Croup, Fire Trucks and Nana!

It has been an exciting week and a half for us! It all started with last weekend when our new fire station opened. Tripp has been asking to go to the new station ever since he was old enough to talk and understand that they were building a new station. So you can only imagine his excitement when last Sunday was finally the day that we got to go and have a tour of the inside and sit in all the fire trucks and ambulances. However, last Sunday was also the day that he woke up with a strange sounding cough and a fever. But for the sake of the fire station, we chose to ignore it and go the open house anyway (to our credit- it wasn't that bad and he seemed totally fine after he woke up from his second of three naps that day (although that should have been our first clue something was wrong)). Anyway, we walked up to the new station and this little boy was in heaven. The firemen immediately recognized him and were so excited to show him the new digs. He got in and out of every door of the fire trucks and ambulances multiple times and had an all around great time.

I think the excitement wore him out and the cough came back along with some strange breathing. So the next day, while I was at work, my mom took him to the doctor where he got the official diagnosis of croup with stridor. He got some steroids and immediately started sounding better. We were so thankful because the following day, Nelson's mom came into town to spend 5 days with us. We were worried that Tripp would be sick for the entire time, but after those magic steroids, the only thing holding him back was his crankiness (apparently that is a side effect of the medicine, and I will be the first to attest to that)! That didn't last too long and we had a great time with Nana- we went to the Museum of Transportation, the zoo, the park, the fire station again (for the second open house), the library (twice), and just hung out at home doing lots of reading and puzzles.

We were sad for her to go, but I know her other two grandsons back in Dallas were happy to have her back! Tripp was looking for her this morning when he got up and when he couldn't find her, he declared "Nana is still sleeping" which I think was his way of hoping that she was still downstairs asleep and would be coming up any time to join in the fun of the day with him. Sorry buddy, but I guess Nana will just have to come back soon!!

Friends

We have been blessed to be a part of a babysitting co-op which is basically a sweet ticket-based (instead of cash based) babysitting gig. I watch other people's kids for tickets, I pay in tickets for them to watch Tripp. So we get to go out on dates at night for free (well, except for the cost of whatever we do), and I can go run errands by myself without having to pay someone to watch Tripp. But I think the best thing about it is the friends that Tripp makes. He loves it when people come over to play, and I love it cause then he gets to learn how to share his toys, take turns, etc. I also love seeing him happy to be with other people. Today we had quite a fun day with a little friend- they colored, did stickers, played outside, played in the kitchen, and even shared the beloved Cozy Coupe (although that definitely took intervening from me to make sure everyone had their fair turn).


I have to admit, that even though I am a girl, I have not the slightest clue how to take care of one. You may think there is not that much of a difference, but today I just was totally clueless about if the tights go on first and then the onesie, or the onesie then the tights. And then her poor hair bow, well, that I gave up on about an hour after she came over. I guess if we ever have a girl, I will just have to learn these things (or just make sure that she doesn't wear hair bows or tights which is kinda the more likely scenario).


We are all thankful for free babysitting and good friends!

Fire at the Eatery!

Ok, not the real Eatery. Just the one on Tripp's play mat. It appeared to have been a five alarm fire since every fire truck in the house had to respond to the emergency. But do not worry- the fire was put out (by just one fireman!!) and only one person (Farmer Joe) had to be taken away in the ambulance (the hospital is just .02 seconds away on the mat so he was ok)!

All in a day's work though for this little firefighter!

Reading Happens Anywhere!

Fire Trucks

To say that this little boy is in a "fire truck phase" might be a bit of an understatement. He eats, breaths, sleeps, and talks about fire trucks all day long.



Today, some friends of ours gave him a new fire truck with a fireman action figure and that just about rocked his world. I know this will be played with for a long time.

The Truffle Shuffle

So over Christmas, my sister-in-law Winsor, thought it would be a good idea to train for a half-marathon together. I thought maybe I could go along with the idea (seeing as I used to be a runner, like 6 or 8 years ago). Well, as it turns out, it would be really expensive for me to fly to Dallas, run the race and then fly home. So while we are training together, it is across 500+ miles and we are running different races- hers in Dallas, mine in St. Louis. I quickly realized that if I am going to come remotely close to accomplishing this goal, I had to enlist the help of my dad since he runs marathons way too often for anyone's health and well-being. So back in January, I started running with my dad. He has been very kind to me- slowed down considerably to stick with me, and shortened a lot of his runs just so he won't leave me feeling too bad about myself. Well, today I made him proud by running the super fun Truffle Shuffle- a 4 mile race put on by Big River Running.


Of course my dad couldn't join me because he is in Birmingham running a half-marathon, but I made sure to call him and tell him all about my pace, my mile splits, my overall time and place, the weather, what clothes I chose to wear, how my sunglasses worked for me, what I had to eat after the race, and all the other really important things runners talk about. And I must say- I did pretty well (for me at least). I ran the fastest I have run in a long time, and felt really good while doing it. I even had enough in me at the end to sprint and beat some people as I was coming across the finish line (it helps when you have your husband and son there to cheer you on)!

So while Winsor is already busy running 10 miles, I will be happy with my four and hope that come April, I will be able to cross the finish line of the St. Louis half with the same gusto that I did today!

Birmingham

oh Birmingham, I thought we would never get to your awesome city limits last Friday. Between the snow in St. Louis, ice storms in Chicago (delaying our plane) and a sick, sick kid, I really thought we would have to stay home. But after a visit to the pediatrician on Thursday and the green light to travel, this little family was not going to let anything stop us from getting to Birmingham to visit James and Steph (and Ginny too)! We all made it in one piece (kudos to the Trippster for flying like a champ even when not feeling remotely close to one) and we had the best time. Steph was at a book club retreat on Friday night, so while we missed her, we had a great time with Nelson's sister Ginny who came over from Covenant to hang out with us too! Tripp was exhausted and went pretty much right to bed, but enjoyed some reading time with his dad and aunt before heading bed.

James cooked us a delicious meal of beef bourguignon and salad and we just hung out for the rest of the night. Ginny had to leave mid-day on Saturday and Steph got back around the same time. Tripp kept himself busy playing and loved Steph's amazing collection of children's books.

We hung out the rest of the day and geared ourselves up for an awesome dinner at Chez Fonfon. Tripp had a great babysitter and we loved being able to go out and have a great time. Sunday was more awesome hanging out- a delicious breakfast, dog walking and then lots of time at the park.

(trust me, I know the snot is disgusting, but the kid is cute and I gave up wiping his nose a long time ago)

We watched the Super Bowl (ok, we fast forwarded through the game and watched the commercials) and ate some great food. Then more hanging out today before heading back to the Lou. We had a great time- Tripp already really misses Molly Dog and Uncle James and Aunt Steph (and so do we)!!!

* most all picture credit goes to Steph