Memorable Weekend

Well, this will definitely be a Memorial day weekend we will remember. This weekend Dan and I had plans to leave the boys with Tutu and Papa for four whole days. Yep, four days and three nights all to ourselves. The first real vacation since Daniel was born more then four years ago. One of my roommates from college got married on Saturday up in Santa Rosa. Dan and I had reservations at the Case Ranch Inn, a cute little bed and breakfast in the beautiful wine country. Our plan was to drive up to L.A. on Thursday and then take off early Friday for our getaway. Well, what we planned and what actually occurred didn't quite match up.

It all started Monday night right as Dan and I were climbing into bed. We heard Daniel crying in his room and when we went to see what was wrong we discovered that he had vomited all over himself and his bed. We cleaned him up and put him back in bed only to be roused 20 minutes later with the same thing. Finally at midnight the evil cycle had stopped, probably because Daniel had nothing left in him, and we all got to sleep until 6 a.m. when we awoke to Daniel crying again and more vomiting.

Wednesday morning Dan called our pediatrician since Daniel still could not hold anything down and we were worried about him getting dehydrated. The doctor told us to only give him liquids and if he vomited anything before 5 p.m. call back. Daniel held all the fluids down that day, but just as luck would have it he threw up at 4:45 p.m. We called the doctor and he called in a prescription for an anti-nausea medication. Either this particular medication is rare or lots of people have been using it because our pharmacy and the next 5 pharmacies we called were out of it. Finally Dan tracked down a Longs Drug store that had it in stock that wasn't too far from home. At 7:00 p.m. I threw Sammy in the car and went to pick up the prescription only to find out that we had called the wrong store and my prescription was at a different Longs. I didn't think that day could get any worse. We got home threw Sammy in bed, gave Daniel his medicine and prayed that he would feel better the next day. I called my parents to give them an update and we decided to change our plans. My parents would drive down on Friday, assuming Daniel was doing well, and stay at our house with the boys and we would drive up. It wasn't quite what we planned, but sometimes you have to be flexible.

Thursday morning Sammy woke up crying and covered in vomit. Thursday evening Dan came down with it. The stomach flu had officially ruined our romantic getaway.

Sammy and Daniel on their towels with their spit-up bowls close by.

Poor Sammy was so sick all he wanted to do was lie down and be held.

Friday was not too bad as Daniel was starting to feel better, but Saturday was the worst of all when Sammy and Dan both hit rock bottom. After a particularly disgusting diarrhea incident with Sammy, Dan proclaimed that he had just experienced one of the worst moments in his life and likened it to torture. Yep, it was pretty bad.

The sickos

Sunday was our first vomit free day and I was able to strip the couches of the towels and put the spit-up bowls away.

The boys are still very tired and recovering from this awful bout of stomach flu. I am praying that I have been spared because I would not wish this upon anyone.

I have gotten over the disappointment of missing our vacation and seeing my friend married, but I am just glad that the boys are feeling better and eating again.

For Nana

Work of Art

I have been spending the last few weekends painting a huge mural for our church's vacation bible school. I have turned the conference room at Dan's work into my studio and paint for about three hours during the boy's nap.

Last week's progress

After seeing the enormity of the project I was quite intimidated by the whole thing and thought maybe I was taking on more than I could handle. Now that I have gotten started painting, I am so glad I took on the challenge. I really haven't painted since college, almost ten years ago. (Yikes! Has it really been that long since I graduated?) I has been so much fun pulling out all my old paints and brushes and throwing paint onto a blank canvas. There is nothing like seeing a painting coming together. You start out with a blank canvas, sketch out your idea, start laying down the color, add details and shadows and before you know it you have a work of art.

This week's progress

I can't wait till it's done. I just need someone else to commission me to do another work of art to keep me going. Anyone?