Cabin fever, with some pictures to distract

We are STILL stuck at home with an absolutely miserable stomach bug--probably norovirus.  I've barely left the house in a week and a half.  First, Robert woke up puking in the wee hours of Wednesday, April 17.  Then I picked it up the following Sunday, had a horrible couple of days, and am just now eating regular food again today.  I think it was Monday morning that Ivey woke up sick and she is still throwing up, occasionally and unexpectedly.  Poor thing is so hungry, and I feel terrible for her.  We told her to stay away from her sick little brother but she's such a cuddle bug, she couldn't help herself.  Suzi hasn't gotten it yet and is staying with Grandma and Grandpa for a couple of days.  Jordan hasn't had it yet either, and it'll be a miracle if he doesn't come down with it, because he's been thrown up on numerous times and is the chief vomit-cleaner around here.

For unrelated reasons, I could really use a playdate right now.  We all could.  But we can't have one and are stuck here indefinitely, just waiting to see when the vomit will end.  I am starting to wonder if people think we are lying when we tell them yet again that we can't make it somewhere because of the stomach bug.  We aren't making it up!  This evil virus is very, very real!

I miss going places.  Playdates, trips to the park, even taking all three kids to the grocery store by myself.  I miss baking cookies for the kids, Friday pizza nights, ice cream, and candy.  I normally enjoy being a bit of a hermit, but right now I want OUT!  Thank goodness my parents are helping us with the non-sick kids, taking them to their house and on outings so at least they don't go nuts.

I can't wait for this to be over.  It sucks.  And now, some photos I've been meaning to post from more cheerful days:

We dyed our Easter eggs after Easter.  Seems like it always sneaks up on us.

This is a blown-out egg Suzi painted with Sharpie markers.  It was for Grandma.

Relaxing on the hammock in our front yard!

We got to ride a bus shuttle to our Spring Jubilee, and it was a big thrill for the girls.

The same view Jordan and I had riding the buses to college classes a decade ago.  It's the same kind of bus we rode.

Jordan's parents took us all to Riverbanks Zoo for Robert's second birthday.

Once it started going up and down, he decided he didn't "yike" it, so Jordan took him off and sat on the bench with him that doesn't move at all.

I love this guy.

Robert's birthday morning.  He is saying "CHEEEEE!" and thinks he is making a pretty face for the camera.

My mom made him a Raggedy Andy, which is the two-year-old tradition.

This was Robert's big gift for us.  It spins and the kids love it.  We put it in the backyard.  My only complaint is that the weight limit is too low for me to ride  :-(

Awesome yard sale find!  I used to play with one of these at daycare, cramming two or more records under the arm to see if it would still work.  It's a wind-up toy made in my birth year, 1984.  It was still kind of expensive for a yard sale find but oh well, I love it.

My parents took us to the Cabbage Patch in Georgia to celebrate Robert's birthday.  Sadly, we have figured out that this is probably where we caught the stomach plague.

It's such a cute place, though.  I love the fuzzy-headed babies best.

Robert picked out a baby girl named Casey.

Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

His doll came with a little baby sling!  Isn't that neat?  I love to see a little boy taking care of his baby.

That's all for now.  I am just hoping and praying that we will be done with this nasty sickness and back out having springtime fun by next week!

Taking a minute to write on a stomach bug day

I have been meaning to write a post about the kids for weeks!  Ironic that I'm finding time this morning.  Last night around 1:30 AM, Jordan and I were awakened by surprise throw-up in our bed.  Robert's.  We had to strip our bed of sheets and mattress pad and camp out on the sofa and recliner in between cleaning up after Robert.  Poor, pitiful little guy.  It's 8:30 now and he finally fell asleep a few minutes ago.  Jordan is taking a family sick day after he attends the meeting he's in right now.  Thank God for amazing daddies who don't mind cleaning up puke.

The girls are in the yard.  Last weekend we did something that some of our neighbors probably think is tacky.  We split our backyard in two with dog wire fence and a gate for the kids to go through, keeping the dogs out of their play area.  This keeps their play area poop-free and our silly Phibby dog from lying in their sandbox.  Also, the way we divided it keeps the kids away from the compost bin and storage building.  I know it's not going to make it into Southern Living anytime soon, but it's beautiful to me.  We now have a yard we can use!

Anyway, here's what's going on with the kids:

Robert:  Just turned two on April 9th!  His Nana and Papa (Jordan's parents) took us all to the zoo to celebrate.  It's the same zoo I visited on my second birthday and has sort of become a two-year-old tradition.  Then on Sunday, my parents took us to the Cabbage Patch.  He adopted a "babby" girl named Casey and has been so sweet holding her and feeding her!  Robert can say most anything he wants and talks in sentences all the time, even though sometimes his words are a little hard to understand.  Still working on potty training.  We got him this spinning seesaw for his birthday and he loves to play on it with his sisters!  Our sweet little guy is really growing up!  Even so, most of my days are hard, hard, hard.  And it's mostly because of him.

Ivey:  She really wants to take a dance class, and I can't wait to see her in one.  We are hoping to get her into a summer camp, if we can find one that fits in with things we've already scheduled.  We aren't really homeschooling yet; she joins in frequently with Suzi and I am helping her learn her letters.  She spends lots of time playing with her little brother and also enjoys working at her desk.  For Easter she got a set of glitter glue pens and loves working with those!  She's becoming such a big kid, not only with how she acts but also how she looks!  I can't believe she'll be four in August.

Suzi:  She just started tee ball yesterday and loved it.  It's a six-week session, and I'm sure when it's over she'll want to do another one.  For homeschool, she has started a sort of journal with writing prompts about recent subjects we've learned about or things we've done.  I give her a list of a few big words she could use for each subject, and then she fills in the rest phonetically.  At first, she insisted on knowing exactly how to spell everything, refusing to misspell a word in her writing.  Now she's having a bit more fun with it.  I also stapled together some little books for her to write stories in, and she enjoys that.

I don't have time to upload photos.  Maybe later in a separate post.  Right now, I'm just glad I got this written!