Family – Page 11 – Jocelyn Rau

September 13, 2011February 9, 2012

Stye-clops and her barking seal

So first of all, Colorado was awesome. D did absolutely splendidly on the planes, much better than I even expected. On the flight out she was a little fussy and squirmy after we boarded, but drank almost 2 bottles of milk right away, was asleep before takeoff, and slept the entire flight. Coming home she was awake for takeoff but fell asleep shortly after then woke up probably about 3/4 of the way through the flight, but barely made a peep once she did wake up.

The wedding was amazingly beautiful, I could not be happier for my sister and new brother-in-law, and it was wonderful to spend time with family.

However…

I started getting a stye on my upper right eyelid on Wednesday of last week, the day we flew out there. Seriously? A stye? I thought only kids got those, since the only people I ever remember seeing with them were those in my grade and high school classes.

I’d never had one until then, and man was it a bitch. It made my whole eye socket area feel like I’d been punched, it felt like I had a piece of sand under my eyelid, and I had to wear my stupid glasses for 2 days. I hate wearing my glasses. Fortunately it cleared up enough by Friday to wear my contacts again, and by wedding day Saturday it was basically gone. Thank heavens! I read they can last up to a week or 2. Gross!

Also…

D got sick this weekend. Really sick.

She had the makings of a cold and a little bit of a cough before we left, but Saturday the full brunt of the illness hit her. Just in time to perform her flower girl duties, poor little thing. But, being the sweet little trooper she is, she didn’t let it stop her and was, what I believe to be, the cutest flower girl in the history of flower girls. She made it all the way down the aisle to me like a pro, with just a minor detour back to Daddy and a chat with a couple of the guests.

So anyway, I stayed home with her yesterday and got in to see her doctor because she just kept getting worse. Turns out she has croup and a double ear infection. Fabulous! I actually suspected the ear infections (i didn’t realize it’d be a double one again, i thought 1 would be plenty) because the first one she had came with the gagging cough, but I certainly didn’t expect croup.

I didn’t really even know what it was, but once I looked up the symptoms it sounded exactly like lil’ Miss D – harsh cough that can sound like a barking seal and comes with sharp intakes of breath. Bingo. She would take these hoarse, rasping breaths and then cough so hard she’d gag, often barf, and start crying. You could just hear how painful it was for her, and with all the barfing she really hasn’t eaten a meal since Friday.

So they gave her an oral dose of a 3-day steroid at the doctor’s office yesterday, then put her on amoxicillin again, which we started last night. They said she could go back to daycare today as long as her fever was gone, which it was this morning, but she was in no shape for school. Still coughing like a little seal and could barely keep her eyes open. So today’s another sick day for the babe.

I will have plenty of pics from the weekend soon, once I get them all uploaded, but here is a little teaser of our wedding travels.

D rehearsing on Friday night. How cute is this one??

September 10, 2011September 7, 2011

9~10~11

Today my sister M marries her boyfriend of 8 years, C, and we are so excited to be a part of the happy event!

Congratulations, you guys!! We love you both so very much, and can’t wait to share in many, many years of your love, laughter, and happiness together.

September 7, 2011September 2, 2011

Off we go

Into the wild blue yonder. Or Colorado, whichever.

My sister M gets married on Saturday, so tonight we head west for the rest of the week and weekend. I couldn’t find a picture of the exact dress I will be wearing, but it’s similar to this one except in purple:

I’ll make sure to post some pictures when we return to show you the real thing. These, however, are my exact shoes. A terrible choice for what turned out to be an outdoor ceremony, and I haven’t spent nearly enough time breaking them in, so I’m afraid they won’t last long. I’m definitely taking a pair of flats or flip-flops or something to wear when I can no longer stand these skyscrapers:

And I know you’re all dying to know, so here’s what D is wearing as well:

ddress — A little blurry and unfortunately I don't know the brand, Neiman Marcus

Wish us luck on the flights, and I’ll see you next week!

August 26, 2011August 26, 2011

Waxing nostalgic

I found this beautiful post the other day on BlogHer Moms and it almost brought me to tears. Not because I can relate to lemead’s summer camp experiences on Cape Cod, but because I, too, look back on my childhood summers with such aching fondness. The long days of play, hearing the cicadas and crickets on hot summer nights (i hate bugs, but that sound always takes me back), the hours my sisters and I would spend making up languages and forts and engaging in general make believe, the utter lack of responsibility save putting away toys at day’s end, and an overall age of blissful innocence that only children know.

My sisters and I never went to summer camp, but we did have Canada. And I wouldn’t swap those 2 for anything. When we were younger there were years when we were able to spend a good couple weeks up on the island, and it was pure heaven for us. For during those long stays we usually overlapped with my mom’s entire family, spending days and nights on end with our grandparents and all of our aunts, uncles, and cousins, some of whom we never saw except up there. We held countless diving contests off the dock, swam in and across the lake (but not through the seaweed, ew!), made treasure maps and turned the island into our own coded little world, read stacks of old comic books, set up tents and “camped” in various spots on the island, had water fights, made up songs, played endless games of cards and Scrabble and bingo, listened to old-time records every night at cocktail hour (one of my favorite traditions that still lives on), roasted bags of marshmallows and popped nightly bowls of popcorn, awoke each morning to the smell of bacon and a fire in the wood-burning stove in the kitchen, and fell asleep in the loft each night listening to the grown ups reminiscing about when they were our age and always trying to sneak peeks through the blankets over the railing hoping we wouldn’t get caught and forced back into bed. They were the best days of our lives, and the countdowns to the next summer’s trip usually began on the way home. I still get butterflies of excitement the night before each trip to Little Pine Isle.

Canada has always been a family place for us, though, unlike a summer camp full of outside friends. Not that others aren’t welcome, by any means. And some groups of family do take friends when they go, when there’s room enough without too many other family members already there at the same time. I think this is kind of what made it special for us, too. We bonded so strongly with our family when we were up there and loved spending that time with them. What could be more fun for kids than playing with their aunts and uncles who always gave in and let them get away with stuff that their parents never would? Granted, as we’ve all gotten older (and bigger) it is kind of nice when the island isn’t crammed full of people anymore, but as kids it was wonderful.

Much like lemead’s summer camp, our island is littered with these boundless memories and happy ghosts from our pasts. And now I am thrilled to be able to take D there and let her create her own lifetime of memories as well. She only has 1 cousin right now, but I know they’ll be joined by many more and will probably explore every nook and cranny and play every island game imaginable, just as we did. Now we will be the adults in the living room reminiscing each night while they try to put off sleep as long as possible up in the loft. And I hope she falls as deeply in love with the place as we have and makes boatloads of memories there with her own children and their children someday, too.

Canada couch — Me & my sisters in Canada ages ago

Canada cans — Crushing cans in Canada while rockin' a bikini. Awesome

p.s. totally unrelated, but i wanted to get my run stats from this week down. tuesday i ran 3.57 miles in 31:41 for a 8:51 pace, and last night i ran 2.86 miles in 24:04 for a 8:25 pace. my time from last night is only 4 seconds off my fastest time ever for that particular route, so i was pleased. both runs felt pretty awful, but i was very happy i got more than 1 in this week.

August 23, 2011August 23, 2011

Weekend reprieve

This past weekend was awesome. It was just 2 of those days where the whole time you think man, this is a really fun day. And with how busy we’ve been lately it seems like we hadn’t had our fair share of those for awhile. Well-deserved, I’d say.

My sister M and her fiance C came into town from Colorado on Thursday night for some business meetings on Friday, so they stayed at the Iron Horse Hotel that night. Oo la la. On work’s dime that’s a great choice. They stopped by my office after their Friday morning meetings to check out the place, then picked D up at daycare on their way to our house. So she got to leave school early and play with them that afternoon. We then all headed up to St. Ann’s for dinner Friday night, and it did not disappoint, as usual. It’s really called Schwarz’s Supper Club and is in teeny tiny St. Anna, WI, a little over an hour from here. Huge, delicious steaks and perfectly-made old fashioneds, all for a fraction of the cost you’ll find anywhere else. We dropped D at one of R’s brother’s house for the evening, then met friends for dinner and a couple drinks in Elkhart Lake afterwards. It was a beautiful night and a good time was had by all.

M and C spent Friday and Saturday nights at our house, and Saturday we were free all day. Wahoo! M and I went for a run mid-day (ran 3.23 miles in 30:26 for a 9:25 pace. slower than usual, but we had a huge hill in the middle and sprinted the last block), then we all headed downtown to take the Great Lakes Distillery tour that afternoon. That place is really cool. Their spirits are excellent, they have a full bar on-site, and it’s always great to see local businesses thriving with their products. I’m not a straight liquor fan by any means, but even I find theirs palatable. I also tried absynthe, and was surprised to find it not too bad. That evening there was a neighborhood party/summer concert just a few blocks from our house, so we loaded up a cooler with some beers, put it in the bottom basket of D’s stroller, and walked up there to hear some tunes. It turned out to be fantastic. There were approximately 1 million kids running and biking around, and the entire area had congregated on one of the main streets outside our little local grocery store. There was a big tent in the middle of the street where grills were set up and refreshments were being served. So we stood around for maybe 30-45 minutes, had our brews, then wheeled it back home to fire up our own grill. R cooked up the last of the Rausages as well as some brats from a fabulous meat market in Sheboygan, and we feasted. D went to bed around 8, then the 4 of us sat outside by a fire, enjoying the pleasant evening weather and some adult beverages.

Sunday M and C left shortly before 9 to catch their flight home, and then we had absolutely nothing on the agenda for the entire day. No places to go, no chores to do – something I like to call heaven. And the weather was spectacular again, which made it even better. D is officially in 1-nap-a-day territory, as it was the first weekend I couldn’t get her to take 2 naps at home. So when she went down after her lunch a little before noon, I put on my bikini and headed out to the backyard to snooze in the hammock and soak up some rays. Pure bliss, I tell you. The rest of the afternoon was spent just enjoying being home. R sat outside and caught up on some magazines, I played with D for awhile, and we got her water table back out to splash around in, too. She especially enjoyed carrying her little water toys all around the yard and driveway while we were out there. By late afternoon it was time to get her bathed and all the dirt and sunscreen washed off, then dinner for her and a little more playing before reporting for sack duty.

Summer weekends always fill up before the season even begins, so when we get ones like this to just relax and enjoy each other, they feel so wonderful. And guess what? We have another free one coming up again this weekend. Gasp! My heart might just explode with happiness.

August 17, 2011August 17, 2011

Our life in pics

I have been remiss in my photo posting duties lately, so I thought I’d devote an entire post to these past couple weeks pictorially. They’ve been really busy for us, so there have been a ton of pictures to go through. Enjoy!

My beautiful girl, just after her 1st birthday

She loved playing with the water table at the party

d12 — Birthday girl. Her dress had an adorable tulle overlay on the skirt part

d21 — R had to get one of the "Cheapest Beers" at the Fair

D suitcase — D helping me pack for Colorado

D&R Pack — Daddy & D ready for the Packers' preseason

D&R — One of R's bday gifts - I thought this pic was so cute of him & D napping in Canada

p.s. i finally ran again last night, the first time since last tuesday. i really need to work on getting more than 1 run in per week. but anyway, i ran 3.57 miles in 32:01, for an 8:57 pace. again, pretty much my standard. it felt awful, so i’m surprised i was able to hold my usual pace. i want to get at least 1 more 5k in before the end of summer.

August 16, 2011August 15, 2011

Children in flight

So this past weekend I shocked my sister M and her fiance C by showing up on their doorstep in Colorado. Surprise! My youngest sister A threw them a joint wedding shower on Saturday (what they call a “jack and jill party”), so I wanted to be there for the festivities. As such, I bid R and sweet baby D a fond farewell, hopped on a plane Friday night, spent a great weekend with my sisters and their significant others out west, and flew back Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately I didn’t take a camera, so I’ll have to get M to send me some of the pictures she took at the par-tay. We are a cute trio of sisters.

Anyhoo… I learned that since becoming a mom, children on planes don’t really bother me anymore. Big deal, SM, that’s boring, who cares? No, really – being confined in a flying metal pencil with children, plural, does not make me want to huff and pout and glare anymore. Because I totally used to be one of those people who saw a baby on a plane and instantly wanted to turn around and de-board. For how was I possibly going to endure an entire flight with a screaming, annoying kid? I wasn’t going to be able to sleep, or read, or anything. I was going to have to listen to the inconsolable obnoxiousness and hope I didn’t strain my eyeballs from rolling them so hard the whole time. Har.

So you can imagine my attitudinal surprise when, on my flight out Friday night, I was surrounded by 6 children in the rows immediately in front of and behind me, and I actually found them enjoyable. Gasp! I know, crazy, right? (i just realized i’m using a lot of italics in this post, but trust me, the emphasis is warranted) There was an adorable 1 year old boy right behind me who was having a great time smiling at and generally entertaining the passengers near him. I chatted with his parents a bit since that was his first flight, D’s first flight is coming up in a few weeks on the exact same route as that one on which we were flying, and this boy was behaving wonderfully. There were 2 kids directly in front of me, maybe 10 and 7, somewhere around there. Then there were 3 boys 2 rows behind me and across the aisle, ages I would guess of 5, 3, and a newborn. That whole family of 5 sat together in the 3 seats on that side, so it was a full house back there. The baby cried a couple times, no big deal. What I did find odd, though, was upon our descent into Denver, the oldest of the 3 boys started screaming wildly, “I’m falling! I’m falling!” I thought hmm, that’s a little strange, for the parents weren’t really doing a whole lot to comfort or quiet him. The middle boy even said, “Mason, it’s ok, you’re not falling.” So although I found it weird, it didn’t cause me to want to aim spit wads at the kid like it would have a year ago.

There was a girl sitting in the middle seat of the row in front of that family, who I did see turn around and give a tongue click and a side-eye at one point, but I think one of the boys was repeatedly kicking her chair. Ok, that’s a little different. And the mom did apologize, saying her husband was trying to find the boy’s pacifier to calm him down. She (the tongue-clicker) seemed fine from that point on after the apology. I still couldn’t help but think, oh honey, just you wait until you have little ones of your own. It’s soo different.

This one did make me give a mom a second look, though. On my flight home Sunday, I was seated in the midst of another family of 5. Mom and the 2 older kids, a girl maybe 12ish and a boy maybe 8ish, were seated across the aisle from me, and Dad and the youngest kid, a boy maybe 4ish, were seated center and window on my side. This was all fine, but at one point the girl dropped the portable dvd player, and the mom goes, “Oh way to go, Einstein!” Whaaat? Was that really necessary? Now if she’d said it as a big joke and they all started laughing, like that was a family catch phrase or something, that’d be one thing. But she was serious. Like ugh, why are you so stupid? The girl looked kind of degraded after the comment, and I thought man, that was a little harsh. The dvd player wasn’t broken, this was no major disaster. Did you really need to make your daughter feel like an idiot? I don’t know – I just seem to view everyday things so differently now, since I always relate them to D and how I’d feel or what I’d do if she were involved. And hopefully I wouldn’t see the need to make her feel like junk over something so trivial. Or ever.

But back to the flight out, I was trying to take note of the parents behind me on that one, to see how they were occupying their little guy. He gave a couple little shouts and some tongue-wagging, but he was just having fun, not crying. I noticed he was playing with an assortment of toy balls in what looked like a small tennis ball tube, which is something I think D would like too. Anyone out there have any suggestions for a successful 2.5 hour flight with a 1 year old? I must admit, it’s kind of making me nervous.