. Because I'm never getting rid of the smell.

So, it's been a hard week. I know a lot of women go through much harder things, but this has been an extremely physically and emotionally exhausting experience for me. I think if I'd been mentally prepared for so many days of illness, I would be in a better place right now. But I've never had a kid vomit so many days in a row. And with Ethan throwing up only at night, I haven't slept through the night in a week, and I'm so tired. Colin won't go anywhere in the house unless I'm carrying him or holding his hand. Ethan was such a patient, great kid today, but he is so, so bored, and I haven't been out of this filthy house for any significant length of time in so long, and I am going crazy. Jason got home from work today and I was a complete mess. I just couldn't stop crying. And I'm not a crier. Ethan even looked at me and said, "Mom, what are you doing?" in a really confused tone of voice. Jason took the kids and sent me to my room, where I sat in the bathtub for an hour and tried to forget the last few days.

Now the house is clean(er), the kids are in bed, hopefully for the night, and I'm feeling better. I've been trying to think of things I'm grateful for. Here's what I've come up with:

1. My washer and dryer. How did my pioneer ancestors deal with situations like this??

2. My husband. I can't imagine being a single mom. Jason was gone for the toughest day (Thursday), but he was around Friday (after he woke up), Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. It was so nice having help.

3. Rug Doctor's brand of spray bottle spot-cleaner for the carpet. It's the best product ever. Seriously.

4. Our overall health. We have no chronic illnesses or disabilities, so at least I know that at some point, this will pass. Right? Right???

Sibling Fun

During the months I spent camped out on the couch, the kids found creative new ways to entertain themselves, and me. Colin made up this particular game, and then recruited Ethan to join him after a while. Colin still tries to get Ethan to do it now and then. While I'm horizontal on the couch, they line up across the room on the opposite wall. They take a moment to coordinate the attack. Then run full speed at me, while I'm yelling. When they reach me, they jump on me and laugh and laugh. It's a great thing to be entertained by your own children, and always a beautiful thing when they play together well.

Happy Birthday To You,

Happy birthday to you,

Happy birthday, dear Grammy,

Happy birthday to you!

We wish we were spending today with you. We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!

Ethan drew this picture of you celebrating your day.

P.S. Your present is (1) a little random, and (2) arriving one day late.

100%

She's definitely a girl. Now if we could just come up with a name for her.

When Grammy and Papa come to town

Last year, Ethan wanted to see snow. We went to visit Grammy and Papa in New York, and as luck would have it, it snowed for him. A lot.

This year, he's been begging for it, and I've been explaining that it just doesn't really snow here. Then Grammy and Papa came, and since they apparently give Ethan whatever he wants, it snowed. At least 5 inches. I blame them...really, I do. But at least it made Ethan's day.

Jason went in to the office despite the fact that it was CLOSED and he was the only one there. Workaholic, perhaps? It's genetic, since Papa (Randy) flew home in the snowstorm early that morning and drove straight to work. Jason played in the snow with the kids before and after. We don't have ANY snow gear, so we sent Ethan out in bright blue flannel pjs, bright green frog rain boots, bright red Terrapins gloves that my brother gave him 2 years ago, and his winter coat. There are pictures of him, such as the one below, for which he may never forgive me when he's older.

We put Colin in a one-piece snowsuit that Ethan had in Boston. He couldn't move and freaked out any time he fell because he couldn't get himself back up. He also freaked out until we took at least one glove off. He just stood in the snow and stared. It was funny to see him hold still. I can't remember the last time he did. After a little while he picked up a sand shovel beach toy and started digging in the snow. Then he lost his balance, fell down, and freaked out some more. While Grammy and Papa were here, we ate chocolate pie, played Wii racing, and a new game our friends introduced us to. It was too cold to leave the house, but we still had fun. I walked in the room one morning and found Ethan and Grammy hard at work on their laptops. He adores her. Ann stayed on a few days after Randy left and was a substitute mom. After she left, I had to get out of bed before 8:30 am, make myself my own breakfast, play Zingo and "living room soccer" with Ethan a gazillion times a day, change Colin's poopy diapers, clean my own kitchen, and bathe the kids myself. It was a rough adjustment back to reality.

Why We Love NC

The winters!

The middle of January, we were surrounded by this.

The first Saturday in February, we spent the day in my brother's back yard enjoying 70 degree weather. Love it!

The First Decade

For the last three months, Jason has come home every day to a filthy house, a 1-year-old sitting at the table who has smeared himself head to toe with his dinner, a 4-year-old who thinks his dad lives to play with him, and a wife in the fetal position on the couch. Typing this, I'm starting to wonder why he comes home at all. As if all that isn't enough, he never gets to exercise outside, because he's always helping me with the kids until after dark. And he has never once complained.

But today was different. Because today is our 10-year anniversary. And to thank Jason for the most amazing 10 years of my life, I cleaned the house (okay, straightened it up a little) and left him a note explaining that I was taking the kids to the grocery store (to pick up steaks and chocolate pie for dinner for us) and then to McDonald's for dinner (for them) where they could make a mess someone else would clean up. He was supposed to get off work at 4:00, which would leave him plenty of time to go biking or running in the state park by our house (his current favorite form of exercise). All afternoon I kept thinking about how happy he was going to be.

And then he got stuck at work until 7:00. 

The great thing about 10 years of marriage is that I still get points for the effort/thought, and we enjoyed a really nice, yummy dinner together. When we first got married, I knew we had 10 years of post-grad training to "get through" before "real" life started, and it seemed like forever. It went so fast. The first 10 years were more wonderful, fulfilling, fun, and adventure-filled than I had ever imagined. I can't wait to see what the next 10 bring!