Hannah Banana is 4!

 Hannah turned 4 on Friday! We started the day with the traditional birthday donut.

 For dinner we went to McDonald's at the mall because afterwards we went to the Disney Store.

 Hannah decided that this year she wanted to pick out her birthday present from the Disney Store instead of Target. Hannah spent most of the time trying on different dresses.

 She ended up picking out this nightgown dress (although it really doesn't look like a nightgown) because it was so long and flowy. She was SO happy with her decision, and we were pumped because the nightgown dresses are much cheaper than the regular dress up dresses!

 

Ellie loved the Disney Store too. She saw this plush Cinderella doll and held on to it the whole time. When it was time to leave I took it away from her at the last minute and boy, she howled!

Hannah's birthday party was planned for Saturday. The week before was a little weird as far as planning because there were so many things that were up in the air. Andy's grandma is not doing well and it looked like Andy might be flying out to Philadelphia anytime for her funeral. There were a few times recently when it didn't look like she would make it through the night, so we thought we might have to postpone Hannah's party until the next weekend. On Wednesday, Andy's grandma was still alive and even seeming to improve, so the party was officially on for this weekend. We didn't know for sure if Andy's parents were still up for coming out, but they said they were so we were good to go!

 The next unknown was Joey's baseball game. He had his game scheduled Saturday morning so we were going to have to schedule the party around that. It was going to be a little inconvenient, but we were glad that Andy's parents were going to be able to watch Joey play t-ball. Then a big rainstorm hit and it poured all Thursday night. His game was officially cancelled Friday. We were bummed that Grandma and Papa J weren't going to be able to see the game, but it did make the schedule for Hannah's birthday party easier.

Then came Friday night. Andy's parents were going to get to our house in the afternoon, but Andy's dad had some urgent work business to attend to, so they arrived at our house at around 9:00. The kids were already in bed but still awake from all the excitement of the Disney Store. Or so I thought.

Joey came down at 9:30 to tell me that his tummy didn't feel good and he thought he was going to throw up. It didn't completely surprise me because Ellie threw up Wednesday night, and I was a little worried someone else might get it. I got Joey to the bathroom, and sure enough, he was right. Next was Hannah Belle at 10:00. Unfortunately she didn't quite make it the bathroom in time.

In the 6 years we've been parents, we've been very fortunate in that we've never had kids up at night throwing up, somehow it's always been during the day. Also, we've never had two kids sick like that at the same time. Well, on March 8, 2013 our "luck" came to an end. Both kids were up all through the night throwing up or just moaning in pain and calling for me.

Joey was actually pretty funny in the middle of the night. He was so indignant about throwing up that he just kept saying the funniest things. After I told him that Pepto-Bimsol is only for people ages 12 and up he declared, "Well, that's just not fair. What, they want little kids to have to feel sick?!" He also asked for permission to use a "bad word" before he announced that he HATES throwing up.

After being awake all night, around 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning I got the bug. Andy's parents stuck around for a little while Saturday morning to help us with some laundry (Joey was excellent about making it to the bathroom in time. Hannah, not so much). Then they left to go back home around 9:30. We felt so badly that they had a total of a 12 hour drive and were only at our house for about 12 hours. And of course most of that was spent sleeping (at least for them). Hannah did rally in the morning and opened her birthday presents from Grandma and Papa J before they left.

Surprisingly, Hannah didn't bat an eye about her ruined birthday party. I guess hanging out all day watching movies and drinking 7Up is a kind of special treat. I was much more disappointed than her!

Saturday afternoon Andy was the last in our family to succumb to the nasty stomach bug. Thankfully, by that time I was feeling better so I was able to take over parental responsibilities. I will say that there is definitely a benefit in all of us being sick at the same time. Everyone was more than content to just lay around all day and no one wanted to eat anything so it wasn't like I had to prepare any real meals. The only problem was that Ellie, my normally super independent child, was uber clingy and fussy. I'm not sure what was going on with her although she still seemed to be having some effects of the stomach bug, so maybe she just wasn't feeling well.

With everything up in the air all week I think we had Plan A through Plan E for Hannah's birthday party. This was NOT one of them:

(Notice the sad, empty punch bowl in the background.)

The funny thing is that Hannah's party was going to be a pajama party complete with a waffle bar and donuts, so at least I got the pajama part right.