My plan this morning was to head to my eye doctor’s appointment before hitting the road to visit my sick nephew. On my way to my appointment, Sarah called and told me that Mike, her husband, was sick. I wasn’t sure what to do with this information. On one hand, it made me want to drive faster and get to Louisville because I felt they may REALLY really need my help. On the other hand, I couldn’t help but picture getting this virus and bringing it home toAriel andRacecar. I couldn’t stand the thought.
After consulting with many people and having a good conversation with Sarah. I turned the car around and headed back home.
I am the type of person who follows my heart, not so much logic. I think I am logical, but if my heart pulls me in a certain direction, I usually follow my heart. This time was different. I literally had to say to myself “don’t follow your heart, be smart.” And it was hard. I wanted so badly to be in Kentucky today. I had already had a heartbreaking goodbye withAriel andRacecar, the worst was over, I was packed and ready to go. (did I say heartbreaking goodbye????? it broke in 2) But I came back home.

Sarah, Mike and the birthday boy Ethan are all at home. He’s doing much better. Sarah is reporting “Ethan-like” behavior once again! The nurses brought Ethan a smash cake for his birthday. How great is that?! . Mike did end up with a fever of 101.4, hopefully he won’t get the stomach flu that poor little Ethan had.

This morning at the hospital.

Ethan at home!!

One year ago RIGHT NOW, I was experiencing some of the most amazing and memorable moments of my life. I was about to see my nephew enter the world. My sister Sarah asked my Mom and I to be in the labor room when she delivered her baby. Of course we were honored and of course, we said yes!
He was born on March 10th, 2005 at 1:51am. A beautiful baby boy, Ethan James has brought so much joy to our family and to his very attentive and loving parents. He even has a baby sister on her way in July!
This weekend Brian and I were planning a trip to Louisville with the kids to celebrate Ethan’s birthday. We were going to leave tomorrow and return on Sunday. As a family of four, we have never gone away for a weekend, so I think we were all very much looking forward to this adventure and singing Happy Birthday to this Birthday Boy! EspeciallyAriel!
Life has taken a turn that we did not expect. Ethan has been sick this whole week with the stomach flu and today was admitted to the hospital. He will be in the same hospital he was at one year ago on his birthday. poor boy. poor Mom and poor Dad. My heart breaks for them, you know how excited you get for your child’s birthday, but I know by this time next week, everything will return to normal as we get ready to celebrate with this healthy one year old!

Tomorrow I am driving to Louisville to try to help out. They are hoping Ethan will be released tomorrow, but nothing has been decided yet. He was very dehydrated, he seems to be on the mend, drinking lots of pedialyte, he’s also on IV fluids.

Say a little prayer! I’ve attached some pictures!

So cute at Christmas!

A picture taken last weekend!

Sarah when she was dilated 9 centimeters!

We’ve got Baby!!

Notice my last three blogs have titles that are questions. interesting.

I am really sore. Doing yoga in a class is completely different than doing yoga at home. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE my AM yoga video, I think it has made me 1000 times more flexible than I had ever thought I could be, but man, yoga classes actually make it difficult for me to walk. My abs were given a great workout. Which is good, but oh, so painful! I am proud to say that even though I am still sore, I still walked for 44 minutes on the treadmill–2.5 miles.

Anyway, back to my question.

What are the chances?

This morning, I was in the childcare room dropping off the kids at the gym when I ran into an old friend from grade school. Grade school. I grew up with her, she lived in my neighborhood, her name is Tasha. We talked. She actually works in the childcare room. Shortly there after, while walking on the treadmill, I saw my 5th grade teacher, Mr. Sennett working out at the gym. Tasha and I BOTH had Mr. Sennett in fifth grade. I was the “president” of his class and she was the “vice president.” All of this happened within 30 minutes of eachother. In a town 25 minutes away from where I grew up. Isn’t that strange? What are the chances?

Can I tell you how much I LOVE my gym?? I love it. I took another yoga class today, I only take it once a week because that is the only time they have yoga for beginners. In 2 weeks, they are ending the beginners class, so my yoga classes will become even more challenging, which is SO hard to believe.
After my yoga class I walked to a trainer that I have an appointment with on Thursday, which was by the child care room. Of course I looked into the child care room and noticeAriel wearing a homemade green shamrock hat. She made it at the gym, I love the crafts they do while I work out, it’s working out so well! Well, let’s just say it’s hardly been off of her head ever since. She wore it during lunch. Directly after her nap. During dinner. Brian took the kids to the grocery store because I had a conference call, you guessed it, she wore it the entire time they were gone, even at the store! She’s so funny. Here are some pictures!

Racecar tried it on!

Anna watchingRacecar is dismay that he is wearing her hat! It did not stay on his head for long!

All day.

And a cute picture.

I want to share something that happened to my brother, Dan, recently. He lives in the outskirts of New Orleans with his wife and two sons. (and they are expecting their 3rd child in August.) In 2005 and 2006, Dan and Teresa were invited to attend The Bacchus Ball. It’s an honor to be invited. Well, this year, Dan lost his Blackberry at the ball. The day after the ball he tried to call the blackberry to try to locate it and nobody answered it. He just assumed it was swept up with the trash. Nope. Someone found it. And the person that found it called Dan‘s boss–a full bird Colonel in the military, his boss said he wasn’t going to deal with this and he passed the call to his secretary. They finally figured out whose blackberry it was, so a driver from the Corp, located the person who found the blackberry. Who found the blackberry? A band member from Better than Ezra. How cool is that? They performed at The Bacchus Ball. They found the blackberry, checked to see who the last call was made to, called that person and then made arrangements for it to be picked up. so cool. so nice.

Know what else is cool? In 2005, Sean Astin was the Monarch (leader?) of the parade at the Bacchus Ball. He saw Dan down in the crowd and pulled him up onto his lead float. They went around in the parade route multiple times. They figured out that Dan grew up about 30 minutes away from Sean’s wife’s hometown. They talked for a long time. This year, Sean was at the ball again and immediately recognized Dan again telling him how often he’s thought of Dan throughout the past year. so cool. so nice.

I think it’s really cool though, that Sean Astin had the honor to meet my brother, Dan.

Here’s some pictures from the 2005 Ball.