Bringing Up The Brands: Vomit Armageddon, the Super Bowl, and Frilly Skirts

It is 10:15pm on March 8th. I just gave up fighting Corah and let her get out of bed. Maybe she can't sleep because I'm taking a steroid and still nursing. Maybe she can't sleep because she's cutting a tooth (and she is). Maybe it is because she likes to drive me crazy. Maybe it is because she had a fever of 103.4 last night. Maybe it is the annoying cough that makes her gag. Who knows? She's cute toddling around in her purple footed pajamas, but I won't lie and say I'm happy to be watching her ransack the living room while the rest of the house sleeps. I only got about four hours sleep last night, so I was hoping to go far, far away tonight.

On the bright side, I told her that I'm not entertaining me. That gives me a few "quiet" moments to blog. Back in February, we had our own Super Bowl party. The girls went to bed early and Adam and I watched the game. Adam made amazing ribs for the second year in a row. Kenly enjoyed being his sous chef. Apparently her job consisted of opening every spice jar in the rack and taking a deep whiff. She's great at telling us what each spice smells like. She's pretty accurate for a four year old too.

The girls enjoy bath time. Most of the time I plunk them in the tub together. On a rare occasion, they get a solo bath. Corah thinks bath time is amazing. I can't say the words bath or tub unless I'm ready to start running the water or she will stand at the bathroom door and whine.

Kenly's new favorite pastime is making funny faces for the camera. Corah finds this highly amusing.

Just before my birthday, we experienced Vomit Armageddon. Corah had been sleeping poorly, so I decided to room with her for the evening. I heard a strange noise that sounded like Kenly screaming. I thought it was a bad dream but then I saw lights blazing in the living room. I check my phone to find that it was only 12:30. I ran across the house to find Kenly in the shower and Adam looking rather shell-shocked. Can I just ask one question? Why does a stomach virus always hit in the middle of the night? It would be just as shocking and disgusting at 10:00am, but at least I would be awake and prepared for the action that must be taken. Adam was so sweet and he tried to take Kenly across the house so she would not wake Corah and me. But, in the transfer process she puked all over the Dora kitchen and play food, all on the floor, and all over Adam. Add the mess that already occurred in her bed and we were looking at a massive clean up. Poor Kenly fell victim to the Norovirus. I cleaned until Clorox had eaten holes in my hands. We all fell in the bed again at about 3:00am. Adam stayed home the next day and helped me so much. He kept Kenly quarantined in the master bedroom and I kept Corah busy. I began to freak myself out too. The internet is great, but a little information can go a LONG way. I found out that hand sanitizer does not kill the Norovirus. The virus can live on surfaces for 12 hours. It can live in carpet for 12 day. 12 DAYS! I began to feel like I was in my own personal Contagion. I bought cleaning supplies in bulk and I used them like my life depended on it. I stocked up on tons of stuff that fit into the BRAT diet in case the whole house fell. I sent out distress cries--SOS's to anyone who would listen. I pray that God would not let Adam and I fall at the same time. I worried. I'm the Mom--that is what I do.

Adam fell. He fell hard. He and Kenly both endured 8-10 hours of vomiting. Adam had diarrhea and vomiting. After going through it himself, she said that Kenly was amazingly brave. This all started on a Tuesday night. Adam fell on Thursday morning. Fast forward to Friday. I was taking care of both girls now while poor Adam prayed to die in the master bedroom. I fed Kenly a normal meal on Friday--grilled cheese and pears. She wanted it. She had been vomit free since Wednesday morning. Poor girl woke up to a second round of vomiting on Friday night. More carpet cleaning. Another round of sheets washing. And yet another midnight shower to wash the yuck away.

Adam and Kenly stayed in the master bedroom from Tuesday to Sunday. Kenly had one brief day of freedom. Corah and I inhaled Lysol and entertained ourselves in various ways. We managed to escape the full virus. We both had funky tummies and upset stomach, but no vomiting. I'm so thankful Corah was spared. I prayed daily that if one of us was going to fall, let it be me.

Corah recently discovered that she can climb into boxes and cabinets. This provided hours of entertainment during Vomit Armageddon.

She emptied Chance's toy box and climbed right in.

Watch me try and get out of this crate.

I might need to grow a few more inches.

Never mind, I'll just keep playing in the crate. The sunshine feels nice.

I escaped the crate with Mama's help. Maybe I can fit in the kitchen? (The kitchen that got a vomit shower and three days of Clorox treatment by a mother crazy by a fear of the Norovirus.)

I know I can do it.

I might not be able to fit in the kitchen, but I can empty these DVDs out and hide in here. No one will know I'm here.

Oh...and Corah can destroy a room in about two minutes. What takes her two minutes to pull out takes me 25 minutes to put away. How is that possible? I joke that I spend my day walking from one Corah/Kenly "disaster" to another.

Kenly and I tried out a Pinterest craft for Valentine's Day. We made our very own window clings. I must say that I was really skeptical that this craft would work. The "recipe" called for Elmer's glue, dish soap, glitter, and food coloring. There were no measurements. We painted our colorful, sparking glop on a plastic page protector and waited patiently for it to dry.

They worked. They were really pretty in the sun too. I don't have a picture right now of the finished product, but we've already made rainbows and shamrocks for St. Patrick's Day. We plan on making eggs for Easter. I plan on doing this every year until the girls get sick of making them. I might start making them for myself when they are done making them.

Have I mentioned that Corah has a temper? A pitch a fit and bite herself temper. She learned quickly that biting me or Kenly brought consequences. Now she bites herself when she is angry or frustrated. We aren't talking a little bite. I could make dental molds from some of her bites. Dr. Dephouse says to ignore it or put her in time-out until the phase passes.

Corah loves her Binky almost as much as Kenly did. We are starting to limit it to bed, but I tend to use it as a "stopper" when were are places that I don't want her chewing on things. For instance, the binky is a great barrier at the park when I don't want her snacking on mulch. As you can see in the pictures below, EVERYTHING goes in her mouth.

If she can't find a box to sit in, she pulls out one of the organizer drawers and has a seat.

On my birthday, My beautiful friend Leigh Ann Pratt sent me a dozen roses. The roses were orange, red, pink, and white. I was shocked and deeply touched. Adam bought me Umi for dinner on my birthday. He bought me a sunflower roll because he wanted to get me flowers too. He also bought me a superman roll because he says I'm a superhero. All I can say is delicious.

Mops and Pops came up for my birthday weekend. We went to lunch at Square Root in downtown Hendersonville. It snowed the whole time we were eating. Then we walked down to Fire It Up to paint pottery. We both painted salad plates. Finally, we went to see Argo. I had a fun date with my hubby for my birthday. Time alone with him was an amazing gift.

Have I mentioned that Corah wants to do everything Kenly does? She shared Sissy's markers for the first time. At first she did great. Then she started chewing on the markers.

Corah wore this dress for her first birthday party. I wanted her to get some more wear out of it, and I thought Valentine's week was a great time to show off girlie ruffles and pale pink.