Where I Left Off

The reason I stopped blogging about the beach trip was because Brannon and Taylor both got some sort of "bug". Brannon was not very symptomatic and we didn't even pay much attention. Then, of course, two days later Taylor starts vomiting. Poor thing couldn't keep anything down. So the last part of the trip was spent tending to him and worrying about making it the 6+ (emphasis on the +) hours home with a sick kid. He did better overnight and actually held breakfast down in the morning. Almost 24 hours with no nasty bodily fluids which as most of you know is the magic number in the world of childcare that determines you can take your contaminated child back to school. So I decided it was safe to head home. Halfway into the trip I start smelling something bad. I figured he just had a dirty diaper so I decided to wait until the next planned stop (small town mississippi) in 15 miles (there are no extra stops if the kids are not crying or fussing even if they are sitting in a pile of their own poo). It's way past lunch time at this point and I'm worried we're not going to make it before a huge meltdown ensues. We make it to Lucedale, Mississippi, and the only place I can find is a Pizza Hut. Not usually my first choice but a buffet means instant food for two hungry kids and a very hungry mom. No waiting and quick in and out... okay it'll do. Go to take the kids out of the car and to my surprise I find Taylor covered in vomit. It was everywhere. All over his blanket mostly which was good, but also on his car straps, in his hair, and on his clothes. Panic. Hungry kids (and mom), vomit, and Pizza Hut. No other decison to be made... I decided to contaminate everyone in small town Mississippi for my own personal benefit. The only concern was we had to get in and out before the next episode. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to give Taylor a sponge bath with a box of wipes and hand sanitizer. Change of clothes and ,voila!, you could only barely smell the crusty vomit residue in his hair. The visit was successful. Both kids ate like crazy and we made it back to the car with no further issues. Fourty-five minutes from home, Brannon proceeds to report that Taylor is "growing up" everywhere. (This means throwing up for those of you that didn't catch on.) GREAT! I know I asked for it but for real! This time I stop immediately. Another "bath", change of clothes, and back in the carseat. I give him Brannon's blanket and both boys sleep until we turn into the neighborhood. Brannon begins an uncontrollable crying fit which wakes Taylor up. As we are turning into the driveway Taylor figured the carseat had a few crevices that hadn't been contaminted yet so he proceeded to vomit one final time just for the heck of it. Can you imagine how excited David was to have us home at last?!?

Note: the picture is from 3 days later when he decided to re-enact the whole event with no change of clothes available

Long time no blog

Well, I'm going to try and get back in the swing of things. Lots of changes over the last couple of months since I last blogged. I'm going to try and (quickly) go in order and hit the highlights. Bear with me...

Beach Trip- Days 4 and 5

Okay, so he doesn't look so happy here but I promise he loved it.

He had to dress like his MeMe.

Day 4- Very exciting!! I went to a tennis clinic first thing in the morning. Then, Brannon and I went to the water park! I have no pictures for obvious reasons (did I mention water park) so I hope I'll always be able to remember that first trip to the water park. He LOVED it! We started on the kiddie slides but Brannon kept eyeing the bigger ones. We did all slides that he met the height requirement for several times over. Then, we went on two double intertube slides that he wasn't quite tall enough for but no one stopped us. I pretty much had to hold him up with my legs so his whole body wouldn't slide through the hole of the intertube. The first one was pretty tame. Mostly like a lazy river ride with a couple of short drops. The second one, however, was much more intense for a three year old. Lots of twists and turns and drops. Two times you go through a tunnel where you get drenched by a waterfall, it goes pitch black dark, and you turn so fast you think you're going to fall over. Well, I'm so nervous that we're going to fall over that I'm gripping Brannon like crazy while trying to drag my butt along the slide to try and slow us down. We never fell over but I was expecting Brannon to be crying when we got to the bottom. He loved it though and wanted to do it over and over again. We had a great day and can't wait to go back next time with daddy!

Even though that was enough for one day we weren't through yet. MeMe, Brannon, and I had tickets for Le Grand Cirque (one of the traveling spin-offs of Cirque du Soleil) for that night at 8:00 (normally his bedtime). It was also a big hit. Very entertaining for all of us and really held Brannon's attention throughout the whole performance. He loved watching the gymnasts jump, dive, and flip through the hoops which I think was his favorite part of the show (other than the popcorn we had to get at intermission). All in all, an exhausting day but a great day!

Capture the moment

Have you ever had the best opportunity for a picture and couldn't get the camera fast enough? Then you try and recreate the moment so you can get the picture. Never quite the same.

Beach Trip- Days 2 and 3

Fun with Poppy.

Tips from one pool shark to another.

Gammy, MeMe and Taylor (Taylor has obviously found interest elsewhere)

Day 2: beach, pool, nap, repeat... repeat again... you get the picture

Day 3: went to Enterprise (or the tennis house as Brannon calls it) for the day to visit family and for Mom and John to vote, got to visit Gammy and Grandaddy and Grandmother and Grandaddy Pittman, a quick trip but nice to see and visit with everyone

Flip-flops

Notice I couldn't take the picture of Brannon's new flip-flops on his feet because he CAN'T WEAR THEM. Why did I let him talk me into buying them against my better judgement? After a 30 minute walk to go from the condo door to the elevator (that included about 50 stops to readjust/put back on) I banned the flip-flops to my purse and, conveniently, pulled out the crocs. I guess the flip-flops will just have to look cute in the floor of his closet.

Beach Trip-Day 1

Gotta stick the tongue out!

Fun with watercolors.

I can do it too.

Masterpiece!

I DID it!

Forehand...

AND backhand! What a pro.

Please stop interrupting me while I work and try and get me to smile for the camera...AGAIN.

I'm going to get you.

Important work going on here.

Just enjoying the view.

Dinner at last! The pizza was worth the wait!

Well, the boys and I are in Destin visiting MeMe and Poppy (trying to get as much beach time as possible before the oil hits). I'm going to post LOTS of pictures for David's sake. He really misses being here with us so I'll try and keep him up-to-date.

Day 1: pretty rainy on/off throughout the day, came up with some inside fun, did some shopping at the outlets, cleared up in the afternoon for some tennis (Brannon's first official tennis lesson) and beach time