Good morning and happy Tuesday!  We had a great weekend that included some wonderfully chilly mornings- hooray!  Fall is on its way!  Is it bad that I am already looking for Coffeemate seasonal creamers whenever I at at a grocery store?

Lula is on the move and boy has that made things a lot busier.  I am actually really glad because she is so much happier now that she can get where she wants to go but it means a lot less time on the computer, which in the grand scheme of things is probably good for me.

This post is the last in a series about our recent vacation.  Here are parts I and II.  Hopefully the first two weren’t too boring.  Hopefully this part isn’t either.

We left off just finishing up a run at my parent’s home.  After a fight, Lula finally took a much-needed nap and once she got up, we had a nice brunch and a surprise early birthday party for her, since my family won’t be around when she actually turns one.She got a ton of lovely gifts including a pair of jeggings!  I am so excited for her to wear them- they are size 18 months, so I’m going to have to be patient.

My mom and sister made her an adorable duck cake, which my step-father thought would look as a smoker.

Everyone ate cake, except for Lula, and then we all relaxed in the afternoon.  It was one of those cool, gray, dreary days where you don’t feel like doing anything.  I love those days.

Lula struggled with an afternoon nap and we gave up on that idea pretty quickly.

After a bath and some play time, she fell asleep nursing and was out cold.

We played a hilarious game of Scattergories before heading to bed.

Pa and I had an early departure ahead of us so we turned in pretty early.  Around 2 AM, I woke up to poor Lula crying away, so nursing was in order.  At 4:45 AM, more of the same.  This time, she would not go back to bed and after trying everything I could think of, I nursed her laying down and we both fell asleep like that.  It was a really special experience and I’m glad I have that trick up my sleeve for the next time we travel.

The drive home was full of clouds and once again, we stopped at a rest stop in far northern Missouri.  Surprisingly, this was one of my favorite parts of the trip.

There were a lot of trails to walk, complete with grasshoppers and native grasses.  Lula was able to explore a fair amount and I hope you are loving her clashing outfit colors and patterns as much as I am!  It was unexpectedly cool and we rolled with what was easily accessible.

We enjoyed a leisurely picnic before exploring a bit.

To top off our vacation, poor Lula got sick.  I’m grateful it didn’t happen until we got home.

She was so tired and crabby that we decided to get her to bed a little early after giving her some cereal that she wanted nothing to do with.

She conked out while I nursed her and about an hour later, she was crying in her crib.  I walked in and…she had thrown up and it was all over the place.  All she wanted to do was go back to sleep, but we had to clean her up first.

Pa dealt with her while I cleaned up the bedding.  It was so heart melting to watch him in action.  He gave her a sponge bath of sorts and then helped her out as she threw up some more.  We took her temperature even though she didn’t feel warm and it read 98.3.  After a few minutes of just holding her, I nursed her again, she fell asleep, and an hour later, it was like deja vu.  Throw up, crying, etc.

This time after we cleaned her up, we gave her a few minuscule sips of water to start her on the path to rehydration and Pa laid down with her on the couch until she fell asleep.  I skipped nursing her as we didn’t want to upset her stomach anymore than it already was.  We put her to bed and then went to bed ourselves.

I set an alarm for 11 and 2 so I could nurse her and make sure she was hydrated.  Her diaper was dry at 11 (which made sense after throwing up so much) so I nursed her until she fell asleep.  At 2 I got up and was relieved when I checked her diaper and it was so soaked I had to change it.  Phew!  I nursed her again until she was close to sleep and it was back to bed I went.

Although that was the end of the vomit, the following day she was super crabby and I made sure to nurse as much as I could (every two hours).  I didn’t give her any solid foods other than her cereal before bedtime that evening.  She ended up taking 4.5 hours of naps that day and conked out at bedtime so this little lady had a lot of recovering to do from her big trip.

Lula and her cousin Rocco

All in all, we had a great time on our vacation.  In the last few days of our adventure, Lula really had a tough time.  I think road trips and sleeping in new environments wear her out more than we realize.  I’m always grateful to get home and get her back into her own routine.  She is a trooper!

Have a great day!