...And Some Days, The Bear Eats You

My dad has been known to say, "Some days, you eat the bear, and some days, the bear eats you." Today, I think the bear might have eaten us.

Our day started at 4:45 am with Leah waking up and crying. She settled down, but then began to cry again, so Gary went into the nursery to see what the issue was. She had thrown up all over her crib. So, we changed the sheets, gave her a good wipe-down and changed her jammies, then I took her downstairs to hang out for awhile. Anna Claire also decided to get up (5:15 am), so all of us were awake at that point. We played downstairs and Leah eventually got sleepy again around 6:45, so I put her back to bed, and I laid down on the couch for a quick nap. Leah woke up at 8:00, crying again - she had been sick again in her bed. Now all of her toys in her crib - including the ever-present Elmo - needed to go for a swim in the washer. I changed her again, changed the sheets again, and got her bundled up and ready to go so I could take Anna Claire to school. In the car, Leah vomited again 3 times. When we arrived back home, I gave her a bath and changed her again (we're now on outfit #4 if you're counting). We played for awhile, then I needed to run to Wegman's to pick up a couple of things. As I was pulling into the Wegman's parking lot, Gary called me on my cell phone to tell me that one of his students had come up behind him in the hall, hugged him tightly, and in doing so, dislocated or fractured one of Gary's ribs. I told Gary to file a worker's comp claim and call me back (this would be the HR director in me). I got my stuff at Wegmans, rushed home, put the cold stuff in the frig, then drove over to Gary's school to get him.

Gary got in the car, and we headed toward the hospital (he was in so much pain he couldn't even open the car door by himself). About a half-mile up the road, Leah vomited again all over herself and the back-up jammies I brought with me. Gary kindly suggested that perhaps I had enough on my hands, and asked me to take him back to his car at the school. He drove himself to the emergency room and I drove home (during which Leah was sick two more times). I bathed Leah AGAIN, put her in the 5th set of pajamas today, and put her down for a nap. She cried off and on for an hour, and finally I went into her room to find that she had taken off her clothes and her diaper, and was standing in her crib, stark naked, teeth chattering. At least she hadn't thrown up again!

Gary is home now from the ER - turns out he just dislocated his rib, and it's back in place now, so other than being in a lot of pain, he's OK. Leah is doing fine other than being cranky and having a mild fever - and her illness seems not to have affected her much, as she has learned 3 new things just today - how to climb on top of the coffee table without the stool (picture above), how to move the baby gate on the stairs so she can get up the stairs, and how to get DOWN the stairs whenever she wants. I cannot believe a sick baby would have the energy to do all this, but we're talking about Leah here. She has energy and a sense of adventure that Anna Claire never had.

I need a nap and a massage. But other than that, I'm holding up just fine. When you compare days like this to days like we had in 2003 and 2004 when I had cancer and blood clots in my heart and lungs, one like this is a cinch. And we are blessed beyond what we could imagine.

Here are some action shots of Leah today - standing on the coffee table and wearing Anna Claire's hot pink cowboy boots - she's a Texas girl at heart!