It Was a Regular Night

Last night was a really fun night until…..  I can’t, nay, won’t, start with the punch line.  Let me back up a few hours. 

This is the first not regular part, it was better than regular.  My brother and I started planning for last night in December.  He and Tina generously invited us out for an adult night on the town as our Christmas Gift.  Our usual babysitter was out….got her wisdom teeth pulled 3 days ago.  Ahh, not so wise….what about us Clara?  What about us?  Well, for the good name of the Bauer-Baker Family I have to say Clara’s Mom, Rebecca, stepped up and volunteered, along with her husband Greg, to watch the kids.  I was and am grateful. 

Bob and I met Rex and Tina at 6:30 at Lucca.  I had never been there so I had no idea what to expect.  We had a reservation and by the looks of the crowd waiting, it’s a dang good thing.  We had a nice chat and the food (at least mine) was awesome.  Honestly, it was the best thing I have eaten in a long time.  I had the braised pork shoulder with polenta and roasted vegetables.  It was really fun.  After dinner we headed across the street to Perry’s for dessert.  We ran into friends, had our treats and finished up our night out.  It was really fun and we were home by 9:30.  Nice.

Here’s where the regular part begins.  Greg was finishing putting the kids to bed.  I was so glad we missed that.  What’s the purpose of a night out if you have to come home and put your kids to bed?  We had a glass of wine and talked to Greg and Rebecca for about an hour.  That’s always fun.  After they left we sat down to watch a movie, Cowboys and Aliens to be exact.  Not the worst movie ever.  It was worth the dollar we spent on it at the Red Box. 

About 75% of the way through the movie Kees comes stammering down the stairs.  Mind you it was 12:15 am.  He said, “I can’t find Coulter and I’m scared.”  I said, “Come here baby.”  He came over and curled up on my lap. My sweet baby, momma will comfort you.  About 2 minutes later he belched and threw up a little bit on me.  These things happen.  I lift his head up off of me to gain control of the situation and he immediately projectile vomits all over me.  I was covered from my neck to my knees.  Bob came over, grabbed Kees and set him down about 5 feet from me where he threw up all over the carpet.  Seriously it sounded like he spilled a gallon of liquid mixed with Jell-O on the floor. Splat, splat…pause…splaaaaatttttt.  Bob grabbed him again and carried him into the bathroom and instruct Kees to, “Throw up in the toilet.”  He did.  A lot.

While Bob was carrying Kees around, I was laying back on couch covered in red, stinky barf.  Apparently Kees had some licorice and popcorn yesterday.  Who knew?  I couldn’t move because if I did it would spill (more puke) on the floor.  I called, calmly to Bob, “Can you bring me a towel?”  He did.  I covered the front of me with said towel doing the best I could to contain the damage, and I moved into the bathroom.  I disrobed down to my underwear because I was soaked through to them. I started seeing a LOT of humor in this situation.  I had on a turtleneck, a sweater and a vest and was soaked through!  Impressive performance. 

By now, Kees was finished expelling and said, “I feel better.”  I asked him to wait down stairs by the toilet, just in case, while I made a bed for him in our room.  He agreed.  I laid down a few towels and made a bed for him on the towels.  I also set a pan out for him in case of emergency. When I came down to retrieve him he was wiping off the end of the tie on his bathrobe on one of my new towels.  In his entire projectile vomiting episode he only got that one drop on himself.  Again, quite impressive.  I stripped him of his robe, grabbed the towel and tossed them down the chute to Bob who was starting the first of a few loads of laundry.  Kees said, “Mom, sorry I barfed on you.”  I said, “It’s OK.  It happens.”  Kees turned and bounded up the stairs like nothing had happened.

I got him settled into his makeshift bed.  I took a shower.  I needed one…..badly.  While I was doing this Bob did laundry, cleaned up vomit from various locations in a 20 by 5 foot wide area.  Luckily, we have a small carpet cleaner for wet spills.  It comes in handy more often than I would like and always for something gross.  I can’t imagine what could be growing in that machine.  He cleaned carpet, clothes, towels, blankets, more carpet, pillows, the couch, under the cushions of the couch and so on.  Gross, gross and more gross….

25 minutes after this whole fiasco started we were back on the couch in different clothes and with another glass of wine in hand.  It was needed.  I looked at Bob and we both just started cracking up.  I said, “You couldn’t write that scene in a movie if you tried.  No one would believe it.”  We laughed for 5 minutes recapping the whole thing.  Honestly, it was hilarious.  One minute you’re sitting there peacefully watching a stupid movie, glad that it’s almost over so you can go to bed and the next you’re covered in your son’s puke watching him single handedly ruin your house like and alien spewing acid.  You can’t make this stuff up! 

So there is our regular night, regular for a mom and dad of 3 kids.  It happens.

Oh What a Night!

Tonight has been a tough one. At about 10 after midnight Kees woke up barking. Unfortunately this is a sound that I have come to recognize all too well. He starts with a cough and in no time at all it turns into a full blown croup. He can’t breathe, the coughing gets worse so it’s even harder to breathe, then he gets scared so he starts crying which makes his vocal chords swell even worse. It’s scary for both of us and I always have to make the call, do we go to the hospital or not?

To make matters even worse we are in Spokane. I don’t have his medicine. I have been really good about bringing it in the past but this time….no meds….of course. It didn’t even cross my mind because everyone has been really healthy.

When he first started “barking” I tried to calm him down. Coughing just makes it so much worse. I had to wake up my friend to get some cough medicine. She also got a cool air humidifier for us. She knows how this works. I took him outside first but I don’t think it was cold enough and he was coughing a ton. Next I whisked him into the bathroom, shut the door and cranked the shower on full hot. IT HELPED A LOT AND FAST! Thank God! I was about to run him to the hospital. He still didn’t sound great but he could breathe a bit and the coughing stopped. I took him to the living room and turned on Blue’s Clues. I find that if he is distracted he doesn’t work as hard breathing. Good….it’s all good.

As we’re sitting quietly watching Blue’s Clues, Sophia comes running down the stairs. She says, “My stomach hurts.” and I can tell she’s about to throw up. I tell her to run into the bathroom and I follow. She is shaking and sitting on the floor. She says it’s because she’s sick but it looks like she’s freezing. She swears she’s not. Indeed, she does throw up. Ah, this is why I didn’t go to the emergency room. I am grateful that I was there. She would have been afraid if she needed me in the middle of the night and I wasn’t available. Of course I would have told her I was leaving before I went but she’s 10. She needs her mommy when she’s sick.

This, by the way, is the second time in 3 days that she has thrown up in the middle of the night. There has been a lot going on. Her fiddle teacher died 2 days ago and she has been really upset about that. During the day she seems fine but I think she stews at night and gets worked up. I’m not sure how to help her other than listen and try and walk her through her grief. I’m still not sure if she’s sick from illness or grief.

I return to the couch where Kees’ show ended. He sounds MUCH better but still, I want to sit up with him and keep an eye on his situation. I turn on a Veggie Tales for him. He’s happy about that, or as happy as he can be in this situation. Sophia joins us. She sits on the side of the couch closest to the bathroom. After a few minutes I ask her how she feels and she says she feels better being “distracted”. Her words, not mine.

So there they sat, quiet and distracted but both feeling better. Sleep is way over rated anyway right? I finally had them go to sleep at 3. As I type it’s almost 4am. I am sitting up like the momma bear watching and listening to my cubs to make sure they’re alright. They’re both sleeping on the couch, toe to toe. Kees is propped up just like we’d do for him when he was a baby. Sophia is at the end closest to the bathroom though she seems fine. I’m going to get a sleeping bag and try to sleep in a chair so I am at the ready. The hours at the job are the pits but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s what parents do.

The Week of the Weak

Last weekend Coulter was over at the Stewart's for a sleep over on Saturday night. He was thrilled. All went fine....to my knowledge....except... He got sick at about 4 in the morning. Throwing up sick. Nasty. We have known the Stewarts for about 6 years now. Why do you need to know this? Because we have been cleaning up after each other's kids both poop and vomit the whole time. Julie even joked that she'll be happy to continue the current arrangement. The one where our kids have gastronomic issues at her house and her kids have bowel problems at ours. We both laughed in a knowing mom way, like, when the hell does this end?

Sunday he seemed fine. He played, went to a birthday party and went shopping with Bob. All was fine until....he puked again in the late afternoon. Damn, he had been around a LOT of people that day. Up until then I had just chocked it up to something he ate, I guess I was wrong. Immediately after he threw up he was fine and continued to be fine. Kids heal fast.

Monday came around and I felt a bit blah but nothing major. Coulter stayed home just in case. I didn't need him throwing up at school. Apparently 25% of the kindergarten and first grade kids were out....It wasn't just Coulter.

Bob and I watched a bit of TV on Monday night and went to bed fairly early. I still wasn't feeling up to par and wanted to sleep it off. I laid awake for a couple hours and started thinking that I wasn't feeling better, as a matter of fact I was feeling worse and headed toward....we'll say, expelling my dinner. At 2 I did indeed "expel." At 2:10 Kees came to the door and I told him to go back to his bed, that I was sick. I fell asleep. At 2:25 Kees came back and I told him the same thing. He said, "I don't feel good." Awww, poor baby. I said, "Come up here and get in the middle." He did and then almost immediately said, "I'm going to throw up." I grabbed him and ran to the bathroom. He made it. Of course him throwing up didn't do anything for my condition. I went to Bob, who was totally asleep (How can he sleep through this?) and said, "Bob, can you take care of Kees? I have been throwing up and can't do it right now." He said, "I just threw up 10 minutes ago." CRAP! I have known Bob for 15 years and he has only thrown up 2 times.

So here we are the 3 of us running back and forth to the bathroom all night. It was gross and exhausting. At 7 Sophia came into our room. I told her we had all been sick all night. She backed away from me. She hates being sick. I asked her if she could help Coulter get ready for school. She did and was so sweet about it. They had breakfast and then she read him stories until it was time to go. I called a friend who picked up the kids and took them to school.

Kees, of course, felt fine but I was not going to let him go to school. He did sleep in but other than that there were no signs that he was sick. What's with little kids and how they get over things so fast? Bob and I were stuck either on a couch or in bed. We both slept the majority of the day. We did have to go retrieve Coulter at noon. He was feeling bad again and fell asleep in the office when they took him in there.

Now here is the silver lining. My friends all went into "candy striper" mode. They were bringing over remedies left and right. We got crackers, Jello, electrolyte drinks, soup, ginger ale, dinner for the kids, etc. It was amazing. They were all on it. It made me feel very loved and cared for by my friends. I hope they all know I would do the same for them if the tables were turned. I'm pretty sure they do. Anyway, if there was a silver lining, that was it. It just goes to show what an amazing group of friends I have right here in my neighborhood. Being that I have never lived anywhere for more than 3 years I had never developed these kinds of relationships before. It's very interesting and rewarding and I love it.

By Tuesday night I felt like we were starting to mend. By Wednesday morning Bob was better....totally unfair. I got everyone ready for school....except Sophia, she was starting to go down hill. After the super sister that she had been on Tuesday I let her stay home. She didn't seem super sick but she doesn't complain much and if she felt like she needed to stay home, I was going to let her. I babied her all day bringing her vitamin water, noodle soup and crackers. She watched movies all day and slept a little bit. Her big issue was that she had nasty stomach cramps. I still felt crappy but I needed to take care of the rest of my crew.

Thursday everyone went to school....except for Kees, he had a scheduled day off. We had mommy and Kees day but neither one of us was back to 100%.

By Friday I'd say Kees and I were back to about 95%, Coulter and Bob were fine and Sophia was still having cramps but was OK.

So that is the full story of our week of sickness. It sucked for the most part. I am eternally grateful to my girl friends that knew we were sick. They saved me and my family. I hope that NEVER happens again.

Sometimes Fun, Sometimes SCARY!!!!!

There are times where being a mom is great. There are times where being a mom is frustrating. The worst times are when being a mom is scary. Tonight is one of those nights.

Bob and I had a teacher conference tonight with Coulter's teacher. That went great! He's brilliant just like we thought. While we were there the kids were with some friends. When we went to get the kids Kees was coughing a bit and sounding like he was getting croup. He was breathing fine but barking a bit. He went to bed with out much issue.

Bob and I were enjoying our first night of vacation together. We had some wine, watched TV and I doinked on the computer. It was a nonchalant kind of night. I took a really nice bath and then we went to bed at about midnight. That's later than usual but not too late for vacation.

At about 1:15 Kees came in BARKING and crying. I tried to calm him down but once you start coughing like that with congestion in your chest it's hard to stop. I've been there. I gave him Albuterol, started the vaperizer and put Vick's on him. Nothing stopped it. I did tell him he had to stop and he listened. He knows that the more he causes the problem, the worse it gets. We layed in bed and finally I asked him if he wanted to go get the medicine that he breaths. He said, "The one that I breave in my moufe?" I said, "Yes." And he said, "I want to get that." When a kid says they want to go to the hospital and get emergency care.....BELIEVE THEM!!!!

As I sit here writing, Bob is taking Kees to the hospital. I, of course, can't sleep, so I am blogging. I am not overly concerned that anything bad will happen. Just as a parent, it's my job to be concerned, to make them go.

As Bob was walking out the door he said, "So, it was 2 years ago when this happened the last time?" I was like, WTF DUDE? "NO, it was 4 months ago....June" "Oh, OK"

I am grateful that he is taking him this time. I am the mom. It's my job to be, maybe, overly concerned. Bob is probably, appropriately concerned.

So I am concerned, Bob is on his way to the hospital with Kees and I am waiting for word. I'll pass on more when I know it. Until then.....

Flu, Swine Flu, Stomach Thing????? I Dunno....

Sophia was sick about 3 weeks ago. She went to spend the night at a friends house and woke up at 3:30 throwing up. Poor baby. She was sick for a day and a half. Was that the Swine Flu?

A week ago I stopped by the nurses stand at Kaiser. I asked, "Will there be any more flu vaccine this year?" The receptionist said that there wouldn't be and that I should wash my hands, cover my cough, avoid sick people, and keep my hands away from my face. "Thanks" I said and almost rolled my eyes. I know she is just saying what they have told her to say but really.

I have 3 small people and 2 of them practically sneeze in your face, they WILL lick you and the quick nose pick is not unusual. I don't want to know where the boogers are. The Lysol Wipes are good but there must be some sort of Irradiation Machine that I could get. The kids could just walk through it daily after school. Yes, I am going to look into that.

Tuesday, this week, Sophia woke up with a headache, a temp of 102.5 and her back and legs were sore. I called the peds nurse who said, "It's probably H1N1 and it's probably just the beginning. She was hot and uncomfortable all day but she was able to bring herself to watch TV....LOTS OF TV. We all stayed away from her for the most part and any time she moved through an area I would follow behind with Lysol Wipes.

Wednesday she still had a fever of 101.5 but felt much better. Again, TV...not a lot of sleep, just a lot of TV. I insisted that she read and then she was only able to read 2 pages before she was just "too tired." Yeah, right.... Back on with the TV. By bed time, no fever...we'll see.

Thursday...NO FEVER!!!! Off to school. I took her over to her friend's house so they could walk to school while I dropped Kees off at his school. I got a call 10 minutes after I dropped her off. Her legs hurt, her stomach had "bubbles" in it and she wanted to come home. I picked her up. I was sick of being at home....I took her to coffee with Bob and I. She was able to stomach a steamed milk. I figured if she could do that she could go to....Fred Meyer. I hadn't been out of the house in 3 days! I will tell you that before we left the coffee shop we did our community service and wiped the table down with hand sanitizer. Sophia didn't want anyone else to get what she has.

Fred Meyer was successful and I picked up just a few things. If she could go to Fred Meyer then why not Costco? Off we went to Costco. Again, I didn't need much, just the usual $500 basket. How is it that every time I walk through the door it's $500? That's another post. Sophia was fine the whole time. A little tired but fine. We picked Kees and his buddy up from school and then headed home. Sophia went right back up stairs and turned on the TV. What's a girl to do?

Last night I insisted she shower, wash her hair and get ready for school the next day. Enough with the half sick kid. She agreed and said she was missing going to school. That was nice to hear.

So with a bit of trepidation, I sent her to school today. She has been with out a fever for more then 24 hours. Unfortunately, she woke up with a headache and a few stomach cramps. A couple of Ibuprofen later and a bit of breakfast too, she was much better. So today, I made sure I was near a phone all day. It's 12:30 now and no call. I pray this is good news. And I ask....Was that the Swine Flu?

So far so good, knock on wood, pick a 4 leaf clover and hold on to your rabbit's foot. No one else in the family has been sick. Who's going to take care of me if I am sick? The thought terrifies me. I am praying that we are all healthy for Thanksgiving. I want to make sure we do not pass this along to anyone else.

Wash your hands, cover your cough, avoid sick people and keep your hands away from your face. That's what the pros say. Yeah, good luck with that.

Mt. Hood Weekend

The back of Timberline Lodge

Kees in his cave. He was being a Mountain Tiger....hugh?

Sophia after her "summit"

The whole fam damily at 7000+ feet

The 'rents and the boys on the ski lift

Check out the bunny ears on the mirror. So Cute! And the fire log pillows on the bed.

Becky relaxing on the sofa. Great room.....

Gas "wood stove" and bar area.

A WAY better kitchen then I have.
Deer head in the living room. Check out the antler chandelier.


Wow is all I can say about the cabin we just stayed at this weekend. The cabin is called the Mule Deer Cabin and is phenomenal. Every detail is beautiful and has been attended to.

The mom's arrived on Thursday. We went to Timberline Lodge for dinner. It was pretty good and we enjoyed it. Then we went back to the cabin and got our party on. I have to say, waking up tired after a party night is MUCH easier when the small people are not around. We had breakfast, went on a little walk and then prepared for the coming onslaught of people.

The troops started arriving about 5 pm. We had a huge dinner with all 15 people. The kids watched a movie, the adults talked and then later watched a movie too. The cabin has a rear projection movie set up. Again, cool.

Saturday was gorgeous! The sun was out and there were only a few clouds in the sky. We all headed up the mountain to the Timberline Lodge. When we arrived we voted to take the chair lift to the top of hill (or the top that we were going to). It takes you up to about 7000 ft. From there we could see forever! We could see the top of the mountain and many other mountains. We felt lucky to be there when the weather was so good.

That evening some of us danced to 80's music (Becky's era) and had a fine time. Again, food, family, wine, movies, fun..... All fun.

The one bit of nastiness.... Saturday night Coulter got sick. He had been complaining that his stomach hurt. Then, about 10 pm Coulter came up whining and just hurled on the floor. He hit a couple pillows and some leather and wood furniture. WHAT he DIDN'T hit was more important. There was a carpet that was not only beautiful but I am sure about half of Bob's salary. Coulter was inches from hitting that. I am still quaking thinking about that. Bob had already laid down with Kees so I was on my own with this one. God bless Becky who jumped up and helped cleaned up Coulter's mess. I was torn between finishing the clean up or cleaning up Coulter. We cleaned up some of the barf but then Coulter was really upset. I got up and stripped Coulter, put him in bed, made sure he had a barf receptacle for the night time with towels underneath. By the time I got back up stairs the mess was totally cleaned up. I couldn't believe it, Becky finished cleaning up that gross mess. Yikes!

Sunday was pack up, clean up and drive down. It all went fairly smoothly and Coulter seemed to feel better. Thank goodness. It was a really fun weekend on all fronts. THANKS BECKY!!!!

Monday Monday, So Good To Me....

Monday was a slower day. Thank goodness! How does anyone keep this pace? George? Sarah? Anna? Anyone? We are all having a blast though so don't get me wrong.... No complaints here. This has been one good time after another.

I can't believe we have been here for 8 days. It has all blurred into one really good time and will be wonderful memories for every one of us. So we all got up on Monday and had some breakfast. Bob ordered a pile of food and we all just took what we wanted. Yum! After wishing Uncle Brown (Uncle Brian) a happy birthday we all were going to the straw market.

I told Brian my birthday gift was given on Saturday. That's when I celebrated. It wasn't a thing and it wasn't mine to give but still. It seemed like a good celebration for a birthday. What could a guy want after the weekend we just had?

As I posted about Sunday night, Coulter had been sick. He said he was better and he had a bunch of breakfast so he appeared better. Great. We all walked through the hotel. Coulter said he felt sick so we stopped so he could go #2. He did and said he was all better. Fab...bullet dodged. We walked for about 4 blocks inside and then went outside. The humidity was oppressive. It was about 95 and 100% humidity. It was like swimming in a hot tub. Coulter immediately looked at me and pointed to his face. He was going to throw up. I grabbed him and held him over a trash can where he threw up everything he had for breakfast and then some.

Bob turned around with Couter and went back to our room. The rest of us proceeded. I was so hot it was like I was melting, or as if someone had poured a bucket of water over my head. We walked through the market got a few trinkets and then stopped at the little island market for water and sodas. Next I got some Gravol for Coulter to help his tummy. We walked back to the room....ahhhh, air conditioning. Much better. I will tell you that this was the first time that I felt this hot. It's been hot and humid but nothing like today.

When we got back to the room Coulter was doing much better and watching a show. Clara had been feeling under the weather with nasal congestion so she stayed behind to watch him while the rest of us went to the pool. Kees, seeing that Coulter was watching a video decided to stay behind. Hey, fine with me. This meant that Bob and I could float and not have to watch kids. Cool.

Mackenzie took Sophia to a pool so that they could chase dive sticks and Bob and I indeed did float. And I flipped over.....twice on the wave part. No big deal except that I ruined my glasses. Oh well...I just bought a new pair the moment we stepped inside the hotel. Problem solved.

We went back to the room at 5:30 or so because we told the sitters if they wanted to do a night thing tonight was the night. They had reservations at 9:00. We all just hung out, I blogged, the kids snacked, watched TV and we decompressed. A little down time. Lovely...

At about 6:30 we noticed a storm in the distance. It was amazing. There was flashing every second. I tried to take video and photos but they didn't show the magnitude of this storm. It was like something you'd see in a movie.

More hanging out... more relaxing. At 9:00 the sitters we off to dinner and it was time to put our own kids to bed. We hadn't done this in a while since the girls were here and we had been out, have I mentioned...every night. Of course the kids had to check out the storm first. WOW! It was really close now and headed directly at us. Cool. More video and pictures, yes these were cool. It was strange because the whole sky would light up but there was no noise. It was a silent flashing. The kids go to bed and pass out in seconds.

The sitters came back at about 10:30 and by this time the storm is in full swing. It is just off shore and flashing almost continuously. I have NEVER seen any thing like this before. The clouds are fully lit and still hardly any noise. When I take a "Night" shot with my camera it looks like it's day time out. The video is just flashing and occasionally I get a lightening streak in there. We are all oohing and awing. All of a sudden the wind starts. Ladies and gentlemen, the storm is here! It blows hard and from past experience I know patio furniture flies. We flip the tables over so they don't catch a breeze and start flying around. We hear glass smashing. I think someone must have had glasses on their balcony. I shoot more video. It looks like aliens are landing, or at least that is what it looks like in the movies. The clouds are flying by, impressive. Really impressive. We're all still out there because no-one can believe it.

Ingrid and Brian come back at about 11:00 and join us out on the deck. It's hard to open the door to our room because the air pressure is blowing it closed. It rains, wind blows, clouds fly by and still, we're out there. None of us can believe what we're seeing. But then Ingrid announces that Brian's birthday dessert is coming up. We all respond to the lure of sweets. We sing Happy Birthday and dive in. Yum.

I later email our local meteorologist in Portland with video. He responds! He is also amazed by the video. That was funny.

We all go to bed at midnight. At 2 am when I wake up the storm is still going but dying down. So it was a good day today. Other then the obvious illness the rest was great. More later...

Sick Mommy

My boys are lucky they are cute because they are the culprits. They got me sick. And why is it when they are sick they can just run around and play. When I am sick I still have to take care of everyone, do some laundry, maybe some cleaning and cook.

I could feel it coming on Friday and was in denial. By Monday it was full fledged. I still managed to have dinner with some friends on Monday but I wasn't much for energy. I went to bed at 7:30 on Tuesday. I can't remember the last time I did that. Today I still have the sinus thing but I am on the mend. I don't hurt all over and I cleaned the basement. Let me tell you that was no small task.

So I haven't been blogging but I have been resting. Bob will have the house to himself this weekend and he's hosting a Poker Party on Saturday Night. The kids and I are going to Steilacoom to spend the weekend with Dad and Sally and will stop by Mom and Ed's on the way home Sunday Morning. If that doesn't give me good blog matterial NOTHING WILL! More soon....

In Sickness and in Health

When you get married you take the vows. In sickness and in health, for richer for poorer (please not for poorer), in good times and in bad etc... I don't remember doing the same when the kids came along. Maybe that is all just assumed. If you are willing to do the deed then you have to accept the consequences. Last night I did.

At about 8:30 Kees came downstairs for the second time. When we heard him crying we just assumed he was half asleep and would have some lame excuse for coming downstairs. Bob met him at the bottom of the stairs and by his words and tone I could tell....Kees was sick. Bob stripped him and sent him into me so he could assess the damage and get some new PJs. Kees had thrown up all over our bed. He was able to hit every soft covering on our bed...NICE! Bob brought down PJs but Kees needed a bath, I was cold this was a no brainer.

Kees and I went up, I ran a bath and I cleaned him off. Just as we were about to get out, Kees threw up in the tub. GROSS! We got out and dried off. Bob set Kees up in his bed with towels under him, around him and a bucket just in case. When I was in my PJs I went in to check on Kees and he was coughing into the bucket. The way he was holding it it would have gone in, hit the back and then dumped all over him. No, no, no this was not going to work, "Come on Kees. Let's go to mommy's bed." I didn't have any sheets on the bed but we covered the bed in towels and I pulled the comforter up with no cover on it. He had his bucket close and I had a bunch of small towels at the ready.

I turned down the lights, got out my book and laid with him. And it was a good thing. 20 minutes later he threw up again. I cleaned his face, rinsed out the bucket and he laid back down. I picked my book back up. 20 minutes later..... This cycle went on for almost 4 hours. It was torture. Even worse was the thought of doing this all night! Luckily his stomach quieted down at about midnight.

When he woke up this morning he seemed fine. I have to admit it was really hard not to send him to school. I so wanted to have today to myself. I had a doctors appt and today is Sophia's 8th birthday. There are things to do to get ready. But I didn't do it. We went on with our day and Kees went with me. He was a bit wimpy but he seemed fine.

At the doctor's office he started to fall apart. You know when your 3 year old starts saying, "I'm tired. I want to take a nap." he's serious. We hopped in the car at 11:15 and he immediately passed out. He's still sleeping and it's now almost 3:30. I guess he was still getting over it.

So when it comes down to it, we don't take an official vow but we know, all the same stuff goes for kids as marriage. And even though your husband acts just as wimpy when he's sick he doesn't need you as much as your sick baby. In sickness and in health...... I sure hope health returns soon and that the sickness doesn't spread! Stay tuned......