A day at the movies...just not the best movie pick

This past week has been a ride, that's for sure! We had grandiose plans that got waylaid due to some illness at our house.  Let's recap, shall we?

On Sunday, I noticed that Hudson sounded a bit hoarse when he woke up.  But Andrew assured me that it was "just allergies" and "look (as Hud is coughing his head off) it's breaking up".  So I put my mom intuition on hold and went with it, because honestly, Hudson was playing and eating just fine.  Fast forward to Monday night, well like 1 AM Tuesday morning, and Hudson awakes screaming, crying, and coughing, which sends this mama into middle of the night panic mode trying to figure out what's wrong and console him.  I move him into my bed (Andrew is already gone for the week), calm him down, and try to get some sleep, noting that he definitely has a fever, sounds a bit wheezy, and we will not be rendezvousing at Cherry Berry with friends or meeting up with Hudson's godmama the next day.  The next morning after a visit to our wonderful pediatrician- diagnosis: CROUP! In August?!? Which, in case you aren't entirely sure, "Croup is a common respiratory problem in young children. It tends to occur in the fall and winter. Its main symptom is a harsh, barking cough. Croup causes swelling and narrowing in the voice box, windpipe, and breathing tubes that lead to the lungs. This can make it hard for your child to breathe." Thank you WebMD.

We were prescribed some steroids and since I am a bit neurotic and tend to think worst case scenario when it comes to my babies' health, Hudson slept in  my bed again on Tuesday. I do not mess around with breathing and when the doctor told me, "if Hudson would wake up in a coughing fit and you can't calm him down and his breathing becomes strident, just pack up and drive to the ER with the windows down.  That is worst case scenario; probably won't happen." You know you'd put your baby in your bed too! So thinking I had peace of mind, I thought this would ensure a good nights sleep.  Welllll not so fast, Bekah.  That night, Hudson woke up an abormal number of times, and I noted, "Hmmm, he feels oddly warm to me." Sure enough, I spent Wednesday alternating Tylenol and Motrin hoping to break the fever.  No such luck.  Wednesday night was another LONG night.  So Thursday morning I was on the phone to the doctor *again*.

For the record, I do not call the doctor often.  We are blessed that our kids are sick rarely. Beau has only been to the doc for his well baby visits and Hudson has been maybe a handful of times in his short life.  I am usually a "ride it out kind of girl".

***Sidenote- we also have a pharmacist, nurse practitioner, and a wonderful nurse friend with *five* kiddos of her own, so I can always call in reinforcements if I am unsure before making the full-blown doctor office call. It cuts down on the crazy. Ahem.  

However, after explaining to the nurse on the phone that yes, Beau was eating and playing fine and having wet diapers and no, he has no other symptoms they told me, "it's probably just a virus.  Push liquids and give him Tylenol and Motrin to keep him comfortable."

If you are thinking, umm, hey lady, your title to this post makes no sense- to you I say, I'M GETTING THERE!!

You see, our town has a children's movie series that runs during the summer.  Every Thursday of the summer they show an older kid's movie during the day and offer a discounted ticket price and include your child's drink, popcorn, and fruit snacks for the movie.  It is a *sweet* little deal and I had been wanting to take Hudson all summer long.  Yet, lo and behold, it was the last week and we hadn't gone and neither had our little playgroup. So we had made this plan to take all the kiddos.  I was so sure waking up Thursday that we would be a no-show because we would be at the doctor, but just like that, no doctor's appointment necessary and I was packing up the kiddos, taking Beau (and his meds) to my MIL and toting Hudson (who was on meds and perfectly fine to be around others because we were past the contagious period) to the theaters.

Now if you recall my post here Hudson had just had his first movie theater experience and LOVED it! I was so looking forward to a repeat of that.  And, I was looking forward to him sharing in the magic of the movies with his sweet little friends!  I mean, look how excited and into it they all are!

And then the previews ended and the movie started.   Horrific FAIL!!! The last movie showing on this wonderful summer series was Disney's Chimpanzee, where "Disneynature takes moviegoers deep into the forests of Africa with 'Chimpanzee,' a new True Life Adventure introducing an adorable baby chimp named Oscar and his entertaining approach to life in a remarkable story of family bonds and individual triumph." (Thank you Fandango) I see now on this movie review site that the movie is suitable for children "ages 6+". Every kiddo in our crew was 5 and under.

This movie was not a cartoon, featuring real live chimps (no voice overs or animated moving lips) and was narrated by a man unseen. It was over my head let alone theirs. After about 15 minutes, the kids started asking to leave. Not all at once; just every so often an, "I want to go home." "Is it over?" Hudson and I took three bathroom breaks in that short time and I was asked at least 5x if we could go get Beau. After enduring another 15 minutes, I gave in to his requests. Later that afternoon, I texted my mommy friends to apologize for our early exit. This is a reply I received..

The little monkey's mother was eaten?! Obviously, we had not done our homework on this movie choice! Needless to say we will be reading a few more reviews before we venture out to our next movie.

Fortunately, Friday was a fever-free, happy-go-lucky day for the Bruce brood and we continued that spirit into the weekend! So thankful for memories, the fun and not so fun, I get to make being a wife and mom!