It all begins with Caden getting sick the week before Christmas, leaving me home all week with a SUPER whinny and sick 2 year old and a newborn. This is tricky to say the least and by the time Pete gets home every night it's a miracle I'm not hiding in the closet with a six pack. By the 23rd, Reece and Pete are also sick. For a short time I think that maybe I'm super human and will escape the plague, but get hit hard that night. Nobody in my family wants to come over for Christmas Eve festivities anymore (understandably), and Pete and I can barely choke down a few bites of the cookies that Caden left out for Santa to make it look like he was there. (Below: Caden sick on the couch)
Christmas morning was sweet because it's the first time Caden was really into the whole concept, but we were all still super sick and spent most of the day laying around on various surfaces in the house. Happily, my mother decided NOT to cancel our invitation to Christmas dinner, so it did feel a little bit like a holiday. To make things more challenging, we are leaving for Florida on a 7:00 am flight the Saturday after Christmas. You'd think that we'd all be feeling better by then, but you'd be dead wrong. It dawns on me that I should take these children to a doctor before we leave the state, so we schlep in to see our favorite pediatrician, Dr. Fishelberg, on the 26th. Caden has a sinus infection, but Reece, while totally pitiful, is still not in need of antibiotics. He suggests prayer and reflection. I love this man and I'll write a whole different post about Dr. Fish some day.
So here's the crap sandwich crescendo, and also the miracles. It's best viewed in a timeline.
3:30 am Saturday morning: Reece wake up to eat, like normal. I figure he'll nurse and go back to sleep, giving me an hour before we have to wake up and get us all out the door in time for our obscenely early flight. Instead, he POWER VOMITS all over me and himself which leads to...
4:00 am: unscheduled shower for me, bath for Reece and couch cleaning
5:00 am: First Christmas Miracle. I go wake up Caden expecting the usual baditude and crying, only to be greeted by an excited little boy ready to go on the plane. AWESOME.
5:15 am: Out the door and on our way to the airport.
5:20 am: We are pulled over on the side of the Dulles Toll Road because the rear window has randomly ROLLED ITSELF DOWN and refuses to go back up. Pete has to pull and yank on it for a good 5 minutes. Bizzarro.
5:45 am: We get to the airport and start to go through the gauntlet of airport baggage check in and security hell. I'll spare you the details. It wasn't pretty.
6:40 am: We are finally through security and on our way to the plane and we are LATE. Of course the gate we're going to is the furthest possible point away you can go without getting on the tram. We're hauling ass with kids and several assorted bags in tow. People are throwing little cups of Gatorade to us like we're marathoners.
6:58 am: We get to our gate. The attendant takes one look at us and lets us through. Unfortunately, the plane is already almost full. It's Southwest of course, so it looks like we won't be able to sit together. I'm having visions of having to nurse Reece stuck in the middle seat between 2 boy scouts as I hear Caden screaming for me from the back of the plane. I start to cry.
Christmas Miracle #2: The very last row of the plane is totally empty!! It's ours and we all get to sit together!!
Christmas Miracle #3: Reece slept the whole way and Caden was SO GOOD. We managed to NOT be the parents of screaming babies and annoying toddlers. Yay!
10:15 am: Southwest Airlines looses the stroller and Reece's car seat.
Crap. Sandwich.
