Christmas Recap-Part 2

We were fortunate enough for Ruthie's Grauntie Bron and Gruncle Jeremy to come over from Boise, ID for a few days. Ruthie really loved her Gruncle, it was cute! We had a great time catching up and learning Bron's cooking tips.

She even brought over part of her starter, which she has had for years. She refers to this as the Mothership :-). I love that. We unfortunately, weren't able to fit it in our suitcase, but thankfully Judy may be able to bring some out when she comes to see us in April! Bron taught me how to make her famous biscuits, and then made us some of her delicious applesauce pancakes, all using starter from the mothership :-).

We went for walks in the snow with a bundled up baby

Unfortunately, Ruthie was still not feeling good and we had some really long nights passing her back and forth. We finally decided to find a doctor and take her in because it was so out of character for her. We found a great Doctor in town and off we went.

Side note, the doctor we found was a family practitioner. I called a pediatrician in the area who was covered by our insurance, and was told that because Ruthie was not an established patient, we could only go to the urgent care (it was a mega-practice with general, peds, ob, etc.). No, thank you, I'd prefer not to wait in an urgent care all morning in the middle of flu season plus pay twice as much bc urgent care visits are twice the price! The doctor we saw was fantastic, she was sweet, kind and caring. It was a really good experience.

Diagnosis: First ear infection!

Thought: I should have known sooner! I am thankful we took her when we did, but I felt terrible for not taking her sooner. Live and learn!

We got amoxicillin filled for her and started to get her on the mend. It was a huge relief to me. I do wish I had known (which I should have) that the amox. would upset her tummy, leading to a terrible diaper rash. Again, live and learn!

We were also lucky enough to have Jacki, Ed and Emma come up from Oregon. Jacki and I have been wanting to get the girls together (2nd cousins) and were excited to be able to. Jacki brought tutu's for the girls and thankfully Judy snapped some great photos. I have no idea where I was during these pictures. I didn't know it happened until I saw the pictures and am so thankful it did! How cute!!We continued to have a great time. The next big event was the New Year's Day party, which is an annual event now at my Mother in laws. Side note here, Judy is a fantastic party thrower. She does not get stressed, it is always a great time, the food is always delicious, her house is always open to anyone and everyone and Joel and I really want to be like that.The party was a hit of course, there was lots of great friends and family. Ruthie did well for the first 2/3, then she had enough and had a full on meltdown. We ended up having to go for a drive to try and get her to calm down! It worked, thankfully! She got upset some more, but thankfully we had the magic touch of Grandma. Which we took advantage of many times and during the long nights! Thank you so much Grandma!! You saved my sanity!

Jessica and I decided also to try and make bread again and it was a success!

As our trip started to come to an end, I decided to take Ruthie back to the doctor before we flew home just to double check she was healed since she still was not sleeping well. Thankfully her ears were clear and we didn't need to go for a follow up once we got home. After the doctor, Joel, Judy, Ruthie and I headed to Ikea to get ideas for our house. Wow, that place is awesome....and crazy. I can't believe they have a daycare at the store, but I can see how it would be great for older kids (or their parents to be able to take their time).

The day before we left, Judy, Joel, Jessica, Ruthie and I went to town to do a few errands, and then have lunch at the teriyaki place in town. On the way there, I thought I getting carsick. Oh I wish! :-).

While Joel was packing since we were flying out at 6am the next day, I was laying in the bed in a dark room. Then I lost it and the throwing up started. And went on all night. It was awful and for those of you who've had the stomach flu this season, wow. It is brutal. I couldn't hardly get of the couch. Ruthie had a rough night, so Joel and Judy were up almost the entire night also! We were a mess.

About 3AM, it was time to get up to head to the airport, and I couldn't. SO...unfortunately we missed our flight. Joel spent the morning on the phone with American Airlines (who we will NEVER fly with again).

NEVER. Never. NEVER.

In my fog, I heard things like, "This is extortion", and on and on. It wasn't good. American wouldn't cut us a break at all and when Joel told them how sick I was (in detail), the managers response was, "People fly sick all the time, thats no reason to miss a flight." Keep that in mind the next time you fly American, especially with a baby who you do not want to get sick. They do not care about spreading terrible sicknesses across the country.

With American, to change our flights to the next day, with the change fees, some other ridiculous fees and a fare change it was well over $500.

OUCH!. That doesn't include the baggage fees either!

We decided to scrap American (and not pay them another dollar) and book (cheaper) one way flights with Southwest. By about 10am, I was coming out of it and had stopped throwing up. We found a flight at 1:45 that afternoon, booked it, threw everything in bags, left the house a huge mess (So sorry!!) and took off by 10:30am. Thankfully, Jay, Judy and Jessica all rearranged their plans to exchange vehicles and get us to the airport. We really appreciated it!

Our flights home were much better, Ruthie slept the entire first flight (the long one), and played the second flight. We landed in NC at midnight, my parents (THANK YOU) met us at the airport at midnight with our car, our dog and Gigi had packed a cooler of jello and ginger ale for me and snacks for Joel. That Gigi is so thoughtful. Joel drove until about 3am to get us home and I am so thankful he did. It was so nice to be home, in our bed and most importantly Ruthie in her crib! She loves her crib. I have no idea why she can't sleep in a pack n play, but we're so thankful she can sleep in her crib! I think Home is always sweeter after you're gone for a while!

All in all, we had a few hiccups with sickness, but had a fantastic time with family and friends. It was a great Christmas/New Years with lots of fun times, good food, great games of dutch blitz, Grandma snuggling and reading. Ruthie loved it!