boy oh boy did we create some memories over the Thanksgiving holidays. let's work backwards from the return trip home from Ohio. a cold brisk morning spent packing up our little cabin and having one last meal at Grandpa and Busha's. Although, i was not witness to this, Hannah apparently very much enjoyed Nana's eggs that morning which was fun to see because she doesnt' typically eat eggs. We all said final goodbyes and sincerely expressed the joy for the time to be together and we hoped in our cars. Stephen and I had to run by Starbucks and we were ready to go with big hope of a shorter return that our trip there. we played George Winston's December to lull Hannah to sleep and then put our book on CD in and we were rolling. UNTIL...Stephen said, "Hannah is throwing up!" I turn around and see her awakened by vomiting and I want to cry and i also realize she isn't stopping and say " PULL OVER!" in seconds we were on the shoulder and i was removing my kid by her feet and her neck from her carseat and trying to tump over the throw up she was covered in. the throw up which was in fact all eggs. first GAG. i realize there is a lot of work to be done here. so i proceed to strip hannah on the side of the road in 32 degree weather as she is crying and confused. the pants come off pretty easy. and then i see her shirt. second GAG. i loved this beautiful flowered purple shirt but it was unhelpable, it COULDN'T go back in the car, so i folded it together and left it on the side of the road. during removal, a few eggs got stuck in her front curls on her head... i can barely keep myself together at this point but i take the wipe and form a little mohawk that is sticking together after running a wipe through it. After wiping the rest of her down with some handiwipes, PH had given me another clean outfit to put on her, so i dressed her while stephen began to wipe down the car seat. third GAG. the seat belts themselves on the carseat were foul, the smell quickly being at home in them. We do the best we can wiping down the seat, wiping down her blanket and her precious monkey and putting them in a plastic bag. and although it was hardly above 40 degrees, our sunroof remained cracked for the remainder of the trip in order for Stephen and I to keep from gagging. poor girl cried and cried which made me cry and then fell asleep. wow. it quite a family memory and it proceeded to be as we drove the next 8 hours with the special smell. the items including all the car seat belts and padding have made their way through the wash and oxiclean and i think they are now touchable. do i really need to say more about the trip? ..honestly, it was a nice surprise of rest for me once we got to Ohio, since it wasn't my immediate family, i felt little need to create order and hope for perfection and things happen without my doing much of anything. and it was quite beautiful actually, the way these 7, estranged for the most part, siblings came together around their parents in what certainly had it's fair share of awkward moments but what was mostly filled of a desire and joy of just being around one another. the hope for connection seemed palpable. i also really enjoy being with Stephen's grandparents because i really miss having any of my own to share my husband and daughter with and it never gets old to see 4 generations of family in one room. so, at the end of it all, i am really thankful for a lovely holiday with the oster side of the family. Hannah loved being with her awesome cousins Ella and Drew and it is a joy to see them all together. there are memories both less favorite and great that i will cherish. thank goodness hannah's incident was a one time gig and she is her normal busy self today.