Stomach bug

Our sweet Emma had to overcome the flu and now she is fighting a stomach bug.  It seems to never end.  She woke up Thursday morning not interested in her bottle which I didn't pay a lot of mind to.  After putting her in her car seat to head to school she threw up.   I initially thought the formula just wasn't settling on her stomach and of course I attributed some of that to still getting over the flu. 

We headed to school and while she was there she didn't eat well, got her home, gave her a bottle and she then proceeded to throw up everywhere.  I didn't know her stomach could hold all she threw up.  She was very tired...which she normally is after school so it was hard to tell if she felt bad or was just tired from school.  I was worried at that point and instantly thought she had a bug...but my mind can always wonder to things that could be much worst.  That is the terrible burden after enduring a serious illness.

She rested and then took 3oz of formula of which she held down.  She slept all night which I was surprised about as I thought she would wake up due to being hungry.  The one thing I was concerned about was dehydration.  I picked her up at school and put her to bed in the same diaper.  So she had not urinated in 5 hours. 

Emma was very happy the next morning, as she always is, and she had a wet diaper.  Not as wet as it normally is but wet none the less.  She took a 5oz bottle, and I should not have given her so much based on how things went later, but she held that down for a while.  We tried to eat some oatmeal of which she had a few bites and about 3 hours later she seemed hungry so we did 4 oz of milk.  She took 3oz of that 4. 

Lunch time came and I gave her some solids which was a huge mistake!  It was just too much on her stomach.  She threw up everything including the 3oz she had before her lunch.  At that point I was worried.   I called her Ped and made an appt to take her in at 3:45pm.  Come to find out she has a stomach bug....something she caught at daycare we are fairly certain. 

Now I was concerned about Cash...and low and behold his stomach started hurting.  No throwing up yet...but watching him closely. 

Emma woke up today, happy and hungry.  She slept all night which was great.  I am giving her formula in smaller amounts hoping that she holds it down.  No solids until she is past this.  Her Ped said its probably just a 24/48 hour bug.  We are hoping today is a much better day for her.

I will be so glad when my kiddos are healthy for a long period of time.  It pains me to see them sick no matter how minor.  Its a feeling of helplessness. 

"Juicing" with our new Vitamix

After listening to the all the hype...even seeing someone post on Facebook that they would marry their Vitamix...we bought one.  We were at Costco and they were doing a demonstration with the model that basically does it all for you...timing and everything.  We tried a few smoothies...even some tortilla soup.  All were great so we grabbed ours, headed to Whole Foods, and home we went to start our "juicing" journey.  I put juicing in quotes because the Vitamix isn't a true juicer, I learned shortly after purchasing it, but it somewhat the same concept and SO much more.  A true juicer is just that..a juicer...but the Vitamix is can do everything...soups, smoothies, margaritas, and dips!

The next morning I made my first smoothie....."Going Green" I think it was.  Our Vitamix came with a great recipe book so its easy to make the different drinks.

I have made quite a few since and have enjoyed each one.  I even made salsa and it was great!  I feel good knowing that I am getting so many fruits and vegetables in each glass.  Even Cash is asking for them...of course his have taken on slightly different ingredients...ice cream, peanut butter and bananas.  At least there is a fruit in there.  Ben had the "Going Green" as well and he said he liked it...now I didn't see him finish it so let's see if he has another.

I am excited to continue down this journey and I say journey because we don't eat the amount of veges and fruit we should each day and this is a great way to ensure we do that.  We are lucky that Cash will eat almost any vegetable and would eat fruit all day if he could..so if he doesn't drink "my" kind of smoothie then at least he will continue to get some veges and fruit.

"Snow" Day

Today is a "snow" day in San Antonio as the streets are covered in ice and we woke to temperatures in the 20's...feeling like they were in the teens.  Those days are few and far between here in SA so when they do happen school is cancelled and roads are closed.  It is very icy outside and cold!  Snapped some pics...it just looks cold outside.

Ben is in Delaware of all places, for business, and it is something like 13 below there.  I think we can agree that he is much colder there than we are here.

Cash was super excited when he woke up this morning, at 5:45am, that there was no school and he gets a three day weekend.  What he doesn't realize and I haven't broken the news yet is there will have to be a school makeup day. HA...I will wait to share.

Today Cash and Emma spent quite a bit of time together as he really wanted to hang out with her....which I love!  I took some pics..as I do any chance I get..of them together.

Emma - on her way to crawling - 6.5 months

Now at 6.5 months Emma seems to be tackling sitting unsupported and crawling at one time.  We have gone from her sitting on her own without support to putting her knees underneath her in the crawling position in a matter of two weeks.  We ask ourselves what's next....

Cash - Basketball 2014

Cash started playing basketball again...his winter sport.   He really seems to be loving it.  We had a basketball goal put in at our house so he and his daddy are out there all the time practicing.  More than that he is out there on his own a lot practicing.  I love to see him focus on something and really try to become the best at it.

 #17

Ben is coaching this season and Cash really likes that.  He is super proud that his daddy is one of the coaches.  Even better...Ben is so good at coaching and the kids seem to be enjoying themselves.

Emma forgot her cheerleading outfit but it didn't seem to matter as she didn't last long.

 I absolutely love this picture my our sweet Emma.  Those eyes melt my heart.

 This is little miss cutie Bailey that played on Cash's team...she had a little crush.

 This is a great picture showing how tall Cash is...he will be as tall me and taller before I know it.

 Emma's favorite spot..on her Nana's shoulder.

 Cheering for her bubba.

 

Emma and I get the flu

Sadly somewhere between Laguna Beach and being back at work after the holidays I got the flu. No, I did not get my flu shot this year and I paid the price.  We got back in SA from CA on Sunday the 5th and by the 6th I was already congested and coughing.  I thought for sure it was Mountain Cedar and it probably was at first but some where along the way I got the flu...strain A.  By the end of the week I felt like a mac truck had run me over.  I could barely get dressed...but I did and headed to see our friend Dr. Joseph Elizondo at the Texas Med Clinic that Saturday.  He tested me for the virus which of course came back positive.

Prior to me knowing I had the flu and while I still thought it was just mountain cedar I was holding, hugging and kissing my sweet girl.  Cash thank goodness withstood all of my hugs and kisses as he had the flu mist already.  Emma had only one of her flu shots, as they break them in to 2 shots for babies her age, and she wasn't due for another until the end of the month.  I felt absolutely awful at the thought she would feel like I felt.  Her sweet little body, I knew, would have a hard time fighting off the virus.

My mom came and got her so she could stay with them in the hope that it may not hit her.  We were wrong.  Come Monday the 13th she began running fever and in my gut I knew.  I took her to see her Ped that day because of her ears, which were fine, but that evening she was running fever and by the next morning she was congested and coughing.  It was so hard to see her go through that and all you can do is give Tylenol and/or Motrin.  So I just prayed that me holding her and loving her would make up for the meds I couldn't give her.

It was amazing that I recovered so quickly but I truly think it was to take care of her.

Even with her feeling bad she was still smiling.

Laguna Beach

Ben and I had planned on heading to New York as he was going to deliver an plane to his client.  We thought it was a great time for us to spend the weekend in NYC as the tree was still going to be up in Rockefeller Center.  I really wanted to see NYC at Christmas time but with the winter storm that hit the East Coast we decided that wasn't a good idea.  That didn't stop us from having a weekend getaway though.

California...here we come....

I had never been to California.  I have no idea why but I hadn't.  So after a little word of mouth and some research on our own we decided to go to Laguna Beach.   My mom was keeping the kids already considering our prior plans so everything remained the same...just the destination changed.  She kept them at the house and we headed out on Friday morning the 3rd.  We flew into Phoenix and then in to Orange County.

Laguna was so beautiful....breathtaking actually.  The weather and the views.  Mountains on one side....ocean on the other...amazing!

We stayed at the Ritz Carleton Laguna Niguel which was gorgeous and everything we thought it would be..minus the room size.  Not as big as we thought but still very comfortable and the view from our room was so great!

We ate lunch at the hotel after checking in.  The view from the restaurant was ridiculous!!  I couldn't believe I was eating lunch while looking at the gorgeous Pacific Ocean.

After lunch we took a cab in to Laguna and just walked around.  There were so many art museums and just little mom/pop owned stores.  I really loved that as everything was very personal.  What we couldn't get over was the cost of living.  The homes we were looking at were so dilapidated yet they were $600k plus.  It was the weather and the views driving the prices there no question.

 This was a candy store that was just filled with barrels of candy.

That evening we ate at this very small, blink and you'll miss it, Italian restaurant in Laguna....Ristorante Rumari.  It was recommended to us by two ladies at one of the shops we stopped at.  One of them said to ask for a booth ...there were only two booths in the entire place.  We quickly realized their booths must be for specific regulars.   We got there at 6:30pm I think and we were the only people dining.  Of course we immediately thought it must be awful because there was noone in their.  Our waiter told us to wait about 30 minutes or so and the place would be crowded.  He was right..but it wasn't crowded with tourist.  It was crowded with regulars.  The atmosphere was fun but quaint and the food was excellent.  Great recommendation!

The next day we had breakfast at the hotel..same restaurant as lunch the day before.   We loved looking out at the ocean.   We could see sea lions playing in the water while eating breakfast.  It was nice....peaceful.   I had the most amazing lump crab meat eggs benedict.  It was SO good!!!!  We worked out and then spent some time at the spa.  We had a 90 min couples massage which was much needed and so good!

We decided we would spend the rest of our day by renting a car and driving in to LA.  So we rented a fun little sports car....Ben was happy.

Off we went ...LA bound.  The drive was not long at all..about an hour and it was so beautiful.

We got in to LA, found parking and got out and started walking toward Rodeo Dr.   We wanted to grab lunch and stopped at this place as we were walking but that turned out to not be a good decision as we never got served....so we left and of all places to stop at..Chipotle...but it was good.

Rodeo Dr. was amazing.  Every where we turned there were Range Rovers, Porsches, Ferraris and a car I had never seen...a Bugatti.    The shopping was unreal.   Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Chanel.....you name it and it was there.  I was in heaven.  We did a little shopping and then headed in to the Hollywood Hills looking for the Hollywood sign before dinner but no luck.  We knew we were right under it but no luck.

We had sushi at Katsuya Hollywood.  It was a recommendation by the hotel and it was a good one.  Excellent sushi!  We happened to be seated next to a table of at least ten 14 year old girls as one of them was having a birthday.  The birthday girls mother was sitting at the bar with her laptop while the girls ate and celebrated.  We heard one of them say she told her parents she wanted to go to Bora Bora for spring break this year.  I thought for sure I didn't hear her correctly but I did.  It was a little strange to hear that when here in SA all we seem to want is to head to Port A or South Padre.  That was the moment you know you are in a very different environment....and far, far from home. 

After dinner we headed back to Laguna.  It was a nice drive back home but it was crazy to see LA traffic even on a Saturday evening at 9pm.

The next day we had breakfast and then took a walk down at the beach.  The water was cold but so beautiful.  We headed back to the spa for facials and then back to the room to pack for our trip home.  I was so happy to get home to our babies but it was so nice to have that time away with my husband.  It was much needed and we knew that even more as we came back to reality.  It was good reminder that time for each other is so important and should always be a priority.

I will definitely want to go back to Laguna Beach and LA as there was so much I didn't see but those couple of days away with my husband were wonderful, memorable and as always with him...reaffirming.