Things Are Crazy

Well. I ended the last post telling you that we had some sickness in the house. I wish I could say that we were over it. But we are SO not over it. 

We've had a rough couple weeks. Most of us have had some sort of illness. There are a lot of medications that have been taken. And a lot of tears shed as well. In the midst of all the illness, we unexpectedly lost our Abigail.

She had been getting more sick. We knew that. Our trips to the vet had increased. But they would just put her on some meds and never indicated anything was dire in any way. 

In the very early morning hours of Thursday, January 28, I noticed she had been sick up in the loft. I was up with the boys and so let Dave handle it. But she was not moving (was breathing). The only place that was open was in Madison and Dave picked her up and carried her to his car. He drove down at 2:30 a.m. in the morning but sadly, when he arrived, she was already gone. He had some brief time with her there but then had to turn around and drive back, arriving at 5 a.m. It was horrible. 

We didn't tell Kate before school that day. The boys didn't notice. I cried. All day. Dave had a terrible day at work. But he did arrive back home just before Kate came home on the bus. Telling her was awful. She cried hard and was very upset for about 20 minutes. She then went and found her LeapPad and showed Dave the pictures she had taken of Abby. It was very sweet and very hard. Since then, she has gotten sad a few times. She came down in the early morning to our bed crying the other day. After a lot of talking those first days and lots of tears, we are at peace now. She was a great dog. She handled the kids and company and moving and being left alone for long periods of time - like a champ. She was very low-maintenance and adored Dave. We, well we tolerated each other most of the time:) I will say that I was surprised by how deeply I felt the loss. Though, I guess we did have her for 11 years. Rest in peace, Abby. We will miss you. 

SO....during all of that. Ayden got slightly better, though is still suffering from a cold. Kate ended up on meds for another UTI and Dave got on meds for strep. We were also supposed to go to Des Moines to meet up with friends and meet our godson, Cooper!! Dave didn't feel like going and Collin started running a high fever. So, I was getting upset that we might not go. But I decided I needed a break and needed my friends! So, the plan was for Dave and Collin to stay back and Ay, Kate and I to go. But Dave was getting stuck at work so late, that it would have delayed me too much. So, I decided to take Collin with.

By the time I got us all packed up and loaded, Dave was on his way home. It was 5 p.m. and Collin was super excited to go. So, we said good-bye to Daddy and hit the road at 5:30 p.m. I had never driven to Des Moines from our house. The route was to go west on I-90 to Albert Lea and then south on I-35. I was tired. It was a new route in the dark (thank God it was Interstate). The kids did not cooperate. I've never been so happy to arrive at a hotel. 5.5 hours later.

After a rough and late night, we got up and made our way to Jenny's house! I ended up packing a little bag to hopefully shower there so they could watch the kids:) but that didn't even happen! We had a fun-filled day! A great joy in my life is watching my kids play with my best friend's kids. It's loud. It's crazy. But it is joyful. And makes me feel old. :)

Ayden and Mason - the "1 year olds" :) 

Getting to hold Cooper!! He loved me :)   

Adorable. Peanut.

The playroom! The one place we could corral them:)

Some of the boys...

We were happy to be just together to catch up, meet Cooper and also were celebrating some birthdays and it was Mason's 1st birthday that very day! So we had some cupcakes and opened gifts which was fun:)

Cupcakes!

Well, they need to burn off those cupcakes somehow! Some wrestling:)
I think there were four of them in there

Attempting some pics of all the kids...hmm...this was what we got. And Cooper was upstairs sleeping. Maybe next time!

 We also went for an outing in Des Moines. We took the kids to a cultural event at the Iowa Events Center. The kids were most excited about the bounce houses, of course:) It was rather loud and we weren't there too long. Headed back to Jenny's house for some pizza!

The big kids! And Collin:)

Opening some gifts after pizza

Ay loved his gifts:) and bags, of course!

Whoa. Check out Mr. John Deere!

He LOVED it:)

We went back to the hotel and had a nice, normalish bedtime Saturday. Then, after a not-great night, we tried to get back to Jenny's house as early as possible on Sunday morning to have a little more time together. I showered (victory) and we played a bit more before having to say goodbye. 

More gifts for Mason who was sleeping the night before!

The balloons were also a hit!

Collin saying goodbye to Waylon and Mason

The trip back was WAY better. Praise the Lord. I kept Ayden up until we had to go, so he fell right to sleep. I hit Starbucks and headed north! I played movies for the kids and Collin still fought sleeping with all he had:) But eventually, both boys were asleep. It was lunchtime, but I wasn't stopping! So, we drove until they woke! We stopped near St. Charles/Lewiston, MN and ate at an Amish restaurant. It was very quaint and cute. And good:) Diapers, bathroom, gas and back on the road. Ayden did great until the very end. Collin did ask to go back to Aniyah's house:) but was happy to see Daddy when we finally got back! I certainly was!

Dave spent the weekend sleeping and laying on the couch:) He got stronger meds at Urgent Care but we think then caught the nasty virus that Ayden had. He is just now getting over it!

Dave has this week off...so the goal is to rest up, get healthy and relax!