Black Friday Indeed

So I've been out for a bit, sorry about that.  I took Little to Arkansas to spend Thanksgiving with my parents and some other relatives.  After that the plan was to drive over to Ft Leonard Wood, Mo and spend a few days with Mister, who has been gone since before Halloween.  That didn't quite turn out....   We all ended up catching norovirus and only saw him for a few hours on Saturday, the one day none of us were puking. Little actually started his symptoms in the car on the way to Missouri.  So that was awesome.  Black Friday indeed.

Norovirus is the stomach bug 

Seriously.  I thought I was going to die.  I lost 6.5 pounds.  My spine is sticking out of my back like stegosaurus plates.  It's disgusting.   At one point I was stranded in a hotel room, 15 minutes from being homeless (waiting on reservations to call me back and let me know if I could keep the room), unable to leave the room, with a 2 year old, totally out of food for said 2 year old, unable to hold down water, hadn't eaten in 3 days, without medicine, and without a soul around to help me because Mister was in the field.  *In the field, for those of you not in the military, means exactly that - he was out in the field somewhere and could not come back to civilization to help me.  Although Fort Lost in the Woods hardly counts as civilization.  At one point on day 3, Andrew waddled into the room eating a chicken tender from the night before that he found somewhere...and I was relieved.  How disgusting is that?  That's how dire it was!  I was praising God for letting my child find food on the floor or wherever as if it were manna from Heaven.  I finally forced myself to drive to the commissary to buy Little non floor food and myself a bottle of Pepto later that night and I was so weak that I almost passed out trying to put Andrew into the cart.  I was actually in tears trying to push it down the aisles to find the medicine.  It was the most miserable week ever.  I never get sick.  Ever.  Yes, I have my headaches/migraines and allergies, but those aren't communicable illnesses.  I never catch whatever is going around!  But MAN did this one get me.  I thought I was Coming Home.  Lord was taking me in.  So PSA - I know this virus is in AR, CA, MO, & CO so protect yourself!  It can live on countertops, shopping carts, doorknobs, purses, leather jackets, cell phones, etc - not just person to person contact.  So wash your hands and lysol the crud out of everything you own if you have had it!  Also, you are still contagious for 3-4 days AFTER your symptoms subside.  So please stay home even though I know it is hard and you get stir crazy.  Don't spread this around, it can be deadly to infants, geriatrics, and those with compromised immune systems.  It's only supposed to last 24-48 hours, but for some reason, I couldn't shake it for almost a full week.  Andrew rocked it, though.  The only time I even knew he was sick was when the terrible things were happening and it only lasted 24 hours.  Mister only had it for about 36.

But Thanksgiving was great.  Little got to meet some relatives he hadn't ever seen before, my brother and his wife flew in from Cali, and my Pappaw came in from Tavares, Fl.  There was no bickering, I didn't have to cook anything, and I got to see my friend Dustin whom I haven't seen in 8 years and his equally hilarious wife, Lindee.  They taught me a lovely new phrase, "Every fart's a gamble!"  Classy!  Come to think of it...it's as if they were predicting the future.....

Wrestling his uncle

Marty McFly

Reading a book upside down with Pappaw

I chopped all my hair off - finally got rid of the evidence of my epic fail with boxed color from April 2010.  There's the back.

And there's the front, along with my cousins, my Pappaw, my brother and his wife, and my sister

Learning how to drive with Mammaw

We also got a chance to thank some local Firemen for their participation in the 2012 Fill the Boot campaigns and even stop by one while it was going on.  We stopped by Engine 9 in NLR, of course, and a few of them asked if they could walk with us in March (MDA Muscle Walk 2013)!!!!

This and the picture below are from Engine 1 in Sherwood

And these are with Engine 2, also out of Sherwood at an actual Fill the Boot on Black Friday at Wal-Mart on 107.

Thank you so much to all the firemen in the NLR/Sherwood area!  Ya'll do amazing work and raise so much money for MDA!  Little and the rest of the Palmers and Joneses really appreciate it.

Today's Little's Leaguer is Carson!  Carson is making a muscle for the Little boy who will one day be his cousin.  :)

Why I will never be a professional photographer

I have a new respect for photographers who work with children.  This is my cover photo on Facebook.  It is the Bulltwins and Little with their Peyton Pillows.

 Sweet picture, right?  Well here's how many shots it took to get just one that was usable.

That one on the side in the middle cracks me up - Little has just fallen over backwards and couldn't get up.

So then a few weeks ago I tried to get a shot of all the Gibsonoids in their Little's League tees..........here's how that went.

1st, as you see, Gracie couldn't even find hers.

 and my personal favorite

Mason's rear.  Awesome.

 I ended up having to kick everyone else out of the shot except for the girls and steal a shirt off of one of the boys to put it on Gracie.

Photographing children = herding cats.

Making Muscles and Memories

For the first time in almost 2 years, Mister actually made the trip back to Arkansas with me and Little.  It's such a different experience when he goes with me.  I get to relax a little more since there is a second set of eyes and arms to watch and hold and change diapers, staying at the in-laws' house is different (I adore my in-laws, I'm very fortunate to have a husband whose parents are open and loving and happy to see their daughter-in-law but c'mon, of course it's different when Mister's not there), I actually got a night "off" to go eat dinner with a friend sans Little and stay out til *gasp* 9!  I got to stay longer at each place and see more of the people I miss when I'm home in Kentucky, I got to meet friends' babies (ok toddlers) for the first time,  and got in a wreck and had my car broken into and let my chiropractor blow up balloons inside my face.  It was a good time.  ******Wait what????????  Did she just say a car wreck, theft, and balloons inside her face?!!  Yes, yes, and yes.  

The first wasn't my fault and the girl behind me barely tapped my rear bumper.

No one was hurt, Andrew didn't even wake up, I barely even felt it.  Just some paint transfer, a few holes, and the bumper became disconnected from the side panel of my car.  I wasn't even mad.  I didn't care, really.  It's just a car.  Had she broken my camera, now that would have been a different story, lol. The poor girl was only 17 and scared out of her mind.  She nearly started crying when she saw the car seat and realized she could have hurt a child.  Then when I told her I'd just call my husband who was a cop and right down the road she almost fainted.  So hopefully - lesson learned and she'll be a little more careful.  

The second was overnight the night before we were going home and the third I will write more about in a later blog.  With the break in, Mister noticed it when he went to pack the car.  Thieves got us gooooood - like a grand in stolen items.  Which, unfortunately is the same amount as our deductable.  Essentially everything expensive that we owned except for 2 of our cell phones and my camera.  So we won't be replacing anything.  Awesome.  They got away with Mister's  iPod, Oakleys, handcuffs (no, not his government ones, his hinge cuffs that he bought himself bc they are meaner and more uncomfortable than the govt issue ones), 

cellphone, my Garmin, some cds (shockingly they left behind my gLee cd) one of Little's diaper bags (which I'm guessing they just grabbed to stuff their haul into) which happened to have his Leapster Leap Pad in it.  

 
A Leap Pad is a toddler's iPad, basically.  It was a gift from my super cool in-laws I mentioned above.  They bought it for him after Jiffy, his OT, used an iPad with him once for finger isolation exercise.  So.....now I just have to hope they read this and think "Man, we should get him a new one for Christmas.  I heard that there is a new Leap Pad 2 out now so the original Leap Pad is only $79.00!  What a bargain!"
  *that's just shameful, Katherine.......heehee

The first order of business, though, during our trip to The Rock was The Muscular Dystrophy Association's Show of Strength 2012 (formerly known as the MDA Labor Day Telethon).  It aired on Sept. 2nd and Fox Studios in Little Rock was gracious enough to let us all gather in one of their rooms and have a watch party.  So thank you, Fox!

My little MDA star

 flexing

 The famjam

 I won! (so they were just free fries from Wendy's, but hey!  I still won!)

 Little's certificate for raising $300 for MDA

 Making a muscle with the gals from MDA Little Rock - Erica, me (duh), my mom, Little, Catherine, and Phyllis

The next day we went a few houses down from my where I grew up in North Little Rock to thank the fire fighters at NLRFD station 9 for their part in Fill the Boot for MDA 2012.

 They were a little embarrassed to make a muscle.  I think they forgot it was MDA's motto.  I found it funny.

 Little loves fire trucks.  This was his 1st time to get to see one up close.

 Cute, right?  This will be one of the pictures I print off and take back with a plate of cookies next month.

We took Little to the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock.  It was really cool.  Lots of scientific stuff for kids to do (and parents - we might have had more fun than he did).  I totally felt like Sid the Science Kid.  We all decided to try out the "pull your own weight" challenge.  Even Andrew got in on it.  And don't try to figure out that tattoo - it's not even close to finished yet.

Sister

 I had to do it twice.  Mom was so zoomed in the first time that you couldn't tell I was in the air so I had to pull up again for a second shot.  I was sore the next day bc I am a weakling.  I start at the Y on Monday. WOOT!

My mother's face.  Priceless.

Getting centered on a bed of nails

They even have a room that reenacts the tornadoes that hit the central Arkansas area back in January 1999. I recommend taking your kids to this discovery center if you are in the area - it was really cool.

Then it was off to NWA for time with the in-laws and friends.  Little had a blast with Sadie,

 the chickens, (now the rooster is another story - I want to murder it and eat it for dinner)

the toys and the dirt,

 and his Pops and Didi.  Ok, maybe Pops had more fun torturing him than he had receiving it.......

We also got to spend time with friends.

This was at Cooper's 3rd birthday party

 with Jake

 the chaos that ensued with the Gibsons, Sollers, and Dodds

 sweet Mila

 Getting smooched by Maddie Beth

 doing everything his Gigi does

 swimming with Nathan, Kyle, and Mitchell

I also got a chance to swing by Atlas Apparel in Fort Smith and place the order for our new Little's League tees.  They should be ready soon so I will pick them up when I am in Arkansas again in a few weeks for the Journey concert I am going to with my sister.  

This is the oppossum that moved into our garage when we got back home to Kentucky.  Jiffy is convinced it hopped on to the undercarriage of my car somewhere in Arkansas and clung on for dear life til we arrived back home.  Probably picked it up in Bald knob since we didn't drive through anywhere called Opossum Gulch that I'm aware of.

This week's Little's League stars:  Emily and Gracie!