Tying the Knot and Hanging On!

Our littlest son was hit with a bad cold last week, he was having trouble taking deep breaths and was wheezing quite a bit. Thankfully, an inhaler helped a great deal with the breathing.

Sunday morning, (after having a filling pancake breakfast accompanied by fruit smoothies), we were trying to decide if we should still take him to church and run the risk of possibly exposing the other babies in his nursery to what he had.

In the midst of that exact discussion, our baby came over to me and unloaded his partially digested breakfast onto himself, my leg and the floor. There's nothing like vomit to help make a quick decision about church! Also, nothing like starting the week off on that note!

Monday morning, my husband had to head across the country for work. It's a lonely feeling having a spouse be thousands of miles away when you've got 2 boys not feeling well, especially when one's down and out with the stomach flu. I felt so very alone. Between last week and this week, we had to cancel 4 play dates with friends, a Bible study and co-op preschool -- thus cutting us off from everyone, for fear of exposing people.

After many days of cleaning up all the places throughout the house, washing all the clothes that fell victim to our baby's stomach bug, and trying my best to keep our 3 year old and myself from getting this flu, my hands are so raw and cracked from the hundreds of times I have used them to clean up something, someone, or myself. Lotion is only good when it can have time to soak in...perhaps next week sometime that can happen!

I want so much to be really patient and gentle with my sweet little one, especially when he needs me most. However, after being a single parent for a few days and meeting his every need both day and night, I reached my limit of "Mrs. Nice Mom" this afternoon.

I am not really sure what exactly made me snap, but the RED Cherry Jello that came back up ALL over our baby, the floor and me (making that the 4th outfit for us both today) may have been the cherry on the top. (Yes, I did learn my lesson about giving food with the color red to a sick child...and yes, last year it was the blue Popsicle. You'd think I'd learn!)

Thankfully, I did have my in-laws provide a "drive-by dinner", (my suggestion to not expose them) on Monday and a good friend do the same thing on Tuesday.

The good news is that my husband is now back in town! The other "somewhat comforting" news is that the nurse at the pediatrician's office said that he "should" stop throwing up by Friday. Let's hope so!!

My day by day calendar also encouraged me:
When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on! ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt

Guess I have my marching orders now! I'll do my best to find a rope, figure out how to tie that knot, then attempt to hold on with all my might -- that is, when I FIND some might to hold on to it with!!

I'll let you know how this goes...and if you don't hear from me for a while, I guess you'll know how that went!