A couple of weeks ago, Ava had the hardest day of her sweet little life so far.
It started with the worst diaper rash I've ever seen that literally appeared over night.
She was hysterical by this point in the early morning hours and would not let me put her down, so I didn't want to dress two kids, load them in the car, get to the store only to experience the worst meltdown in history. No Thanks! My mom to the rescue!
I asked mom to leave work (C was out of town) and make a store run to get the only thing the doctor recommends for diaper rash (lotrimin) that we happened to be out of.
She's cutting her back teeth so she tossed, turned and cried all night.
As I was tending to Audrey that morning, I put Ava in her pack-n-play for a little down time. She reacted with projectile vomit. Literally all over the pack-n-play, floor & herself.
I dragged her pack-in-play outside, turned on the hose, and got down and dirty scrubbing that thing with a brush and soap.
Taking off her diaper and letting her run around in her birthday suit calmed her instantly.
I just love her little toosh in this pic!
Audrey really is taking on the BIG sis role amazing!! She's such a great helper!
Shortly before the face plant... :(((
I didn't think it could get any worse. My anxiety was at an all-time high and I thought things were calming down and it was going to be a beautiful day to play outside.
About 10 minutes after mom left, Ava face plants on the wood floors and cuts her lip and bloodys her nose. She smears it all over her face and all over me. She cried and cried and cried....
The only thing I could do was hold her, and rock her while both of us were covered in blood. What a sight.
My heart broke for her. How could all of these events taken place and it wasn't even 10am yet? I called Conor thinking he would save the day or say something really profound, but what can he really do thousands of miles away? I really had to dig down deep and calm myself that morning.....
I escaped to the bathroom to take a hot bath and all I could hear was the sounds of both kids banging on the door, screaming for me. I submerged my ears in my bubble bath to flood out the sound. :)
I really did.
I guess you can't win em' all, right? As many awesome days that we have together, there has to be a few bad ones, right? Well our bad day had finally come and I couldn't wait for it to be over!!!! Cause when it's bad, it's really BAAADDD!!
Later that night, I ran across a parenting blog and had to share. These words were very appropriate for my day and what I was feeling at that very moment.....
"Parenting is supposed to be hard because it’s a process that challenges me to become my best self. Trying moments? Those are really opportunities to obtain the very best gifts life has to offer. I realize that for many, the best gifts life has to offer is a child accepted to Yale, a hot body or a house that’s the envy of the neighborhood. The gifts of parenting are much better because they actually make us happy: a Patience that brings calm and immense peace; an emerging ability to Problem Solve life's many conflicts effectively and respectfully; the nourishing power of Praise; the freedom that Planning brings; the powerful tool Play is to learn, connect and enjoy."
These days of diapers and tantrums and teething and projectile vomit seem like they’ll go on forever, but they won’t. Every day carries within it seeds even now growing into thousands of tiny endings- the last bath in the sink, the last time you wear an elmo shirt or a diaper, the last time we hold hands at the park, the last day of middle school, the last day before you discover facebook, the last day you’re unkissed and the last day we share the same address. It doesn’t seem like it, but the journey as I know it will end. However its my love, my patience, my problem-solving, our memories... they will always be with me.
