So, if you know my family well you likely know that I have my own legendary puke story. You've heard them before and if you are a parent you likely have several of your own. When I was six years old my family took a vacation to Disney World. While I was there I got quite sick and ended up going to the ER with my family to get some medicine. They gave me Codeine for my cough and although it helped the cough, it also made me quite sick to my stomach. One night we went to a Medieval Times type dinner show where each ticket cost about $16 a person and I ate nothing but pudding. I spent the rest of the week trying to enjoy the fun of the Happiest Place on Earth while my mother attempted to keep me from getting even more sick (for example I was forced to wear a poncho on the water rides so I wouldn't get wet!...and yes, getting wet is mostly the point!). On what I believe was our last day at the park (but I may be wrong) we were riding the park trolley through the parking lot to our car. Now, I don't know if it is still this way, but at that time the trolly had bench seats that faced one another, so the people sitting in front of us were facing us directly. As we made our way through the sea of cars, I suddenly told my mom that I thought I might be sick. My mom's instinct went into high gear and with no time and nothing else in hand she immediately thrust her jacket over my lap as I purged everything I had eaten that day into it. I don't recall much else of that vacation, but do remember the horrified look of the lady sitting directly across from me and frequently wonder what version of the story she tells her friends and family today.
Fast forward about 13 years to when I was a counselor at Lake Lundgren Bible Camp. For those of you unfamiliar with the camp, each cabin has 9 kids and one counselor and at dinner time the ten of them sit together at one table for a family-style meal. Typically, the counselors would sit at the head of the table with the campers flanking the sides. One evening as my girls and I enjoyed our dinner the girl sitting right next to me told me that she wasn't feeling well and that moment at Disney years prior flashed before my eyes. Before I could do anything the girl barfed all of my plate and hers, and I, not yet a mother myself, quickly stood up and left the table before I too got sick rather than helping to clean up the mess.
Fast forward another 17 years or so to Monday of this week. I was sitting at my desk at work when I received the dreaded text that Asher had been throwing up ever since he woke up from his nap and needed to be picked up from daycare. I reluctantly shut down my computer and headed South to pick up my little sicko all the while thinking that I was finally going to have to deal with kiddo puke. In the 4.5 years that I've been a mom Avery has thrown up once and Asher has only thrown up two times and for all of those I was not around at the time for any of them. I picked up the boys and went home where we spent time snuggling up on the couch watching Jake &TNP. I was fully prepared to kick into Mommy mode and deal with whatever was to come, but I was lucky...it never came. Asher threw up three times at daycare but then never threw up again. I made it through Asher's bout of the flu and was able to maintain my streak of puke-free motherhood.
Asher spent the next day home with Eric while Avery and I went to work and daycare and then on Wednesday the boys and I stayed home together for our typical day off. I was bummed when I found out that Asher was sick because we had plans for our playdate with our friends, but thankfully he was feeling much better by Tuesday and our friends were willing to brave our house to keep the playdate. That same week, my coworker Jen was talking about her Mommy Win of making a cardboard "gingerbread" house with her daughter by using up left over frosting from her church board christmas party and the rest of the halloween candy that they had in the house. I loved the idea and since she still had more frosting and cardboard houses, Jen shared them with us and gave the boys and their friends the opportunity to decorate houses during our playdate and use up the rest of our Halloween Candy! (Yay!) ...and that is how we ended up spending our morning decorating cardboard houses with our friends Britni, Theo and Lilou.
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| Full Concentration |
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| Avery was much more focused on eating candy than putting it on his house. Can you tell? |
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| Per typical, Asher was the last to leave the craft zone. He just loves creating things and working on projects. He probably could have sat there for another hour or more if we'd let him. |
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| Appropriate for our house decorating. |
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| Asher's Room Boundary. He put this here on Wednesday and told Avery he wasn't allowed to cross the line! |
On Thursday, Eric had a long meeting in Madison. He told the boys that he was going where the king of Wisconsin is. While he was there he took some pictures of the "king's castle" to show the boys.
Side Story: This week was crazy cold with the windchill temperatures well below zero. On my drive home from work Thursday I realized I needed gas but I had no desire to brave the cold to get it. I figured I would rather get it Friday morning during the daylight hours. That evening though I figured I'd simply ask Eric if he would fill it up for me so I didn't have to, and he responded with the best gift by lovingly heading out to do just that after the boys went to bed. Almost 15 years after we said I do, he still makes me feel like his top priority. <3
On Saturday, Eric took the boys to Meijer while I worked to get all of our Christmas cookies plated for our neighbors. Then, after the boys got home, we headed out in the snow to deliver the plates to everyone on our street.
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| The Christmas candy all set to be plated. |
It took us about an hour or so to deliver all of the cookies to our neighbors, but before we got to even the first house, Avery was crying. We thought that he was just cold as he does not seem to have the stamina for winter weather that Asher has, but as we continued on we quickly realized that it was more than just being cold. He was whiney, irritable and by the time we were finished obviously exhausted. With Asher being sick earlier in the week we realized he was probably coming down with the flu as well. Sure enough when we got back to the house, he had a low fever. He took a little nap snuggled up with me on the couch, but then when Asher and Eric were heading out to Sam's Club he insisted on going too. So, the four of us headed out for some shopping and free samples. By the time we got home, it was after lunch and Avery was totally zoning out and ready for nap time. I took him up and put him to bed.
When he woke up he was a very unhappy little guy. His fever had increased to 103.8 and he was drenched in sweat. We gave him some tylenol, striped him down to a t-shirt and his diaper and then got cozy on a blanket on the couch where we spent most of the remainder of the day watching cartoons. He had little appetite and as he sat on my lap I could hear his tummy gurgling. A little while later, he started to burp and just as I thought that I should probably go get him a bowl or bucket just in case he got sick, he threw up all over both of us! :( My streak was finally over and I was covered in puke. (Yep, good times). We finished out the night and then put him to bed about an hour early. That evening when Eric and I headed to bed, we checked in on him. His fever had gone down and he was sleeping pretty soundly so we left for our bedroom. As I shut the door to his room though, he woke up and started to cry. It was after he got up that we realized he had thrown up in his bed while he was sleeping and had rolled his head right through it. He had vomit all over his face, clothes, bed, buddies, blankies and in his hair. Again, Mommy mode kicked in and we did what we needed to do. I got him stripped down and then cleaned up his room while Eric gave him a quick shower. Then I rocked him back to sleep and headed to bed myself, praying that Eric and I would be able to avoid the flu ourselves!
On Sunday, we finished out the week well (although I was pretty grossed out that morning when I realized I had crusted puke in my hair from the night before!). Avery skipped church with Eric but was feeling much better. We enjoyed another lazy day at home, combined with a trip to Target for me to finish up the Christmas shopping...just one week before Christmas Day, and stored away some unforgettable moments along with a few that I'd prefer to forget (but are probably burned in my memory forever.
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| Emma enjoying an afternoon nap on Asher's jacket. |
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| Asher playing with the Little People Nativity (with some extras) |
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| Asher & Avery enjoying the angelic glow of the Little People Nativity...while I appreciate just how lucky I am! #blessed. |
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