Everyone in my house is a red hot mess.

Ethan went to his first trial day of preschool a couple of Fridays ago. In four short hours, he learned all about sharing... germs. I can't prove it, but I'm pretty sure that an adorable little girl with a not-so-adorable faucet nose shared her cold with my otherwise healthy little man. By Super Bowl Sunday my poor kid was just not himself. By Monday he was a mess. He was supposed to start preschool on Tuesday, but we decided to keep him home for the week. On Tuesday evening, Ethan was sleeping about 15 minutes out of every hour, spending the rest of his night in a heap of tears. When his fever hit 104.9°, I called the advice nurse at Kaiser. She told me to bring him in to the ER when his temp reached 105°.

Isn't 104.9° practically the same thing as 105°? Sheesh.

We gave him ibuprofen, and his fever broke. I thanked my lucky stars that we had avoided a middle of the night hospital run.

An hour later, at about 3am, Ryan's back started bothering him. Really bothering him. Writhing around in agonizing pain bothering him. I made another call to the Kaiser advice nurse, and we were told to make an appointment in the morning.

By 4am, Ryan was certain that he needed to go to the ER. I gathered my poor sick boys, loaded them into the car, and drove to the hospital. Since Ethan was in such bad shape, we just dropped Ryan off at the hospital entrance and came back home. After putting Ethan back to bed, I tried to get a bit of sleep myself. I kept waking up, checking my phone for a text or call from Ryan. When a message finally popped up, it wasn't what I expected.

Kidney stones. My husband's back pain was actually caused by a stone moving from his kidney to his bladder. Poor guy.

You can probably get a pretty good picture of what the rest of the week looked like. We're actually all still recovering from it. Even though I wasn't the sick one, I feel like I survived a major illness. I guess that's what sleep deprivation will do to you. Ryan of course ended up with Ethan's cold once he recovered from his kidney stones. Heaven forbid he catches a break after going through what I'm told is the male pain equivalent to child birth. And Ethan? He's over his cold, but is contending with the transition to preschool this week, which has thrown him (and me) for quite a loop.

But that's a post for another day. I'm still a red hot mess and just don't have it in me.

Snow Bunny

Whew - is anyone else exhausted from a whirlwind of holiday traveling and events? Ryan, Ethan, and I went to Dallas for Christmas, had a day upon our return to readjust to our time zone/unpack/decompress, celebrated my *first annual* 29th birthday (...because no matter what Father Time says, I will not be turning 30. Ever.) the following day, and then woke up the next morning and drove up to our usual spot in the Sierras for a wintery New Year's celebration. I'm tired all over again just writing about it!

Christmas in Dallas was literally a record-setter this year. For the first time since the National Weather Service began recording snowfall in 1898, the area received a measurable amount of snow on Christmas Eve. Three inches, to be exact. Now, yes, I am from the East Coast, and, yes, I am aware of the Great Blizzard of '09 that wreaked havoc on the Mid-Atlantic, but this was big news for Texas! Winds were gusting upwards of 50 mph, the roads iced over after sundown, and there was nary a snow plow to be found since they are never, EVER needed in that area. It made for quite an exciting trip to our candlelight Christmas Eve church service, that's for sure! Luckily, we were in a car driven by an experienced Michiganite-turned-Coloradan who could more than handle himself behind the wheel in a snowstorm, and did not end up in a ditch like several other drivers we passed.

Poor Ethan had a cold for our entire Texas trip, which turned him into quite the crankypants. As a result, we don't really have any photos postable photos of him or our festivities. However, we do have pictures from our New Year's trip. This has been a Notch Family tradition for the past five years, and we absolutely love it. The town we stay in has a population of less than 100 people, is right outside of Lassen Volcanic National Park, and has exactly four commercial buildings (used loosely... very loosely) - a lodge that can accomodate about twenty people, a restaurant that seats about the same, a gift and ski shop, and a general store. All of the buildings are owned and operated by one family. It's tiny, quiet, peaceful, idyllic, and relaxing. When we were there last year Ethan was just a wee little thing, making this the first year that he really got to experience playing in the snow. It took him a few minutes to warm up to the cold crunching under his feet, but he was a pro snow-walker in no time and really enjoyed running around.




From our family to yours, here's to a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2010 filled with laughter and love!

Fox in Socks Crew with Flu

(*Fox in Socks is one of my favorite books, and I humbly post this with apologies to the incredible Dr. Seuss!)

Crew.
Flu.
Boo.
Blue.

Crew with flu.
Boo, we're blue.

Look, sir. Look, sir. All the crew, sir.
We're all sick with the swine flu, sir.
We're all sick and boo we're blue, sir.

First, we'll run, not walk, to doc's block.
We'll whoosh in without a knock, doc.

Please, doc. I don't like this flu, doc.
My fever's hot and I am blue, doc.
I can't control my hacks and coughs, doc,
It's hard to turn those acks right off, doc.

Just a few short days ago, doc,
We went to play outside all day, doc.
We went to ride the Tilden train, doc.
Had Mima and Poppa to entertain, doc!





















Did someone sneeze and make us weak, doc?
Make us wheeze and feel so bleak, doc?

Take the meds and stay in bed, now.
Never let your germies spread, now.
Quarantine yourself instead, now.

Come Halloween we were still ill, sir.
No candy sacks for us to fill, sir.
No tricks or treats for us, but still, sir.
We dressed up and had quite a thrill, sir!





















Superman, come save the day, please!
Take away the cough, ache, and sneeze!
Rescue us from H1N1, sir!
We've had enough, and now we're done, sir!





















Thankfully, the flu chose not to stay.
In ten days our symptoms went away.
Leaving us with lots of time to play
In Yosemite Park (a post for another day)!

Sniffle, Sniffle, Cough, Cough

Ethan has been sick for the past week. He just has a cold, and yet my heart absolutely breaks every time he cries, sniffles, coughs, or looks up at me with confusion and pain behind his eyes. My nights are sleepless, spent either nursing him, rocking him, or worrying about him. I wonder with every intervention I try whether or not I'm effectively treating his discomfort. I second guess my decision to break the "let him cry it out" rule when I run to scoop up my wailing baby, yet end up justifying it by telling myself that all bets are off when he's sick. My entire world is upside down, with everything that I have been used to (a champion sleeper, eater, and all-around happy baby) replaced with a weaker, crankier, insomniac version of my child. All I want is to be able to fix him, to banish his symptoms with a wave of my magic mom wand.

Did I mention he just has a common cold?

What is it about motherhood that turns women into mush? I've always been sensitive, but every single emotion I've ever felt has intensified in my eight short months as a mom. I can't hear about children that have met with tragic ends, mothers who have been separated from their little ones, or babies that are actually horribly ill without getting teary. At the same time, I also feel like motherhood has strengthened me, that I am now capable of things that I never thought possible. I am the strongest ball of mush you've ever seen.

One of the most effective ways to make Ethan feel better has been to give him a bath. He loves splashing around in the water, and it turns him almost instantly from crabby into charming. See for yourself:

Oh, how I love my sweet, sweet little boy!