Musings on Marriage and Motherhood in the wee hours of the Morn

First an update on my dad and Zoe and then my musings from this morning.

Dad came through surgery and is doing great! Thanks for the prayers. Sorry we have yet to get Christmas cards out since we hit the road to go see dad. We do have a family Christmas video and greeting on www.youtube.com and I will get Dust to post the link on here once he is up today.

Zoe has gone back to the doctors twice since writing the first time. She has had a series of treatments and the short of it is that the mass in her intestine has shrank in size. The doctor now thinks perhaps it was an inflamed intestine--great news! They are watching her white blood count as it is low and went down a bit from her last test. She had a whole new series of tests on Friday for allergies, Thyroid function, blood count and who knows what else. She is so brave and doesn't even cry! She likes to watch the "bubbly blood" come out of her arm. Please continue to pray with us about the test results and that the Dr. will have a clear understanding of what is going on in Zoe.

Now for story time!

I got off work at 6:30pm on Saturday night from working at the hospital ER came home loaded Brandi into the car and took her to the hospital--right where I had come from. After explaining a half dozen times how a 34 year old could be the mother of a 25 year old the Phlebotomist came in to do a blood test on Brandi. She said something to the fact that she had gone on to be a Phlebotomist after her children had gotten older so blood and bodily fluids don't get to her.

At 5:30 this morning Lily was screaming from the entry of our bedroom "Zoe puked all over me!" We jumped up out of bed to see chunks falling off of Lily. We ran to see Zoe sitting in Bed with well, you can imagine all over her and the bed and a trail on their floor to our room from where Lily walked. Lily and Zoe share a queen size bed because they still insist they sleep better together (that might change when Lily wakes up again).

Without really coming up with a game plan Dust and I sprung into action. He had Lily in the shower rinsing off while Zoe was getting undressed and on standby. I was rolling up soiled bedding and stuffed animals and running them to the shared laundry room here at camp. I had to survey the damage and prioritize what got washed first. Bottom sheet, pillow cases, pj's and Grey Dust--the stuffed bear Lily sleeps with that was Dustin's from the time that he was a baby. Grey Dust has lived in West Africa, Scotland, Oregon, Missouri, Montana and Idaho not to mention that he traveled to Greece, France and England and where ever Dust took him as a child.

I should back up and tell you that today is Dustin and I's 12th wedding anniversary and I had these fantasies of sleeping in, lingering in bed with a magazine and cup of tea. 12 years!

Lily got all cleaned up and got into our bed to get a bit more sleep. Dustin helped get more soiled laundry out of the house. It's amazing how quickly the smell of puke spreads! I went and washed Zoe's hair and got her out. Dust got her set up to watch a movie with a nice big tupperware bowl while I cleaned chunks out of the laundry room sink. We decided that Dust should go snuggle up to Lily and get some sleep in hopes that later we can tag team allowing me some sleep.

I came back in to check Zoe was doing alright and went back to the laundry room. The first load was done. I opened the washing machine to find chunks all over the place. 35 year old stuffing from Grey Dust everywhere. It's that point where you just laugh because there is nothing else to do. I shook the sheets, pj's, and pillow cases out, finished getting the last bit of stuffing out of Grey Dust and began to sweep up the mess that I had dumped on the floor. I began to sing in a rather sadly sarcastic tone "Happy Anniversary to me".

I wouldn't change this morning for a morning of sleeping in and being lazy...well maybe I would. But I appreciate moments of barf and mounds of laundry in the wee hours of the morning. I appreciate a husband who jumps up with me and springs into action and the teamwork that happens without having to talk about a game plan. I appreciate my girls who are both sound asleep now.

I don't want to leave you wondering about Brandi in the hospital. She has some inflammation in her hip/pelvic muscles that the doctor gave her a nice shot in her rear and a prescription to help.

The snow began to fall early this morning putting a new blanket of white all over everything making it clean and beautiful. Our house smells of lavender cleaner and the Island Spa candle the girls got me for Christmas and Zoe has just woke up crying about her tummy and I can't help but thinking "here we go again" and humming "Happy Anniversary to me".