29 February 2012


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Still Lifes of a not so Still Life
too big treasures


birth finally announced

minis for two minis
It's always the times when I think I have things under control that they go spinning out of control.
homework
Okay, so I'm being dramatic, because there are a million things more awful than the following story.  Yesterday, upon meeting Ryan for some birthday shopping and lunch, Clover threw up in the car.  Over and over.  While I was driving.  Helpless?  Understatement.  
orange rays
I threw her a wet wipe, which is like telling someone to make a gourmet meal and handing them a box of hamburger helper.
pacify
We finally reached our destination, I hopped out, opened the door and she had just a bit more that needed to come out.  One word: pink.  We tried to demystify the cause of the hue without success.  She even went over it with Azure after school.
word wall
Ryan arrived on the scene when I had the whole package of wipes piled up in the seat, Drummer crying, and Clover going on about how her birthday boots were dirty now.
blankie replacement
He found a sweater and skirt in the back seat for Clover to change into, I found a swim diaper, and laughed that it was the only time I've been grateful for the lack of vigilance in keeping the car cleaned out.  
pvb (post vomit bath)
We left the two sliding doors open in the parking lot while we went for lunch (with no further incidents).  Want to steal our vomit wreaking minivan?  I dare you.  Nobody took me up on it.
favorite part of my days: Drummer planting those gums on my face
I removed the entire seat from the car (yay minivans!) when we got home and scrubbed the life out of it.  It's still outside, because you know and I know it will never be the same.

36 comments:

  1. aww poor Clover! And hey, the rind is awsome, I take it you have never had pickled watermelon rind!! mmmmm hehe

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  2. Poor Clover. I do hope she's feeling better. And poor you. Pink vomit is an atrocious thing. One suggestion to help with any lingering odour is the enzyme spray that you use for cat and dog mess. You can get it at any pet store and it neutralises smells of this ilk in quite an extraordinary manner! This is the voice of experience!

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  3. poor thing. babies vomiting is the worst. my just turned 3 year old did it a few weeks ago and it seemed such an injustice for such a tiny person to endure.

    but i love your word wall.

    happy week, dills. hope clover stays well.

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  4. Love the blog! What a funny (not to you, I'm sure) and touching story. Hope Clover is better soon.

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  5. oh yuck. I did that trick once while my grandma was driving. And somehow, when we stopped to clean up a bit, I lost a shoe. So I ended up with one sandal that summer! :) I hope Clover feels better!

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  6. I have a child who gets motion sickness so bad. It didn't manifest its self until he was 3. Why 3 I'll never know.
    I started carrying gallon size slider ziploc bags in the car. He could toss his cookies in there, zip it up, then throw it away at our next stop.
    He's 14 now and can take medicine for it but I still carry them just in case. They have come in handy for so many other things too. And luckily they work for beehive girls on a very twisted road to girls camp too.

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  7. Josie--No! Am I missing out? Do you like pickled rinds better than the heart?

    Evie-Thank you for the suggestion! I shall add it to my TO DO list pronto!

    I. bliss--exactly. She was so stoic about the whole thing, too.

    Chris--thank you :)

    Lynette--Wouldn't it make a fantastic tale: all the stories of the lost shoe.

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  8. ugh. vomiting in the car is the worst. Nothing ever smells the same. It's always after I clean all the boots and coats and toys out of the car that I need them for some reason.

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  9. Car vomit is the WORST. At least there wasn't hot summer sun beating down on it, too. Ugh. My sympathies. Go give Clover a big hug for me. As for the odor, there's pet clean-up spray stuff, and don't forget the amazing destinkifying powers of baking soda (sprinkle LIBERALLY, let it sit overnight, vacuum up, repeat as needed).

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  10. What a day! My goodness.

    At least you capture it so beautifully. :)

    I agree with Evie. We swear by Kids'n'Pets or is it Kids and Pets? It is GREAT for pee and I'm assuming vomit. We just started using it a couple of months ago. So far, it's completely wiped out urine odor out of a mattress. Pretty amazing.

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  11. I was going to say the same thing about Kids'N'Pets, in fact, my bottle of it is sitting right here next to my desk for a baby tee tee accident. When my older daughter emptied her entire bladder in the front seat of our car I thought every warm day was going to smell like pee in our car. I soaked it with the stuff (like, a whole bottle) and let it air dry. Good as new. Haven't smelled it since. Good luck and hope Clover is feeling better. Love you blog, btw.

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  12. Spray it down with Zout. That stuff takes anything organic out. If it can remove five year old blood stains, it'll take care of puke...

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  13. I think vomit is my arch nemesis as a parent. Nothing brings me to the brink of tears/hysterical giggles like my kids throwing up. My best defense is oxiclean. Takes all that horrible smell out of anything, including beloved stuffed animals and car upholstery.

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  14. Love the pictures and can't wait to see the skirts and we might have similar couches. :) So sorry about the vomit. It's the worst! I've read the same thing about kids'n'pets. Luckily Ansley only vomited all over herself and her bed. It took eight washes of her laundry and six baths and opening the windows when it was 30 degrees outside to get the smell out. Must be worse in the car. I'm sorry. :(

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  15. Vomit IS the worst. Well, maybe diarrhea is slightly worse, but did you know the Zoroastrians believe that the seventh level of hell is a place of eternal vomiting? Sounds pretty accurate to me! :-) Anyway, hope Clover feels better. LOVE that you left the doors open on the minivan while you went to lunch. HA!

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  16. The same thing happened to me the other day! I just kept driving, like you, except luckily we were heading home and into a bath. I just used baking soda and water and let the sun shine in. I'm amazed at how well it took away the smell. I hate smelly cars.

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  17. I'm so sorry about the vomit in the car! That's got to be one of the worst places for that to happen.
    I had to say that I love the comment "Read your scriptures & brush your tongue" on your word wall. I always have to remind my kids to brush their tongue too.

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  18. That does not sound fun and I'm so sorry that happened to your little lady. I hope she is feeling better and that her boots are okay. I know if that happened to my daughter, that would be all she would be concerned about *smile*.

    P.S. We have been contemplating getting a minivan...I think your story just sealed the deal. Thank you.

    mommacdesigns.blogspot.com

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  19. Two words for you: power washer. Not kidding. With the seat outside of the van spray with a cleaner of some kind (purple power is good for something so toxic), power wash, use wet vac to vacuum up pushing really hard, and finally, put seat back in the van with a dehumidifier running in it. It will be better than new. Completely serious. Good luck!

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  20. That is the worst thing ever...kids vomiting while away from home. Both of my boys were guilty of getting sick in their car seats, years ago, while we were out and about. And what do you do when they get sick all over it, you have to take them out to clean them up, but then it's the law to sit them right back in said carseat to get them home so you can hose them off before dumping them in the tub?!?! :) It's always a window down drive home! I feel for ya! OK.. I'm having flashbacks of M&M's now... gross!

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  21. I wish I were there. Then you could have dropped Clove and the babe at my doorstep before your lunch date. I can't believe this is what happened after we hung up yesterday! I was also going to suggest the spray for pets ;) Avery threw up last night in her bed. Weird.

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  22. Very same thing happened to my best friend this week. Her husband accidentally left the lights on in the minivan (after the cleaning fest) and when she went to pick up her healthy child from school, the minivan wouldn't start. I told her it was all bad Karma, and she should trade in the minivan.

    The puker fell ill the night before her 5th birthday party! So sad. They had 2 kids puking, 2 adults puking, and a house full of cupcakes and food and balloons. Bless their hearts!!!

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  23. I had a day like that once! My husband was driving us all in DC (Stuck in traffic) and my son started throwing up all over the place, he puked all over my sleeping daughter's favorite suede boots while she slept. (she still complains about it even though it was 5 years ago!) My "friend" was in town with her son because she had always wanted to visit DC, so she invited herself to stay with us, and they had knowingly brought the flu with them. Her son spent those 2 hours of DC traffic screaming his head off, while she complained bitterly about the smell, and I just wanted to kick all whiners out of the car, (since it wasn't helping anything!) while trying to get my son to aim into a McDonald's cup I found on the floor. I managed to stay polite the whole time, but boy was that a rough week! The Van doesn't smell at all now if that's any consolation!

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  24. Same story here, different time zone. Three kids and one adult, so far. Get well soon Clover x

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  25. Oh my. I love kids, can't wait to have many of my own soon. But holy cow, I am going to live in fear of the vomit. yuck. I too care of my fiance a few years ago when he had a horrible stomach bug. He threw up all over his bed...it soaked through the sheets and we ended up not being able to get the smell out of the mattress...eventually he just had to throw it away. Hope you have better luck with your car and Hope your little one is all better :)

    P.S. Drummer is so precious. He makes me want a baby RIGHT NOW. lol :P

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  26. Oh, I so feel for you.
    Last October (UK, very cold, trying not to rain) we had been driving most of the day with our 3 in the back 2 rows of the car. 5 miles from our destination (it could have been worse) my 3 year old hurled all over the back back seat.
    Fortunately she was on her own back there, and the piles of birthday cake stacked next to her were well wrapped, but we had to stop on the verge and clean up this fantastically stoic child in really cold weather.
    She still occasionally turns to me and says "I don't want to be sick again".

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  27. Hi...Can you tell me a little about your word wall? Where is that hanging? I like what you have written on it and am wondering how that is incorporated within your lives at home. Thanks....allison

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  28. I can't believe she was throwing up WHILE you were driving. Oh the memories.

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  29. Thanks for this story. I'm sure it wasn't fun to live through, but it is valuable to me, as it makes my crazy life seem a bit more normal.

    I love your way with words. Keep going. :)

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  30. i'm completely transfixed by the paper you've got up with "rules to live by" - type stuff. i love that visible tangible message you are sending to your kids about how you work together... i feel like i have work to do in this area!

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  31. Oh, I'm so sorry! Glad everything got sorted out and cleaned. Hope her boots were still wearable.

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  32. Vinegar! Seriously Vinegar! Neutralizes the smell!

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  33. linnysol-- the word wall was Ryan's idea. It's just two giant sheets of paper taped with Japanese decorative tape. We simply write sayings, quotes, scriptures we like and would like to see incorporated into our family. Once it is filled up, we change it out.

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  34. Is the cute skirt an Oliver and S pattern? And the fabric is what - Sorry, questions questions, it is just so cute.

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  35. Vomit and the uncertainty of where it will land is my least favorite part of parenting. Being in the car would be torture! One of the funniest stories i've heard is from a friend whose child got sick in a FABRIC store. She scooped the kid up, cradling the face towards her body and RAN out the door to the bathroom down the hall. It worked...no vomit on the fabric bolts....just all down her neck and shirt! Now that's sacrifice. And....she did not return to finish her purchase. It was for a costume for school!

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  36. We lived in Tokyo for many years,, I always told the kids to keep the windows rolled up.... Well they take my word,,literally,,and while in rush hour go no where traffic,,Aubrey who was 4 at the time started relieving her stomach ache in the back seat. I was strapped in and also handing her wipes,,and after helping her and the two brothers sitting next to her who were dry heaving, I asked her why didn't you roll down the window? She said,, you told me don't.. So,,we too had it in the door,,on buttons,, seat,, brothers,,and truly sympathize with you on this one! What a beautiful name,,,Clover.

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