The Epic Stomach Flu of 2012

Warning: this post talks a lot about throw up. Sorry. It happened. A lot.

This weekend/week, we were all down for the count, all at separate times (which I guess is a good thing?). Adam left to go run early Saturday morning, so when Sutton woke up, I got him out of his bed and asked if he wanted breakfast. He was kind of whiny and said no, he just wanted to watch Diego. So we cuddled on the couch and watched Diego. I stood up with him to go change his diaper after a bit, and the first throw-up happened with no warning.

He'd been coughing right beforehand, so I thought, eh, he just got himself too worked up. But then it happened again. And again. Two outfits (for both of us) later, I stripped us both down to our skivvies, put a towel on the couch, got a bowl from the kitchen, and settled in for what was sure to be a long day of the stomach flu.

I got puked on 4 of the 6 times it happened, and Adam got it once after he got home. Poor little guy didn't eat anything that day, and we literally watched Diego all.day.long.

The top two photos are post-1st throw up and the bottom is post-2nd throw up when he drenched our clothes. He wanted to drink lots of apple juice but every time he did, it all came back up. I hate when my baby is sick, I know he doesn't understand why he feels so bad. This was the first time he'd ever thrown up, so I'm sure he was wondering what was happening to his life.

He just wanted to be held the entire day, so Adam and I obliged. We also let him have his wawa (pacifier) and mimis (blankies) outside of his bedroom. I was so grateful that I only had one kid that day. He would watch Diego for awhile, then turn his head the other way and close his eyes. His catnaps weren't long, but I got a photo of him during one of them, sleeping with his hands by his face.

We made him a nest on the floor to try to prevent our couch from getting any more damage than it already had, but by that point he was done throwing up. It started coming out the other end, but I'll spare you those details. :)

One perk of him being sick was the cuddliness. He held my hand like he did when he was a baby. Love.

He started acting better that evening, and even ate a little. By the next day, he was running all over the place, but his appetite still isn't back. We went to Adam's school to watch the Olympics Sunday night and Sutton got to "col-yer" on a big posterboard. See that little profile? That's the exact profile we got in our sonogram photos when he was still cooking. :)

So by that evening, when he ate half of a Subway sandwich (one of his faves) we thought we were in the clear...

...later that night I started feeling a bit off as I was working out in my studio. The nausea kept getting worse and worse...by the time I went to bed, I knew I was a goner. I spent the entire night on the bathroom floor. I had the thought at one point that that was the worst I'd ever felt in my entire life and I felt so sad that my little guy had to go through it.

Not sure if it was the flu, or sleeping on the hard floor, but my hips hurt horribly all day Monday. Coupled with still having mild nausea and not having slept a ton the night before, I spent all of Monday in bed. Sweet Diesel stayed with me the WHOLE time and had to be convinced by Adam to even get down to go pee or eat something. He loves me even though I neglect him sometimes for my human baby. :) Don't know what I'll ever do without this guy.

I started feeling better Monday night and was able to eat a little. Woke up this morning feeling weak, and I still do, but life must go on, so I made up all my appointments today that I'd rescheduled from Monday. Unfortunately...

...I woke up at 3:30am this morning to rumblings in the bathroom. Adam had succumbed. He's been in bed all day today. Poor guy. I had to leave the kiddo with him this evening while I had a shoot, but I think he was feeling a bit better by that point.

Seriously though, who gets the flu in the summer?!

Lately...

I've been shooting a lot lately in 105+ degree temps. Unfortunately, that's getting to be the norm for summer photography in Kansas. Maybe I should re-think my strategy and take July and August off, and try to book up December and January instead? Not sure how that will go over with the clients... :)

We went out to Chili's for dinner one evening and I got this cute photo of Sutton. As of late, every time we go to a restaurant, Sutton has a mantra that he chants: "Mac n cheese! Mac n cheese!" Good thing most restaurants have mac n cheese on their kids menus.

Adam's mom has been coming over in the evenings to take Sutton on a short walk around our neighborhood. One evening, cousin Corbin came along, and then we went to Braum's afterwards. Corbin and Sutton went off into the grocery area and it just tickled me because Sutton was acting so big, like he was just one of the guys. Yelling and following Corbin around.

While in Colorado, sis-in-law Sara turned me onto this amazing homemade coffee creamer. So once back in good ol' KS, I had to acquire a coffee maker first and foremost. Luckily, my parents had one they weren't using anymore. So we officially have a coffee maker and last week, I made coffee every morning! I ran out of my creamer this week so I'm taking a break in efforts to not get too addicted. If you're interested, the creamer recipe:

14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
14 oz milk
2 tsp vanilla
Put it all in a quart-sized mason jar and shake it up to mix. Keep it in your fridge and use it with your morning coffee. Yum-O!

Friday evening, I went over to my parents house for dinner because Adam was taking a class for his master's. My mom convinced me to highlight her hair. I didn't take an after photo, but it turned out pretty good. We learned what to do differently for next time. :)

Then we went out in their backyard and Sutton helped his Grandma pick tomatoes. He held the basket and dropped tomatoes in. We'd also taken Diesel along, and I really believe he'd prefer to live at my parents house. He loves them and their dogs and always has such a fun time playing there. Then we come home and he just lays on the couch here. Poor guy.

I bought some red lipstick and had to give Sutton some kissy marks on his cheek. He had a sucker because...he'd just gone #1 AND #2 on the potty like a big boy!

Saturday evening we went out to Noodles & Co. after church. Adam and Sutton were wearing the same shirt, so I had to take a photo of the twins.

One morning, Adam went for a run at Sedgwick County Park, so since it was only 85 degrees at that point in the morning, I also went over to the park to let Sutton play at their big playground. He always has so much fun there. But it was hot. And he needed a big drink. :)

We've come to realize and accept that our child is strange. He puts his favorite stuffed animals in his armpit. I don't get it.

Sunday evening, Adam told me I had 20 minutes to get ready because he was taking me to a movie. Hooray! His parents came over to watch the kiddo and put him to bed, and so we went and saw the Dark Knight. I'd heard some not-so-great things, but we both really liked it!

Life-changing goodness right here. I discovered how to make a chocolate chip cookie for one in a mug. Courtesy of Pinterest. It was amazing. Recipe:

Melt 1 T butter in mug
Add 1 T white sugar, 1 T brown sugar, few drops of vanilla and a pinch of salt
Mix with fork
Add 1 egg yolk and mix
Add 1/4 c flour and mix
Add 2 T chocolate chips
Give it a final stir
Pop in microwave for 40-60 seconds (mine took a bit longer) and there you go. AH-mazing!

Adam's grandpa who's been dubbed Old Papa was just moved to a nursing home. He's going to turn 95 next month!! 95! Wow. We went to visit him this week and he's still so funny and clever. Cousin Aubrynn with Old Papa.

Notice how Sutton has his hand on Old Papa...

 Old Papa had a picture of Flo from the Progressive commercials ripped out of a magazine and stuck to his wall. He told us that was his girlfriend. :) He had Flo, a John Deere calendar, and a bunch of framed photos of all his kids and grandkids. Not bad decorating. :)

Things Adam Says...

Adam: "So, I've decided I want to do a half-Ironman by the time I'm 30."
Gina: "Well, that gives you about a year. And a half."
Adam: "What!? How old am I?"
Gina: "28."
Adam: "No...that's not right. I think I'm 27."
Gina: "No Adam, I'M 27, you'll be 29 this year."
Adam: "Are you sure? I don't think so."
Gina: "Adam. What's 112 minus 83?"
Adam: "I don't know, but I'm not 112."
Gina: "Oh my gosh. Okay, let's make this a lot harder. What's 2012 minus 1983, the year you were born? 29...you'll be 29 this year."
Adam: "Huh. I guess I am 28."

Things Sutton Says...

These are more just things I want to remember than things that are funny.

*If we're out and we tell Sutton that we're going home or if he just wants to go home, he says "Mommy Diesel." Even if I'm in the car. Even if Diesel and I are both in the car. To him, home is "Mommy Diesel."

*He wakes up each morning saying the name of whoever put him to bed. Without fail. He always used to wake up saying "Mommy! Mommy!" But now it's "Daddy" if Adam put him to bed, and this morning it was "Grandma!" since we went to a movie last night and Grandma put him to bed. It's funny how he remembers that each morning.

Ranch Chicken & Crunchy Sweet Potato Fries

I COOKED last night! And not only did I cook something, I cooked a side dish as well. Not sure if that's ever happened in the history of the Dreher house unless it was out of a package.

And the kicker....everyone liked it! Including my picky husband and my even pickier son. So I figured the recipes were worth posting here. Both are easy (kinda a prerequisite for me) and both are from Pinterest. :)

Ranch Chicken
3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup crushed cornflakes
1 packet Ranch seasoning
1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
4 T melted butter


Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Combine cornflakes, Ranch seasoning, and Parmesan cheese in Ziploc bag. Shake to mix it up. Trim chicken (I sliced them in half horizontally so they'd cook faster) and dip one in butter on both side, then put in Ziploc bag with cornflake mixture. Close bag and shake to coat chicken. Put chicken in 9x13 pan and repeat process with each chicken breast. Pour excess cornflake mixture on top of chicken. Bake for 45-50 minutes, putting foil over it for the last 15 minutes to prevent burning.

 


Crunchy Sweet Potato Fries
Sweet potatoes
Cornstarch
Olive oil
Salt


Peel and slice sweet potatoes into fries of a medium thickness. Let soak in water for anywhere from 1 hour to half the day (I did 1 hour). Drain fries and put in Ziploc bag with 1-2 Tablespoons cornstarch. Close bag and shake to lightly coat fries. You may have to use more cornstarch depending on how many potatoes you're using. Lay fries out on non-stick baking sheets (spray sheets with spray because these puppies STICK!). Drizzle 2 Tablespoons olive oil over them, and then mix with your hands til fries are evenly coated with oil. Make sure to spread fries out so they're not touching as they cook. Sprinkle with a little salt if desired. Pop in a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Flip fries over and put back in oven for 5 minutes. Serve with Ranch dressing.

You like the gross pictures? They were taken hastily as I was trying not to ruin dinner. You see, at least one thing goes wrong EVERY time I try to cook. Which is why I don't try to cook. Last time, I put chicken in the crockpot in the morning so we could have it for dinner. What could go wrong with that, you might ask? Well, that evening after I'd ate half a piece of the chicken, Adam discovered that little pad that goes underneath the meat in the packaging had been in the crockpot cooking with the chicken all day. So we threw it all away.

Last night, two things happened. First, I burned my thumb on the oven (rookie mistake that's happened to me on more than one occasion) and secondly, I forgot to spray the second sheet of fries with cooking spray before putting them in the oven, so that entire tray went to waste. BUMMER.

Additionally I didn't time things quite right so we had chicken for our main dish and sweet potato fries as our dessert. But Sutton and Adam scarfed everything down, so I consider this a success.

Things Sutton Says...

Driving in the car, just the two of us...

Gina: "Are you my little Sutton bear?"
Sutton: "No!"
Gina: "Yes you are!"
Sutton: "No! Tiger!"
Gina: "Tiger?"
Sutton: "ROAR!!!"

Hiking {Colorado Part 4}

We've finally made it to the end of our Colorado journey. Sunday morning, we decided to go for a longer hike since we'd only done one short one on our first morning there. We went to a place called Elk Meadow and hiked around some flatter trails so that Sutton could walk some too. It was beautiful there, and the perfect hike for us.

I don't know if you can tell, but in the next two photos, Sutton was trying to turn around. He kept saying "C'mon Mommy!"

The experienced hiking pros.

 

Sutton didn't mind riding in the backpack for most of the time, but when we let him down, he loved walking around and finding interesting things to stand on. Mostly rocks. Then he found this branch, and yelled out "Seat! Seat!"

He walked pretty slow, especially with all the rocks he had to stop and stand on, so Michael and Sara passed us up. :)

"Hi Mommy!"

He walked a pretty far ways before we decided it was time to speed up and put him back in the backpack.

While I'm glad I got some fun photos, it wasn't awesome holding my nice camera during our entire hike.

On our way back to the car, Sara found this cool spot and asked me to take a photo of them here. It was a great spot, so I had her take one of us there too.

We headed home and ate lunch and put the kiddo to bed. We all took a nap too since we knew we'd be up late driving home. When Sutton awoke, we packed up the car and left. The drive home was pretty uneventful, which is a good thing. We stopped a couple times, once in Burlington, CO for dinner at Denny's. Sutton devoured his mac n' cheese which was great because he hadn't eaten very well our whole trip. In the car, he watched lots of Diego before going to sleep around 11pm.

We got home around 2am Monday morning, and Sutton transferred right to his bed. I think he was grateful to be back in his own bed. He let us sleep in til 9:45 that morning, which was just what we needed.

It was such a great trip to CO, I can't wait to do it again when Sutton's a little older and can do more stuff. A HUGE thank you to Michael and Sara for allowing us to crash your place all weekend and force you to relax during Sutton's naptimes. :) Love you guys!

The end.