Friday night was pretty awesome. After dropping the kids off with Dan’s brothers, I came home, finished up some work, and then kicked back and relaxed for a bit. I then left (making sure to crate* Leah after having her outside for about a half an hour. I even left the radio on for her and gave her one of my worn shirts to cuddle up with in her crate.) around 10:30pm to pick up Dan from work, and the two of us went over to Denny’s. We had a late dinner, played with our notebooks for a little bit, and then went home. Around 1:30am, we got a phone call from Dan’s brother. Ryan, surprisingly, was not sleeping. Instead, he was rocking, dozing off, then waking up and rocking some more. He did manage to get him to sleep finally, though he rocked off and on for the rest of the night.
On Saturday afternoon, I decided to go and visit my thirteen year old brother. But before I drove out to see him, I stopped by Dan’s brothers’ apartment to drop off some extra baby wipes and a new bottle of liquid Melatonin. Then I went to see my brother, and took him out to Panera Bread for a treat. He surfed the internet on my laptop, and I did some work on Dan’s laptop. Then I took my brother back to his school, stopped by Target for detergent (and now I’m out of bleach AND color-safe bleach, so I still haven’t gotten all of my laundry done), paper towels and a Mother’s Day gift for my mom, and went home. Dan got home not too long after, we stayed up way too late, and finally crashed around 4am. (Ironically, we did not have sex at all on our kid-free weekend!)
Then the call came. At 7:45am, to be exact. It was one of Dan’s brother, letting us know that Ryan had woken up sometime earlier that morning and was throwing up “all over the place”. I could hear the pleading in his tone, and as tired I was I quickly got “with it”. I told him to not give Ryan any liquids, figuring that perhaps he was continuing to throw up because while his stomach was empty of food, he might be drinking water after each session of getting sick. Dan got up and left to get both kids, and I fell back asleep. I woke up again when Dan came back with both of the kids, and heard him giving Ryan a bit of Pedialyte and putting them both back to bed. Alyssa crawled into bed with me sometime after that, and I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that the three of us (Dan left for work after bringing the kids home) slept until almost 2pm.
I have no idea what made Ryan sick. As a precaution I gave him only Pedialyte and saltine crackers for most of Sunday, and I restricted Alyssa and myself to water/apple juice/light foods only, “just in case”. But she never got sick, I never got sick, and Ryan, while obviously tired and drained from his early morning ideal, never got sick again. So… who knows. Too much excitement or exertion on Saturday afternoon?
It kind of sucked to have my kid-free weekend cut short by almost eight hours. Okay, scratch that, it really sucked. But what was I supposed to do? I wasn’t going to burden Dan’s brothers with a sick toddler, and I knew Ryan would be more comfortable at home and with me, so home the kids came. I am very grateful for the quiet and peaceful time I did have on my own, even if I did spend a lot of it on the road (I drove a total of 160 miles on Saturday. UGH.)!
On Sunday night Dan took me out to Olive Garden in honor of Mother’s Day. In addition to the ring he gave me last week (it’s at the jeweler being resized, along with my engagement ring, since the bottom part of the ring cracked over five years ago and needed repairing at some point, heh), he also surprised me with a pretty fuchsia Azalea bush that he planted in front of our house.
Oh, and the best part of Sunday? Besides NOT having vomit to clean up after and not getting some weird stomach bug myself? RESERVING A ROOM AT A MOTEL IN OCEAN CITY, MARYLAND!!! I’ve been wanting to go to the beach again this summer SO BADLY, and Alyssa has been asking for several weeks. Last year we stayed with Dan’s aunt and uncle for two nights, but this year they’re having Dan’s two sisters and their two friends along, so there wouldn’t be any room. So, on the hunt for reasonable motel/hotel rates I went. As it turns out, Ocean City, NJ, is pretty damn expensive. Ocean City, MD? Not so much. Less than $400 for June 26th, June 27th and June 28th. And the motel? It’s approximately half of a block from the beach. In fact, its back parking lot opens up ONTO THE BEACH. And it’s just five (vertical) blocks away from the boardwalk full of shops and amusement parks and entertainment. Eeee! So stoked! We’ll be leaving in the morning of Friday, June 26th and returning in the evening of Monday, June 29th, 2009. I am SO SO SO excited, so please be prepared for endless chatter about THE BEACH YAY!!! for the next six weeks and three days.
Okay, ew. It’s going on 3am. I had no idea that I’d be blogging for so long. It’s wayyyyyyyyyyyyy past the time for bed!
*Re: crating. I want to clarify the crating “issue” (though I wasn’t aware that crating in and of itself was an issue). The purpose of crating a dog is to provide it with a safe haven that they will view as their home and sanctuary. Dogs crave boundaries and established limitations, and a comfortable crate provides that. Puppies are commonly crated, as are small dogs, older dogs, and general dogs that shouldn’t be left to their own devices while unsupervised. Leah’s breeder crate trained her and her litter mate, and I continued with crate training once I brought her home. For the first several weeks she was crated at night, and she is generally crated whenever we go out. Her crate is big enough to contain a dog bed and her food and water bowls. It is recommended that a crate provide just enough space for the dog to stand up and turn around, but no more. This way they feel enclosed and protected. Plus, there is no room for potential accidents, and generally dogs will “hold it” for as long as possible before soiling their bedding.
Your Mother’s Day sounded incredibly sweet. Your ring is beautiful. I cannot wait to get a “Mother’s” ring! And to think, I never wanted to have children when I was younger..
I am glad that you and Alyssa did not get sick and that Ryan seemed to improve after getting him home. Stomach bugs are the absolute pits!
Even though you still have some time, I hope y’all have a fabulous vacation this summer! You and your family could definitely use the time away!!
Sydney is begging to go to the beach. I made a comment about sand and she slyly said Mommy, I’ve never seen sand. Truth be told, I’ve never seen the ocean nor has my husband so she’s not really that far behind us!
Do you recommend Ocean City as a kid friendly first Ocean destination for us? My problem is always is there enough to do besides beach dwell, because I’m not a tanner and is it little enough that I’m not dealing with 4000 college students out for a good time?
Glad you didn’t have puke to clean up on Mom’s Day. I spent it very sick with bronchitis, but it was still pretty awesome. It’s funny how no matter how sick you are your family can make you feel so special on that one day a year!
*Crating*
On our brief stint with a dog her breeder told us to crate her for the very reasons you mentioned. I don’t think it’s wrong at all! I ended up allergic so we took her back, but still it was advice from a seasoned breeder!
We crate Jack. At first I was weary… it seemed so mean. But now how LOVES it. He wont sleep anywhere but is crate. We leave the doors open just in case he wants to cuddle and he always just sits in the crate. If I take the laundry into the bedroom to fold and put away he’ll go and chill in his crate.
VACATION! Yay! I look forward to reading your posts pre-beach departure and post-beach!
That totally sucks that your kid-free weekend was cut short, but at least you had a semi-break from the kids.
And crating is the best way to go. I thought it was totally inhumane when we first got Hamlet, but we used the method anyway and now he LOVES his crate. He goes in there all on his own to take naps (so cute).
Ocean City is the most amazing place on earth, and I hope you, Dan and the kids love it! I grew up in Maryland and it was always a big deal to go to Ocean City in the summer
I grew up in Maryland too and took many trips to OC, MD and was very happy I went. Its very fun and always something to do. I hope you have a lot of fun! OC is a great place to have a vacation.