Meeting Our New Baby Cousin

We had a pretty busy summer, but got to take a few days to head up north and spend some time with family. Jed and Kate invited us to their sweet new baby boy's blessing and we decided to rent a vacation house in Pennsylvania so we could spend a few more days with them and Grandma and Grandpa Cowley. The house was nice, but there turned out to be not that much to do nearby and then it rained. Sort of a bummer, but since Olympics were going on and we don't have cable to watch it at home, we didn't mind sitting around watching the action. Did you see the women's 4x100 relay? It was AMAZING! 

Baby B stole the show though, even when he was competing with rhythmic gymnastics. I forget how, even though newborns don't really do anything, you just can't stop staring at them. We were all enthralled every time he yawned or stuck out his tongue or scrunched up his little face. Mango was especially interested because he is really the first baby she has spent any time around. She kept "awww"-ing and giggling and showing Jed and Kate how she knew how to hold the baby. Strawberry and Apple couldn't get enough of his adorable onesies. We were all smitten. And not only was he gorgeous, he was also sleeping through the night at 6 weeks old. I seriously could not believe it. I love how even on newborns, you can already see the features of both mom and dad. 

We also got to celebrate Wayne's 60th birthday while we were there. Strawberry totally stressed about what to buy him. She wanted to get something that he would want, and she knew he was a teacher so she was trying to figure out what a teacher would like best. She settled on bookmarks. Apple got him fake mustaches. I had to talk her out of a coffee mug in the shape of a toilet. All three girls were just so happy to be able to spend time with their grandparents, and what's better than being adored by granddaughters, hey? :)

One thing the house did have to keep us entertained was a hot tub. Yay! Except it turned out that the people who were taking care of the chemical levels were terrible at their job and it was full of some aggressive bacteria. Boo! So everyone that got in ended up with pseudomonas folliculitis to varying degrees. Strawberry only had one spot on her leg and one on her shoulder, but poor little Apple looked like she had chicken pox from the chest down. Luke ended up having to go to the hospital for IV antibiotics after we got back to Maryland because his got really bad and he was getting sick. It was horrible. The symptoms started showing up the day we left and headed up for New York and we weren't sure what was going on. So of course we were googling and coming up with all these terrible ideas that it could be: bed bugs, swarms of spiders, fungus (eww)? But we realized pretty quickly that only those who'd been in the hot tub had the problem. I think hot tubs are gross so I never got in and Kate was too busy with the baby (thank heavens). 

It was awful seeing everyone in my little family getting sicker and sicker and since I'm an ICU nurse, my mind was going to the worst-case scenarios that I've seen involving bacterial skin issues, and you know, since those people died, I was terrified. I called my personal medical professionals: my mom and brother (ER nurse) and they concurred that it was pretty serious. I was trying to force Luke to go to the ER on Sunday night, but he talked me out of it and waited for sick call at work the next morning. His doctor told him to go to the ER. HA! So there! I wasn't over-reacting after all. Okay, I was over-reacting, but I was still right. :) I got the girls in to see their doctor and she cultured Mango's rash and gave them all antibiotics. It was such a relief to know for sure what it was and to know that it wasn't contagious and that it would be gone in a week or so.

Anyway, before all that happened, we managed to have a fun couple of days in New York. It was my first time there and it's never been a place that I really really wanted to visit. But now, I want to live there! I loooved it. Jed and Kate live across the street from the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine. I'd never been in a cathedral and it was such an amazing experience. I could spend days there. I only had my phone with me so my pictures aren't so great, but the workmanship that went into every single room was breathtaking. Outside there was a garden with a huge statue of St. Michael. 

Can you see Mango's expression in the last picture. Such a stinker. :) We also got to play at a playground in Central Park where Strawberry and Apple instantly made new friends. We rode the subway and ate dinner at the Shake Shack and then hit Times Square where we kept running into Spiderman. Mango loooves Spiderman, but when he tried to give her high-five, she freaked out and wouldn't look at him. Time Square was crazy and way different than I thought it would be. It was fun and now I want to go back for more. I would seriously love to live there for a couple of years. 

Jed gave a beautiful blessing to his sweet little boy the next day. After church, we got to spend one more hour cuddling him and then had to say goodbye. The next time we see him, he will be a completely different baby. It's so crazy how fast children grow. I would love it if all of our family could live within an hour of each other so we could be with all of the nieces and nephews that we love so much. But we are so grateful for the time that we do get.