After a very long drive, we pulled into our driveway around 8:30pm on Monday, April 23rd. I have finally decided that JR is right – driving it all at once is better than splitting it up. We drove 4 hours Sunday night and almost 12 on Monday. When we drive the whole thing at once, it is more like 12-13 hours total!! Anyway, next time we’re going to try to drive the whole way during the day (instead of the all-night trips that I vowed never to do again). That will be a good compromise, I think. So come Christmas, when we’re next headed back to Nebraska, that’ll be our strategy. Of course, by then, we’ll have a 2-year old and a newborn, so who knows what will come of our "plan." All in all, Livy made the trip quite well. She hardly slept in the truck – even when we drove at night – but she was extremely pleasant 90% of the time and amused herself petting her dog (her trusty travel companion Red), reading books and looking out the window. She did have a couple melt downs, but after stopping for a bite to eat and a stretch of the legs, she was content to push forward. I, on the otherhand felt like the drive back to TX was the longest one we’ve done yet. It just kept going and going and going. When we got home, we got a bite to eat and crashed. JR got up and went to work the next day like a trooper, but Olivia and I were comatose for about two days. We didn’t do anything. Finally, on Thursday, I got tired of picking my clothes out of the suitcase and decided it was time to unpack and we were pretty productive that day and got the house back in order. That was just in time for Friday to hit. I started not feeling well around mid-day but decided to go ahead with my volunteer commitments anyway (bad decision). By 8:00pm, Olivia and I were feeling awful. We were stuffed up and achey and by midnight we both had fevers of 101. My pediatrician-recommended childcare book said not to call for the doctor until she got over 104 (it never went past 103). Poor little thing was beet red and miserable and stuffed up and couldn’t sleep. My OB-GYN guidebook for pregnancy said to call the doctor if my temp got over 101, but thanks to nurse Daddy, that was the highest I went. He cooled us down with cold drinks and fans and we settled in for a long night. Saturday wasn’t much better, but Sunday started to see some improvement. Olivia’s still taking her Triaminic cold (and I’m insanely jealous – no cold medicine for poor little pregnant me), but she hasn’t had a fever all day. As for me, I’m feeling much better, but now I face a house as disastrous (or worse) as it was a week ago right before all this hit. At least taking care of my family is my job and I can focus my energy on what needs to be done for us at the expense of all else (including housework). That is something I have learned to be grateful for during our battle with this nasty virus. Always look for the silver lining, right?
In addition to the nasty virus, Olivia has picked up a few less than thrilling tricks since we got home. I’ll start with the least harmful and work my way up! She taught herself to say "uh-oh" and now throws everything (I mean everything) on the floor and says "uh-oh, mama" which means "pick it up please so I can throw it back on the floor – stay close, we’ll be doing this all day." Related to the nasty virus I’ve been complaining about, she has taught herself to blow her nose – sort of. She has spent the last two days taking towels off oven handles, bathroom towel rods, laundry baskets, etc. and "blowing" her nose into them. She really does blow and wipe fairly well with them, but why she decided towels are better than kleenex, I don’t know. I suppose they are softer and easier to grab. We’re working on that. Finally, and this one is not for the faint of heart, she started having accidents in the bathtub – #2 accidents. This was the second night in a row. Someone please tell me the silver lining for this one is that she’s going to be an early potty trainer and will be in big girl pants by August. If it’s just a phase, don’t burst my bubble. I prefer to think it means her diaper days are numbered! And who said there’s no exciement in the life of a stay-at-home mother!
We’ll be adding photos, videos & stories from our wonderful Spring visit to NE soon, but I thought I’d let you know what was causing the hold up.
So sorry you had to get sick. No doubt you were run-down from your vacation. That happens when you’re on the go like you were. Anyway, I’m glad you’re feeling OK now. Really enjoyed your visit and so glad to get reaquainted with Livvy. She’s such a doll. Now I’m really anxious to see her sister. By the way, the twins really liked the cards. Thank you for thinking of them. I felt so bad that they didn’t make it to the Open House. Love you all, G’ma Hatt