November 2012.

I’m so behind with monthly family updates, it’s not even funny. They take awhile to write, and they probably aren't all that interesting for other people to read, but it’s something that I really, truly enjoy looking back at (and it helps me fill in the blanks for the boys’ memory books).  So, here we go with November …

We started out the month with a photo shoot.  I know I've mentioned my friend Lisa before.   She takes beautiful pictures and I couldn't wait to squeeze in a shoot after the boys’ birthdays and before the holidays.  Every time we have a family photo shoot I walk away thinking that we’ll have 4 good shots because Brennan won’t look at the camera for more than a nanosecond and Kiernan won’t.stop.moving.  But of course Lisa pulled it off and our photos are GORGEOUS.  There are an abundance of cute pictures of Mr Beckett because he was hamming it up all over the place.  And she took some very sweet ones of Brian & I.  I love taking a few of just us because it’s where this whole circus began (and I hate my wedding photos, so it’s nice to have a few cute pictures of us together).

Later that week Kiernan and I headed off to Michigan for his Big Adventure.   It was a quick trip because we had to be back to Florida for my race on Saturday.  My Mom flew back with Kiernan and I which was a huge help since both Kiernan and I had nasty colds.  While in Orlando, we headed over to Disney to pick up my race packet.  The next day I rested up until it was time to head to Orlando for the race.  It was slow and painful, but I did it. 

Mom stayed for a few days.  It was so nice to have some help with the boys while Brian and I weren’t feeling well.  Later that week, our friends Lorryn & Jeremy came to visit.  They were on vacation in Orlando and stopped by for dinner one night after a visit to Kennedy Space Center.  Their daughter, Miss L, is a month older than the brothers.  It was so much fun to see all of the kids play together.  They came back to stay with us on Saturday.

Unfortunately, they arrived to chaos.  Kiernan sliced his finger open while Brian was fixing the dishwasher.  Brennan and I were at the grocery store and I got a text that said “Kiernan is bleeding a lot.  Cut his finger.  Come home now.”  Needless to say, we flew outta there.  It was still bleeding a lot when I got home, but it looked fairly deep.  Urgent care wasn't comfortable stitching a baby, so we headed to the ER, who declared that it was in a place that they didn't want to stitch.  They slapped some steri strips on it and we headed off to dinner with the L family.  After dinner, when we had all of the babies tucked into bed, the 4 of us sat around our fire pit and enjoyed some cocktails and great conversation.  It made me miss the good old days. 

Thanksgiving was the following week.  We invited everyone in Brian’s company and had a handful of people accept the invitation.  It was a nice, intimate, laid back evening.  Great food and great company.  The next day, on a whim, we decided to headto Downtown Disney.  It was busy, of course, because of the holiday and because it’s free, but we didn't mind because we weren't on a schedule.  We just wandered around and saw what we wanted to see – browsed some shops, let Brennan play in the splash pad, and grabbed lunch at the Dinosaur Cafe.  Tons of fun. 

Saturday morning we headed to the Cocoa Beach Art Festival.  Wandering around Cocoa Beach with friends, sipping beers and looking at all kinds of art … all in shorts and T-shirts in late November.  It was pretty perfect.  What wasn’t perfect was Michigan’s loss to Ohio State.

Know what else wasn’t perfect?  Sunday morning, Kiernan woke up covered in puke.  Other than the horrific smell, he seemed happy as a clam.  He didn’t have a fever and ate breakfast like a champ, so we just assumed that he coughed and threw up or ate too much for dinner or something weird.  Since he seemed fine we just went about our day. 

The next day, the boys and I headed to the zoo for a playdate with some friends.  I started feeling a little nauseous, but chalked it up to lots of coffee and no breakfast. 

After lunch time, I really felt terrible.  I put the brothers to bed and laid on the couch with Brennan until I really felt like it was coming up.  I ran to the bathroom with Brennan on my heels, and lost my lunch while Brennan stood over me yelling, “Mommy, you PUKED!  Excuse you!!”  Puking with an audience = no bueno.

I called Brian and begged him to come home from work and spent the next 18 hours locked in my bedroom  and wearing a path between the bed and the bathroom.  The next morning I awoke to find that Brian had been up sick during the night.  What do you do when both parents are sick?  You all snuggle into bed together.  I told Brian when we bought our King size mattress that it'd eventually pay off.

A few hours later, poor Brennan lost his breakfast all over his Daddy and on our bed, where they’d been snuggling.  Poor guy was pretty miserable for the next few days.  He definitely got hit the hardest of all of us.

 

At this point it was a matter of when, not if, Beckett would get hit with the bug.  Sure enough, the next morning I found him covered in puke chunks in his bed.  But like his partner in crime he seemed no worse for wear.  The rest of us took that day to recover as well.  Not a great way to end the month!