Easter bunnys, death and a hospital stay

Once again we have had one of those not so uneventful weeks... more like week and a half or two weeks. It has been over two weeks since I last blogged for all of you and I am sorry... but as I said we have had a busy busy schedule. Last week I had some contractions so I was at the doc an extra long time while they had me on the monitor and checked to see if there are any changes to my cervix. The cervix is a little soft but the cerclage is still holding so while they are a little concerned about the cervix there is little we can do and there haven't been any more contractions. They told me it was time to start thinking of ways to get some serious help with A but Dave and I have racked our brains and there just isn't much we can do about it all so, again we will just have to pray. I started Physical therapy last week... I am walking so much better. I had to cancel this weeks because I was in the hospital but we will start again next week. Yes you heard me I was in the hospital. I had a terrible flu and couldn't keep anything down and that made my blood sugars go way low... so they kept me in the hospital to keep my blood sugars up and to hydrate me. Stupid Flu.
A bear got the flu too... so we had a fun house around here. At least A got the flu Sunday and Monday... mommy got it Tuesday and Wed. Gramps got it Wed and Gran has it today. Daddy hasn't seemed to get it yet. So on Sunday and Monday ( and a little on Tuesday) Mommy was cleaning up mess after mess from A. It really is hard to have a child that has the flu who can't tell you they are about to puke on you or all nearby surfaces... and why the heck does the puking disease always hit when it is the dead of night and everyone is sleeping. I had to give A a bath at 3AM and wanted to get the sheets changed but Dave refused to budge from the bed and when I made mention that the bed was puked on and I certainly wasn't sleeping in it... he got nasty. So I did what any self-respecting woman would do... I slept on the couch with my freshly washed child and let him sleep in the puke. NOT MY PROBLEM! She managed to puke another three times and covered mommy a couple of times... so perhaps it was best that we weren't on fresh sheets in the bedroom anyways. We ended up sleeping with mommy sitting up with A in her lap and a bowl on A's lap.
When Mommy started to get sick A must have had some memory and connected it with her own issues... because she was very worried about me. Dave went to work leaving early again... I think that he is afraid to be in the house when we are sick. At any rate at 10:30 PM I had to call him to meet me at the hospital because blood sugars in the 60s are not acceptable and my doctor agreed when I called. Not to mention I wasn't having any luck keeping even a Popsicle down. By the time my dad got me there I was dehydrated and that was all she wrote. I came home yesterday afternoon when they were able to see a marked improvement in the ketone level in my urine. Dave stayed home from work yesterday just to be sure that all was well and is back to work today.
On Easter weekend my parents had my niece R for 4 days. She came over on Thursday and went home late Sunday. On Friday A and R decorated Easter eggs and made construction paper eggs that R can send to her Daddy who is in Afghanistan. Dave and I took her on Sat for 5 hours or so to give my parents a break. We went to see the Easter bunny.... and waited for 30 minutes. When we got up there R leaned into me and pointed and said " there is a person in that costume. I'm not going up there" Pretty sophisticated for a three year old. And so we left without having visited. Not that I was heartbroken the picture with the Easter bunny would have cost us 20.00 and that is outrageous. So off we went to the PET STORE. Um that is like the best place in the world for kids next to a toy store. We had taken A there a couple of weeks ago and she loved it. So we decided that would be a great place to take both girls. While there they petted rabbits, Guinea pigs, ferrets, and even a parrot. They also both got to touch a turtle and a hamster and a chinchilla. They offered ( of course) to take out puppies for us... but it was a bit crowded and so we declined. But R got to see Nemo fish and Dory fish ( if you don't know who they are that just means that you haven't watched Finding Nemo 101 times with a three year old and just wait your time is bound to be coming.) A just saw an endless supply of "fishies" and at her age that is all she needed to know. She pointed and said Fishy for every fish in the joint I think. We then went to Red Robin where Dave and I shared a burger and R and A shared a burger. After we ate and made off with the requisite helium balloons we went to Toys R Us where each girl had a ten dollar limit and the option to buy whatever toy they wanted in that limit. A found an Elmo doll and R found a disney doll both of which fit into their budget and away we went.
When we got home we got the devestating news that my uncle had been in a motorcycle accident earlier in the day and that they could not bring him around. So I stayed at my parents house with the girls while my parents ran to the hospital to be with my father's sister Cheryl. I played Beauty shop with R and had my hair done for hours as well as painted her nails for her to match her easter dress. My uncle passed away on Sunday morning at 2:45 A.M. So very heartbreaking for everyone. Understandably the Easter celebration at my Grandparents house was cancelled. However just as understandably R didn't understand at three much about what this meant. So my brother Brenden saved the day for the girls by hiding Easter eggs around this house so that the girls could have a hunt. The girls both woke up to a visit from the Easter Bunny that thrilled both of them with toys perfectly chosen just for them and then Gran fixed a beautiful breakfast complete with rolls. The girls dressed in their Easter dresses ( that gran made for them) and as beautiful as two princesses can be they went outside and found Easter eggs. As the night had been long for every adult either waiting up at home for news or waiting around the hospital for news we all took naps with the kids. And then Gran cooked an Easter Ham. It was a little late that we sat down for Easter dinner but it would have been well worth it if my daughter hadn't gotten sick as we all sat down right onto the dinner table. And so we come round in a full circle to the beginning of this post and the puking disease that seems to have hit everyone. R thought it was great fun to see A puke into her plate, and indeed it was the first thing she told her mother about when she came to get her. All of the fun that we had and the tragedy that had occured in the four days she was over and A puking was the highlight... who would have thought.
So we will be heading to the visitation here in an hour or so. My daughter will have a second opportunity to wear her dress, I will visit with family that I haven't seen for five years, and I wish to God that it were different. I would trade so much to have my uncle John still here. Every time I think of my Aunt Cheryl my heartbreaks in half. The thought of my cousins Gary and Chrissy brings tears to my eyes. John was a good man who loved his family and had so much life still ahead of him. It seems so unfair for it to be cut short this way. Though we are busy trying to count the blessings involved in this.... my Aunt Cheryl normally would have been on the back of that bike! being one of them, they are of little consolation. We miss you already Uncle John! WE LOVE YOU!