~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
Congratulations, Shannon E. — you are the winner of the Connected in Hope giveaway! Check your email for information on claiming your beautiful scarf. Everyone else, remember to use the code LMLD10 at checkout for 10% off all scarves! (The code is good through the end of the year, so save it for your Christmas shopping, too!)
Also… did you catch Deirdre's announcement yesterday? Looks like we'll have another pair of twin cousins — so much fun!
{pretty, happy, funny, real}
I'm just going to go ahead and lump this whole post under this one picture, because I didn't take many this last week — for reasons that will become clear below. Hopefully soon I'll have some more cute pictures of the kids; for now you'll have to make do with just one of me and the Capt.
The Marine Corps' 239th birthday was Monday, and we had our Birthday Ball this past Friday. I had lined up a sweet babysitter and against all odds even had a dress to wear (my non-maternity ball gown was too small; my maternity gown was too big. But I had grabbed a simple, black maternity maxi dress from the clearance section at Target a few months ago as a backup, and decided that with some shiny accessories to distract from its imperfect formality, its elegant silhouette would work just fine), and I was excited to get dressed up and go out with my husband for the first time in two years.
(Not exaggerating. The closest thing to a date night we've had in recent memory was a quick trip to the Sonic drive-in down the road for milkshakes while my parents were visiting this spring. I accidentally left the keys in the ignition while we were waiting for our ice cream and killed my car's battery. What can I say? We know how to have a good time.)
As the day of the ball approached, the kids got sick with the dreaded stomach bug, which of course brought all other plans to a halt. We hunkered down and it did its work quickly, as it tends to do, and I spent the next day cleaning my house with a vengeance: wiping everything down with bleach, loads and loads of laundry on hot water, rug scrubbed and drying outside… I even washed the sofa slipcover!
I told the babysitter what was going on, gave her the timeline of when the kids had last been sick, and told her to talk it over with her mom. She said she was happy to still come, which proves that she is in fact a teenager and not a mother with small children. But I confess, I wasn't going to argue. I was looking forward to my night out!
The night came, the kids cooperated, my hair cooperated, everything was great… except that you know what is coming next, don't you?
I made it through the cocktail hour and the hour-long ceremony, but before dinner was served I knew I was living on borrowed time (not to be overly dramatic or anything). We escaped home just before I started throwing up.
So that was the end of that. But we did get a picture! Just the one selfie, so we know it happened. Or almost did. (I have been promised a make-up date, don't worry.)
That was the bad part about the timing of me catching this dratted bug. The good part was that I cleverly did it just at the beginning of my husband's four-day weekend, poor man, so he was able to take the helm while I spent a few days in bed, pretty much useless. He was a champ, we all survived, and now just have mountains of laundry to fold before we're caught back up again.
(In case you're wondering, Capt. P never got it. He only remembers getting it once as a boy — and he thinks it might have just been food poisoning. Not to count chickens prematurely or anything, but I'm just going to throw out there that immunity to the stomach bug might just be a super power. He says that wouldn't be a very impressive super power; I disagree.)
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Diane says
Happy 239th! A friend’s son is within hours of finishing his Crucible – maybe the immunity to tummy bug superpower is conferred upon becoming a Marine?
So sorry everyone else had to go through it (or, ahem, have it go through them). I’ve missed the tummy thing, but the rapid switch from summer to mid-winter has sent a nasty cold careening through the office. ‘Tis the season, I guess.
Lisa G. says
Never had a stomach bug but once? That’s almost too much to believe!
Mary says
My husband has that super power and it’s inherited from his mother. She has told me if I ever see her throw up, call an ambulance because it’s the end.
Unfortunately he didn’t pass the power to any of our kids.
Beautiful pic!
Jenny says
Yuck! Having a stomach bug while pregnant is one of the most terrible things to experience. To be nauseous anyway and then be genuinely sick on top of that. Well, that’s suffering. That this whole post wasn’t a giant “I JUST ABOUT DIED AND THEN I DIDN’T” is a testament to your fortitude.
Rosie says
Haha, thank you, Jenny. It really is miserable. It one point I remember thinking, “How much worse could Ebola really be?”
Jenny says
Oh No!! I totally cracked up at , “which proves that she is in fact a teenager and not a mother with small children.”
Rosie says
Seriously, I wouldn’t have gone near my kids with a ten-foot pole! But 18-year-old me probably would’ve thought, “they’re not actively throwing up? Great! I’ll just be sure to wash my hands and make a few bucks!”
Karen says
One bright and shining light in your story: your AWESOME baby sitter.
May she never grow older or move away!
E.R. says
So sorry you got sick! But I am hoping that your next date-night will be the topic of another PHFR. By the way, has anyone ever told you that your husband looks like Ralph Fiennes? That’s a total compliment. 🙂
Kathy@9peas says
I am so sorry the stomach bug tried to ruin your night, but look at you so gorgeous even though it was lurking!
Ellen says
Philip was the sibling who never got sick; I, on the other hand, generally got the stomach bug first, and then caught the mutated gene for a round two once all the other siblings got it. I envy his superpower. But you know, Rosie, it’s very clever of you to have married such a man. Maybe a couple of your children will inherit his constitution, and then tend to you and the other merely-humans in the house should you ever come down with it on a not-four-day-weekend 🙂
Anastasia says
Rosie, you have all of our sympathy. That is the worst! And I agree that immunity to that bug IS a super power! I’d take that super power any day. Also, even when they are pretty much just focused on the “Real”, I love your posts. I had the stomach bug within hours of the birth of baby #2. I vividly remember thinking “I’d so much rather be in labor right now!”
Virginia says
Oh my gosh! That is terrible!
KB says
Oh dear! I’m sorry you were so ill – stomach viruses are the worst. What a blessing your DH was home. One time it went through our family while my DH was on a business trip. We were new to the area; we had no friends or family nearby to help. I had to care for 3 very sick children for 4 days. Then I caught it. I lost 8 lbs in one day. Ugh. Thank God for Netflix; that’s how we got through. I’m so glad you could leave the ball/dinner before you pulled a George HW Bush! Humiliations galore! 😉 BTW, this stuff is AWESOME. We have vowed to never be without it. http://beststainremover.net/stain-odor-remover/ It gets out all sorts of little human stains that I won’t list here. Seriously, the stuff is like magic.
Virginia says
So glad you’re feeling better! The funny thing is that hubby nursing you through the stomach flu is kind of even more romantic than a nice date in a certain sense. I think the moment I really fell in love with my husband (not just silly, I think you’re handsome kind of love) was after our first baby was born and I got mastitis really bad but had no idea what it was–no friends or family around who had breastfed. I had this intense pain and fever chills and wasn’t nursing the baby frequently enough (super painful, obviously, and I didn’t know that that was part of the problem!). Anyway, he just held the baby and gave me drinks of water and let me grab his arm and scream while I was nursing baby. Like, for days, until supply evened out and the infection passed and everything got back on track. But now, when I think about “romantic moments with my husband” that’s #1 on the list! So weird.
Kimberlee says
Oh, dear! Here’s hoping your big 240th is happy and healthy! You looked fabulous together before the strike. How good that your good husband was home and able to care for you. (and really, there’s nothing quite as unifying in marriage as that ‘in sickness’ stuff)
Becky says
I remember reading somewhere reasonably reliable that there actually is a genetic thing that makes you significantly less susceptible to gastrointestinal infections with the flip side being upper respiratory. Ideally, you are to be subtly attracted to someone who has the opposite resistance. My husband tends to be much less likely to get stomach bugs than I do but he has asthma. Also, having been in a position to know, in addition to the many other difficulties of being ill when pregnant, you actually have to put a little thought into how you position yourself if you are going to be really, violently ill after you hit that size where you can’t so much see your feet or you will throw out your back. Also, never, never sneeze while also dry heaving. You’re welcome. 🙂
Woman of the House says
Sounds positively awful! I’m sorry your special night out was marred by coming down with this bug. Hopefully, next year will be better! (And you won’t have to wait another whole year to go out with hubby!)