The DuFour's and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

I have been wanting to do a post for a couple of days. I have had lots of ideas for some new blog posting, but nothing has come to fruition. It has been a busy couple of weeks (who are we kidding, month) in the DuFour household. So I apologize but tonight is not one of those happy fun blogs, there are just too many other things running through my mind. So tonight I will share with you all the story of The Dufour's and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (this is the reader digest version, so much more went on, but I don't want to bore you with all the nitty gritty details).

Yesterday started out as any normal Wednesday. My work day was a little hectic and I ended up in an IEP (Individual Education Plan) meeting in Escondido, which about 45 minutes from home. At the end of the meeting I got a message saying Ethan had fallen and hit his head and there was already a bump on his head. Meanwhile Chris was having some struggles with many of his work projects, minor things but annoying nonetheless. Chris had also printed a new shirt and was trying to release it on the Cross Your Heart online store. He had recently switched the online store subscription to a new company and when people logged into buy shirts, nothing was working. No one could buy anything. He was also having computer problems.
We took Ethan to the hemoc (hemotology/oncology) clinic at Children's Hospital; what we thought would take 2 hours turned into 4 hours, which abruptly turned into 6 hours. He ended up getting a shot of factor to ensure that if there was any bleeding internally it would clot; they also decided he needed a CT scan (for his age that means anesthesia to knock him out). His CT scan was supposed to happen at 6 but because he had ONE bite of cheese at 3 they made him wait until 9 (a whole six hours with nothing at all to eat or drink). One bite of cheese at 3 and before that he only ate a few bites of his lunch. Poor little guy was starving and very angry. Thankfully the CT scan was totally negative and there was no internal bleeding on the brain. Praise God, He watches over this kid! By the time we left it was 10:15pm and we got there at 3:30. Ethan was wide awake (after his nap, induced by anesthesia), we were all starving. So we tried to go to McDonald's (oh so healthy, but what do you do at 10 pm, you have a very angry child who is starving and has had multiple nurses poking his body with needles). Only the drive-thru was open so we had to drive through and continue home and eat our dinner there, by now it is 11pm. Ethan ate so much and was still so awake. We put him to bed anyway, he talked to himself for about an hour before falling asleep. It was a very tiring night.
Today was a better day, things were looking up, Chris's work stuff was going well. I had a meeting that went a bit late and I ended up picking Ethan up a little late tonight. When I got in the car to leave her house, my car would not start. Chris came to try and jump my Jeep, but it would not be jumped. AAA came out and my battery was very very dead. He replaced it. Our babysitter (whose is also good friends with us) entertained us all while we got the Jeep taken care of. They even got us pizza. We had some very nice fellowshiping that we had not planned on having tonight, thanks to my Jeep.

Everyone has days, weeks, months, years that just don't go the way you want them to. All the little things went wrong over the last day or so, but the important thing is God was there carrying the burden with us and in the end all the things that mattered went right. Ethan's head is just fine, we are all happy, healthy and provided for, plus we have each other. But I am still very tired and emotionally drained over the last couple of days. How are you all doing this week?

Fall

Fall is wonderful. I think it is my favorite season. Although we live in San Diego so fall is a little more subtle than it is in other places; I wonder if I would like it as much if we lived in a state that gets "real" fall. I don't know.
But fall is a wonderful time. The colors start changing, God's creation is beautiful with all those colors, pumpkin is the greatest flavor (especially the Pumpkin spice latte), there is all sorts of local festivals, and you get to wear your sweaters you have had packed away (I love fall and winter clothes).
This past Friday we went to Oktober Fest out in La Mesa. It was a fun evening of people watching, bratwurst eating, funnel cake tasting, checking out cool things to buy and watching this ride that spun around super fast (Ethan loved staring at that ride).

Mmmm Bratwurst (Love Germany food)

Funnel Cake

This was the cool spinning ride that Ethan loved staring at.

Ethan and his mommy

Ethan and his daddy

Do you like Ethan's hat? I love it! My mom is starting a little boutique called Bethadee Zoo (really long story, but when I was younger I called elephants Bethadee's and insisted that was their name no matter what anyone told me). She is very talented and makes all sorts of cool things. This hat is a little something she made. She will be making some more for us to sell on the Cross Your Heart website and there will also be some for sale at Justice Day. She is going to make them in different colors and is going to make some with skulls and hearts alternating on them; perfect for little girls.

We are thinking about selling the beanies for $12. Do you think that is too much? Give me some feedback.
Thank you, hope you all have a good night!!

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Is that the way that saying goes? In recent weeks that phrase has run through my mind as I watch Ethan. Kids are this crazy creation of the two of you. It so funny to look at Ethan and see Chris's characteristics come out then two seconds later one of my characteristics pops out; and then there are characteristics that we have no idea who to attribute them too.
I have been known to have some OCD traits. Personally, I feel that I have made some improvements in these areas. I have learned to accept the fact that not everything in my house has a place (we may be out growing these 950 square feet), although I do, about once a month, go on a "purging" trip throughout the house and try to find stuff to get rid off (with the end goal to be making enough room for everything to have its own place). So maybe my progress is not that great. However, this is not the point of my post tonight.

This evening Ethan came around the corner of our hallway whining and pointing (like he just found a bug) down the hall towards the bathroom. I followed him so he could show me what was bothering him. He walked into the bathroom and that was when I noticed it...the toilet lid was up. Not the toilet seat, just the lid. He was very upset about it. I put the lid down and he quickly ran out of the room and played with his toys. Umm. I think he might have some of my tendencies. But at least I know he will put the toilet seat down. Oh, and he definitely has Chris's sense of humor. More on that another night.