Aunt Kay and Gunkle's

Colin and I were fortunate enough to visit Aunt Kay and Gunkle again this year during the holiday season.  It is always a joy to see them and as an added bonus their holiday decor always puts us in the Christmas spirit.  Unlike last year, Colin was mobile for our trip this year so we had to watch him like a hawk.  He wanted to get his hands on everything. The first goodies he found were Aunt Kay's bingo markers.  Luckily, he did not figure out how to open them!

From there, he moved on to the Christmas tree.  No matter what we did we could not keep him away from the tree.  He had learned at Mimi and Pappy's house how to pull on the bulb with just the right force to take it off of the hook and he tried to master this skill at Aunt Kay's house.  Aunt Kay being the veteran child care provider that she is had placed lots of stuffed toys along the bottom of the tree for any little guys in the house to play with...now if only we could get Colin more interested in them than the fragile ornaments.  In the end, we only had one bulb break, which actually ended up being klutzy mommy's fault.

Uncle Hunter and Susann were able to make the trip with us and had a blast goofing around with Gunkle.  It had been a long time since Uncle Hunter had seen them and this was their first time meeting Susann.  Aunt Kay was in love and called Mimi up a few days later telling her to make sure Hunter knows not to let her go.  We couldn't agree more!  Uncle Hunter is super lucky to have Susann in his life.

 

 Not exactly sure what was going on in this shot but it's definitely a keeper!

While preparing for our trip home, we had to change Colin into his pajamas.  We only got as far as changing his diaper before he started running around the house.  In the meantime, we were able to snap a photo with Aunt Kay.  She is an amazing woman and even in her 80's continues to be the hostess with the mostest.  Aunt Kay was having terrible pain in her leg while we were visiting and was very upset that she could not host the way she likes to.  Even still, she did ten times better than I could ever do.  Fortunately, she was able to get into the doctors the next day to get a shot that helped eased some of the pain.

Gunkle was his usual silly self. It was so much fun watching Colin and him interact.

We are so blessed to have Aunt Kay and Gunkle.  We're looking forward to another trip next year after the new baby arrives.

Oh Christmas Tree

We were so excited to be at Mimi and Pappy's house again this year to help pick out and decorate the Christmas tree.  We bundled up and headed to the Christmas tree farm.

Colin showing Susann the way.

Lots of love from Uncle Hunter and Susann

Ready to find a tree with Mommy

Maybe this one?  Nah...too small!

All of the trees in the farm were just too small for us.  We like a big ole tree so we decided to check out the sizes of the pre-cut ones instead. The owners mentioned that they had a big one in the back so we made them dig through them all to find us the tallest, fullest one of the bunch.

Checking out the winning tree

Waiting for the tree to be bundled

After getting the tree back home, Uncle Hunter and Colin enjoyed some more bonding time together.

This one cracks me up.

A few days later it was time to get down to business and decorate the tree.  But first, some silliness with Susann and Uncle Hunter's shoes.

#UncleHunterisaGiant

Since Pappy was working, it was up to Uncle Hunter to be the official tree trimmer...

Susann, the assistant.

Colin assisting Mommy.

The finished product...Uncle Hunter was so proud.

That evening, when Mimi and Pappy returned home from work we began decorating the tree.  Colin was the first to hang an ornament (with some help from Uncle Connor).  There were lots of "ohhhh's" and "awww's."

"Well done Colin!"

I'm not sure what it is but something about this expression makes me see 100% of Tim.

The Christmas tree was one of the greatest highlights of our trip.  Colin just adored all of the lights and decorations.  He excitedly brought anyone who came into the house over to the tree to show it off even if it started looking a little silly with the ornaments half way up to keep them out of a certain little boy's hands.

Thanks(for)giving me the plague!

Remember the plaque of Christmas 2011?  It came back to haunt us this Thanksgiving.  It all began on Colin and Mommy's plane ride the Thursday before Thanksgiving.  Colin was a little under the weather after his flu shot and I believe his immune system was a little compromised. Thus, he ended up coming down with a yucky stomach bug.  It started with some not so pleasant diapers and a nonexistent appetite.  We weren't even certain he was sick.  Then, on Sunday, Mommy, Colin, and Pappy were on our way to visit Aunt Jen at college when all of a sudden Mommy got sick.  We considered continuing our journey but thankfully made the right decision and turned back home.  Aunt Jen was pretty disappointed because we were supposed to take part in a 5k Superhero walk for her sorority.  Colin was even appropriately dressed for the occasion.

Unfortunately, after we returned home, the virus did not let up and after a few hours of feeling awful with a toddler wanting my constant attention I was so excited when I heard who I thought was Mimi pull into the drive way, turns out it was Daddy!!  I could not have been more happy to see him.  Besides the fact that I felt deathly ill, I hadn't seen him in over two months! I texted him to let him know when I had first gotten sick but was in no mood to talk so I was quite surprised when he walked through the door.  After a really nice hug, I welcomed him by running to the bathroom, handing over Colin, and going upstairs to hide the day away.  I so badly wanted to just sleep or even watch tv but it was working my system so badly that all I could do was stare at the ceiling, which I literally did all day long.  Pappy decided to make shrimp that evening and I couldn't think of anything worse.  I had to close my door and open both bedroom windows (in the middle of winter) just to make it through.

By about 10 pm, after 12 plus hours of not eating or drinking anything, I started getting worried.  I could tell I was terribly dehydrated and decided it was in the best interest of me and our little bun in the oven if I headed to the ER.  I was so thankful to have Daddy there to take me.  He, on the other hand, was less than enthused.  He had just spent several hours the weekend before in the ER for a similar stomach bug.  Luckily, I was over 20 weeks pregnant so I was taken straight up to labor and delivery.  The nurses and doctors were great.  They informed me that I was indeed very dehydrated and that it was causing some minor contractions.  Fortunately, after 4 liters of fluids and some anti-nausea medicine I was feeling slightly human again.  So at 6:30am we made our way back home only to find out that Uncle Connor had been up all night with the same symptoms.  Being the strapping young man that he is Uncle Connor bounced back pretty quick although, like me, felt like he was dying while it was happening.  We hoped that everyone else in the house was in the clear and were busy worrying about the house being clean for Uncle Hunter and Susann's arrival from Germany when Mimi was caught by the plague. Earlier that day sweet Colin vomited, his one and only time, which helped make it clearer that he was indeed sick like the rest of us except his little body was just fighting it so hard.

The next day, while Mimi was laid up in bed, we spent the morning scrubbing down every single surface in the house and doing every single piece of laundry we could find. We didn't want this nasty thing to spread any more than it already had!  Once we felt satisfied that we had thoroughly sanitized the house we made our way up to Nana and Grandpa's house.  Daddy felt very strongly about going to visit them even though Mommy (and Aunt Jen) were quite cautious about getting them sick.  After Mommy enjoyed her first meal in three days, Colin and Grandpa had some fun playing the piano.

On Thanksgiving Eve (the calm before the storm), we spent time hanging with Nana and Grandpa. Colin even got his first hair cut, courtesy of Nana.

Before

Ready to go with a lollypop...

and some tv.

Letting Nana do her work.

Snip. Snip.

Finished product from the front.

Finished product from the back.

Nana did an awesome job and Colin was a champ!  We were so excited for Colin's new do.  While out shopping that afternoon we stopped and saw Santa with the new haircut.

As you can see Colin was less than impressed with Santa.  He cried/fussed for just a few seconds when we put him on his lap and then calmed down enough to grab this shot.  This photo really showed just how yucky our poor baby was feeling.  He has glassy eyes, the palest skin, and the rosiest cheeks.  Our poor little buddy was so sick even though you'd never know it given how well he continued to play and interact.  Here he is enjoying some time on Daddy's shoulders in the mall.

That evening after dinner Grandpa started to feel sick.  He thought it was just his arthritis acting up until he went upstairs to lay down and never made it back down.  The plague had followed us to Grandpa and Nana's house and had begun its reign.  Grandpa hadn't gotten sick like that in nearly 40 years.  We hoped since Nana was on antibiotics that her body's immune system might help and work in her favor, unfortunately we were wrong and she succumbed to the bug at 5 am Thanksgiving morning. 

Daddy and I felt awful! Nana and Grandpa were supposed to travel to Rhode Island Thanksgiving morning to visit Aunt Ellen and Uncle Jim, a trip they were greatly looking forward to.  Given the severity of the virus we knew they wouldn't be able to make the trip even if they delayed it a day or two.  After a solemn Thanksgiving morning...

we headed back down to Mimi and Pappy's house, though still fearful that we would infect more people....

Daddy and Colin both looking dapper for Thanksgiving in their matching colored shirts and dark jeans.

Trying on Uncle Connor's hat.

As you can tell by the way Colin is hanging on me, he wasn't too sure about all of the people.  Though he is quite the social butterfly he was a little overwhelmed and still sick.

We had a full house with Uncle Hunter and Susann, Aunt Grace, Uncle Ron, Grandma Phyllis, Uncle Thomas, Aunt Veronica, and Aunt Veronica's boyfriend all in attendance.

Watching football before dinner.

Our beautiful table.

Chowing down.

Mimi managed to plan and prepare quite a feast while still recovering.  Pappy stepped up his game and was the hands of the operation since we weren't letting Mimi touch anything.  It all turned out wonderful!  Colin, who was also still under the weather, flat out refused to sit in his high chair for dinner and wouldn't eat a thing.  We really wanted to enjoy ourselves so Mommy found a fun bowl to put some ham in and a pumpkin, cranberry veggie pouch for Colin to eat while he watched Yo Gabba Gabba in the other room.  Hey, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!

The topic of food bellies came up after dinner and it came to our attention that Uncle Connor's belly just might be able to contend with Mommy's pregnant belly.  Turns out we were right!  It appears Uncle Connor might even have the edge...

After dinner Mommy started feeling sick again (I don't think my body could handle a Thanksgiving meal yet!) and we were all in bed, in the same room, by 8pm.  Though, with Colin in the same room, we did not feel like we could even move and by 11:00 he was up again.  After trying to get him to sleep for a couple of hours we decided we would drive to Nana and Grandpa's house, pray Colin slept on the way, would continue sleeping, and we could get a good nights rest.  Fortunately, our plan worked however, Colin was awake up by 5am the next day.  We were thankful to get at least a few more hours of sleep and thankful that we had Nana and Grandpa's house to retreat to.

After bidding farewell to Nana and Grandpa, who were still recovering, we drove back down to Mimi and Pappy's for some more fun with the gang.

Clowning around with Uncle Connor.

Mother and Son.

Hey you!

Pappy cooking up some post Thanksgiving lunch.

It was a gorgeous day so we spent some time out on the deck...

Colin took Daddy on a walk:

That evening, Mimi graciously offered to watch Colin while the rest of us went to the movies.  Uncle Hunter got a monstrous drink and Mommy decided to take a few sips.  Note: not through the straw but with the lid off thinking this would keep the germs away.  Turns out it doesn't work that way and the germs got to Uncle Hunter anyways and at 4am that morning the plague got him.  I'm still not taking all of the blame, there's always the chance it could have been because of all the time he spent with this little (sick) man...

Showing Colin Mommy and Daddy's wedding album.

Feet piano - the new rage.

We hoped to have a big bash for Uncle Hunter's homecoming on Saturday evening but had to cancel due to the epidemic.  Mommy and Colin spent the day driving Daddy back to New Jersey.  After a terrible blowout on the way there Mommy and Daddy decided we needed to take Colin to the doctor.  He'd been sick for over a week and we just wanted to make sure we ruled everything out. As we suspected, the doctor told us he had a stomach bug and it was just working its way through.  Of course, by the next day, he was finally on the mend.

In the end, the plague took down a grand total of 9 family members in one week.  Although awful at the time, I believe it made us all even more thankful for what we have.  While sick, I couldn't help to think about those with cancer and other illnesses who must endure this type of pain on a daily basis.

This Thanksgiving we are thankful for our health and amazing family.