What a Weekend

Hi friends. Can we just take a minute and talk about this weekend? What a mess.

Nate and I were so happy to have a weekend of "nothing going on" so that we could do all those things we haven't done in awhile (like finish hanging this light.) We are so silly.

As I'm sure most of you know if you follow the Instagram, we took Damian to the ER on Saturday. I had been painting the dining room when I realized it was all too quiet in the house. Nate texted me that Damian had decided to take a nap on the sofa. My mama sensors went off a bit at that, butttttt who doesn't love peace and quiet and the miracle of both children napping at the same time???? 

However, not only does my child not ever nap. He never turns off his beloved Curious George in order to take a nap, so the second he woke up we took his temperature--103.4. 

UGHGHHHHHHGGHHHHHHH

We asked him over and over "Does anything hurt??" and every time he responded that nothing did. 

UGHGHHGHHHHHHHH

For Damian, a sudden fever with no other symptoms means we need to rush him to the hospital.** So we did. He was pretty pitiful, but after some Motrin, IV fluids, (a lollipop,) and blood work he seemed to be doing much better. It was a long couple of hours waiting for answers.

At first I was all over it-- "Clare you can't touch anything!!!" But after an hour of being in a little room and having brought her two different shoes (both the left feet--oh the irony,) I decided I was fighting a losing battle. She's probably horribly diseased now too, but at least she had a milestone moment and said "bag" while trying on her new bookbag. Apparently she's 13.

Four hours later we all cheered that the labs said his liver looked fine but showed positive for RSV. Probably not the norm, but nothing ever is with Damian. It's hard to explain what goes on inside me as Damian's mom, it's a complicated mess of emotions. Let's just say no one has been so relieved for a virus.

As we go to leave Damian goes "WHAT'S THAT?!" 

Oh buddy... It's the GIANT picture of a sea turtle that's been on the wall behind you the entire time we've been here... Clearly little man wasn't feeling 100%.

Then we tried to leave, but we were flooded because downtown Charleston does that. 

So we hung out a little more until we could float drive our car out. 

Sunday consisted of a lot of Curious George watching and apple juice drinking and nothing else. He still had a bit of a fever but still no other symptoms. I kinda feel like this weekend was a waste, but at the end of the day, we're really happy that it's just a virus. That is until the rest of us get it... 

**Thank you to all who prayed for Damian! We know for most a fever doesn't seem like much, but for Damian repeated infections of the liver would speed up its deterioration and cause him to need a transplant much sooner. I try to not ever focus on the bad things, but when these little moments happen sometimes it can feel overwhelming. I know we are incredibly blessed by how well our Miracle Boy is doing.

Family, Sabbath, #SundayFunday

When we first moved into the house, our weekends were jammed pack trying to unpack, organize, and accomplish all our home improvement projects. Nate and I tried to use our time wisely and get as much done as possible since I was useless during the week with the littles. And by the time Nate got home from work, it was bedtime. Power tools + bedtime does not work in this house. Thus the weekend became GET IT ALL DONE NOW time. 

That worked for awhile, until I began to realize it wasn't actually working for all of us. Damian, poor kid, wasn't getting to enjoy his weekends with his family. Sure Nate and I were there, but being there versus being present are very different things. He can only go to Lowes so many times... And watching us paint while watching Mary Poppins for the umpteenth time isn't exactly as exciting as it was the first 3498 times. So I decided we needed a change...

For awhile now I've wanted to be better about keeping Sunday the Sabbath and minimizing the "just another day" aspect of it. Of course we go to Mass so that helps, but other than that, there's not been much different. Awhile back when I was reading St. Therese of Lisieux's Story of a Soul, I was struck by how she described the Sundays of her childhood as little tastes of heaven. And I want that, more than anything, for my kids. So in a more modern hashtag-y kind of way, we started Sunday Funday. 

We don't always do some big, but we try to do at least something fun as a family on Sunday. Sometimes it's just going to a park or for a walk, other times we'll go to the beach or get a meal. Whatever it is, we try to do it together and make sure it's something we can all enjoy at some level. Even the babe. 

Today we just walked around our beautiful city 

and enjoyed the cool breeze coming off the harbor. If anything reminds me of what I hope heaven is like, it's walking around on a beautiful day near the water. It was nice to just laugh at Damian being a nut, 

talk with Nate,

and watch Clare try to play with her brother. It's good to take it slow sometimes. The dishes and laundry aren't going anywhere, and on Sundays, they can wait.

A Weekend Away

It's been over a month now that we've been in the new house. Every weekend thus far has been spent unpacking, painting, doing maintenance, etc etc. When Nate told me that he was going on a bachelor party weekend, I first cried at the thought of riding solo for the.entire.weekend. but then rejoiced when I realized I could take the kids on a small trip to see some of my good friends (Emily and Jeff.) A weekend without home improvement stores?! Yes please! I then quickly invited myself over to stay with them.

Sometimes, though, I get a little too brave for my own good. (Preface: the trip overall was fantastic... now I continue.) I kinda sorta maybe didn't think about the fact that 3.5 hours alone with two kids in a car is not always... how shall we say it... pleasant. But I decided upon the perfect plan--playdate in the morning and then leave right at Clare's afternoon nap time. Brilliant. Both kiddos will be tired and pass out, and I can drive in peace.

Fail. So much fail.

Damian was too excited to see his BFF Jeff that he "bounced" happily in his car seat almost the whole way there. Clare was a good little angel for the first part, even when we got stuck in stand still traffic only 40 miles into the trip. Thanks to the traffic (and my poorly planned gas station fill-up,) Clare woke up right as we hit rush hour traffic in Columbia. After listening to Clare scream as we slowly made our way through the city, I decided to stop and feed her. Damian and I jammed to some Raffi Pandora Station while I nursed Clare. We had only 1.5 hours to go, I was hoping a full belly and smooth sailing would cause her to zonk out. But no. Sweet girl decided she was done and cried for an hour before finally passing out... Hopefully this isn't a CIO preview...ugh. However, lulled to sleep by the soothing sounds of 4 month old's cries, Damian promptly fell asleep.

Soooo basically, the last 30 minutes of my trip as I made my way through the beautiful middle of nowhere upstate SC was very peaceful. However, I was more than sad that I had given up alcohol for Lent by the time we arrived.

The rest of the weekend was great. It was so nice to be fed delicious home cooked meals and just enjoy quality time catching up with friends. 

Damian and Clare got to stay up past their bed times so I was hoping that meant a nice sleeping in Saturday, but Mr. Rise and Shine was up and at'em right at 6:30 am. I tried to convince him to hop in the bed with Clare and I and snuggle, but he took me a little too literally and bounced on our heads for an hour before I finally gave up. Somehow Clare was able to sleep through all that excitement. 

We spent most of the day in downtown Greenville. It was a beautiful day and Damian was in a good mood, so everyone was happy. Three is a fun age, but, well, you know how it can go. I'd say Clare was in a good mood too but that's just plain redundant. This girl is always laid back and happy. (oh teenage years, please be gentle to us.) 

First stop was a model train exhibit.

 Damian's little boy heart leapt for joy, and I was a little worried he wouldn't ever let us leave. 

Apparently the promise of brunch was a good enough compromise. We also learned an interesting fact from Damian when he loudly proclaimed "I LOVE BACON SOOO MUCH!"  Noted child.

After lunch we walked around Falls Park.

Damian enjoyed running over the bridges, not colliding with other, slower pedestrians, and finding ducks. 

We topped the adventure off with ice cream. I'm fairly certain Damian proclaimed it to be The Best Day Ever! 

My trip back home on Sunday was equally adventurous as the way there, just with less baby screaming and a helluva lot more rain, getting lost, ending up in the middle of nowhere SC twice, and finding a gas station was not only not pay at the pump but also not pay before you pump. Somewhere in this world there is still a much higher level of trust and/or right and wrong. Who knew? 

Not I.

Anyway, that's the story of our weekend away. It was amazingly refreshing considering I was "alone" and traveling with two kids. If you've made it this far, I will leave you with this guy... who we found on our walk through the park, which made me think of this video.

you're welcome.