2008 Christmas Vacation Journal

Thursday, Dec 18

The drive up to North Carolina wasn't bad; the kids were actually rather good, which made the drive very un-stressful. Mikey puked, of course, he does every long car ride. So, I told Chris today that I am certain he gets carsick. I'm going to go by a pharmacy this week and find out if there's something babies can take for that for on the way home. I get carsick, too, so I know his pain. I stay prepared with ducky bags, febreeze, and extra pads for the carseat, but still the smell, ughhh.
The cabin is gorgeous and I keep having to find ways to childproof, thanks Mikey! I have rearranged their furniture and moved all the breakables out of reach. Ok I'm off to take a shower and chill on the couch, going to raid their library and see what kind of good read I can find for the week! I'll chat with y'all tomorrow!

Friday, Dec 19

Made a grocery/supply run to Wal-Mart today. I swear the people around here don't get in any hurry for anything. Geesh. Took me 2 hours in that freakin' place. I did find something for kids for motion sickness called "Bonine" its a chewable, so we'll try that. We had what appeared to be spitting type now last night but nothing to show for it. The cabin is halfway between Boone and West Jefferson, pretty good location for getting to everything. I need to pull up the weather - Today it's like 50, figures right?!?! The boys just went out exploring the woods and I'm about to try to get Mikey to take a nap. Maybe I can squeeze in a little power nap, too!
So I got in a quick nap and Jacob and Zach came back for a little craft time. Neal and Chris headed out hunting. Oh joy.

Saturday, Dec 20

Neal woke me up about 5am; Zach had puked all over the loft. The bathroom looked like something out of "Alien" – reddish-brown puke everywhere. Who knew that's what steak and hot chocolate looked like post-digestion!?!? I got that cleaned up and went back to bed. When everyone got up, and the boys were being WILD, so they got to stand in the corner. Well, Neal, my genius child, locked his knees and passed out. I totally freaked out. Neal said "Daddy I don't feel so well" then boom, hit the floor – ugh – I thought the child was about to have a seizure or something way up here between "Bum-Fucked" and "You-Sure-Got-A-Purdy-Mouth.
Once that was over, we got ready for the day. Neal and Chris went hunting….again, and I took Jacob, Zach, and Mikey on an adventure. We went gem mining - which the boys REALLY loved – at this cute little place called "Foggy Mountain". Those kids really scored some loot! Then we drove and checked out some snow options. Ggrabbed some TCBY on the way back - YUMMY.

Sunday, Dec 21

After dinner last night we were doing crafts and playing UNO when we heard Mikey start to puke. Then at 2am he was at it again. Of course it wasn't like Zach – puke once and it's done. Oh no, it was like every 20 minutes until 3:45am. He was dry heaving because there was nothing in his tummy. He was so pitiful. Just as soon as he'd doze off he'd start again. He and I finally got to sleep around 6am, and were up again at 9:20am. He's puked once since waking, thankfully he's only had toast and water. Now an hour later and he's doing ok.
The boys are coloring and watching "The Grinch". Not sure what our plans are for today, we were hoping to go to Beech Mountain to ski/sled/tube/snowboard/etc - but not sure what we'll do since Mikey's not feeling great, and I'm kind of queasy. I can handle that, just please let my baby feel better, ya know?!?

Monday, Dec 22

Ugh!!!!!!!!! So last night around 8pm Mikey finally eats 1/2 a banana and a few saltines. We seem to be on our way to recovery and are planning our day at Beech Mountain. Mikey goes to sleep around 11pm and I head to bed too, leaving everyone else up for a bit. I zonked out, I was exhausted, and so was Mikey. At 5am I wake up to Neal standing over me saying "I'm gonna puke" and running to the bathroom. Now, Neal, well, he can be a drama queen like his momma, so that required my non-stop attention for the next 2 hours. Every time I'd lay back down I'd hear him knocking on the bathroom wall and saying "Mommmmiiiieeee" in his pitiful, I'm dying voice. I did get to go back to sleep after 7 or so until 9:45am, then Mikey was ready to get up. Of course Neal is still puking and sick as of now - 10:45am - so it looks like our trip to Beech Mountain is going to be put off yet again. I am so mad; this is so unfair to my kids, not only to BE sick, but to have to wait so patiently to go to the snow – the one thing they have looked forward to for MONTHS. Add to that the fact that it was suppose to snow some last night, but nope – not a single flake to be counted. So they don't even have a dusting here at the cabin. I knew this would happen, even if we'd gone to Steamboat Springs or Vermont there would be no snow, we'd bring the no snow zone with us....bet those in the North East state wish we had come there instead with the blizzards they're having. Oh, and can I just say it's 12 with a wind-chill of -7. Yeah, thanks old man winter, it is even more not fair to be this damn cold with NO SNOW!Otherwise, we are having fun and relaxing (when not puking/pooping/cleaning sickness). The boys love to play UNO and today maybe we'll make gingerbread houses, or not….

Tuesday, Dec 22

No one puked last night, so this morning I got up and cooked breakfast - eggs, bacon, gravy, biscuits, oranges – with no immediate pukage!! "Praise Baby Jesus" (as Jacob has been saying after the blessing these last few days). After breakfast we headed out (thank God because I had cabin fever….literally). That bitch we call our navigation system took us the long-windy-ass-way. I so wanted to barf but was determined to make this a puke-free day. We made it to Beech Mountain, which was exactly as a ski resort/town should be. The kids got to sled, which was soooooooo much fun. I nearly peed my pants laughing so hard – which doesn't take much when you're pregnant with baby five. But we realized, if we go back, which we hope to do, we HAVE to get them snow bibs and hard sleds. They went down about 4 times and were frozen and ready to come back. They had these flimsy snow-boogie things that Chris grabbed at Wal-Mart the other day. (Hey we're from Georgia, what do we know about it, right?!?!) But it was worth every frozen body part, or at least I thought so, as Mikey and I were cozy warm watching from the haystack seating at the bottom of the sled hill. Then we took a detour on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which was gorgeous. Thankfully, I doped Mikey up on motion sickness meds so he slept the whole drive, and thankfully, today has indeed been puke-free.......knocking on wood as I type. We stopped for a late lunch - someone was "thinking Arby's" and we're back home just in time, it's now sleeting outside. Hopefully this will turn to snow and result in at least a dusting, will have to check weather.com next, but even if it doesn't, then my kids got to see/feel snow, sled, and throw one snowball each. The boys are playing foosball downstairs now, maybe I'll sneak in a nap before dinner!

Wednesday, Dec 24

Guess what I woke up to at 7am this morning????????? You got it, puke - and not just any puke, Mikey's curdled-milk-puke. Oh joy in the morning – Merry Christmas Eve to me! I think he got choked, because I heard him cough before the puke-gag-woosh-barf sound, so I'm hoping it's a one time puke, not the start of Christmas Puke Fest Round 2.
Oh, and remember how wonderful yesterday was? Everything went smoothly, no puking, no incidents to report, just good family fun??? Yeah, of course the day couldn't end without some kind of kink right?
Last night we make gingerbread houses (Chris of course had to come up from playing Wii and show us all up with his Christmas Gingerbread Cabin). Then we played UNO. Mikey fell asleep watching "The Grinch" and I headed off to bed. I heard Zach crying in the living room but I didn't jump right up. When those boys get to playing and being crazy someone usually gets hurt, just the way it is in a house full of boys. Then a few minutes later in comes Chris "we have issues" (he always under-reacts in my opinion, so I knew it was something), and my sweet Zach is standing there with this nasty place on his eye. It scared me shitless, all I can think about is that episode of ER where they had to drain the dudes eye because of the pressure created by the swelling and blood. Turns out, Chris was flying the Airhog and Zach was sitting in the floor by the coffee table. Zach went to duck and bashed the corner of his eye on the edge of the table. Poor bug. After a shower, he fell asleep in my lap on the couch. I finally had to get up to pee, but I think I was up about 15 times last night checking on him. And of course, he has a gorgeous shiner to show for it this morning. It's all puffy and bruised - won't that make for purdy Christmas pics?!?!
So that's the start of my day and it's only 9:30am. It's raining and windy and just plain icky outside, so it's going to be another day inside for sure. Please pass the Calgon! I'm definitely looking forward to my parents arriving later today!

Thursday, Dec 25

Merry Christmas!!! My parents got in yesterday afternoon and it was nice to have them here. My mom has been really helpful with the cooking/cleaning/etc to give me a break. We cooked our big meal last night, so we would have more time to enjoy leftovers. Mikey puked at dinner….you knew there would be something about puke didn't ya?!?! After dinner was done, everyone opened their pj's, we settled in to watch "Nim's Island". I didn't think Mikey would ever go to sleep, but he finally conked out and we got busy getting the Christmas stuff ready. Santa ate his cookies and drank his milk and took time to leave the kids a note.
As for sleep, it was a rough night. The more I put the pieces together, the more I am concerned about Mikey. So we will be at the ped's office Monday for sure! My Dad was so kind as to take over with him about 6am so I could get a little sleep before the other boys woke up for Christmas. I think he woke up about 4 times between 3 am and 6 am. Sleep is so overrated, huh?
The kids got up and drug Chris out of bed, I think it was around 8ish, but yeah now it seems a blur. We had a small but ample Christmas, the boys were very pleased with their gifts. They have been busy playing all morning, even sharing their game consoles with each other.
We made it over to Beech Mountain today so my parents could see the snow and watch the kids sled. (I did get them snow bibs and new sleds last night, so we were prepared!) They had a blast. Chris even took Mikey down the hill once. My dad rode down a few times with Zach. We laughed a lot and just had a nice time. Then we took the Blue Ridge Parkway home, again it is just beautiful.
We've had a relaxing evening, and the kids have really enjoyed their new game systems. Neal told me he was really thankful "Santa" brought him his PSP and gave me a wink – can he really be old enough to know for sure that Santa is the spirit of giving and not truly a fat man in a red suit who flies through the air in a reindeer drawn sleigh using magic to shoot down chimneys and leave gifts? CRAP! No more idle threats there, huh?
But now it's 1 am and I'm up because Mikey had one of his screaming fits about an hour ago. He's had these before, and I don't know what it is. He is sound asleep one minute and screaming and thrashing the next. He is completely unresponsive to us when he's doing this. There's no real rhyme or reason to these "fits" – he may have a few in one night or go weeks without any, it may last seconds or what seems like an eternity before he "snaps out of it".. It's only at night, and usually, like today, he's had a perfect day with no other symptoms that something is "wrong". Tonight while he was doing it, his diaper felt wet so I turned the light on and was changing him, then I decided to change his clothes thinking he might be too hot and his eyes looked so strange – wide open but not really "seeing" anything – as he flung his head back and kicked his legs straight out. Papaw took him and he finally chilled out, then he started to whine a bit when Chris came up to see about him. So, Chris took him downstairs to cuddle with him and watch tv, and Mikey is back asleep now. I feel so helpless when he does this – and tonight I felt even worse because my dad took over and then Chris – like I didn't even get the chance to do anything for him myself. I'm sure most people would appreciate the help, I know usually I'd be all for it, but I'm the one who has to describe all this and keep track of everything so I can tell the doctors why I'm so worried, and I'm the one feeling pushed away. Not to mention, I want to nurture him, he's MY little monkey. (Ok self pity whine over.) Anyway, in the past I thought maybe it was a nightmare or night tremor when he did this, but I just don't know. And now add it to the other things that have been going on with him – the loss of appetite over the last few weeks, then the puking and diarrhea this week. I almost want to go home a day early so I can take him to the doctor Saturday instead of Monday.
OH and one more whine, my nose is all stopped up, what feels like the start of some sinus crap. REALLY???? Can't we just catch a break already? Seriously, I wanted this trip to be nothing but sugar plums and hot cocoa, so I could relish in all this happy storybook holiday, and I feel like all I've done is bitch and moan about sickness. Sorry. I'm off to take some children's Benedryl – on the approved meds list for pregnant chics or not – Merry Christmas!!!

Friday, Dec 26

We decided about 5pm today to head on home a day early. Everyone was tired and we are worried about Mikey. Hoping to take him to the doctor Saturday rather than Monday and just being ready to be back home, close to our doctors, we made the long haul home. Though, the trip home was a lot less curvy and much quicker thanks to a 2009 Road Atlas, sometimes the "good old fashioned way" is better. I swear our Navigation lives to make us crazy, we returned the favor every time she had to say "Updating Route". We got home just after midnight and of course Mikey was ready to party after sleeping the whole way home. I think we got to sleep around 4am. But all in all, despite the sickies, we had a nice trip and enjoyed our Christmas vacation.

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