Thanksgiving

I don't know why I usually end up writing about the seemingly adverse aspects of my life, but for the record, I am very happy and thankful for all I have. I know I have a great life and that I am very lucky. I guess I write about all the mishaps because that's the stuff I need to get out of my system - the good stuff I just want to hold onto.

For Zach and I the holiday season is one big marathon session of flitting around to different family members' houses for different gatherings. It is really tiring, and especially hard on Jacob. Each year we say we're going to stop doing it and tell people if they want to see us, they have to come to us. But this is conditional on our addition being done. And it hasn't been done yet. This year it is at least started.



Thanksgiving always starts at Zach's dad's house where his step-mother prepares a phenomenal dinner, with little German touches that make it pleasantly unique. They have cats, which Zach is allergic to, as well as horses, which Zach is throat-closing-up allergic to. We've been really nervous with Jacob around the horses, but just this year we've let him touch them because he's old enough now to at least tell us if he's having trouble breathing. Just before we left we fed the horses and then I took Jacob inside the house to wash his hands. But in the car coming back up here Jacob's eyes were running, he looked out of it and it seemed like he was having trouble breathing. I think it was just the cat dander but we stopped for some emergency Benadryl and his symptoms immediately improved. This meant that by 6:30 he was knocked out for the night. We stayed at my aunt's for quite a while after that playing Taboo and hanging out.

Back at home Zach and I decided to squeeze in some Gilmore Girls before we went to bed. All I wanted to do was sit around anyway because I wasn't feeling so hot myself. I've never had a lot of allergies but after 2 days and 3 houses with cats I thought maybe I did have an allergy to cat hair afterall. Not til I woke up much worse in the middle of the night did I realize it was just me coming down with a wicked bad head cold. At 1:30 with Zach asleep on the couch and me kind of zonked out on Benadryl too, Jacob came down the stairs (after having slept for 7 hours - a full night's sleep for me) all freaking happy. He thought it was hilarious that Zach and I were passed out on the couch. Jacob walked around for a couple minutes, reporting to me that he was 'just checking things out'. So I showed him my hat. He got all sad, "You know what? Da stores don't has dose anymore." Even if I could replace the hat it wouldn't be the same. Also, "Mommy, later, when da sun is out and it's wake-up time, can we go to da store to get apple duce?" And, having not one bite of Thanksgiving dinner at either location earlier, Jacob was now ready. "Mommy, ten (can) I have dinner?" I think I remember heating up potatoes and squash for him and kind of supervising for an hour, then I turned him over to Zach who took over for the next hour before Jacob finally went back to sleep.