Well, I'll give it another try. Life is different in many ways than when I last wrote and in many more ways the same old. As I'm writing more for my own recollection of events than anyone else, I wanted to write a bit about Timothy's birth.
Despite saying I didn't want to be induced, I got through all the hours I was putting in up until my due date. I went in to the doctor on Monday the 15th and finally asked him, "Can I be done?" He said he'd induce me the next day, the 16th - that may have been my due date I think, I hardly remember anymore. I was expecting another long day like with Bethany. Which, not to get off track, but I was recently thinking that I am not so much of a pessimist as a reluctant optimist. I prefer to expect the worse so that I can be pleasantly surprised as opposed to being let down. But anyway, we went in at seven am. Started the Pitocin a bit after 8am and then he broke my water around 10 I think. I decided no trying to make sure not to deliver until after Winnebago clinic was done so I got out of bed and sat on the birthing ball and stood and moved around. I was starting to feel more pressure but didn't want to get my hopes up either. I think around 11:30 I finally said to check me just to see where I was at. I think I was about a 6 then. I refused to stay in bed and kept moving all over, going into the bathroom and sitting, and standing in the doorway. I recall telling Warren I could handle it if it didn't get any worse. The pain of labor has never been the issue, it's been that feeling when you have to push that I HATE when you can't push yet. So Dr. Cahill showed up finally and said I was close and he'd check again in 15 minutes. That time he said he'd go change. By that time I was back in bed where I could not control myself as well and as soon as he left I had a contraction that would not go away. I could feel Timothy moving down and I was like he is coming no matter what. He walked back in the room after they paged him not fully garbed up and Timothy was already on the way out. Warren told me the doctor got blood on his shoes. That's what he gets for leaving the room. Anyway, I just remember feeling absolutely exhausted after his birth. My mom had come in which I didn't realize after the birth and had come over and touched my arm and I thought she was the nurse until I opened my eyes. I was just wiped out. Timothy was healthy and wonderful, 9 pounds, 3 ounces. Warren was a great support like always.
Okay, so now fast forward 3 months. Homeschooling is sooooooo hard. I keep going back and forth over what I should do. I feel so bad sometimes I want to send the kids back to school because of what they are missing but yet I know they can experience so much more at home. It's different, not less, that's all - I keep telling myself. I also can't stand the attitudes and ways I am treated. I know in some ways I am so afraid of someone saying I am not doing a good enough job so I am too uptight about documenting everything we do so I can prove what we are doing. But yet, the whole joy in homeschooling should be flexibility and I am more concerned with test scores that providing experiences. I haven't quite figured out how to do things differently but if the kids would just change their attitudes and we could talk and find better ways, it could be so much better. I think we'll move back to the kitchen table tomorrow. Upstairs doesn't work so well with the little ones downstairs half the time.
Timothy is still a doll. He is trying to roll over more. At first I was like, the other kids rolled over at 2 months but then it's like, why would I want to push him? I want him to stay a baby - he doesn't have to hurry to do everything. He used to sleep very well but lately has been waking every hour or two all night. Oh well, we just keep switching sides and feeding. El nino bebe. I love saying that, it just sounds cool! The only thing I need to do is get him a dresser so I can use his crib for a bed instead of dresser and then he can sleep in it and my husband can come back to bed with me. We have slept in the same bed very few nights since he was born.
Bethany is also a doll. Her talking is so cute. If I sneeze, she'll say "bless you." She talks so well. She calls her siblings - Lexi, Abba, Warren, Jo, IE, Sammy, and baby.
Oh, here's a good one. So we were driving to church this morning, I was actually. Anyway, the back roads are all ice. Everytime I accelerated, the van would fishtail. It was kind of cool and fun. Well, someone started saying that Dad does it better so I thought I would do it a little "bigger." So we start fishtailing more and more and all the sudden it feels out of control and Warren goes, "and she looses it" and we plowed into a snowbank and the van spun around. We lost part of the fender, the kids freaked and were all like, everyone get buckled despite being half a block from church, and all wanted "dad" to drive home. Humility does wonder for a person! We're going to have to fix the fender otherwise the license plate will fall off though so I feel bad for costing us money for something stupid. More money wasted. Hopefully it was a good lesson for everyone though. Too bad Autumn missed it, she was up in the cities still.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Thursday, July 17, 2008
current events
Now that I got the vacation diary done, I can continue on in present time. Elexis is gone at camp right now. She left on Monday and will be back Saturday. Somehow this week is going a lot slower than last week when Autumn and Warren were gone. Sam asked last night if his peanut was coming back. I told him three more days. He really misses her. It's cute, in her room she wrote on her walls of course, I love my jelly, my jelly loves me. She is peanut, he is jelly. She could have and probably has written a lot worse so I don't mind that. It's not like our walls are new or anything.
Today is a lazy day for me. I have worked 9 out of the last 10 days so I will rest today and then get cleaning again tomorrow. At least my check should be decent. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever stop counting kids. At night if I am home I do a body count when I wake up during the night. If I work at night, I come home and count them to make sure they are all around. If we go someplace I count them constantly. Is it bad to know them by number and not by name. I am afraid I will forget a name if I think through them so I just go by numbers.
By the way, since getting home, the poop incidents have not stopped. Several mornings Bethy has woken up all dirty. I just don't get the leaking diapers. One morning, she woke up crying about 5 and I tried to ignore her and hope she would go back to sleep but she kept crying and was standing so I got up to bring her into bed only to realize she was covered in poo. She got a bath half-asleep but crying because babywipes weren't going to clean that up. I think there is something wrong with all of us. Of course, I'm the last to figure that out.
Today is a lazy day for me. I have worked 9 out of the last 10 days so I will rest today and then get cleaning again tomorrow. At least my check should be decent. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever stop counting kids. At night if I am home I do a body count when I wake up during the night. If I work at night, I come home and count them to make sure they are all around. If we go someplace I count them constantly. Is it bad to know them by number and not by name. I am afraid I will forget a name if I think through them so I just go by numbers.
By the way, since getting home, the poop incidents have not stopped. Several mornings Bethy has woken up all dirty. I just don't get the leaking diapers. One morning, she woke up crying about 5 and I tried to ignore her and hope she would go back to sleep but she kept crying and was standing so I got up to bring her into bed only to realize she was covered in poo. She got a bath half-asleep but crying because babywipes weren't going to clean that up. I think there is something wrong with all of us. Of course, I'm the last to figure that out.
this should be all of the vacation now
I had actually written more but was using the laptop with a poor connection and it got lost. So to finish up the vacation diary - here's the rest. So Elexis threw up Friday on the way back to the campground. She layed down when we got back. Autumn, Warren and Josiah all went swimming while Warren made supper. The little boys really wanted to go to but had been having such horrible diarrhea and you never know when vomit that I was mean and wouldn't let them. I told them they could go in the morning if they were doing better. So then we finally started eating around 9pm and Josiah didn't take any. He said he didn't know where the brats were. So Warren gave him one on a plate and he promptly began throwing up on next to the picnic table. Good thing he hadn't taken a bite yet. Exhaustion had set in so all the kids and I went to bed. Warren stayed up a bit to clean up from supper.
A bit later I had to go to the bathroom and Warren had just left for the bathrooms himself but I figured it was safe to leave the kids so I went too. When I got back not more than 5 minutes later, I smelled vomit as soon as I entered the tent. I should have just ignored it and went back to sleep but I turned on the light and found that Samuel had made quite the mess. He threw up where he was laying (which wasn't horrible because I had precautionarily laid a towel under each boys head to keep any mess to a minimum) but then he must have moved some and was laying in a different place where he had vomited more. He was back sound asleep though. So clean-up ensued, including Josiah's legs which Samuel had managed to get in her spewing. We were quickly running out of sleeping bags as we had one for each boy and the two that had been dirtied the previous night were still dirty as the washing machine at the campground was too small to properly clean them and after washing them the vomit remained. However, it was a hot night so I think they were all okay. I believe Eli woke up later that morning and had a small emesis but we caught all of his in the bucket so it was an easy clean-up. Unfortunately for him, his diarrhea was really getting worse and he couldn't stay out of the bathroom with that.
That morning I wanted to get packed up quickly (saturday) as there was no point in staying any longer with sick kids and it looked like rain. I let all the kids except Bethany and Elexis who didn't want to go swimming as I figured it was the pool that got them sick anyway so what the heck. Elexis was great helping out with packing and taking down the tent and we made it out of the campground by 11a, checkout time. Despite stopping at the camp bathrooms before we pulled out, we hadn't gone one mile before Eli had to go to the bathroom again. We decided to do Taco Bell for lunch (I mean, really, at this point, what was it going to hurt?). Eli went to the bathroom once while we were in the drivethru and then twice more before we could pull away as we passed out the food (in the restaurant, that is.) We needed gas then where he promptly informed us again he needed to go. I told him sorry, he had to wait. We drove about eight miles out of Rapid City to Ellsworth Airforce Base where we stopped to visit. Our plan was to take our time driving home that day and get home around midnight or so. We toured the museum there with Elexis and Bethany staying in the van while Bethy slept. From there we drove to Wall Drug, most everyone except big Warren's favorite place. The boys stocked up on guns again, I made them buy the cheap ones this time though. Then we headed out again. Somehow, between bathroom stops and such, we only made it about 200 miles and it was getting late already. We stopped in Onamia at McDonalds for supper. Actually we got drive-thru and then went to the park to eat. At this point, it was almost 9pm and Warren and I were both tired enough, we didn't know how we would get home. So we started looking at hotels/motels to stay at. This in itself is never easy for us as we either to lie about the number of kids and then take them in through different doors or get two rooms or a really big room or whatever. After trying a couple other places, we stopped by the Super 8 and they had one room left, a king jacuzzi suite with a king bed and pull-out couch we were told. She asked how many kids and I asked I had to tell the truth. We told her and she let us stay anyway. The kids were thrilled to stay in a hotel. We didn't do any swimming - enough of that plus it was late. The room had a window air conditioner which was not on when we entered so it took several hours to cool down in there. It was hot and sticky. However, we were all happy to be sleeping somewhere other than a tent and there was a tv and CABLE! Bethany I think was the happiest as she just ran around smiling and playing. Being we got there so late, we didn't get to enjoy as much as I wanted to but was a nice break.
The next morning, we had to be out by 11 again. We weren't even going to attempt to find a church to go. No one would have been in the service. The hotel room was starting to feel very small as half of us began fighting for the toilet all morning. Little Warren had several dirty pairs of pants in the bathroom he had soiled during the night, Eli wet himself and couldn't stop with his diarrhea, and Elexis, big Warren, and I all were needing to go. At least Sam and Beth had diapers on so didn't need the toilet too. We let the kids who wanted use the jacuzzi quickly that morning while we packed. Right at eleven I sent Warren to check us out but had to remain in the hotel room with Eli as he kept going and going and going. I was really beginning to fear for his hydration level. We finally made it out of there and got to Sioux Falls by about 2 for lunch. By this time we were all tired of campfire meals, sandwiches, and fast food so decided to splurge and go to Olive Garden. And this is where perhaps the story becomes the best.
When we went in, Samuel had soiled himself and leaked so I brought in a change of clothes for him and sent him and Bethy into the bathroom with the girls to get them changed. We were seated then and ordered our food. Throughout the meal, Eli got up to leave and go to the bathroom about twenty times. Other kids went at various times. I'm sure at some point the waitress had to be wondering what was wrong with this family. I should mention since we were there at non-peak time there was only one lady sitting near us and we were pretty close to the bathrooms. Right after the lady left, we heard Sam go. Warren and I put our change together and offered it to whoever would change him before it got too late. Everyone refused (including myself because by this point, I had long since given up trying to change every diaper and had had enough myself). Well, it got to be too late as Warren noticed neon green stuff running down Sam's leg onto his chair and the floor. We used the babywipes to wipes off his legs and the chair so thankful no one was around. Although even if they had been, it looked so much not like normal poop they probably wouldn't have known what it was. Both girls had to try to carry him in the bathroom without dripping anymore while Warren went out to the van to get another change of clothes. Can you imagine what the hostess must have thought of us as she was in clear view of the bathroom and the door and probably saw all our comings and goings. So we left then, appetites were gone, and with only a few more bathroom stops on the way, made it home.
A bit later I had to go to the bathroom and Warren had just left for the bathrooms himself but I figured it was safe to leave the kids so I went too. When I got back not more than 5 minutes later, I smelled vomit as soon as I entered the tent. I should have just ignored it and went back to sleep but I turned on the light and found that Samuel had made quite the mess. He threw up where he was laying (which wasn't horrible because I had precautionarily laid a towel under each boys head to keep any mess to a minimum) but then he must have moved some and was laying in a different place where he had vomited more. He was back sound asleep though. So clean-up ensued, including Josiah's legs which Samuel had managed to get in her spewing. We were quickly running out of sleeping bags as we had one for each boy and the two that had been dirtied the previous night were still dirty as the washing machine at the campground was too small to properly clean them and after washing them the vomit remained. However, it was a hot night so I think they were all okay. I believe Eli woke up later that morning and had a small emesis but we caught all of his in the bucket so it was an easy clean-up. Unfortunately for him, his diarrhea was really getting worse and he couldn't stay out of the bathroom with that.
That morning I wanted to get packed up quickly (saturday) as there was no point in staying any longer with sick kids and it looked like rain. I let all the kids except Bethany and Elexis who didn't want to go swimming as I figured it was the pool that got them sick anyway so what the heck. Elexis was great helping out with packing and taking down the tent and we made it out of the campground by 11a, checkout time. Despite stopping at the camp bathrooms before we pulled out, we hadn't gone one mile before Eli had to go to the bathroom again. We decided to do Taco Bell for lunch (I mean, really, at this point, what was it going to hurt?). Eli went to the bathroom once while we were in the drivethru and then twice more before we could pull away as we passed out the food (in the restaurant, that is.) We needed gas then where he promptly informed us again he needed to go. I told him sorry, he had to wait. We drove about eight miles out of Rapid City to Ellsworth Airforce Base where we stopped to visit. Our plan was to take our time driving home that day and get home around midnight or so. We toured the museum there with Elexis and Bethany staying in the van while Bethy slept. From there we drove to Wall Drug, most everyone except big Warren's favorite place. The boys stocked up on guns again, I made them buy the cheap ones this time though. Then we headed out again. Somehow, between bathroom stops and such, we only made it about 200 miles and it was getting late already. We stopped in Onamia at McDonalds for supper. Actually we got drive-thru and then went to the park to eat. At this point, it was almost 9pm and Warren and I were both tired enough, we didn't know how we would get home. So we started looking at hotels/motels to stay at. This in itself is never easy for us as we either to lie about the number of kids and then take them in through different doors or get two rooms or a really big room or whatever. After trying a couple other places, we stopped by the Super 8 and they had one room left, a king jacuzzi suite with a king bed and pull-out couch we were told. She asked how many kids and I asked I had to tell the truth. We told her and she let us stay anyway. The kids were thrilled to stay in a hotel. We didn't do any swimming - enough of that plus it was late. The room had a window air conditioner which was not on when we entered so it took several hours to cool down in there. It was hot and sticky. However, we were all happy to be sleeping somewhere other than a tent and there was a tv and CABLE! Bethany I think was the happiest as she just ran around smiling and playing. Being we got there so late, we didn't get to enjoy as much as I wanted to but was a nice break.
The next morning, we had to be out by 11 again. We weren't even going to attempt to find a church to go. No one would have been in the service. The hotel room was starting to feel very small as half of us began fighting for the toilet all morning. Little Warren had several dirty pairs of pants in the bathroom he had soiled during the night, Eli wet himself and couldn't stop with his diarrhea, and Elexis, big Warren, and I all were needing to go. At least Sam and Beth had diapers on so didn't need the toilet too. We let the kids who wanted use the jacuzzi quickly that morning while we packed. Right at eleven I sent Warren to check us out but had to remain in the hotel room with Eli as he kept going and going and going. I was really beginning to fear for his hydration level. We finally made it out of there and got to Sioux Falls by about 2 for lunch. By this time we were all tired of campfire meals, sandwiches, and fast food so decided to splurge and go to Olive Garden. And this is where perhaps the story becomes the best.
When we went in, Samuel had soiled himself and leaked so I brought in a change of clothes for him and sent him and Bethy into the bathroom with the girls to get them changed. We were seated then and ordered our food. Throughout the meal, Eli got up to leave and go to the bathroom about twenty times. Other kids went at various times. I'm sure at some point the waitress had to be wondering what was wrong with this family. I should mention since we were there at non-peak time there was only one lady sitting near us and we were pretty close to the bathrooms. Right after the lady left, we heard Sam go. Warren and I put our change together and offered it to whoever would change him before it got too late. Everyone refused (including myself because by this point, I had long since given up trying to change every diaper and had had enough myself). Well, it got to be too late as Warren noticed neon green stuff running down Sam's leg onto his chair and the floor. We used the babywipes to wipes off his legs and the chair so thankful no one was around. Although even if they had been, it looked so much not like normal poop they probably wouldn't have known what it was. Both girls had to try to carry him in the bathroom without dripping anymore while Warren went out to the van to get another change of clothes. Can you imagine what the hostess must have thought of us as she was in clear view of the bathroom and the door and probably saw all our comings and goings. So we left then, appetites were gone, and with only a few more bathroom stops on the way, made it home.
Friday, July 11, 2008
more vacation
Okay, I better catch up a bit. Autumn and Warren are gone at camp this week. Actually I pick them up tonight sometime although I have forgotten when so I'm expecting a phone call saying "mom, where are you." It'll be Autumn by the way. They left Monday afternoon. I honestly haven't had a chance to miss them much as I haven't been home either pretty much working all week. Elexis has made a lot of money although I don't think she really cares. She'd rather do nothing than make money babysitting - completely unlike Autumn. To back up a bit, on Wednesday we decided to let her go with a friend and her sister to Mankato and then sleepover at her house for a break. I called her about 3 or 4 times that day and texted her several times to make sure she was okay. I will go insane when the kids start driving and riding with their friends.
Okay, back to vacation as I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the rest of the story. So I believe we just finished with Wednesday and excitement over what should be a good campground situation. On Thursday, we got early. Actually Warren got up first (the one and only day all week) and made us breakfast - bacon and hashbrowns. We got the kids up about 7:00 as our goal was to be gone by 7:30. Everyone was still so tired they didn't want to eat though so all his hard work was for naught. But, no poop this morning! We had read that we needed to be at Mount Rushmore early to park in the lot or else we'd be walking miles uphill and we had already decided that there was no way this would happen. So we got there shortly after 8 and just as we were pulling up to enter the parking lot (there was a line), the traffic guy told the motorhome beside us there was no room left. I almost started crying at that moment but then he let us and all the cars past us in so we realized it was just motorhome room that was full. Whew! We decided to stay in the van awhile when we got there because what were we going to do all day there?! It's a nice place but only so much to do. So Warren got in a nap and in the meantime, Bethany managed to have her morning poop and leak all over pants. Not to get off on a tangent, but I've always used Luvs and never had problems with them leaking before so I don't understand what the deal suddenly was. But, I was prepared! I had a change of clothes along for every kid under 5 so she got her change early. Eventually the kids got restless and so we decided to go look around and see what was going on. We had seen people carrying in coolers, lawn chairs, backpacks, etc but thought we'll just come back to the van to eat so why would we need all that stuff. As we got in, we realized what was going on. People stake out their spot bright and early for the day and don't leave it. We wanted a spot in the shade but more importantly wanted a good view for the fireworks that night so Warren found us a spot in the ampitheater actually right down front. People had already filled it up from the top down but the bottom 5 or 6 rows were empty. We were a little leery as we wondered what they knew that we didn't but took what we could get as much of the surrounding grassy areas and hill and walkways were already full. It turned out to be a fine option minus the sun. So we staked out our spot at 10 that morning and stayed there all day. Warren and Autumn and little Warren all went back to the van and got our cooler, lawn chairs, blankets, and a few toys. The kids did amazingly well actually all day. Everyone got hot and several us had pretty severe sunburns but overall it was good. They had different entertainment starting at 1pm in the ampitheater so there were so things to keep everyone entertained. I thought the best were the army band that played that evening and then there were several flyovers by a B1 and B2 bomber and I don't know what else. Those were pretty cool.
So then we get to about 45 minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to start. Everyone was in a better mood again as the sun was going down and it wasn't so hot. We were enjoying the army band and all the sudden Warren says to me, "Alynda, Sam is throwing up." I look over and Warren is covered, and this isn't Anissa exaggeration, in vomit. It's on his shirt, pants, all over the ground beside him, and on the blanket from the people in front of us. Thankfully, the lady from that family was very nice and got up immediately and asked how she could help. I told her I didn't know where to start so we used babywipes (our lifesaver for the day) and wiped off Warren's arms and Sam's face and took Sam's clothes off. At that point Warren said he was just going to take Sam to the van and wait for us. I did start crying then as I told him we waited all day for the fireworks and there was no way he could leave now. He said there was no way he was going to sit in vomit filled clothes. Then I remembered we had brought with a pair of shorts for Warren too (I guess I thought maybe he would poop too) so we used the garbage bag the lady offered us and put Sam's clothes in it and Warren took it and his vomit filled chair and went back to the van to change. We just wrapped Sam up in a blanket. I took babywipes and put them down on the ground over all the vomit to try to cover up the smell (it was concrete in the rows). Then we just waited. Shortly after Warren left, Bethany burped and acted like she was going to throw up and it smelled like it so I got a plastic bag ready just in case and tried to face her in a safe direction. Warren made it back right before the fireworks so we all got to sit and enjoy them (as much as you can when you're afraid your kids are going to spew all over the whole crowd). Actually, they were pretty awesome. They were like a small town finale the whole time and then the real finale was awesome. It was impressive to see them above Mount Rushmore as well. I took a couple of pictures so maybe I'll be able to share them soon.
One funny thing to us, although not to others, was after the fireworks we knew it would be a wait before we could leave so we took our time getting out of there. Warren decided to drain the water from the cooler to make it lighter to carry and did it over the vomit to try to clean it up a bit but there was one set of people two rows down from us. We quickly realized the water and vomit it collected would reach them and so started to hurry out of there as we heard the girl say her bag was getting wet. For reference for anyone thinking of doing this someday, we waited until almost midnight before we were let out of the lot. That gave us plenty of time to think though and we decided that despite the problems, it was worth it but we probably wouldn't do it again for several years.
Quite honestly, I've already forgotten all the details but I know we had more vomit that night to deal with. I believe it came from Eli about 5 in the morning. Little Warren thought we were awful for making him continue to sleep where Eli vomited but I put a pillow over it and said to go back to sleep. Sam seemed okay until later that morning we were just getting going and all the sudden he started throwing up all over the ground again. We, especially I as I had gotten a pretty good burn on my arms and couldn't stand the sun hitting them, decided we just needed to get out of there that day and be cool. Eli gave me the idea when he was playing in the van and I asked him what he was doing and he told me that stuff we used when we were feeding Warren's cousins, it fell on the ground and he was getting it. What he meant was he was playing with the hand sanitizer (which we made the kids use after feeding the donkeys) but I found it funny it recalled them as Warren's cousins, not donkeys. So I decided everyone seemed to like Custer State Park so we would go back and be cool driving around in the van. We stopped by Walmart on the way and got gatorade, pedialyte, crackers, and popsicles as I was trying to feed the sick ones only easy stuff on their stomachs. We never did find Warren's cousins that day but did find the buffalo herd again and while it wasn't quite as much as we remembered, it was cool. On the way back though to the campground, Elexis was feeling sick and pretty soon she was vomiting too. We were somewhat prepared though and had a bucket along so she was able to use that but then she had to hold it for 45 minutes until we made it back.
I hate to cut it off for now but Bethy is pointing to her butt saying "stink" so I better investigate before it is too late.
Okay, back to vacation as I know everyone is anxiously awaiting the rest of the story. So I believe we just finished with Wednesday and excitement over what should be a good campground situation. On Thursday, we got early. Actually Warren got up first (the one and only day all week) and made us breakfast - bacon and hashbrowns. We got the kids up about 7:00 as our goal was to be gone by 7:30. Everyone was still so tired they didn't want to eat though so all his hard work was for naught. But, no poop this morning! We had read that we needed to be at Mount Rushmore early to park in the lot or else we'd be walking miles uphill and we had already decided that there was no way this would happen. So we got there shortly after 8 and just as we were pulling up to enter the parking lot (there was a line), the traffic guy told the motorhome beside us there was no room left. I almost started crying at that moment but then he let us and all the cars past us in so we realized it was just motorhome room that was full. Whew! We decided to stay in the van awhile when we got there because what were we going to do all day there?! It's a nice place but only so much to do. So Warren got in a nap and in the meantime, Bethany managed to have her morning poop and leak all over pants. Not to get off on a tangent, but I've always used Luvs and never had problems with them leaking before so I don't understand what the deal suddenly was. But, I was prepared! I had a change of clothes along for every kid under 5 so she got her change early. Eventually the kids got restless and so we decided to go look around and see what was going on. We had seen people carrying in coolers, lawn chairs, backpacks, etc but thought we'll just come back to the van to eat so why would we need all that stuff. As we got in, we realized what was going on. People stake out their spot bright and early for the day and don't leave it. We wanted a spot in the shade but more importantly wanted a good view for the fireworks that night so Warren found us a spot in the ampitheater actually right down front. People had already filled it up from the top down but the bottom 5 or 6 rows were empty. We were a little leery as we wondered what they knew that we didn't but took what we could get as much of the surrounding grassy areas and hill and walkways were already full. It turned out to be a fine option minus the sun. So we staked out our spot at 10 that morning and stayed there all day. Warren and Autumn and little Warren all went back to the van and got our cooler, lawn chairs, blankets, and a few toys. The kids did amazingly well actually all day. Everyone got hot and several us had pretty severe sunburns but overall it was good. They had different entertainment starting at 1pm in the ampitheater so there were so things to keep everyone entertained. I thought the best were the army band that played that evening and then there were several flyovers by a B1 and B2 bomber and I don't know what else. Those were pretty cool.
So then we get to about 45 minutes before the fireworks were scheduled to start. Everyone was in a better mood again as the sun was going down and it wasn't so hot. We were enjoying the army band and all the sudden Warren says to me, "Alynda, Sam is throwing up." I look over and Warren is covered, and this isn't Anissa exaggeration, in vomit. It's on his shirt, pants, all over the ground beside him, and on the blanket from the people in front of us. Thankfully, the lady from that family was very nice and got up immediately and asked how she could help. I told her I didn't know where to start so we used babywipes (our lifesaver for the day) and wiped off Warren's arms and Sam's face and took Sam's clothes off. At that point Warren said he was just going to take Sam to the van and wait for us. I did start crying then as I told him we waited all day for the fireworks and there was no way he could leave now. He said there was no way he was going to sit in vomit filled clothes. Then I remembered we had brought with a pair of shorts for Warren too (I guess I thought maybe he would poop too) so we used the garbage bag the lady offered us and put Sam's clothes in it and Warren took it and his vomit filled chair and went back to the van to change. We just wrapped Sam up in a blanket. I took babywipes and put them down on the ground over all the vomit to try to cover up the smell (it was concrete in the rows). Then we just waited. Shortly after Warren left, Bethany burped and acted like she was going to throw up and it smelled like it so I got a plastic bag ready just in case and tried to face her in a safe direction. Warren made it back right before the fireworks so we all got to sit and enjoy them (as much as you can when you're afraid your kids are going to spew all over the whole crowd). Actually, they were pretty awesome. They were like a small town finale the whole time and then the real finale was awesome. It was impressive to see them above Mount Rushmore as well. I took a couple of pictures so maybe I'll be able to share them soon.
One funny thing to us, although not to others, was after the fireworks we knew it would be a wait before we could leave so we took our time getting out of there. Warren decided to drain the water from the cooler to make it lighter to carry and did it over the vomit to try to clean it up a bit but there was one set of people two rows down from us. We quickly realized the water and vomit it collected would reach them and so started to hurry out of there as we heard the girl say her bag was getting wet. For reference for anyone thinking of doing this someday, we waited until almost midnight before we were let out of the lot. That gave us plenty of time to think though and we decided that despite the problems, it was worth it but we probably wouldn't do it again for several years.
Quite honestly, I've already forgotten all the details but I know we had more vomit that night to deal with. I believe it came from Eli about 5 in the morning. Little Warren thought we were awful for making him continue to sleep where Eli vomited but I put a pillow over it and said to go back to sleep. Sam seemed okay until later that morning we were just getting going and all the sudden he started throwing up all over the ground again. We, especially I as I had gotten a pretty good burn on my arms and couldn't stand the sun hitting them, decided we just needed to get out of there that day and be cool. Eli gave me the idea when he was playing in the van and I asked him what he was doing and he told me that stuff we used when we were feeding Warren's cousins, it fell on the ground and he was getting it. What he meant was he was playing with the hand sanitizer (which we made the kids use after feeding the donkeys) but I found it funny it recalled them as Warren's cousins, not donkeys. So I decided everyone seemed to like Custer State Park so we would go back and be cool driving around in the van. We stopped by Walmart on the way and got gatorade, pedialyte, crackers, and popsicles as I was trying to feed the sick ones only easy stuff on their stomachs. We never did find Warren's cousins that day but did find the buffalo herd again and while it wasn't quite as much as we remembered, it was cool. On the way back though to the campground, Elexis was feeling sick and pretty soon she was vomiting too. We were somewhat prepared though and had a bucket along so she was able to use that but then she had to hold it for 45 minutes until we made it back.
I hate to cut it off for now but Bethy is pointing to her butt saying "stink" so I better investigate before it is too late.
Monday, July 7, 2008
vacation continued
Okay, so where were we? Something related to poop I'm sure. Tuesday morning - after the poop. By this time the fighting had become somewhat unbearable so we decided maybe we needed to do something else for distraction. We let the kids swim a bit while I did more laundry and dishes and then loaded up to go to Custer State Park. No one was too excited about it initially but we picked a good day to do it because it began to rain and storm and the tent would not have been a fun place to be. The road we took took us up steep hills with very narrow lanes and Elexis kept saying we were all going to die. It was so awesome when we got to the top though - it was the needles or something like that. Anyway - we were sitting almost on top of this hill or mountain basically - about 6000-7000 feet in elevation between this gigantic rock structures overlooking the whole area and it was gorgeous. Even the children were somewhat impressed although still sure we were going to die because by now the thunderstorm had hit and there was lighting all around us and little Warren couldn't even count to one between the thunder and lightning strikes. He was very anxious for us to keep driving. But we had our sandwiches we packed and chips and enjoyed the view awhile.
After we went on our way, the skies cleared some and we didn't die and the kids even started having fun. We saw the roadside donkeys who always love a meal and so all the kids except Bethany got out and started feeding them. Josiah seemed to connect the most and was talking to them and feeding them and just loving it. At one point, Josiah and Samuel I believe were back to back with donkeys coming at them from all sides. Bethany would have loved to get out as well but we felt the need to protect her a little bit so she could only feed them from the windows. We called them little Warren's cousins after his nickname of Burro that a friends dad gave him for being lazy. That was a joke from previous years. After the donkeys, we drove more and found the buffalo/bison herd. It was awesome seeing so many of them. Josiah pointed out that the one was giving another a piggyback ride. Again, he seemed to enjoy them the most although these he had to view from the van. All in all, everyone had a good time, fighting was kept to a minimum, and it was a worthwhile trip. Oh, and I forgot to mention but the conversation in our van anytime we drove seemed to revolve around poop and butts. We realized that if we just said poop, Sam would smile so if we needed to see a smile, we would just say "poop." I'm unsure exactly what is wrong with my children except if you look at their parents.
Things turned a little ugly as we headed back and everyone was hungry. Unchain restaurants always scare us as you never know the seating or price situation so we drove through Custer and then Hill City looking for somewhere to eat. We found nothing that sounded good so we went back to the campground and decided we'd eat at the restaurant there even though we knew it would be spendy. However, despite the fact that there were many open tables - they told us it would be a 35 minute wait. Samuel especially could not tolerate this by this point. The poor boy had already been asking to go "homey, homey" and now was soooo hungry. I later realized he wanted to go home to watch a movie - not any other reason. But anyway - we said no thank you anyway, we don't want to come to your snobby restaurant and went to the fastfood type cafe also on the campground. $60 and no quality food later, everyone was pretty much full.
I don't really remember what else we did except for bed came early that night too. I had started to feel the effects of pregnancy and driving as my feet were very swollen.
The next morning I listened carefully and checked Bethany several times before she woke up to make sure no leaking out the front. It wasn't. However, when she did wake up, I realized she leaked elsewhere and again had poop on my air mattress and her although I think none of it ended up on me this time. That was tolerable. It was time to pack up though cause it was check out day at this campground and it had rained during the night and I was scared it would rain again that morning as it was very cloudy. We were able to get everything packed up and the tent put away without a rain shower hitting us though. We let the kids play minigolf and at the playground and bouncing pillow while Warren and I showered then and we were off. We were unsure what to do at that point as the day before had been a 20% chance of storms and it rained most of the afternoon and night. Today - Wednesday- was a 50% chance of thunderstorms and possibly an isolate tornado. My Pollyanna spirit was about gone and I didn't want to deal with the rain. We finally decided as we drove that we would eat lunch and then go set up the tent at the new campground and if it rained, we would leave the tent so it would be ready the next night after our day at Mount Rushmore and stay in a hotel Wednesday night to avoid the storms. Well, my fretting was for naught as it turned out to be a beautiful day and never rained at all. We were impressed with our new campsite as we had the pool on one side of us and the park on the other and two bathroom choices both within 100 feet of us. I was starting to feel encouraged again.
More later, I can leave work now.
After we went on our way, the skies cleared some and we didn't die and the kids even started having fun. We saw the roadside donkeys who always love a meal and so all the kids except Bethany got out and started feeding them. Josiah seemed to connect the most and was talking to them and feeding them and just loving it. At one point, Josiah and Samuel I believe were back to back with donkeys coming at them from all sides. Bethany would have loved to get out as well but we felt the need to protect her a little bit so she could only feed them from the windows. We called them little Warren's cousins after his nickname of Burro that a friends dad gave him for being lazy. That was a joke from previous years. After the donkeys, we drove more and found the buffalo/bison herd. It was awesome seeing so many of them. Josiah pointed out that the one was giving another a piggyback ride. Again, he seemed to enjoy them the most although these he had to view from the van. All in all, everyone had a good time, fighting was kept to a minimum, and it was a worthwhile trip. Oh, and I forgot to mention but the conversation in our van anytime we drove seemed to revolve around poop and butts. We realized that if we just said poop, Sam would smile so if we needed to see a smile, we would just say "poop." I'm unsure exactly what is wrong with my children except if you look at their parents.
Things turned a little ugly as we headed back and everyone was hungry. Unchain restaurants always scare us as you never know the seating or price situation so we drove through Custer and then Hill City looking for somewhere to eat. We found nothing that sounded good so we went back to the campground and decided we'd eat at the restaurant there even though we knew it would be spendy. However, despite the fact that there were many open tables - they told us it would be a 35 minute wait. Samuel especially could not tolerate this by this point. The poor boy had already been asking to go "homey, homey" and now was soooo hungry. I later realized he wanted to go home to watch a movie - not any other reason. But anyway - we said no thank you anyway, we don't want to come to your snobby restaurant and went to the fastfood type cafe also on the campground. $60 and no quality food later, everyone was pretty much full.
I don't really remember what else we did except for bed came early that night too. I had started to feel the effects of pregnancy and driving as my feet were very swollen.
The next morning I listened carefully and checked Bethany several times before she woke up to make sure no leaking out the front. It wasn't. However, when she did wake up, I realized she leaked elsewhere and again had poop on my air mattress and her although I think none of it ended up on me this time. That was tolerable. It was time to pack up though cause it was check out day at this campground and it had rained during the night and I was scared it would rain again that morning as it was very cloudy. We were able to get everything packed up and the tent put away without a rain shower hitting us though. We let the kids play minigolf and at the playground and bouncing pillow while Warren and I showered then and we were off. We were unsure what to do at that point as the day before had been a 20% chance of storms and it rained most of the afternoon and night. Today - Wednesday- was a 50% chance of thunderstorms and possibly an isolate tornado. My Pollyanna spirit was about gone and I didn't want to deal with the rain. We finally decided as we drove that we would eat lunch and then go set up the tent at the new campground and if it rained, we would leave the tent so it would be ready the next night after our day at Mount Rushmore and stay in a hotel Wednesday night to avoid the storms. Well, my fretting was for naught as it turned out to be a beautiful day and never rained at all. We were impressed with our new campsite as we had the pool on one side of us and the park on the other and two bathroom choices both within 100 feet of us. I was starting to feel encouraged again.
More later, I can leave work now.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Home! Home :) Home:(...
If you can interpret my title, that sums up my feelings at the present. Initial relief at being home from our trip to ultimately wishing we were anywhere but. South Dakota was interesting to say the least. If you have never tried camping in a single tent with seven children, being seven months pregnant, miles from the nearest bathroom, and then ultimately having five of the seven throwing up and then having diarrhea for six nights - you don't know what you are missing.
Things started out okay getting out there. I'm not sure what possessed us to leave at midnight but that's what we did Saturday night. Warren started driving but pulled over just past Fairmont - almost 30 miles into the trip - for me to take over. I had told him I would drive if he got tired but mind you I worked Friday night and slept all of three hours Saturday morning. Thank God for reststops because I used them as nap stations. We traded back and forth and eventually made the what should have been 6 hour drive in 10.5 hours. At least the kids did okay. We went to my favorite spot - the set for Dances for Wolves and had 99 cent pancakes and intended to go the church service after. However, when I called the lady said it was at 10:00 but when we got there shortly before it had already started at 9:30. So by the time we were done eating, it was essentially over. Which was good because (until this moment I forgot about this after all the other fun we had but) we noticed poop coming out the top of Sam's shorts and on his shirt and he was rolling his short up in it, etc. So, I had determined I would be taking care of all the diapers this trip to let the kids have their vacation so I took him into the bathroom, had someone else find me a change of clothes for him, and cleaned it all up. How it came out the top I still don't know. Mark that has poop change #1. We then looked around the set and such. I believe at this time at some point came my first lecture to the children about their fighting and complaining and how I never got to take any vacations as a kid and so they should be enjoying and appreciating this. We decided to try to go check-in at the campground at this point and thankfully they allowed us to early.
The first one we went to was the Palmer Gulch KOA about six miles from Mount Rushmore. It was a nice place but despite the fact the fact that many tent sites were not used the whole time we were there, they put us at the farthest away from everything, including the bathroom. In actuality, it was probably a block away in city terms and getting there was not too bad as it was downhill, but coming back was uphill the whole way and for someone not in good shape, it was a difficult walk. Eventually we gave up with the walking and just drove when we needed to go. That first day was nice though and we set up without any real problems and explored what was there. They had a waterslide which once all the kids tried, they loved, not real long, I think 160 feet but it was fun for them. The splash pool was just plain cold and they didn't really go in that. The big pool was okay but usually pretty crowded. They also had mini golf right there which everyone (except me) played quite a bit and loved. They also had a playground and a bounce pillow which was like an inflated parachute/trampoline they could jump on. So things went well. I think that first day was the only time we walked to all the that stuff cause it was like somewhere around 1/2 mile away and too long with kids that wanted to be carried.
That night I knew I was in trouble when my egg burps started. For those unfamiliar with my problem, usually when I'm pregnant but every once in awhile when not, I get sick to my stomach and start burping nasty egg smells which means that in the next 5-6 hours usually, I will have wretched diarrhea for a few hours. We went to bed pretty early though, I think it was by 9 or 10 at the latest cause we were all tired. It was too bad getting the kids to sleep. My dreams of sitting around the campfire at night roasting marshmallows and singing never happened because by the time it was dark, I was done for the day. But anyway, I woke up around midnight and had to pee. However, I knew I wouldn't make it in time to the bathroom. So I went out of the tent and was going to squat and just then the people camping across from us came out of their tent with their light. (By this time, I hadn't yet decided it was okay to drive the bathroom). So I did what any reasonable would do and took a size 5 diaper, put it in my pants, and tried to pee in it. It quickly became obvious I was overfilling it though as I felt warmth go down my legs. So I removed my sweat pants with the diaper which was really too bad because it was in the low 50's that night and rather cold. I went back to sleep then. However, I woke up again at 5 or so and my diarrhea was starting so I think I drove to the bathroom that time in a clean pair of shorts. It seems so long ago I don't remember if I went first before my next accident or not. Anyway though, at some point, I woke up and had already been too late I realized so I got up and drove with towel on the seat. However, the bathroom was busy at that time of the morning and there was a line for the showers. I also needed to go some more. So I sat in the van a bit pondering how to get into the bathroom without anyone noticing I soiled myself and finally gave up and just went in. Thankfully, when I left the bathroom a shower had just opened up and I was able to shower right away. At least I was ready for the day by 7am. Mark that up for mom poop change #1.
The rest of the day we hung around the campground doing the activities, washing clothes (I was quickly running out), and other such stuff. Elexis met a 13 yo boy from Tennessee who they all hung around. They went to the camp movie together that night - National Treasure 2. All in all, I think everyone had a good day and while everyday had fighting, I no longer remember at least being driven insane by it that day. We let the older 5 go swimming themselves that afternoon while big Warren, Bethany, and Sam napped in the tent. I sat outside and did doze off and on but mainly enjoying just sitting doing nothing. That night after the movie, there was supposed to be a candy hunt but the little boys were not listening well so Warren brought all the kids back to the tent. I had already gone up with Bethany to put her to sleep. Well that was Elexis' friends last night there and so she didn't get to see him again to exchange numbers, etc and so both girls came back all upset. Drama act #1. The next morning they got up really early and went looking for him and thankfully did find him so they could exchange info and not be in a bad mood all day. I slept well too without any problems. However, as I was laying in bed that morning (we are on Tuesday here I believe), I heard Bethany fill her pants as she was laying next to me (actually I would have been able to hear her anywhere in the tent). I told her to go see Autumn but she must have remained sleeping somewhat. Anyway, next thing I knew my back was feeling quite wet and I sat up and saw her movement all over our airbed. Elexis was sitting outside the tent, back from her trip to find her friend, and I had her take Bethany while I scrubbed the bed the best I could with babywipes. At some point during this Warren did wake up and get up as well. Anyway, when I went out of the tent in my poop stained shirt, Bethany is sitting there still dirty on the picnic table and Elexis is saying how much the flies like her. How helpful. So it was another early shower that morning for Bethy and I. Are you keeping track of poop changes still? That would make 3. Do you sense a trend? Because by this point I certainly did. I started to think as I do when things go bad that maybe we weren't supposed to go on this vacation and such but then decided to look on the bright side and at least it wasn't me again and find what I could be thankful for yet.
Anyway, there are many days to go and many more poop stories to tell but I will stop for now as I am more swollen then I've ever been and need to get my feet up. But alas, there will be more!
Things started out okay getting out there. I'm not sure what possessed us to leave at midnight but that's what we did Saturday night. Warren started driving but pulled over just past Fairmont - almost 30 miles into the trip - for me to take over. I had told him I would drive if he got tired but mind you I worked Friday night and slept all of three hours Saturday morning. Thank God for reststops because I used them as nap stations. We traded back and forth and eventually made the what should have been 6 hour drive in 10.5 hours. At least the kids did okay. We went to my favorite spot - the set for Dances for Wolves and had 99 cent pancakes and intended to go the church service after. However, when I called the lady said it was at 10:00 but when we got there shortly before it had already started at 9:30. So by the time we were done eating, it was essentially over. Which was good because (until this moment I forgot about this after all the other fun we had but) we noticed poop coming out the top of Sam's shorts and on his shirt and he was rolling his short up in it, etc. So, I had determined I would be taking care of all the diapers this trip to let the kids have their vacation so I took him into the bathroom, had someone else find me a change of clothes for him, and cleaned it all up. How it came out the top I still don't know. Mark that has poop change #1. We then looked around the set and such. I believe at this time at some point came my first lecture to the children about their fighting and complaining and how I never got to take any vacations as a kid and so they should be enjoying and appreciating this. We decided to try to go check-in at the campground at this point and thankfully they allowed us to early.
The first one we went to was the Palmer Gulch KOA about six miles from Mount Rushmore. It was a nice place but despite the fact the fact that many tent sites were not used the whole time we were there, they put us at the farthest away from everything, including the bathroom. In actuality, it was probably a block away in city terms and getting there was not too bad as it was downhill, but coming back was uphill the whole way and for someone not in good shape, it was a difficult walk. Eventually we gave up with the walking and just drove when we needed to go. That first day was nice though and we set up without any real problems and explored what was there. They had a waterslide which once all the kids tried, they loved, not real long, I think 160 feet but it was fun for them. The splash pool was just plain cold and they didn't really go in that. The big pool was okay but usually pretty crowded. They also had mini golf right there which everyone (except me) played quite a bit and loved. They also had a playground and a bounce pillow which was like an inflated parachute/trampoline they could jump on. So things went well. I think that first day was the only time we walked to all the that stuff cause it was like somewhere around 1/2 mile away and too long with kids that wanted to be carried.
That night I knew I was in trouble when my egg burps started. For those unfamiliar with my problem, usually when I'm pregnant but every once in awhile when not, I get sick to my stomach and start burping nasty egg smells which means that in the next 5-6 hours usually, I will have wretched diarrhea for a few hours. We went to bed pretty early though, I think it was by 9 or 10 at the latest cause we were all tired. It was too bad getting the kids to sleep. My dreams of sitting around the campfire at night roasting marshmallows and singing never happened because by the time it was dark, I was done for the day. But anyway, I woke up around midnight and had to pee. However, I knew I wouldn't make it in time to the bathroom. So I went out of the tent and was going to squat and just then the people camping across from us came out of their tent with their light. (By this time, I hadn't yet decided it was okay to drive the bathroom). So I did what any reasonable would do and took a size 5 diaper, put it in my pants, and tried to pee in it. It quickly became obvious I was overfilling it though as I felt warmth go down my legs. So I removed my sweat pants with the diaper which was really too bad because it was in the low 50's that night and rather cold. I went back to sleep then. However, I woke up again at 5 or so and my diarrhea was starting so I think I drove to the bathroom that time in a clean pair of shorts. It seems so long ago I don't remember if I went first before my next accident or not. Anyway though, at some point, I woke up and had already been too late I realized so I got up and drove with towel on the seat. However, the bathroom was busy at that time of the morning and there was a line for the showers. I also needed to go some more. So I sat in the van a bit pondering how to get into the bathroom without anyone noticing I soiled myself and finally gave up and just went in. Thankfully, when I left the bathroom a shower had just opened up and I was able to shower right away. At least I was ready for the day by 7am. Mark that up for mom poop change #1.
The rest of the day we hung around the campground doing the activities, washing clothes (I was quickly running out), and other such stuff. Elexis met a 13 yo boy from Tennessee who they all hung around. They went to the camp movie together that night - National Treasure 2. All in all, I think everyone had a good day and while everyday had fighting, I no longer remember at least being driven insane by it that day. We let the older 5 go swimming themselves that afternoon while big Warren, Bethany, and Sam napped in the tent. I sat outside and did doze off and on but mainly enjoying just sitting doing nothing. That night after the movie, there was supposed to be a candy hunt but the little boys were not listening well so Warren brought all the kids back to the tent. I had already gone up with Bethany to put her to sleep. Well that was Elexis' friends last night there and so she didn't get to see him again to exchange numbers, etc and so both girls came back all upset. Drama act #1. The next morning they got up really early and went looking for him and thankfully did find him so they could exchange info and not be in a bad mood all day. I slept well too without any problems. However, as I was laying in bed that morning (we are on Tuesday here I believe), I heard Bethany fill her pants as she was laying next to me (actually I would have been able to hear her anywhere in the tent). I told her to go see Autumn but she must have remained sleeping somewhat. Anyway, next thing I knew my back was feeling quite wet and I sat up and saw her movement all over our airbed. Elexis was sitting outside the tent, back from her trip to find her friend, and I had her take Bethany while I scrubbed the bed the best I could with babywipes. At some point during this Warren did wake up and get up as well. Anyway, when I went out of the tent in my poop stained shirt, Bethany is sitting there still dirty on the picnic table and Elexis is saying how much the flies like her. How helpful. So it was another early shower that morning for Bethy and I. Are you keeping track of poop changes still? That would make 3. Do you sense a trend? Because by this point I certainly did. I started to think as I do when things go bad that maybe we weren't supposed to go on this vacation and such but then decided to look on the bright side and at least it wasn't me again and find what I could be thankful for yet.
Anyway, there are many days to go and many more poop stories to tell but I will stop for now as I am more swollen then I've ever been and need to get my feet up. But alas, there will be more!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
this is the day
Just got home from work and everyone is out at my mother-in-laws so I have the house to myself. It is times like this though where I never know what exactly to do. When everyone is around, I'd like time to myself to do this or that but I get bored quickly when I am here alone. I think when I get done with this though, and a few quick games of spider solitaire, I will go through the stuff I have together for a garage sale and find the stuff nice enough to take to Once upon a child. We leave Saturday night for the Black Hills yet and I still have no idea how we are going to pay for it all so if I can make a few bucks when I go to Mankato tomorrow to go shopping, that'd be good. Too bad I'm pregnant so I can't donate plasma again.
One thing I was excited about is I had found a tent at Target I wanted to get as there is no way we all will fit into our old one but I haven't bought it yet. I looked online at work and saw that it is on sale this week! Thank God for small miracles. I just hope they have some in stock!
I don't know what was up with Bethany last night but she woke up at some point during the night crying and Warren actually woke up before me and got her but she just get crying and crying. Normally she calms right away snuggled with him and especially when he sings to her like she did. But she was so restless. I don't know how much later it was but she was crying again and he had fallen back asleep so I let her pinch me incessantly (her comfort measure of choice) but she just kept whining and thrashing around. After pushing gently on her stomach to make sure she didn't scream in pain, I got up and got her some Tylenol and a bottle of water and eventually she fell asleep and slept until after 10 this morning. She did feel hot so maybe she was running a temp but it is hard to tell in our non-airconditioned house. Today she was as smiley and perky as ever. Her hair, which she does have, is starting to grow out and stands up a lot and so Elexis calls her Fuzzy and today I found Eli sitting on the living room floor with her in front of him and he had a comb and was combing it to make it stand up more. It's times like those I wish I could take more pictures. We do have cameras but considering I haven't been able to pay for developing pictures taken from her birth yet, it doesn' t do much good to take pictures. Thus you will not see any pics on here for awhile.
Well, I better get productive. Guten abend.
One thing I was excited about is I had found a tent at Target I wanted to get as there is no way we all will fit into our old one but I haven't bought it yet. I looked online at work and saw that it is on sale this week! Thank God for small miracles. I just hope they have some in stock!
I don't know what was up with Bethany last night but she woke up at some point during the night crying and Warren actually woke up before me and got her but she just get crying and crying. Normally she calms right away snuggled with him and especially when he sings to her like she did. But she was so restless. I don't know how much later it was but she was crying again and he had fallen back asleep so I let her pinch me incessantly (her comfort measure of choice) but she just kept whining and thrashing around. After pushing gently on her stomach to make sure she didn't scream in pain, I got up and got her some Tylenol and a bottle of water and eventually she fell asleep and slept until after 10 this morning. She did feel hot so maybe she was running a temp but it is hard to tell in our non-airconditioned house. Today she was as smiley and perky as ever. Her hair, which she does have, is starting to grow out and stands up a lot and so Elexis calls her Fuzzy and today I found Eli sitting on the living room floor with her in front of him and he had a comb and was combing it to make it stand up more. It's times like those I wish I could take more pictures. We do have cameras but considering I haven't been able to pay for developing pictures taken from her birth yet, it doesn' t do much good to take pictures. Thus you will not see any pics on here for awhile.
Well, I better get productive. Guten abend.
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