Couldn't Make It Up If I Tried

I've been missing a lot lately, and I'm sorry.  Believe it or not, the week before and the week of Thanksgiving were pretty crazy around here.  Things are just starting to get back to some sense of normalcy...and even that's a bit of a stretch.

{Hannah, not sleeping in our hotel room}

To be honest, Brad and I have become addicted to Breaking Bad, a show that's been around for awhile, but is brand new to us.  So that's part of it - we've been downloading episodes and watching them at night like they are going out of style.  A need to get caught up with the rest of the world maybe...I don't know.  But seriously?  It's sucked us in - we both wanted to watch it before Dexter on Sunday, but we felt so disloyal, we just couldn't bring ourselves to do it.  It's kept us away from Homeland for two weeks straight.  What is wrong with us?!

{At this point, she'd already shed her striped tights and her brown boots}

In addition to our new TV addiction, I came down with strep the night we'd taken my dad out for his birthday dinner.  It came on fast and furious, and I missed two days of work.  I missed appointments with teachers and had to reschedule coaching visits - never a fun task.  I started to feel better by Friday, but just in time to get really, really sick on Sunday night.

{Reading in the hotel room - Jack was so excited to go to a hotel!}

Maybe it was food poisoning.  Maybe it was a stomach bug.  Who knows?  All I know is that it was horrible, and whatever it was, it nearly killed me.  I went six hours, and then I couldn't take it anymore. Brad drove me to the hospital while my dad came over and spent the night on our couch while the babies slept upstairs.  We were at the hospital until four in the morning, and even though they gave me fluids, anti-nausea medication, and painkillers, I was still a mess when we got home.  And so, so sick.  I missed two more days of work.  More appointments with teachers were canceled.

{Down home cookin' at Cracker Barrel}

Tuesday night I felt well enough to begin to pack us up for our trip to North Carolina.  As I was packing and cleaning and getting organized, the littles went around and meticulously reversed all of my hard work:)  Somedays, it seems like that's what they do best.

{Sleepy and warm.}

We left on Wednesday around noon.  Very bad idea.  A trip that should have taken us six hours took nine and a half instead.  On back, country roads.  With two children under five.  I have to say, I was impressed with their car-trip behavior.  They really were troopers that day.  They went four and a half hours without stopping, and then we got out, went potty, played tag as the sun set, had a little snack, and got back in the car.  We stopped a couple of hours later for dinner, and Jack and Hannah chased each other around Subway, laughing and chatting away.  We usually don't let them run amok in restaurants, but they needed some play time, so we just watched.

{Jack and Great-Uncle Danny, playing in a tree that Daddy used to climb.}

We went straight to our hotel upon our arrival in North Carolina because it was too late to visit with family.  We unpacked and attempted to get everyone to bed.  I could tell Brad wasn't sleeping well - he was tossing and turning, and then at four in the morning, I heard him get up, and I could tell he was very sick.

{Aunt Jess, Jack, and Great-Uncle Danny}

He didn't leave our hotel on Thanksgiving Day - he spent the day in bed, mostly by himself as the kids and I spent time with his family.  I went back and forth, bringing medicine and Gatorade.  Poor thing - I felt so bad.

{Reading with Hannah Bear}

Lucky for us, he was well enough to do the Black Friday shopping he loves so much, and we were all able to spend time with family on Friday evening.

{Sleeping on Great-Uncle Danny}

On Saturday, my birthday, we made the car trip back home.  The ride wasn't too bad and only took us the six hours it should have.  But when we got home, we quickly learned that our fridge broke during our absence.  We came home to a fridge-full of warm, spoiled food.  By the time we unloaded the car and emptied the fridge, our clean home looked like a bomb had gone off.  Happy Birthday to me!

{Not even close to all of the stuff we unpacked from the car}

{Fridge disaster...}

We dropped everything.  We left the mess and headed to dinner, just the four of us, for a little birthday celebration.  The food was yummy, but Hannah was fussy.  She'd had enough:(

Thanksgiving certainly did not go as planned, but it's definitely one that won't be forgotten.  We got to spend time with family.  While we might not have been feeling 100%, we are still healthy.  We have everything we need.  And that's what matters.

Now - bring on the normalcy:)  Pretty please.