Our 3rd Week of Summer

Our 3rd week of summer did not go quite as planned. We began our week with a dance party in the kids room. They asked for craft supplies, snacks, music and a tent. They had a great time.

Then, later that morning, we ran errands. First, we took some quick pics of our girl standing up! Grace was not interested.

We got Grace a haircut. Here it is before...so long. And later that day, I took an after picture. And, Atticus is now into Pokemon cards, so while Everly sat in my lap and Grace got her hair cut, we chose our favorite Pokemon cards. Of course, you know this was tough for me...I mean, I just have so many favorites! But, he is my organizer and he loves to separate and organize them and think of things to do with them.

 

We stopped for lunch at Torchy's Tacos, our favorite! Then, Atticus asked me to take their picture outside the restaurant. When he did, he said "Mom, can you take our picture? Then, when I go to college, can you give me the picture so I can hang it on my wall and look at it every day?" Oh my! Of course, Atticus!

 We headed home for the afternoon and that night, Atticus went to First Baptist Bryan for VBS. The next morning, we got up and took Grace to Cinderella Circle, at Expressions, for a fun dance camp. It was 9:30 to 11:00. For the first day, Atticus, Everly and I were planning to just stay and entertain ourselves in case Grace needed anything. But, by the time we left, I was sure I would just leave her the next two days. She had a great time. They could wear anything and she chose her flower girl dress for Day 1. They danced, had a tea party, made a little flower pot craft, went "shopping" with Cinderella dollars and danced some more.

That night, I took Atticus to VBS again. Then, right at midnight, Grace comes into our room crying and saying she just threw up. And, in that moment, the future of our week changed. We got her cleaned up and setup in the living room on the little couch and me on the big couch. She was sick all night and into the morning. She finally stopped getting sick and just slept. But, in this moment, Everly is bothering her. In fact, she is pinching her. Everly has recently decided when she is not happy with one of the kids, she will pull their shirts or hair or pinch them. What a toot! 

 

She wanted Grace's water, at this moment, and was pinching her because she couldn't have it. So, being sick meant that Cinderella Circle was not going to happen on this day and I was so sad for Grace. It also meant that we did not know when and if anyone else would get this stomach bug. But, because we would not want to pass on possibly contagious germs to anyone else, this also changed Atticus' plans for the week. On Wednesday (this day), he was supposed to go play with Nathan and Cole and trade Pokemon cards during dance camp. And on Thursday, he was supposed to go to a movie with Cole and Nathan. So, I was sad for him too. But, while I tended to Grace, Atticus played and setup his ranch set. And when Everly and Grace napped, Atticus and I setup a science experiment from Kindergarten and played Animal Tracks in my room.

 

 That night, Atticus went back to VBS for Night 3. Then, because I was going to be on the big couch anyway to be up with Grace, Atticus got to sleep in our bed! What a treat!

 On Thursday, Grace was still sick. I finally bathed her that morning and she crawled right into bed afterwards and slept for 3 hours. At this point, I am having a hard time getting her to eat anything. She would ask for something but not even try it once I made it. So, I felt like she had no energy from being sick but also because she wasn't taking anything in. Also, nobody else had gotten sick so I think this is one of those bugs that Grace is sensitive to and gets easily that everyone else seems to escape.

 But, this monkey was having fun and being silly as always!

Thursday night, I took Atticus for his last night of VBS. He had the best time and I hope the friends he made will be friends for a long time, if we decide to join FBCB. I was so impressed with all of the volunteers and the activities and message and music each night. It made me miss being a part of VBS but hopefully I will volunteer next year! 

On Friday morning, after sleeping on the couch for night #3 and Grace not getting sick at all, she woke up feeling better. We were up from about 1-4 because her days and nights were mixed up, but she was perky and even ate a bite of something. I really thought that getting outside with fresh air and doing something would be good for us since she seemed to be on the mend. Also, since she really needed to eat something, I asked her to pick a fun place and we would go. She said Chick-Fil-A so we got dressed and went for lunch. By the time we got food, she was wearing down. I think she was tired, but I was determined to get her to eat something. She ate one nugget and 3 bites of ice cream and that was it. Ugh. We had plans to run an errand, but back home we went. Everly, however, LOVED her lunch and showed me with this giant "CHEESE!"

 

 So, we got home, got Everly down for a nap and I put a movie on for Atticus and Grace so they could hopefully fall asleep! Well, Grace perked up a little and laughed and laughed at the movie Minions and never fell asleep. I was glad she was feeling better. After the movie, we started getting ready for Cole's 8th birthday party. I had already talked to Megan about dropping Atticus off for the party if Grace was not feeling up to it. As we start to get ready, Grace fell asleep in her room. Oh no! Waking kids from needed naps is never fun. Since we had time, I had Atticus clean up his things. When I went in to get Grace, I realized Atticus conveniently placed his things on top of Grace. Brothers! Believe it or not, she is under this pile of stuff.

 

 I woke her, took Atticus to the party and just drove around and waited in the car for Atticus to be done with the party. That evening, we forced her to eat a few bites of taco meat and a couple bites of applesauce (between tears) and a few hours later, she threw up again. And she fell asleep until about 1am and then woke up hungry, but still didn't eat. I was at a loss. This stomach "bug" was lingering, although I really think her system was so empty that when she ate, her gag reflex combined with feeling weak from no food, just made her throw up. I don't know. It was weird and I was back and forth on whether I should take her into the doctor. I knew she was hydrated though, so when she woke up feeling good Saturday morning, I decided we were FINALLY on the mend. Oh and here is Atticus with his science experiment that sat on our counter for the week. The Walking Water experiment worked!

 

On Saturday, we had to get a few things done for Vic for Father's Day. Grace perked up at one point, so we started making our flower pot wind chimes by drizzling paint onto flower pots to dry. But, it didn't take long and she was back asleep. Atticus and I had bought Vic a lounge chair for the backyard the night before and we were hiding it in my scrapbook room. So, she napped there and Atticus joined her later to snuggle. Side note: Grace only felt better when snuggling all week. That's how she usually is anyways, if she is super upset or tired or feeling bad. And this week was no exception; EVERY single time she started to cry, she would just want "somebody to snuggle with me". Poor baby. She just felt terrible. And, she didn't play all week. Her toys, which she plays with all the time and can never get enough pretending with them, were never touched Wednesday through Saturday. So, when she was up for this activity on Saturday, I was encouraged.

 Then, when Vic went to the store, we all snuck out to take a quick photo for Father's Day. Atticus dressed himself here and was sure to wear his cross necklace "that looked like stained glass" that he made at VBS for the photo.

 Grace actually looks like she is ok here!

 Later that night, Grace threw up AGAIN after I forced her to eat 3 bites of something. And then she fell asleep again. I was really at my wit's end. I had no idea what to do to make her better. But, while she napped on the couch, Ana and Charley arrived for the night. They had an event in Houston and just came to see us after that! Woohoo! Atticus was excited. Oh and he loves the Red, White, and Blue too. In fact, the night before, we had to make 4th of July signs to hang in his room because he really needed to decorate it. We made the signs but he has yet to hang them up. I actually plan to add some pictures to some of these and use them for this year's scrap booking because he was so excited to make them "from mommy's scrapbook stuff". He even told me he loved scrap booking! His future teenage boy self will be embarrassed to have said that. Oh and his pajamas are getting small, because they are last year's. And he kept telling me all night that he thought they were really Grace's pajamas and then crack up because he thought it was hilarious to wear Grace's pajamas.

The next day was Fathers Day! I'll post separately on that. But, we got to spend the morning with Charley & Ana lounging and eating and visiting. It was great! And, good news. Grace woke up after sleeping really good all night and ate breakfast, lunch and dinner with no more problems. Goodness! Glad that is over!

 Everyone had a person. Atticus had Ana; Grace had Charley; Everly had Daddy. And her favorite book. I should have taken a nap or done something productive because I actually could have and no lovely child would have interrupted me. :)

 After Ana & Charley left, I actually did take a nap. After 5 nights on the couch in the living room getting about 5 hours total, I was sooo sleepy. And then I woke up to this sleepy head.

We celebrated Father's Day with a fun dinner and then finally put the kids to bed for a normal night of sleep and nobody being sick! So, our 3rd week of summer was not what we planned, but it was a typical week when you have kids! Hopefully next week is back to normal summer fun! Until then, here are some pictures of Everly playing on Vic's Father's Day chair. You know how much she loves to crawl into seats, so this was no exception.