More Proof I Have Kids

After how crazy life continues to be, with another trip and busy work week last week, am very much appreciating today's holiday to have some time to slow down, and catch up on, well, life.

This morning, Matthew and I woke up together first, and made blueberry muffins, a common occurrence around here most weekends, aka, Matthew demands it. And to lick the beaters.

In between parenting and muffin-related activities, I used the morning to catch up on digital photos n junk. Which put me in the vague vicinity of doing a blog post, so with Matthew and Mike showering, and Rachel hopefully down for morning nap, thought I'd strike while the laptop was hot.

Speaking of Rachel (and this ties to nothing I'm talking about, but then hey! Neither does this post overall!) is this photo not hilarious? Wearing her new little fake fur coat for Christmas from Aunt Rosanne, and Matthew's old baby sunglasses. No autographs, please, for my little diva.

Think we took this on the way to Aunt Rosanne and Uncle Don's last weekend, they babysat while we enjoyed a nice adults only night at Jones family cabin.

Well I guess that's it for this random post. But I am trying, people, just takes a while to get back in the saddle, apparently.

Did the first week back make you sick?

It did us. Or specifically Rachel, who started throwing up around 7pm Thursday evening and didn't stop until 2am Friday morning.

Luckily the fates were in our favor to make a yucky (and I do mean GROSS) situation better, at least. Mike experienced a rare snow day Thursday AND Friday. The Friday one came none too soon. Just as we were starting to turn on each other in the, can you stay with her tomorrow? No I really can't but I will if you can't, debated, Libby our sitter texted us that school was off Friday too. She is an avid watcher of such reports.

So Daddy volunteered for night time, snuggling her on the couch duty. We didn't want to put her back in the crib again and change the sheets all night as we had already done it twice before we wised up and kept her with us and out of bed.

We think it was just a stomach bug. She was fine by morning. Nursed along by sippy cuts of watered down Orange Gatorade and a LOT of Daddy love. He really earned some sort of hall of famer badge.

I too earned a badge though maybe a bit sad but equally impressive for the ultimate career/family juggling: finishing up a powerpoint for work, while intermittently jumping up to hold her bowl and brush her hair back.

Add in the fact that it panicks me a bit in general because it's unfamiliar to us. Matthew's only gotten really sick once (on vacation, and it was a stomach flu that had ripped through the condo). Rachel just once did one of those quick ones, "whoops I ate too much BLAHHH" but not due to illness.

So here this tiny tiny girl who can't even talk, steadily removing fluids from her body for 7 hours, and even though I know from good counsel that can go on up to 12 hours before we need to start to worry. But you still worry. And then, it's just so sad.

It must be such a exhausting and frustrating experience for a toddler: having bad tasting stuff come out of your mouth repeatedly, your tummy hurts and churns, you don't even have the benefit to know why it's happening, and you feel sooo tired and worn out by the time it's midnight, and it's not stopping, that you just tip your head right on over your Daddy's arm, into your own puke bowl.

Now she is running around, seemingly rejuvenated (certainly LOUD :), with that energy you get back when your stomach flu mysteriously disappears as mysteriously and quickly as it hit you upside your little gut. So it's over! Crisis, extended flu and even doctor visit, averted.

But boy, does our front room still smell like vomit.

New Year, Funny Kids

Nothing to shake me out of my blogging slumber like some funny, must-be-documented funny kid stuff. Two tonight prompted this real live actual post.

First, I am putting stuff back in Matthew's toy box. His empty and seemingly unused (and very bulky) Matchbox car holder "suitcase" was there. I ask Mike, "Does he really use this?" Mike says no.

Matthew chimes in, "Yes I do! I do use it!" I say, "Really, what do you use it for?" He looks at me like I'm dumb and says, "For cars!" I chuckle and start walking out and then I hear him mutter, "of course."

Second, Rachel is walking around feeding us imaginary food off her plastic spoon and plate. Bite for her, bite for me, toddle to Matthew, bite for him. She was very persistent and made a few rounds to each of us.

Matthew finally looks at me, a little incredulous smile and his famous big eyes, and says, "Wow, she's weally weally serious."

Wish I could remember more. Being off with the kids the last two weeks, I probably have a lot more I should share. I sure have been laughing at them and loving them up a lot this break.

And with this, I'll keep it short, but hopefully kick off a nice, prolific 2010 full of documenting my kids lives again. Because I really have missed doing so and after all, it is resolution time. And I'm not sure I can say "diet" again or not and "exercise" is laughable, so looks like it's blogging or bust.