The end of an era

So, remember how Carter was sick a little over a week ago, and I stayed home 3.5 days from work to be with him?

Yeah, so, Wednesday night, I decided to eat a brownie sundae before working out. Stupid, I know, but I made these amazing chewy brownies from Cook's Illustrated, a homemade caramel sauce from Our Best Bites, and I had some slow-churned Dreyer's vanilla ice cream just calling my name when I got home. But, I decided to work out that night anyways even though I'd eaten ice cream and I wasn't feeling that great.  However, when I got to the gym, I found out my workout class had been cancelled. I decided to run a couple of laps, but I wasn't feeling it (that's a different story anyways). I decided last minute to stop by McDonald's for dinner. Carter got his "chicken maggots" (his words, not mine) and I got a spicy McChicken. Let me tell you that I NEVER eat McDonald's lunch/dinner food. Every few months, I eat a breakfast sandwich from there, and I get cheap sodas, but that's it. Their hamburgers and sandwiches are generally disgusting to me.

Anyways, I woke up around midnight with a rock in my stomach.. I had complained earlier that evening about my stomach hurting, but I didn't think it'd turn into this. I couldn't sleep on my stomach because it hurt so bad. After tossing and turning and watching Seinfeld for an hour and a half, I finally got out of bed around 1:30 AM to get things started. I finally puked, for the first time since April 2006 (not counting the times during Carter's birth). Man, I got the McPukes and the McShakes. It was bad, but I finally felt a little better by 2 AM. But boy, it wiped me out. I dropped Carter off at daycare the next morning and laid in bed from 7:30 AM-4 PM. Ugh. Then, I had to call in sick AGAIN on Friday because I passed on the bug to my daycare lady (I honestly thought it was just the McDonald's food that caused it). So, yeah, I puked for the first time in almost a decade and I worked less than 40 hours over a 2-week period. Amazing.

On a lighter note, I baked something AMAZING on Saturday. I wanted to make something different, i.e. not pancakes, waffles, or muffins, and I remembered this recipe for quick cinnamon rolls from America's Test Kitchen. Normally, cinnamon rolls take FOREVER, so this was a good option. I don't know how many of you ate those Pillsbury's cinnamon rolls in a tube growing up, but our family did every Christmas, and they hold a strong nostalgic value to me. However, I would never buy those (yes, I'm that kind of person), but I have never have found a good homemade version. This recipe I found is the answer. It's more like a biscuit-like texture, and it reminded me of the tube cinnamon rolls so much, it brought me right back to Christmas morning. Let me warn you though, if you're tempted to make them, the dough is EXTREMELY sticky and I came close to losing it while trying to "knead" (ahem, more like stirring with my hands) the dough with my cute little "helper", Carter. So, if you're feeling a little adventurous, I'd highly recommend this recipe.

Grateful List

So, I was feeling pretty good this morning, even though Carter and I have basically been stuck at home since Tuesday. He still has his rash, but he's been normal, maybe just a little more whiny than normal. (P.S. my phone autocorrected "whiny" to agony, so I accidentally told my daycare lady that Carter was in agony.. oops.) But, we've been having some good times together. We played outside the past two days, in which Carter has somewhat learned how to ride his tricycle. He can push the pedals hard enough to move, but he's still not strong enough to do it for more than a couple of seconds. So, yeah, I was feeling good this morning...

And then this afternoon happened.

First of all, as some of you may know or have guessed, I have been waiting it out for Graham, to see if he truly can pull through this mess. As I have said, getting through school has been a hotbed of anxiety for him, so I don't feel like I can honestly give up on him yet. And, surprisingly enough, I put on my wedding ring for the first time in 3 months.. (don't judge my ugly hand). But no, this doesn't mean we're not getting back together indefinitely.. it's just a symbol.

But, to get back to my point, Graham has been accepted to Portland State and to the college of engineering, so we were excited that things were on the way. We knew that some classes wouldn't transfer, but we didn't know how many. Anyways, he talked to an advisor today, and a lot of the classes don't transfer.. like a lot. Like, he will be in school for 3 more years because he would have to re-take 5+ classes that didn't transfer (including classes like thermodynamics, numerical methods, etc). So, his options are to continue at PSU, knowing that he has to re-take stupid classes he's already taken, or enroll in Washington State Vancouver, where most of his classes will transfer, but it starts a week from Monday. So, yes, this news sucks..

And then, as soon as I got off the phone with him, Carter was sitting on my lap, he grabs his stomach and starts crying. And then, he starts vomiting up chunks of cheese, nectarine, and orange passionfruit juice... right into my hands, on our rug, and my couch. I carried him crying into the bathroom, where he managed to projectile vomit the same stuff on our carpet.. and we finally make it to the toilet for the 3rd hurl. So, I stick him in the bath while I use stain remover on our stuff. Our couch is already gross enough... Man, I wish I had $500 for a new couch at Costco!

So, yeah, after that, I could not do anything to make myself feel better. Carter tried to "help" me cook dinner, which is completely frustrating, and then a glass bowl dropped on my finger, so I broke out into tears of anger and frustration. Then, I remembered my intention to write this list this morning, and Carter and I played out on our deck.. and my day brightened just a little bit..

This is what I'm grateful for:
--my friend from BYU, Sarah, who visited me last week. We had a long chat, and she gave me the best advice to get close to Jesus Christ and to use the power of the Atonement to be healed. Honestly, she is my spiritual idol. She is always trying to get closer to the Spirit and improve her testimony. She is such a good example to me. Here's a random picture of us from our freshman year of college:

--my job. I have such good benefits to my job, flexible and awesome co-workers, and I can provide for my family. Plus, I've been able to be home for 4 days with my sick boy.
--my workouts. I keep saying I'm taking life one day at a time, but honestly, it's one workout at a time. I work out 6 times a week, so it's easy to get through a week if my goal is just to get through my workout each night. Right now, I've been doing lots of Bar Method videos (holy cow my legs feel the BURN), as well as attending RIPPED classes at the YMCA (which is a fun circuit workout that includes Resistance, Intervals, Plyometric, Power, and Endurance sections).
--my car. It is owned 100%, it runs, and it's one of the only assets I have.
--Carter. He is such a good kid, I can't even say it enough. He is adorable, fairly easygoing for a toddler, and very polite (when he wants to be, of course). I could go on forever...
--high-impact sports bras. This may seem like a *small* thing, but I did an interval workout with 30 seconds of high knees in a cheap-o Target Champion sports bra, and it was absolutely INDECENT. There are mirrors everywhere, so I had to put my hand on my chest to calm my bouncing boobs down. I have some high-impact sports bras from Athleta (Gap's women's sport clothing brand), and they are amazing. Seriously. I wish I had more.
--my parents and family. They have always been there for me, especially now. Thank you mom and dad for everything. Again, I could go on forever.

I am literally looking around my room for things to say I'm thankful for, but I'm out of ideas. I would say I'm thankful for my health, but I'm afraid that I'll drop dead next week if I say that.

And literally, 5 minutes after I posted this, Carter woke up crying because he vomited himself awake... all over his bed, blanket, and pillow. So, I am thankful for a washer and dryer in our house. I don't know how people with kids can live without them..

My summer "vacation"

So, I was feeling jealous a little the other day that I'm not taking any significant time off this summer. I'm taking a couple of days off for Labor Day, but that doesn't count. Graham took a week off with Carter in Idaho, but I don't have anything planned!

So, God heard my thoughts and blessed me in His own way.. I'm taking a week-long vacation this week, only it's forced. Carter spiked a fever on Monday night, so I kept him home from daycare on Tuesday. This morning, his fever was gone, so I figured everything was ok. Around 10:30 AM, however, my daycare lady let me know that Carter had a rash on his face and needed me to pick him up immediately. We went to the doctor and found out that Carter had a rash caused by a virus, which is the same thing other daycare kids had been diagnosed with. So, even though he's not contagious, he's not allowed to come back to daycare until his rash has cleared.. And... his rash has only gotten worse today. The other kids from daycare still haven't returned after 4 days. So, I'm fully expecting to be off work through Friday.

So, we have watched Talladega Nights about 7 times (Carter makes me fast forward to all of the racing parts), Wreck-it Ralph 3 times, and Chuggington 3 times.. As far as vacation goes, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind.

Anyways, I just wanted to post some pictures of Carter's favorite moments from his vacation to Idaho with Graham's family.

Oops

So, I totally forgot to blog this week. Oh well. I didn't even have a kid at home to distract me from blogging. Pretty much, I kept busy this week by working out, preparing for a co-worker's baby shower (which we had at a waterfront restaurant--view posted below), going to a friend's house for dinner and chatting on the porch for a couple of hours, attending a continuing education webinar about malnutrition at work, and a girl's night in at my house (everyone left at 10:30 PM last night, and I am beat). I definitely missed Carter, but holy crap, sleeping in until 8 AM on my day off was amazzzing.

This is our view of Gig Harbor and Mt. Rainier from the restaurant. I honestly think there is not a more beautiful place out there than Western Washington in the summer.

Anyways, I did talk about telling the story about how my friend and I got caught in high tide 2 weeks ago with our kids. We were here:

My friend Audrey has lived in this area almost her whole life, so I figured she'd know a lot about the place. So, with that said, we were running a little bit late because she had to run some errands after work. So, we ended up pulling up to the park around 6:30 PM. She and her 3 kids, along with Carter and I, packed up our dinner, camera, and beach toys and walked for about 5 minutes along the shore to get to the big, sandy beach area for our kids to play. Along the way, we had to climb over some rocks and fallen tree trunks along the shore. We wondered out loud, "is the tide going out or in?" I figured that it had to have gone out already because the sand was wet. When I asked her about the tree line along the shore, she replied, "oh, there's no way the water goes up that high!"

So, we ended up hanging out for like 45 minutes or so, eating dinner, and letting our kids play in the sand. There was only a couple of other people out there, so it was relaxing. When the other people left, I thought I saw them in the water, but dismissed that thought, thinking it was their dog I'd seen swimming in the water. About 5 minutes after they left, they yelled back at us, "there's not much shore left!" It took us about 15 more minutes to pack everything up and get the kids moving. 

We got off to a bad start because her boy (who's 3), started bawling because he thought he was being left behind. So, I ran back to grab him too. Then, we got to the point where we had absolutely NO shore left. I hiked up my bags (which included my nice camera), and grabbed Carter on my side. Luckily, he's light so it wasn't the worst thing ever. Audrey's little girls, who are 8 and 5, were big enough to handle walking through the water. Her boy, on the other hand, was still freaking out and would not hold on to her side. So, along with her cooler and bags, she wrapped his arms around her neck and carried him on her back like a monkey, with him crying the whole time. I hadn't planned on getting in the water, but I was wearing my bathing suit under my shorts and hoodie just in case. That was a good thing because I eventually took off my jean shorts because the water was up to my hips. I was jokingly yelling and laughing because I had to walk through water with slippery seaweed and shells and stuff.. because seaweed is totally not my thing. But, then we had to climb over rocks and fallen tree trunks again. We had to pass the children over the tree trunks while avoiding the rocks. My friend's oldest girl climbed super high on a tree trunk, and when she realized the only way down was to jump 10 feet into the water below, she started crying. So, I had to go rescue her as well. 

But, after 10-15 minutes of high-tide hell, we made it to the steps to shore and parking lot. Carter arrived completely dry and scrape free. Audrey and her jeans were soaked up to her hips, but her jeans protected her legs and hips from any scrapes. Her son was just soaked, and extremely upset about the whole ordeal. Her girls had multiple scrapes and scratches from rocks and blackberry bushes. My legs looked like I'd gotten into a fight with a cougar. I had a couple of gashes and lots of scratches from blackberry bushes and rocks. Also, my scratches got extremely puffy the next day. Apparently, blackberry bushes have some sort of mild irritant on their thorns. When we got into the car, Audrey said that I'd probably never hang out with them again because of her lack of planning. I honestly thought it was kind of a hilarious situation, but I might not have thought so if we'd been caught at even higher tide.

I told her that this never would've happened if we'd had a man with us. Her husband was supposed to go with us, but was made "on-call" for work that evening, so he stayed home in case he had to go to work. Turns out, her husband has a tide tables app on his phone, and we were there at the beach at high tide (and the highest tide was 15-30 minutes after we left). So yeah, my theory about having a man with us was correct. Anyways, lesson learned--when going to the coast, look up the tide schedule!!

Sucker Punch

Ever since I've become a parent, I've definitely become a sucker. Things about families being separated, kids getting sick, etc, have made me cry a lot more than they used to before Carter came along!

Anyways, I was watching World War Z with my sister this afternoon, and Brad Pitt's character was saying goodbye to his kids, and I teared up. It wasn't even that emotional of a scene, I'm just super sensitive to this right now! So yeah, I also cried on the way home in my car because I knew Carter won't be there with me (he's in Idaho for the week with Graham's family). Now I have an idea what Graham feels like every week he's away from Carter. Although I don't feel bad for him because he's the reason why we are separated, I definitely feel a fraction of his emotions being away from Carter.