lots of catching up to do

A little unplanned bloggy vacation took place there, courtesy of my parent's DIAL-UP connection that never seemed to work. I kept thinking about all the things I wanted to blog about and then no way to connect to the Internet. Very frustrating, but I have to admit that a little bit of withdrawal isn't always such a terrible thing.

Quick update- we were in California for 2 weeks, then flew to Florida on Friday morning (at 6am, which I do NOT recommend when traveling with a 3 month old and a 2 year old) and are here in Florida until Saturday. On Saturday when I arrive home, I'm pretty sure I'm going to kiss the ground in my tiny house and savor my own bed and my own couch and separate bedrooms from my children. The separate bedrooms part may be my favorite thing of all.

I really can't complain, though, all in all it has been a good trip with a few bumps along the way. I caught a cold on the way to California, then Gabe caught it, then Josie caught it. We made the best of it, though, and tried to spend quality time with my parents and were even able to see some old high school friends while we were there. Gabe's cold converted into a hacking cough, though, that caused him to vomit at a friend's house (on her brand new white carpet), on my parent's pale gray carpet, and subsequently all over himself on the flight to Florida. Josie's cold has been keeping her up at night, but other than that, she's been fine.

My parents were able to see the kids, we enjoyed some warmish weather, and I slept and relaxed more than usual. All of that makes for a successful trip, in my book, at least.

At the airport on the way to Florida, though, I noticed that Gabe was limping. I thought it odd, but that kid trips on air, so I didn't think much of it. Saturday that limp was a little worse, and Sunday it was worse still. He's been running around with his cousins and swimming up a storm, and I wasn't worried, but a call to his pediatrician sent us to the ER because she said it wasn't impossible for a toddler to run around with a broken foot. The doctors in the ER apparently suspected some terrible things (like cancer, although they didn't tell us that until later) and ordered all kinds of tests, like x-rays, bloodwork, ivs. All traumatizing to a two year old, and his mom as well.

In the end, we didn't find anything, and the final diagnosis is a virus (that same coughing virus) that is settling in his joints and causing pain. I'll admit that my diagnosis is that he hurt his foot or ankle and hasn't been resting it, but I'm just the mom. What do I know?

For the rest of this week, we'll be enjoying the warm Florida weather and praying for no subsequent trips to the ER. We have high standards around here, as you can see. I might also throw in some sleeping through the night for myself, but I won't hold my breath.

I hope all of you great holiday celebrations, whatever those might be!