Thanksgiving, kitty, and lots of spit up!

I haven't written in a while so I thought I would quickly post something.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving this year.  We enjoyed ours although it never seems to be the same as when we were younger.  We always stayed home because we had a lot of family in town.  I just remember how nice it was to have everyone home, which happened every Saturday, but it was different.  It was nice to wake up on a cold Thanksgiving morning, Dad had a raging fire in the fireplace, Mom had the turkey in the oven and the house was clean.  Then after a while all our family would start showing up.  We would eat and eat and usually spend most of the evening playing Canasta.  We didn't play until we got older, but it was just fun talking and joking and seeing some older ones throw little "fits" when they lost!  I really miss that kind of Thanksgiving. Ours was still really nice this year.  We went to Abilene and had Thanksgiving dinner with Samantha's new side of the family.  Their tradition is playing football after dinner, so Daniel got to play.  I wanted to watch, but I had to feed Everet.  Then when I was done, Ema said, "Daddy's hurt!"  Daniel had dislocated his shoulder again so he was sitting there (not in pain)  I guess just that odd feeling of not being able to feel his arm.  Samantha's sister-in-law is a nurse and was trying to ease it back in, but it wasn't working.  So we thought we were going to have to go to the doctor, but then it slid back in by itself.  After a while, we went back to Samantha and Kerry's house and tried to play cards.  It doesn't work real well with 4 little kids running around and clamoring for attention.   It was still fun though.

This week is back to "normal" for us.  We had a kitten meowing outside our bedroom window all day yesterday.  We went and found it.  It's probably 2 months old or so and is all grey.  We let the kids put it in the back yard for now because they have really been wanting a pet.  Cats are less maintenance than dogs so maybe this will suffice.  Ema got up extra early this morning and was out there in 30-4o degree weather feeding the cat.  I heard it all last night and then I heard it in a different spot.  Ema was carrying it around the house.  I use the excuse that I am allergic to cats, which I am, as a way of keeping animals out of the house.  I can't stand to have animals in the house, especially after being in my parents' house.  They don't have cats, but the previous owner must have had a few that ruled the house.  Our house's previous owner had one too and I have found big fur balls in the vents.  Nice.  So anyway she had to take it back outside even though "he was so cold."  I know.  I'm heartless.  This morning I've had the treat of listening to Elena meow back and forth with the cat at the back door.  Sometimes Elena sounds more like a tiger cub. 

I had to take Everet to the doctor on Tuesday.  His congestion just seemed to be getting worse. Especially at night-he could hardly breathe so he and I were up for quite a while.  The doctor said his lungs and throat were clear (it didn't sound that way to me though!) He asked if he spits up.  YES-all the time.  He said the congestion is probably due to spit up going up his nose a little and I guess irritating the whole area.  He suggested that I try cutting out dairy products in my diet to see if that helps him stop spitting up.  He may not be able to digest the protein or the lactose in the milk.  So I have refrained from eating the cheese and cereal that I love so much and I haven't seen a difference in his spitting up.  It is so frustrating.  It doesn't matter how much or how little I feed him, when he burps there is almost always something with it.  And not just a little on the corner of his mouth, we have to have a towel to clean it all up.  And if he burps a few times in a row, or has the hiccups, it is worse.  I just don't know what else to do.  How long would it take to get the dairy out of my system?  We have his 2 month checkup next Wednesday, so I'm waiting to see if it gets better by then.  I've been having him sleep in his car seat at night so that he's elevated (I do take it out of the car, for those of you who might be concerned!) and that has helped him sleep better.  At least we're getting a little more sleep, but I'm just really tired of cleaning up spit-up.  I saw a clip from "4 Christmases" where Reese Witherspoon gets thrown up on.  They whisk the baby away and she is just left standing there with her arms out trying not to touch anything and she says, "What do I do?!"  Vince Vaughn is gagging and trying not to throw up.  The whole scene just feels so familiar.  Daniel doesn't gag, but Ema does and Elena screams, "he spit up."  Eli yells it.  And whoever is holding him stands there stunned (although we kind of expect it now) trying to figure out what to clean up first and why won't this towel DO WHAT I'M TRYING TO GET IT TO DO!!  That's the frustration building.  Some of you may have heard Daniel or me talking this way!  We don't really expect the towel to clean it up by itself-it usually happens that Everet is laying on the towel in some way that restricts us from getting it all the way to the spit up before it is on the floor, couch, our pants, or whatever.  It probably is a funny scene to watch.  Sometimes I'll be singing to him or talking happy and then interrupt it with "aaahhh maannn" because it goes everywhere.   Okay now I've talked way too long about spit up.  

On a side note, I didn't "quickly" write this post as I had intended.  The boys woke up and after feeding them and the kitty and getting drinks for them, it has been over 2 hours since I started it.   So much for that!