Christmas 2011...what an experience! I have to say that the trip to Cincinnati was not at all like Mike and I expected. We were bracing for an emotional trip home and an even more emotional departure with wonderful time with friends and family in between. What we got was so much more, but through it all, the Lord really answered our prayers. It has taken me a few weeks to be ready to revisit the trip - along with the fact that we have put every single spare moment since we arrived home into working on the house to get ready for this little guy's arrival in five weeks. So, here is a synopsis of our Christmas trip to Cincinnati - it is mostly for our benefit to remember for years to come, so don't feel as though you need to read it all.
The Trip to Cincinnati
Our trip started with the blessing of Mike getting Friday to work from the car, which meant he just needed to be available to answer emails and calls. That enabled us to leave at 7:30 instead of 3:00 for the 10 hour drive. At 5 am Emma woke me up complaining about her ear. Both kids had a virus earlier in the week and she had been complaining about her ear at bedtime all week but we had assumed it was more of a stall tactic than anything since she was fine during the day. I called the pediatrician's office and they were closed for the holiday weekend and urgent care didn't open until 9, so we decided to see how she did and left for Cincinnati with the plan to take care of it once we got there. We left at 7:30 am and were about 10 minutes from the house when Mike had to pull over abruptly because Jonah was choking on his breakfast and turning blue. After dislodging his cereal and vomiting all over, we were back on the road. In the first hour of the trip we stopped 3 times. For the remainder of the trip we stopped counting the stops and both kids screamed the majority of the way. Yes, I know traveling with little ones is challenging, but our kids are amazing when it comes to car trips. Their screaming and whining and complaining was off the charts and totally perplexing. We were so thankful when we finally made it to the Saxby's and got settled and went to bed.
Christmas Eve
We had a wonderful brunch and time with Grammy and Poppa and Uncle Ben and Aunt Erin on Christmas Eve. Both kids had some very abnormal emotional outbursts that we attributed to being overtired and recovering from a long car trip. After naps we headed to New City for the Christmas Eve service. Mike was leading worship, so we got there a few hours early to have time for Mike to practice and for the kids and me to catch up with dear friends. To sum it up...the kids were AWFUL. I was totally embarrassed by their behavior and interactions with people. Nana and Papaw came to the service with us and experienced the screaming and crying. After the service we put the kids to bed and had a nice dinner with Mike and Teri. During dinner Jonah started crying and that continued all night long along. About halfway through the night Emma started screaming as well.
Christmas Day
On Christmas morning Grammy and Poppa came over to give the kids their gifts and spend a few minutes with us. We so enjoyed our time with them and with some motrin the kids were running around and playing nicely. When the motrin wore off Emma started screaming about her ear and so started the conversation about how to deal with that. It was Christmas Day - there were no options but the ER and all of our doctor friends had either moved away or were visiting family that day. So we headed over to Nana and Papaw's while trying to decide what to do. We had a great brunch with Nana and Papaw and the kids both napped before Aunt Sarah, Uncle Keith, and Sarhea arrived. When they woke up from naps we dealt with screaming for about 30 minutes until the motrin kicked in and we had to figure out what to do. At that point, Amy called from California and connected us with a friend who was willing to look at the kids. So, we opened presents and the kids played for a while. We went to Mike's extended family's for a little while and then to have the kids' ears looked at. Emma had a double ear infection and Jonah had one ear infection which was rupturing. We were so thankful for the medicine we were able to get into them and for not having to go to the ER. We got them to bed and had a much better night.
26th
The next morning we headed over to Nana and Papaw's to spend the day with them. We had a great brunch and we were just relaxing, enjoying time together. Jonah woke up screaming from his nap and I went in to check on him only to find that he had thrown up ALL over the pack-n-play. The vomiting continued for the rest of the day. So I went back to Saxby's with Jonah and Mike took Emma to the Festival of Lights with Nana and Papaw and Sarhea. They had fun even though it was super crowded. That night her ear ruptured as well.
27th
We took it easy in the morning and met Nana and Papaw for lunch at Skyline. After a wonderful lunch, I had the chance to go met Dori for the afternoon and enjoy time with a precious friend. The kids enjoyed time with Nana and Papaw and we went back to Saxby's at dinner time. We had the chance that night to spend time with Uncle Josh and Aunt Courtney who brought us Chipotle for dinner - HUGE treat for us. It was a wonderful time with friends. After we went to bed the Saxby's arrived home from California.
28th
Jonah started crying in the middle of the night. While I was up with him I started with the stomach virus and since Jonah would only let me hold him, I was sick and snuggling a crying toddler. When morning came Mike took the kids and spent most of the day with his parents until Emma woke up from her nap with the virus. They came back to Saxby's and Emma and I stayed in the basement sick. We had to cancel plans a with the Reitanos, Helins, and Saxbys. It was so frustrating to be there and not able to spend time with people and even worse to be at Amy's and not able to see her...not to mention humiliating and awful to be so sick at someone else's house. Mike and Jonah did spend time with the Saxby's and Mike even had a chance to hang out with Dan and play some video games.
29th
We woke up feeling better and since Mike was not yet sick we decided to try and make it home. I had a little time with Amy, which some time was better than none and we left around lunch time. Overall the ride home was a good as we could have asked for. The kids were great and the only drama was when Jonah choked and vomited all over. After holding our breath to see if it was a recurrence of the stomach virus, we were pleased to know he was fine. Mike stayed healthy and never got the virus, but half of the Saxby family was blessed by our germs.
The Lord's Blessing
What a long retelling, but I really do want to remember this story. The Lord blessed us in so many ways through these events.
He provided a doctor to see the kids and medicine to help them feel better.
He provided a place for us to stay alone so the screaming through the night wasn't bothering other people.
He gave us sweet time with both sides of the family and lots of time for Emma and Sarhea to play.
He blessed us with a van that made the trip so much easier.
He blessed us with understanding friends who were very gracious about returning from vacation to a stomach virus.
Most of all, though, the Lord used this trip to show us that nothing had really changed in Cincinnati. Life has gone on and friendships have gone on, but we didn't feel this overwhelming sense of being "left behind" that we were anticipating. Emma didn't struggle emotionally with leaving, nor did I. We were so ready to go home and were so thankful to be back in Charleston. Every other trip we have made I have cried when we crossed the state line into South Carolina. That night I cheered when we made into the land of palmetto bugs and fire ants and alligators and snakes. The trip to Cincinnati was a really important one for all of us, but the Lord really used it to help me let go of Cincinnati and be ready to be in Charleston. Facing all of the memories and familiar sights and people made us feel loved and did not leave us feeling lonely or sad. We left with a spirit of gratefulness for the wonderful time with family and the friends we did see and thankful that the friends we did not get to see because of the virus already have plans to come in the spring so we will have much deeper quality time with them then.
Now that we are home it is time for the baby to come. WOW! We are not ready for that and at the same time just excited for him to be here and the anticipation to be over. We have painted Emma's room, Jonah's room, finished the dining room and living room, and the nursery will happen this weekend (the ceiling, trim, doors, and walls of each). Along with that, we have reorganized the entire second floor, the garage, and every closet in the house to make room for another little one. We are sick of painting but are almost there. Once he arrives, Mike and I know we won't be doing house projects for a long time!
Here are the very few pictures I took during the trip. Needless to say I did not have time or emotional capacity to take any more pictures.
The Trip to Cincinnati
Our trip started with the blessing of Mike getting Friday to work from the car, which meant he just needed to be available to answer emails and calls. That enabled us to leave at 7:30 instead of 3:00 for the 10 hour drive. At 5 am Emma woke me up complaining about her ear. Both kids had a virus earlier in the week and she had been complaining about her ear at bedtime all week but we had assumed it was more of a stall tactic than anything since she was fine during the day. I called the pediatrician's office and they were closed for the holiday weekend and urgent care didn't open until 9, so we decided to see how she did and left for Cincinnati with the plan to take care of it once we got there. We left at 7:30 am and were about 10 minutes from the house when Mike had to pull over abruptly because Jonah was choking on his breakfast and turning blue. After dislodging his cereal and vomiting all over, we were back on the road. In the first hour of the trip we stopped 3 times. For the remainder of the trip we stopped counting the stops and both kids screamed the majority of the way. Yes, I know traveling with little ones is challenging, but our kids are amazing when it comes to car trips. Their screaming and whining and complaining was off the charts and totally perplexing. We were so thankful when we finally made it to the Saxby's and got settled and went to bed.
Christmas Eve
We had a wonderful brunch and time with Grammy and Poppa and Uncle Ben and Aunt Erin on Christmas Eve. Both kids had some very abnormal emotional outbursts that we attributed to being overtired and recovering from a long car trip. After naps we headed to New City for the Christmas Eve service. Mike was leading worship, so we got there a few hours early to have time for Mike to practice and for the kids and me to catch up with dear friends. To sum it up...the kids were AWFUL. I was totally embarrassed by their behavior and interactions with people. Nana and Papaw came to the service with us and experienced the screaming and crying. After the service we put the kids to bed and had a nice dinner with Mike and Teri. During dinner Jonah started crying and that continued all night long along. About halfway through the night Emma started screaming as well.
Christmas Day
On Christmas morning Grammy and Poppa came over to give the kids their gifts and spend a few minutes with us. We so enjoyed our time with them and with some motrin the kids were running around and playing nicely. When the motrin wore off Emma started screaming about her ear and so started the conversation about how to deal with that. It was Christmas Day - there were no options but the ER and all of our doctor friends had either moved away or were visiting family that day. So we headed over to Nana and Papaw's while trying to decide what to do. We had a great brunch with Nana and Papaw and the kids both napped before Aunt Sarah, Uncle Keith, and Sarhea arrived. When they woke up from naps we dealt with screaming for about 30 minutes until the motrin kicked in and we had to figure out what to do. At that point, Amy called from California and connected us with a friend who was willing to look at the kids. So, we opened presents and the kids played for a while. We went to Mike's extended family's for a little while and then to have the kids' ears looked at. Emma had a double ear infection and Jonah had one ear infection which was rupturing. We were so thankful for the medicine we were able to get into them and for not having to go to the ER. We got them to bed and had a much better night.
26th
The next morning we headed over to Nana and Papaw's to spend the day with them. We had a great brunch and we were just relaxing, enjoying time together. Jonah woke up screaming from his nap and I went in to check on him only to find that he had thrown up ALL over the pack-n-play. The vomiting continued for the rest of the day. So I went back to Saxby's with Jonah and Mike took Emma to the Festival of Lights with Nana and Papaw and Sarhea. They had fun even though it was super crowded. That night her ear ruptured as well.
27th
We took it easy in the morning and met Nana and Papaw for lunch at Skyline. After a wonderful lunch, I had the chance to go met Dori for the afternoon and enjoy time with a precious friend. The kids enjoyed time with Nana and Papaw and we went back to Saxby's at dinner time. We had the chance that night to spend time with Uncle Josh and Aunt Courtney who brought us Chipotle for dinner - HUGE treat for us. It was a wonderful time with friends. After we went to bed the Saxby's arrived home from California.
28th
Jonah started crying in the middle of the night. While I was up with him I started with the stomach virus and since Jonah would only let me hold him, I was sick and snuggling a crying toddler. When morning came Mike took the kids and spent most of the day with his parents until Emma woke up from her nap with the virus. They came back to Saxby's and Emma and I stayed in the basement sick. We had to cancel plans a with the Reitanos, Helins, and Saxbys. It was so frustrating to be there and not able to spend time with people and even worse to be at Amy's and not able to see her...not to mention humiliating and awful to be so sick at someone else's house. Mike and Jonah did spend time with the Saxby's and Mike even had a chance to hang out with Dan and play some video games.
29th
We woke up feeling better and since Mike was not yet sick we decided to try and make it home. I had a little time with Amy, which some time was better than none and we left around lunch time. Overall the ride home was a good as we could have asked for. The kids were great and the only drama was when Jonah choked and vomited all over. After holding our breath to see if it was a recurrence of the stomach virus, we were pleased to know he was fine. Mike stayed healthy and never got the virus, but half of the Saxby family was blessed by our germs.
The Lord's Blessing
What a long retelling, but I really do want to remember this story. The Lord blessed us in so many ways through these events.
He provided a doctor to see the kids and medicine to help them feel better.
He provided a place for us to stay alone so the screaming through the night wasn't bothering other people.
He gave us sweet time with both sides of the family and lots of time for Emma and Sarhea to play.
He blessed us with a van that made the trip so much easier.
He blessed us with understanding friends who were very gracious about returning from vacation to a stomach virus.
Most of all, though, the Lord used this trip to show us that nothing had really changed in Cincinnati. Life has gone on and friendships have gone on, but we didn't feel this overwhelming sense of being "left behind" that we were anticipating. Emma didn't struggle emotionally with leaving, nor did I. We were so ready to go home and were so thankful to be back in Charleston. Every other trip we have made I have cried when we crossed the state line into South Carolina. That night I cheered when we made into the land of palmetto bugs and fire ants and alligators and snakes. The trip to Cincinnati was a really important one for all of us, but the Lord really used it to help me let go of Cincinnati and be ready to be in Charleston. Facing all of the memories and familiar sights and people made us feel loved and did not leave us feeling lonely or sad. We left with a spirit of gratefulness for the wonderful time with family and the friends we did see and thankful that the friends we did not get to see because of the virus already have plans to come in the spring so we will have much deeper quality time with them then.
Now that we are home it is time for the baby to come. WOW! We are not ready for that and at the same time just excited for him to be here and the anticipation to be over. We have painted Emma's room, Jonah's room, finished the dining room and living room, and the nursery will happen this weekend (the ceiling, trim, doors, and walls of each). Along with that, we have reorganized the entire second floor, the garage, and every closet in the house to make room for another little one. We are sick of painting but are almost there. Once he arrives, Mike and I know we won't be doing house projects for a long time!
Here are the very few pictures I took during the trip. Needless to say I did not have time or emotional capacity to take any more pictures.
Jonah just watching Thomas on the way to Cincinnati...one of the few stretches he wasn't screaming
Emma was so excited to make special Christmas cookies for Uncle Ben. She made them herself with very little help.
My sick baby
Here are some videos of Emma singing on Christmas on the way to Mike's aunt and uncle's. She was making up her own songs which is just hilarious. Enjoy!
1 comment:
Oh my goodness, Becky. And I thought we had crazy trips with our kids. So glad you can see the good in all of the drama. Miss you!!!
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