Whew!

I’m writing this today as we recuperate.  Yesterday was all kinds of awfulness.  After I posted the Yarn Along, I went to bed.  A few hours later I woke up and was terribly sick with the stomach flu that David had a few days ago.  Things sort of went spiraling downhill as Solveig woke up wanting to eat in the early hours and I was too sick to even hold her.  So Knut did his best to pacify her, but he kept bringing her to me saying that he wasn’t feeling so great either. 

Not too much after that he was sick as well.  Elias woke up…I’m sorry, I can’t write it down without make all of you throw up but let’s just say he had been sick that night too, and was continuing to be sick.  Silje and David helped out a bit with Solveig, until Silje got really sick too. 

Worst day ever.

By evening, we were all able to split a piece of bread and sip on some water.  None of us wanted any more.  Knut and I prayed so hard that Solveig would sleep through the night, despite her not nursing during the day as much as she was used to.  We gave her lots of fluids in a cup, but we figured in her mind it wasn’t the same.

She slept straight through until 6:30 this morning so we all got some good sleep.  Actually, Knut and I went to bed at the same time as the kids, so it was almost like getting 2 nights of sleep.

Today we rest.  We’re all sore and a bit edgy.  To brighten up the day, I thought I’d post some pictures of Solveig’s birthday party.  It sounded like something cheery to do while I rest.

Traditionally for the 1st birthday, we throw a big party with lots of relatives.  Making it a whole year with a baby seems like something to celebrate, even though she’ll never know.  We’ve thrown a big party for all of our kids 1st birthdays (except Elias.  Shh!!!  His 1st birthday was in the middle of a crazy harvest where we were there wasn’t much sleep so we skipped it.  Surprisingly, he still doesn’t care.)

We invited the grandparents, great-grandparents, and the great-aunts and uncles who live in town. 

It was a warm day, (over 50 degrees at our house!) so we got to use the porch, where all the men seemed to claim.  This porch gets a lot of sun and heats up like an oven on days like this even though it’s not insulated.

We also served some homemade wassail on the stove which was a big hit.  My Grandma V. always makes that at Christmas time and just felt right for the party.  I just found a recipe online that called for apple cider, pineapple juice, orange juice, cinnamon and ground cloves, with a touch of brown sugar.  We heated it up on the stove and it was a yummy side to the cake.

Well that was fun.  Time for another nap.