This is the beautiful view* from our house in the Smoky Mountains on our recent vacation. You never quite know what you are renting when you do it all online but we were happy with the house, especially because it had lots of room and we were able to sleep on a separate floor (with the baby) from the rest of our family.
This turned out to be tragically good as the baby got his first (and hopefully last) ear infection while on vacation. He was up screaming all night the first night there (Chris and I took turns holding him upright which allowed him to sleep in some comfort. Note that I said allowed him to sleep, not us.). We spent most of the next day in the Emergency Room at the hospital where the ER doctor did not agree with my diagnosis of ear infection but instead decided he was having breathing trouble. Now, he was very congested with a really stuffy nose, and this did make it harder for him to breath, but he was not having breathing trouble. His pulse oxygen was 98% which is great. He wasn't wheezing or having any other audible breathing problems. Nevertheless we with left with equipment and drugs for a breathing problem. Thank goodness we did not agree to give him the 5 day course of oral steroids the doctor wanted! Yikes. I'm still mad at myself for not being more assertive with the doctor in general though. Our older son had/has asthma/RAD and I have lots and lots of experience of real breathing troubles in a baby/child. In fact, he was younger than the baby when he had his first episode of wheezing and I can remember it clearly. Just to say that I knew it wasn't breathing that was bothering our baby.
That night was okay, but not normal. The next night was a repeat of night one. It was no longer the weekend so we went to a pediatrician's office in a nearby small town and waited. And waited. And waited. And waited. And waited some more. I walked up and down the hallway with him in a sling for what seemed like an eternity (the waiting room was full of sick babies and kids and the last thing I wanted was to add to our illness troubles). I am a little bit proud of myself though because 1-I held him for 3 or 4 hours (I can't remember anymore how long I actually was there) and 2-I managed to nurse him in the sling, while standing up! Finally when there was not one more person left waiting we were seen by the pediatrician who took one look and said "Ouch. Ear infection." Yeah, I know. We got a prescription and were finally free. And within 24 hours he was feeling so much better. Not quite back to normal because the antibiotic gave him diarrhea, even with the acidopholus we gave him, poor little guy, but still much improved and able to enjoy the adoring and holding our in-laws were happy to provide:
Chris and I really look forward to the family vacations because 1-hey, vacation, 2-we love our family, and 3-we usually get a caring break from the kids too. We don't mind taking care of our kids, we love them and enjoy them, but we never have hired a babysitter and now that we don't live near family we don't really get a true break from parenting (kids asleep upstairs is sort of a break, but it's not like going out to dinner just the two of us). That didn't really happen this time. The baby was only 3 months old, and then sick, so I didn't feel much like leaving him and he didn't feel much like having me leave him, and we were kind of isolated in the mountains so to go anywhere required a bit of a drive. We ended up not doing anything on our own during this vacation and that was too bad.
Also, I think every person except my older son was sick during the vacation. That put a bit of a damper on things as well. So, I don't know, is it still officially a vacation when everyone gets sick, you spend a lot of time in doctor's offices, and you return home possibly a little more tired than when you left? Not sure, but I do know that despite everything it was still a wonderful week and it was wonderful to spend the time with our family. I especially enjoyed finding an old Battleship game and challenging anyone and everyone to numerous "salvo rules" games. As a kid I used to try and play Battleship against myself, i.e., alone. Yeah, that didn't work very well.
Here are some of the highlights:
On a hike through Smoky Mountain National Park (more on this in a later post):
Chris getting a chance to do some relaxing:
The kiddo doing some drawing out on the deck:
He chose to give that drawing, "Cardinal," to his Aunt Ellie and I will admit that I was very jealous because I wanted it for myself. I made her promise to save it forever. Here's another drawing he did, this time of his Aunt Ellie. I think this may be the first person he's ever drawn. Unfortunately it was at a restaurant on the paper tablecloth so we weren't able to bring it home. I think it looks just like her!
What do you think? This is her, me, and my older son roasting marshmallows for s'mores:
Oh, we had a family debate over the proper way and amount of roasting a marshmallow takes to be maximally delicious. I am exhibiting the proper form here in this picture. Here is a close-up:
Oh yeah! Burned to a crisp and full of melty marshmallowy goo inside. Yum.
There were several bird feeders on the deck at the house and got to see so many birds every day, including a pair of beautiful, awesome hummingbirds.
You like that beautiful shot of the hummingbird? I know. I'm taking so many pictures these days and I am butting up against the limitations of my (wonderful) point and shoot camera. I am ready to own a digital SLR, but am I ready to shell out the $$ to buy one? I used to do a lot of photography in high school, with real cameras, and I loved it. I have to think about this because (off topic!) there are several expensive things I would like to have and I'll have to make some choices and/or wait awhile for some of them.
The house had a hot tub which was a nice touch. It was warm though--swimming (that's what my son considered it) in a hot tub in 85 degree heat is interesting and warm. Not bad though, we did it several days.
All in all I say, yes, it was a vacation, maybe not the best ever, but pretty nice overall.
* My camera has developed a gray blur, here is the close-up of the cloud that is not a cloud. Also, this blur is in all my pictures, it just doesn't show up well against other scenes (thank goodness).
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