The Journey Continues

I wanted to hit the road by 8:00 am on Wednesday. It was around 8:30 when we were finally ready to leave. Clara woke up cranky, but I thought she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed. There was no way she was going to take the Claritin. By the time we got to Carlsbad, I realized she wasn't feeling well. Nothing I did made her happy. She didn't want to eat snacks, watch movies, play, read or listen to music.


She wasn't too bad for the first half of the trip. We even got out at Roswell, which is half way, and played for a bit on a playground. Soon after we got in the car she was inconsolable. She just couldn't get to sleep. I started singing her lullaby and immediately she was out. Unfortunately, she only stayed asleep for about 15 minutes before waking up crying again.


I pulled over in one small town and just sat in the backseat and held her for awhile. That's all she needed was to be held. I talked to her a bit and asked if she wanted to watch Cinderella, which she did and she climbed back into her seat by herself. She did ok for a little while and then started again. I felt so bad for her.

By the time we were approaching Albuquerque, I was about ready for the looney bin. She put her blanket over her head for about a half hour and cried and finally fell asleep again right as we got to Albuquerque.

We got to the house around 3:00. Needless to say, she wasn't too happy to see Grandma and Grandpa. Not the reception they were hoping for from their one and only grandchild. She slept in my lap for a while and that evening, we made an appointment at an after hours pediatric clinic.

She had lots of wax again that had to be pulled out, something she was NOT fond of. I had to hold her down while she screamed. I should've had Grandma wait in the car. Turns out she had an ear infection. She probably was getting worse as the day went on because we were getting up higher and higher in altitude.

If I had been able to give her the Claritin on Tuesday and Wednesday, she may have been spared the infection. I think the Claritin and humidifier did keep her from getting sick because all the other little ones were running around dripping like faucets. The doctor said that she may have gotten it from fluid getting behind her ears during her vomiting episodes. And after all I did to try to evade the dreaded ear infection. Oh well. She was prescribed the pink stuff and ear drops.

After some Motrin and her first dose of meds that night, she woke up feeling 100% the next morning. The first few days of trying to get medicine in her were not fun. We finally convinced her to drink her medicine for a piece of chocolate and we had her put drops in her baby's ears first. She would then say, "Clara's turn!" and jump up on the bed. Worked like a charm.

Thursday, we took it easy most of the day. We did go feed the ducks and went to Schlotzky's for some lunch just to get out of the house. That night, Uncle Tim came by for hamburgers on the grill and to see Clara. After waking up from our nap that day, my sinuses were starting to hurt, so Linda went with me to go pick up a humidifier. I got a cute frog one. I thought it would go perfect in Clara's big girl room I've been planning for her. It's fairytale themed, so she needed a frog prince humidifier. We left Clara at home with the boys who watched The Bee Movie with her.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. Clara kept saying "I watch eback" and neither I, nor Dan and Linda could figure that one out. While reading her new counting book Grandma made for her, she called a bee "eback". I finally figured out she was calling it a ladybug, or "eback". Duh, Mommy. So, she had been asking to watch The Bee Movie all along.

On Friday, we went to see Horton Hears a Who. It was cute, but did drag during parts. Clara made it though the whole movie. During her time at Grandma and Grandpa's, she spent her down time blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk and playing with play doh. All kinds of fun things. That night, we had dinner at The Olive Garden. After dinner is when I passed my test :)

Saturday morning, I caught sight of a hot air balloon out their back window, so we took Clara outside to see it. There are lots of balloooners (is that what you call them?) in Albuquerque, so there are always balloons flying behind their house. This one looked like it was headed right over us and then veered away. We then went to breakfast, which is where I told them about the baby. Linda and I went to the mall and a couple other places looking for a big sister shirt but had no luck. (Good thing, 'cause little did I know I would need to start pinching pennies.) Grandma did find a cute new dress for Clara though.

Sunday came and Clara wore her new dress to church. We saw lots of hot air balloons on the way to church, which Clara loved. She got to be in Grandma's bible school class and didn't make it through church services. Not by a long shot. Even with Grandma and Grandma's friends, Keith and Sherry, there to help entertain her.

She kept lifting up her dress to everyone at church showing them Mickey and Minnie on her diaper. Very ladylike behavior. We went to Chili's with Keith and Sherry after church. I know it was torture for Dan and Linda to not be able to tell their good news but they were good and didn't tell.