Teething and Turkey

It was a dark and stormy night. . .

Isn't that how most horror stories start? Or, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . ."

In any event, our Thanksgiving holiday started off rocky. . .or poopy. . .or vomity. . .or all of those.

Jacob has been doing some serious teething. He is on tooth 10, which is a molar on the upper left side of his jaw. Not fun. And with it came a lovely bout of diarrehea. And this was the leak-through-my-clothes-run-down-my-leg kind - which is never fun. So, with 3 days of diarrhea behind us and unsure of what was to come, we headed to Plano for our annual family Thanksgiving. The build up was huge. Samuel was talking about seeing "Big Scott" for weeks and was still confused as to why cousin Austen was not going to be there. He could not wait to see Jack and Emma, and staying at Grammy and Pop Pop's house is always a treat. So Samuel was ready to go! The only downside. . .Daddy had to work, so we were going on our own.

We were about 40 minutes into our 3 1/2 hour drive and had figured out quickly that every other family had the same idea to "beat the holiday traffic" and leave on Tuesday evening. The highway was packed and there were red tailights ahead as far as the eye could see. We trudged along. Samuel was well into Hercules on the DVD player. I was tapping my fingers to the beat on the CD player. Jacob was. . .well, who knows. He is a baby, it was dark, he was sitting.

Suddenly, this horrible wretching sound came from the back seat. One horrible wretch. Two horrible wretches. Splash. I turned over my shoulder to see Jacob covered in vomit. Not just any vomit. Solid milk. Milk that had been in his tummy for some time, so it was the really gross kind. We are on the interstate with a steady stream of traffic in the pitch black of night. I tried to pull over at the next exit. It was even darker than the highway with fields and trees and nothing else but a small two lane road. The theme from "Deliverance" played on in my head as I thought better of it and turned back onto the highway. Luckily, I found a spot with a very deep shoulder, pulled way off on the side of the road, and happened to be several hundred feet from the "Smokey" clocking all the Thanksgiving travelers trying to make good time to their destinations.

For approximately 40 minutes, I stood on the side of the highway, in the wind, with a baby covered in vomit and, yes, diarrhea, all of which ended up on the car seat. Thankfully, another set of jammies was packed at the top of the suitcase (THANK YOU MEGHAN!!!), so in the front seat, I got him completely changed and ready to continue on our journey. Traffic was intense as many continued on their journeys to friends and family for the holidays, so as quickly as I could, I cleaned my youngest tyke as the traffic raced by and the wind seemed to send every bit of dirt and sand imaginable blowing into the car. I mopped up the now creamy and curdled milk, and thought of another thing to add to Blythe's list of nasty things. The smell was horrendous, and as I tucked diapers under his tush to keep his jammies from getting wet and nasty from the car seat, I packed a blanket over his tummy to keep the wet seat belts from touching his chest. I looked at his sweet, confused face and prayed that this was a one time occurence. Thankfully, Samuel was immersed in a movie, and could care less that his baby brother was naked on the side of the highway and the car was now permeated by the horrid smell of his vomit. Hmmm - sometimes we are thankful for the age of four. . .!!

Onward we continued in a car that was rank with poop and vomit (wait, did I tell you guys the car was stinky? It was. . . ). Constantly I thought of how easy it would be turn back and climb into my own comfy bed, but just couldn't bear the thought of missing our annual family gathering. Cousins Jeff and Amber would be there this year, and it is ALWAYS a treat to see my mom and dad. I made the calls that we would now be late, and we continued on.

The rest of our journey was peaceful, but my night owl, Samuel, would not drop off to sleep. He hung in there, with the anticipation of seeing Grammy and Pop Pop and we rolled in around 11 PM. I looked in my rearview mirror to see him taking in the Dallas skyline and remembered my own youthful anticipation when I went to my grandparents every year for Thanksgiving. How could I be mad that he just couldn't close his eyes??

And so, began our Thanksgiving holiday.

The rest is where we find the "best of times" part. Samuel and Pop Pop greeted the next morning by making homemade French toast for all of us.

We of course dove head first into the holiday, as always, but mine started this year at the car wash. The car came out shiny and clean, a new car seat was purchased, and we were ready for any adventures the Bender Thanksgiving Festivities would bring!

We have a tradition of photographing John and Liz (my bro and sis-in-law) and the turkey of the year. Liz is an amazing chef - and I say chef because there is nothing ever ordinary or mundane about the meals she makes us! There is always a special something in every dish, whether it is just the right mix of garlic in the mashed potatoes or a new recipe for pumpkin soup, she never lets us down! The meal this year was no different. From green beans to homemade dressing, we left the table stuffed, but wishing we could eat more. Things I am thankful for? John and Liz opening their loving home and table to us year after year to share in this wonderful holiday. It is always heart warming when the meal is ready to be served to see John and Liz, side by side in the kitchen. John is usually slicing turkey and making gravy as Liz puts the finishing touches on everything else. . .ah, the Bender family Thanksgiving. So what did Kevin do? Fending for himself, all alone in Montgomery. . .he enjoyed TWO Thanksgiving dinners! BNSF brought dinner in for those that had to work...nice, but he didn't get to eat much because he was actually very busy. But, our friends from the 'hood (as we lovingly call it) got in touch with him and we found out they were headed South for Thanksgiving with family. Kevin got to join Dunnie and Leslie at Dunnie's parents for a wonderful feast and some time catching up with friends. What a relief and what a great time for Kevin. The Normans have been some of our closest friends for the past 5 years and we hope that our friendship continues despite the miles between us.

I had to start this blog with the Fabulous Foursome! Jack and Samuel are the Terrible Twosome, so all four together can't be anything but fabulous! That was on Thanksgiving before they tore into every toy and every imaginable bit of mischief they could find. The funny part is that Jacob and Emma love each other to pieces! They laugh at each other and play with each other and Jacob delights in every bit of attention Emma will give him. It will be so much fun to watch them grow up! Emma is hilarious, because she is starting to tire a little of the silliness that Jack and Samuel bring, but she certainly can keep those boys in line. Samuel is big fans of both of them and loves to say that they are both his best friends.

A big part of our holiday was missing! Cousins Chris and Miranda stayed on the East Coast. They had quite the adventure of their own! But we really missed them! I have to dig up the picture from last year and maybe add it later, but Chris and Miranda had cousin Ian on September 22, and Jeff and Amber had Jason on October 9 (I think those dates are right). Jacob was born on September 2, so last year, the new trio of troublemakers made their debut and stole every bit of attention from all family members -and deservedly so. They were the cutest little lumps of baby you ever laid your eyes on. So this year, our trio was missing one, so Jason and Jacob had to fend for themselves.

This picture was taken after dinner, and Jacob had eaten in his undershirt, which was stained with sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and everything else you can imagine. Jason is on the left, and yes, Jacob outweighs him by a lot. I mean, a lot. Our boy is huge, and apparently Ian is too! I can't wait to get the three of them back together. Maybe next year!

On Friday, the family tradition is shopping or other activities, then a movie, then dinner. The ladies skipped the shopping, and we had a great time at Plano's little nature reserve. The kids loved it and got to blow off a lot of steam from being couped up most of the day on Thanksgiving. We enjoyed it too and it certainly was a good idea to try and walk off some of what we ate. . .

From left to right, the cuties are Jason, Ashley (my cousin Jeff's kiddos), Emma, Jack (my niece and nephew), Samuel and Jacon (held onto by my Aunt Drea).

So, this post is so long, I better stop. I heard from some of you that you wanted to hear every bit and I am sorry for the delay! For those that have asked, yes, I am better. Thank you! I just returned from three very cold days at our corporate offices in MN and got to see my first snow of the season. We are all battling stuffy noses and sore throats, but the kids are all well and only I got sick! Thank goodness!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We are looking forward to Christmas and I will do a post soon with our Christmas trees and the awesome decorations that Kevin did - he gets ALL the credit. Something else I am thankful for? My amazing husband. They just don't get any better than him.