This is the day the Lord hath made!

Oh my what a day! I started out this morning excited for my Tuesday. It was my first official day off, starting my new work schedule of four 9-2 days and one day OFF in a week. I am really looking forward to this errand running, meeting friends for lunch, having fun kind of day without having to worry about getting back home for work.
So, I was looking forward to my first day as I had TJ Maxx, Target, and Whole Foods on my to-do list -- stores that get me really excited! :)

We headed out at 9 this morning, kids all dressed cute, a promised Chick-fil-a lunch ahead and my list by my side.

That is when it all began...

Doster threw up the FIRST time in the Safe Deposit box room at the bank. SECOND time was on a curb in the parking lot, and the THIRD time in the Target buggy. Now, you are probably wondering why I kept going...keep in mind, this is my child who gets car sick and throws up reguarly. By episode number THREE, I realized that we weren't dealing with car sickness anymore.

So we went home, plans change, this is okay I tell myself and hey, can't be all bad if we all get to go back home and get back in our pajamas. :) Doster threw up a few more times but, at this point, it was all dry heaves and he was miserable. He would lock eyes with me while heaving and I was watching the little blood vessles in his eyes burst with the effort. I have to tell you, this will emotionally wear out a Mommy. I got him to naptime with much whining and crying in between and he was thankful to get to sleep.

I rewrote my to-do list and decided I'd head out and get things done after Jason got home. So I did laundry, dishes, and floors until the kids got up. I then got them settled in watching Veggie Tales and Doster came in to me in the kitchen saying his "mouth hurts way back there" as he is putting his finger down his throat. I told him to lean back and let me see and he, so sweetly, stuck out his tongue and said ahhh. Then he put his tongue back in and said "That didn't fix it Mommy". :) Such a cutie.

Anyway, this was my clue that we might be dealing with Strep as Doster presents Strep each time with vomitting and then his throat starts hurting. Now, read carefully, this is when the day REALLY starts getting out of control for Elizabeth. I called, got an appointment, got the kids in the van and headed to the doctor in an attempt to get the antibiotics to start working so that I could stop the vomitting and he could keep fluids down. (at this point, he hadn't gone to the bathroom yet in this day)

We get to the doctor and get settled on the bench in the hallway (a really good idea if you want to steer clear of the many sick kids in the waiting room) and Doster snuggled on me, with his legs wrapped around my waist for the next 45 minutes while we waited to be called back. This is the part of sick-kids that I love...all the snuggle time. Those wonderful 45 minutes ended with Doster throwing up enormous amounts (the water I had tried to get in him at home) all over Mommy's shirt (since he was snuggled in facing me), covering one entire arm of Mommy, all over the floor and bench. I held the little bowl I'd brought and he just kept heaving. The only solution I had was to send Caroline in to the nurse's station to ask for paper towels...AND SHE DID! I was so proud of her for being so brave and, from what she told me, extremely poilite in telling the nurse that her little brother was throwing up and she needed some paper towels please. Of course, this is right when they call our name to go back. So, I cleaned everything up the best I could and draped Doster on me again and headed back to the room. They put a little gown on Doster since I was holding a trash bag wtih his blankie, jammies, and flip flops. Now, there was no gown for Mommy so I am still covered in vomit. :)

They tested him for Strep and it was negative but they still wanted him to start the medicine since Doster is prone to Strep and these are his typical symptoms. The test might have been too early so they are sending it off for culture. If he keeps going with tummy stuff I am supposed to stop the antibiotic assuming it is the stomach bug.

Okay, here is when my BAD DECISION comes into play. Jason had met us at the doctor's office after school and so he was going to take the kids home and, although I wasn't going to get all my errands done, I needed a few things from the grocery store. So I had them call in the prescription to the Walmart in Cartersville.
BAD DECISION!!!!!!

I got there, after 1 1/2 hours at the doctor and proceeded to wait until SEVEN O'CLOCK tonight. I will be careful in my description of the Cartersville Walmart, but I have to say...it is a creepy place and everytime I am there I do question the mental stability of many of the people within. I stood in line to return hair clippers, while the prescription is being filled, and listened for TWENTY FIVE minutes to two women behind me talking through the pros and cons of getting pregnant and the right timing in order to keep their man since he breaks up each time they are late.

This was a really long wait for Elizabeth.

Then the woman behind the counter wanted to know why I was returning the hair clippers..."are they broke?" "Yes m'am, they are. The first time I used them they cut the top of my son's ear." "They're supposed to cut his HAAARE." "No, his EAR." "Well, you gotta use 'em right."

I won't tell you my thought process at this point.

Next - I go to the pharmacy and they proceed to ask Doster's name SIX times in an attempt to find the medicine. Spelling first and last name didn't do it the first five times and finally on the sixth she caught on. She comes back to me and said they haven't checked voice mail yet. I said "can we go ahead and check voice mail?" in a very controlled voice. She goes to check and they tell her it will be one and a half to two hours. I lose it at this point and tell the woman, with tears in my eyes, that I live 35 minutes away and it needs to get done sooner.

All this time I am thinking about Doster who hasn't kept any fluids down and needs the anti-nausea medicine so I can get fluids in him as soon as I can. She proceeds to tell me a half hour wait. So I head out to get a few groceries.

This is when the sirens go off and they put everyone in the center of the store for the TORNADO WARNING. While we are in the center of the store for the tornado warning they have an actual concert going on in one section using a microphone and speakers and band - the whole deal. I can't even THINK because it is so loud in the store. Have any of you been in Walmart before and heard a country concert in process?

Oh, and remember the front of my shirt is still completely covered and damp from vomitt and my arm is sticky and crusty. :)

I am very hungry and I get the light headed dizzy thing when my blood sugar gets low so I am really woozy to boot.

At this point I am crying with Jason on the phone.

I just want to be home with Doster, snuggling him and taking care of him and giving him the medicine and OUT OF THIS STINKING STORE.

Finally, about 50 minutes later I am heading out of the store in the POURING rain to the truck, as Jason took the van home with the kids after the appointment.

As I'm going up to a stop light I realize I need to move the seat because I can barely touch the pedals from Jason's driving. The CLUTZ that I am, I punch the breaks too hard while pulling the lever and the seat rams forward, ramming my head in to the steering wheel and all the groceries fall to the floor board. I sit up and say out loud
"You have GOT to be kidding me!".

I eventually make it home.

I'm home now, showered and free of vomit, I've snuggled Doster who pulled me in for such a fierce, tight hug that warmed my heart and I've finally eaten.

Now, you might be thinking that you are amazed you just read this LONG post about my day...but I posted it for a reason. Lately, I have been reading a few blogs of some moms out there and I find that, as I read about their struggles and joys, wow-they are just like me! Their experiences help encourage me and give me such a great perspective for things that happen in our lives.

Not once today did I sing the song in my head "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord hath made, that the Lord hath made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it." But, tonight as I am clean and at home again, I truly can look back at the day and think through the day the Lord did make - just for me.

I remember seeing, and being so proud, of Caroline doing something that is a struggle for her.
I remember the arms that were wrapped around me much of the day in need of Mommy making her little boy feel better.
I remember the satisfaction of completing the laundry and stacking it in the baskets to deliver to rooms.
I remember Jason's sweet words encouraging me to make it through my hellish saga in Walmart.
I remember my friend, Sarah, watching out for me sending me texts to let me know the weather.

These are the things that the Lord sprinkled this horrible day with to remind me that, yes - This is the day that He made...JUST FOR ME.