A Case of the Pukies

We started off our Monday night just like any other day, except I apparently threw a curve ball by jumping in the shower at 7:20 (bed time prep starts at 7:30).  I get out of the shower to hear Steve yelling, "we need help!!"  Upon getting downstairs, I see a crying Bean and vomit all over daddy, his chair, and the floor.  Lovely.  Once I picked her up, she seemed fine.  Steve got to cleaning up the mess and I evaluated her.

She seemed fine - wasn't hot, wasn't crying, and was even giggly.  A few months ago, she had a weird night of throwing up all her milk before bedtime, but then was fine.  I chalked it up to that and got her ready for bed.  She went down without a problem, and we figured we were through the woods.  We were wrong.

She woke up about 35 min later crying, and then I heard it.  The gag.  I ran upstairs and turned on her light to find her sitting in her bed, with puke all over her and crying.  Oh no.  Fear ensued! What was happening?!  Steve drew an immediate bath.  We got her in it and then I cleaned up her bed. Luckily, I have a system where mattress pads and sheets are layered, so I just had to take off the top layers.  

She played in her bath for a little while and seemed fine.  We went ahead and gabbed a puke bucket "just in case" and set up watching Sesame Street in the living room.  My goal was to wait an hour from the last puke before putting her to bed.  We barely hit the 30 min mark when round 3 happened.  The three of us quickly became pros at helping her to puke in a bucket.  She would sit in my lap and I could sort of feel it start in her tummy.  Then we'd see "the look" on her face - tongue would stick out and she'd try to stop it.  She'd start to cry and push the bowl away, so I would hold back her arms, Steve would hold her head, and we would both hold the bowl in position.  

She just wanted Momma comforts in between, so she'd stay laying on my lap.  Steve was a trooper and would clean/swap buckets.  I soon started to fight the nausea feeling.  I kept telling Steve I knew I'd be puking by nights end.  He said to toughen up and to get it out of my head.  A little after 10 o'clock (and I think round 5 for Bean) she got really tired.  She even fell asleep on me.

(We thought with her falling asleep, we were out of the woods.)

But that sleeping only lasted 3 minutes until her puke round 6.  We'd just gotten the bowls swapped in cleaned when I started in! Ahhhhhh. Poor Steve had to then help his sick daughter AND sick wife.  This was the first time he had to "help me" puke and informed me that I was not a dainty puker.  Sorry buddy.  Luckily, Bean only went another round before she was tuckered out.  I puked a few more times, then helped get her settled into bed.  She slept the whole night.  However, I was up puking -- all night! I'd fall asleep and sleep for 40-45 min, when I'd have to get up and go puke.  Finally at 4am, I was able to just go back to sleep.  

Steve had left his laptop at work and had an important meeting to go to.  So he got up and went in at 6:30.  Then then came back home a little bit before 8 so that he could get Bean up, change her, and take her downstairs.  I made my way downstairs and set up shop on the couch in the living room.  He then ran to the store to get us a few things to help us survive. I was very weak, low-energy, nothing sounded good, and I was still fighting some nausea. Bean seemed to be doing fine though! She was her normal "bug mom" self.  I'd try to lay and she'd want to jump and climb all over me.  Steve worked in the dining room and would check on us and get us things as we needed.  Bean ate lots of crackers and drank Pedialite.  For lunch, she even ate a banana/apricot/applesauce pouch. Steve put her down for a nap.  I laid down and zonked.  He left once we were asleep to return back to work.  

I woke up a little after 3 and just laid in bed watching shows on my computer.  Bean started stirring a little bit before 4.  It took me a little bit, but I got up, got her up and changed, and brought her back down to the living room.  We survived on our own until Steve got home around 6.  I think his dinner consisted of waffles and bacon, while Bean's consisted of a cup of applesauce, and I don't think I got any.  I was feeling very crummy, fighting a fever, chills, and a headache.  I drank a lot of Powerade during the day and crackers on and off.  At 7:45, Steve put Bean in bed and I called it a night.  

We all slept great through the night - finally! I woke up on Wednesday feeling like a new person.  I still had aches, but overall was pretty functional compared to the previous day! Now are fingers are crossed and we are watching for any signs of sickness in Steve.  I don't know how I would have survived without him.  He seriously is the best!

***********

So this is where I thought the post would end. But I was wrong.  Wednesday night at midnight, Steve fell victim to the puke flu.  He was up most of the night like I was.  I helped him set-up shop in the bathroom.  Comforter to lay on, pillow, blanket, even the space heater! I knew what he was going through and wanted to help out however I could. Once I knew there was no more I could do for him, I switched rooms and slept in the guest room.  And by sleeping I mean, lay in bed until Bean cried out (I went in her room twice), or until I went and checked on Steve. 

Needless to say, we are over being sick and ready for a healthy home!  We have officially deemed this week "PukeFest2015". 

Chuck'E'Cheese

At the beginning of the month, Bean got to have her first Chuck'E'Cheese experience together with my mom, sisters, and nieces!

(She LOVED this ride.  It was a hydraulic jeep that would go up and down.  She thought it was hilarious and would cry anytime it stopped or the cousins would get out.)

(Safety Third)

(Amber and Emily playing air hockey!)

(Ahm playing with Bean while she rides the kiddie rides.)

(This ride would make a picture while you rode it.  The girls got the brilliant idea to ride it with Bean, and the picture was pretty close to my own picture; haha.)

(Our keepsake from the day!)

New Year, New Us

There's a week left in January, and I just released the Christmas post I wrote 2 weeks ago, and there's been no mention of the new year or a Bean update.  I haven't been neglecting the blog because nothing is going on, the reality is life is crazy right now and the blog is a complete after thought.  So instead of trying to do multiple posts trying to catch up, a quick bullet point list is more like it!

• No real new year resolutions for us besides the typical "let's be better this year than last year!".  We have goals to be healthier, putting Christ first in our lives, being focused and hands-on parents, and making wise choices with our finances.
• I've been blessed with the opportunity to make some money while staying home with Bean.  I became a Jamberry consultant a couple months ago and just had goals of breaking even.  After a very successful launch and great sales this month; I have to set new goals for the year! This is a very exciting, yet time consuming opportunity.  When you love something, you want to talk about it all the time -- and poor Steve is sick of hearing about "Jam-beep".  
• I've also been blessed with another opportunity -- babysitting!  2x a week, I get the opportunity to hang out with my friend Sara's sweet boy James!  He's 2 months old and quite the cutie! I wasn't sure how it would go with Bean and a baby in the house at the same time, but it's going great! I'm still trying to work out the logistics of getting James to sleep in the pack'n'play and how to meet the needs of both of them at the same time. Bean LOVES James.  She wants to touch him, hold him, and kiss him constantly.  She's probably sending us subliminal messages about wanting a sibling. . . 
• I'm still running but I'll have to admit the winter cold is winning out.  I've only logged 3 runs this month (and a solid 2 week break of no running!).  I was finally able to get out this week and pull out a 4 mile run after that 2 week hiatus.  I survived the run and my times were just about what they were last month.  I'm not worried about mini-training yet; but when I realized that mini is 3 months away, I had a minor freakout.  What am I thinking?!
• On a negative side - I've been dealing with a pretty stressful situation with someone. I won't go into details, but it's been a big part of my month and affects my thoughts and actions in certain situations.  I am definitely learning a lot about myself, how actions can be perceived, and how by God's grace I am free!
• Steve's role has changed at work.  The new role came with a promotion and new responsibilities.  After having him home and access to him 24/7 for those 2 weeks of break; I had a hard reality of him returning to work at the beginning of the month.  I forgot how hard it was to make contact with him while he works and just overall miss his presence in the house during the day.  
• Over Christmas, all 4 of Bean's molars came in.  That left us with a very cranky and sleep-hating child.  In 3 weeks, she'd only slept through the night 3 times.  All those other nights consisted of her waking up every.other.hour. Seriously kid - you are killing your Momma!  Her sleep was worse than James - the 2 month old baby I watch! We had a turning point this week and got 3 nights of sleep in a row; and then she got shots.  Now we're back to the multiple wakings. Ugh.
• Now the update you've all been waiting for -- Bean is a WALKER! How exciting! A couple of weekends ago, it just clicked with her.  She took a couple steps on her own, but once she realized Momma/Daddy wanted her to do it; she stopped. She'd randomly take a few steps, but definitely preferred her "knee shuffle" as we so lovingly call it.  She's not 100% walking, but each day she takes more and more steps.  I'd say she's up to 65% walking in her day.  Let's face it -- her knee shuffle is way more efficient than walking, but it won't be long when she'll stop the knee shuffle all together.  
• Other Bean accomplishments:
• "Signs" for "more" when she needs milk or a snack
• Blows bubbles
• Can say -- Momma, Daddy, ball, duck, cracker, baby, "chhhh" for lunch, go!, "go goooo" for Let it Go/Frozen, dog, Mommom, Poppop, Ahm, Abo, "cheese" whenever you pull out your phone, Hi/Bye
• Gives kisses with a "mmmmmm"
• Loves to play with -- Zebra ride toy, Little People playsets, blocks, wooden puzzle pieces, toting toys around in a bag, climbs on chairs, babydolls, & Sock Monkey in a box, and ducks in the bathtub 
• Loves to watch -- Frozen, Curious George, Sesame Street, Clifford
• Loves to eat -- strawberries, mac'n'cheese, noodles in general, cottage cheese, fruit/veggie pouches, Momma's bagels, milk 
• She knows when it is time to leave by us putting coats on.
• She constantly is getting in trouble over dropping food, standing on chair, and touching the lamp.
• Has discovered the game of "Peek-a-Boo"

(Bean's chair is back in the living room! She is able to get in and out of it on her own and we don't have to worry about her getting hurt on it. However, she does get crazy sometimes and decides to stand in it.  We give her a couple chances to sit.  After number 3, she usually loses chair privilege and it exits the room.)

(Catching her character in its prime.  She really is a hilarious child.  Problem is, she knows she is funny and uses that hilarity against us.)

("Just putting my snack in the crevice of my milk cup.")

(We don't let Bean have paci's when she is playing.  Although, every once in awhile, one does get lost in the toys or she'll be having a rough day with teeth and I let her suck on it.  However, here, she's sucking on her baby doll's paci.  Although, it's just a tiny little post that she really has to suck on to keep it in her mouth.)

(I like this photo for the sheer the reminder that this kid does in fact sleep.  And I'm pretty sure I took this photo after her fighting nap for over an hour.  In the midst of a phase of no sleeping and bad naps, I need this reminder! Some days are better than others.  We'll have a day of a 3+ hour nap, and then a day like today where she didn't even get an hour.  She'll have nights where she's up every other hour, or maybe for a couple hours straight, or maybe randomly sleeps through the night.  If only she would let me know what her sleeping mood would be in advance!)

(Sitting in daddy's chair!)

(Laying on James!)

(Holding his hand)

(She wasn't happy until she got to actually hold him!)

(Playing Peek-A-Boo with the drapes.)

(While taking down Christmas decor, I heard her playing in the corner and turned around to see her inside the Jumper! I hadn't put her in there!  I have no idea how she did it, but she climbed in by herself.  Notice her missing leg? It was pinned under her bum, haha.)

(Bean eating her favorite meal - mac'n'cheese, cottage cheese, strawberries & raspberries. And yes, she still eats in "the rain jacket".)

(I've been waiting for this day -- for Bean to realize she can escape the play area by crawling under the couch.  Good thing the she didn't fully commit and freaked out halfway.  She was scarred by the experience of getting stuck, Momma laughing and taking a picture to never want to try the escape ever again.)

Christmas Vacation

I learned some valuable lessons this Christmas break:
-Our daughter is a trooper
-There is such thing as too long of a break
-"Vacation" no longer exists
-Sick husband equates into becoming a single mom with 2 kids

As you can probably surmise from the lessons learned, Christmas Vacation Break Travels didn't meet my expectations.  Ha, although, I didn't really know what to expect.  Okay, really, it wasn't that bad, but I did learn a lot about what it means to be a parent at Christmas.  I guess there's no more just sitting back and enjoying the break and change of pace.  I now realize that "break" and change of pace can really throw a kid off their course.

Refer back to lesson #1 - Bean is a trooper! On Thursday before break, Bean came down with what I would have sworn was croup.  We were literally up all night (sat in a chair with cool air from the sun room coming through a crack in the door so that she could breathe) with one sick little girl.  She would cough and gasp for air in fits.  She'd sort of crash in between fits, but couldn't get completely comfortable laying on me.  I definitely couldn't get comfortable but did doze off and on in the chair.  I got Bean in with the doctor and she was diagnosed with a sinus infection and bronchial irritation (not croup).  We left the office with a prescription for a steroid and antibiotics.  What a way to start vacation!  We delayed our departure and stuck around OH an extra day, putting us in Indiana Saturday evening.

We celebrated Christmas with my family on Sunday.  Bean was of course the center of attention amongst her cousins.  The little kids all opened their gifts together and she was literally sitting in the middle of the mayhem.  I helped her unwrap her gifts.  She of course wanted the toys opened asap! She got a pretty sweet kitchen playset, that we sadly had to leave behind (not enough room in our car to bring it back this go around).  We have plans of getting it soon!  I look forward to her playing in her little kitchen while I cook in our big kitchen (we are going to set it up in there to give her some entertainment other than unloading the dishwasher!).

(Our sick little elf!)

(Bean in the middle of the little kid mayhem! We were wise this year and had all the little kids unwrap their gifts first, and then the rest of us did our gifts.)

(Crazy aunt Amber with a bag on her head! Oliver was loving it!)

(Opening up Bean's gifts)

(What is going on Uncle Joe?!)

On Tuesday morning, we loaded up into the car and started our long drive towards New Jersey at 8 in the morning.  We had expected to make a stop after the first couple of hours, but Bean was doing so well, we decided to go straight to our first stop.  We met up with Steve's college friend in a suburb of Cleveland (he was home visiting family). We stopped at a restaurant and enjoyed catching up with him and the break from the car!  Bean had to be contained in the booth/high chair.  She really just wanted to roam around, but I wasn't about to let her crawl all over the restaurant.  She kept going faster and faster which was a sign she was ready for a nap!

(All loaded up and on our way!  Bean met the requirements to turn her carseat around.  Even though it is safer to remain rear facing for as long as possible, it made life so much easier having her forward facing!  She would watch out thew windows and we could reach stuff to her much easier!)

(Snack cup, Frozen, and taking up as much space as possible - despite the sad face she is making, she was loving life at this moment.)

We got back in the car and continued our journey towards New Jersey.  We drove for a few more hours (Bean mostly slept, but I do think we had to pull out the tablet and Frozen for her again), went through a Burger King drive-thru for dinner, and then got to our hotel for the night!  We stayed at a place in PA, which was just over the halfway point for our full drive.  Bean was thrilled to be out of the car and finally allowed to roam around.  The hotel room was perfect for her - she could go all over and we didn't have to worry about what she was into (other than the outlets/power cords!).  We set up a little towel and she happily ate her baby ravioli kit while we ate our fastfood.  Since we were all sharing a room, we all had an early bedtime (I tried to get Bean down so we could just lay and watch some tv, but that didn't fly with her).  We pushed one of the beds against the wall.  She and I slept laid in it together. Bean thought it was a novelty to be in bed with Momma, so she would move around, climb all over, cry, whimper, etc.  This pretty much went on all night.  I just held her singing worm in my hand and squeezed it all night.  She'd sleep for about 30 min at a time.  Definitely not fun for me :-/.

(Picnic dinner at the hotel! Totally legit, right?)

The next morning (Christmas Eve), we had a schedule to stick to.  Bean had finally crashed a little before 6am and I really didn't want to wake her for the alarm at 7:30.  We tried to quietly get ready and get everything pulled together.  She slept through it all and wasn't happy when we finally had to wake her.  We had to take advantage of the free breakfast!  Which by the way, we stayed at a Best Western Plus and it was amazing! They had a high chair in the breakfast room which made it so nice to feed Bean! We got on the road a little later than planned, but it wasn't a big deal.

We continued on our way and stopped for lunch at one of our favorite road trip places -- Fuddruckers! Only this time, it was located in HERSHEY, PA!  We ate our delicious food (which btw, this was the first time we ordered a kids meal! Ahhhh, although, she didn't eat it - daddy did!).  As we were leaving, the guy at the baker gave Bean a chocolate chip cookie for being cute!  Merry Christmas Eve to us :)! After lunch, we got back in the car and headed to stop at the Hershey factory! We trekked through the cold and rain to go inside and take the little tour.  We got on these little cars (like a Disney ride!) and went through different scenes of the chocolate making process.  Bean was so puzzled by the singing cows and trying to figure out what on earth was going on.  We got KitKats upon exiting and Bean ate a whole stick by herself!  We got back in the car just in time for naptime!  Woohoo!

(On the chocolate ride.  Bean was really into the singing cows!)

(Enjoying Hershey land! It's hard to see, but there was a Twizzler man you could get your picture with in front of the tree.  I really wanted to take Bean, but she was tired and we feared her freaking out.)

The last few hours went quickly and we soon arrived at Nanny & Poppy's house! Bean again was thrilled to be out of the car!  And on top of that -- she became the center of attention for the next week!  There were so many people between aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc, that she constantly had some companion buying into all her desires.  Now that we are home, we definitely miss the extra help!  She had quite the adjustiment to no cell phones/tablets, no one walking her up and down the stairs, and lastly no one saying, "Where's 'Bean'?"!  Bean has a 2nd cousin (once removed if you want to get technical) who is 3 years old and kept asking "Where's 'Bean'?" and all he wanted to do was play with her and be next to her at all times.  It was cute :-).

While we were in NJ, Bean did great taking naps.  I was concerned that she would have a heard time falling asleep without a rocking chair, monitor, etc; but she did great!  I guess she was getting so worn out she was begging for naps.  We had a pack'n'play set up in our room.  All I'd have to do was change her, hold her and hum a little song, then put her in it, turn on singing worm, and leave the room.  She'd fall asleep and we wouldn't hear a peep out of her for a couple hours.  She did fairly well at night too.  I was concerned with us all sleeping in a room together, but she did great until the last 2 nights.  Those were another story.  Mommy/Me parties from 1-5am are never fun.  Even Mommom got in on the parties and helped out trying to get her to sleep.  I wasn't aware at the time, but now looking back, I realize she was teething (all 4 molars came in over Christmas) and I guess the pain just kept her up.  All she wanted was to lay on someone to sleep, but then you couldn't get comfortable and sleep, too.

(We celebrated Christmas on the 26th.  Mommom & Poppop got Bean a Little People Princess castle.  They decided to have it all set up for when she woke up so she had something to play with.)

(Bean immediately got to playing and figured out all the buttons for the castle.)

(Mommom even played with her!)

(Then all the family arrived and mayhem ensued! Bean fell in love with Uncle Barry and his booming voice.  She'd shuffle over to him and crawl up in his lap.)


(Cousin Benjamin LOVED Bean -- and her blocks! He enjoyed playing with them and would tell us that they were hers.  Throughout the weekend, Benjamin was constantly on the lookout for Bean.)

(Watching Polar Express with Daddy & Cousin Ava)

(And then Poppop got in on the Polar Express action. We weren't adequately prepared for the warmer weather -inside and outside the house! Bean pretty much lived in the same short sleeve onesie and pants whenever possible.)

(On Saturday - even more family came for a big Christmas gathering.  There's Bean on Uncle Barry's lap again!)

(All the little kids exchanging gifts.  The young ones draw names in advance so each kid gets a special gift just for them!)

(Bean snacking on some blueberries on Momma's lap while the "big kids" exchange gifts.  The adults do like a white elephant exchange.  We walked away with the 7 Wonders board game -- which we also brought with us. . . ) 

(Bean hanging out with Coraline and watching some Dora.  These two kiddos actually had each other's names in the gift exchange.)

("Hiding Out" with Poppop.  Sometimes, Bean just needs some quiet time -- and so does Poppop!)

(Vroooom! Vrooooom!)

(Cousin Benjamin and Bean hanging out with Uncle Scott.  Pretty sure they were watching twerking elves at this point.)

Towards the end of our visit, Steve got sick.  I'm guessing he got whatever it was that Bean started Christmas break off with.  He felt weak, had chills, sore throat, runny nose, etc - and when Steve gets sick, he falls apart.  So the last few days, I was solely responsible for Bean, packing us up, loading the car, and being the sane person in the group.  When we left, he started off driving, but by lunch I was the sole driver (he did another hour attempt, but he definitely shouldn't have, so I took back over).  We did the whole drive back (9ish hours) in one day.  Since he was out sick, I just had a "survive the day" mentality. Meaning, Bean got to watch Frozen a couple times, we stopped when we needed, and got right back in the car until the next stop.  We only stopped 3 times, which really isn't that bad- lunch, gas, dinner, then home! When we got home, I had to unload the car, put Bean to bed, and finally had time to just sit and decompress.

Despite the crazy end to the week, we had a great time seeing all of Steve's family and watching Bean interact with everyone. We are extremely blessed with our little girl and look forward to many Christmases in the future (just now I know what to expect!).