November 13-14 - David's House

November 13-14 - David's House

Once Jay got home we got on the road to David's House. The snow made for a long drive. Jay drove up and there were patches of over an inch of snow/slush on the ground and patches of bare road. It was a long and rough drive, but we made it. I can't believe the snow curse of David's House started already. I swear that every time we head to David's House in the winter it snows. It will be a beautiful week and then we have to head up and it snows a blizzard.

We didn't stop for food on the way up as there was dinner at David's House, but Levi did have some snacks on the way up. About half way up the following conversation happened.
Levi - "Mommy I'm thirsty"
Mommy - "Ok Levi, what would you like green juice or lemonade"
Levi - "My applesauce"
Mommy - "Umm... I thought you were thirsty?!"
Levi - "I am! For Applesauce"
Jay and I had a good giggle about that, but he happily set and ate his applesauce pouch and continued watching his movie.

When we got to David's House, we went in to check in. There was a new volunteer training on the check in process. It was actually a new process so it took a few minutes but we got all signed in. Kim told us that we would be in the Pig room and Levi pouted. So then she said, "hold on, you guys are only here for one night. Let me see what I can do" and she pushed some buttons on the computer and all the sudden we were in the Space room and Levi was jumping up and down excited. He went running up the stairs before we even had the keys!

Then we came down to have some dinner. Some boys from the college had made spaghetti and meatballs and Levi was excited. He ate pretty well for him at David's House after the drive. He is generally just so tired of sitting from the car that he doesn't want to sit and eat. But meatballs got him to the table! He ate 5 meatballs, some pasta, some bread, and some peas! I was pretty happy with that!

Then he was off to play. Since Jay and I were still eating he played in the living room. He made this whole tower all by himself and was pretty excited to show it off. The picture doesn't do his smile justice. He told us it was a volcano that he had made. 

Jay and Levi then headed down to the playroom to play while I set at the table with Kim and the volunteer and talked about stuff. We talked about some of the families who have recently gone home. It's always nice to hear about NICU babies that finally go home. The house was pretty quiet! Which is always nice, for several reasons, I don't worry as much about Levi running around and being crazy, but also because the emptier the house is the less families who need it, and that is always a good thing.

Jay had some ingress friends drop by the house, so they stood on the porch and talked! (brrrr....) While Levi and I played games in the living room and then headed upstairs to play. We played with Chase in the space room for quite awhile.

Then it was time to get ready for bed. We read stories, mostly the space book! And then he climbed into bed. We said good night and then Jay and I headed into the hallway to wait for him to fall asleep. It had only been about 5 minutes when Levi came stumbling out into the hallway and asked for a rub. Jay went in and gave him a back rub and a cuddle until he fell asleep.

Then we headed downstairs for some quiet time before bed. Hindsight is 20/20, but I should have gone to bed at the same time as Levi for the night that was coming. Levi woke up at 2:40. He climbed into our bed for a little while, then wandered back to his bed. Then I layed in his bed for a few minutes giving him a cuddle because he wanted it. When I thought he was mostly asleep I crept back to my bed, but that was a bad move, because he wasn't asleep yet. Then it was Jay's turn, who laid in his bed for 20 minutes or so, then they went to the potty. At this point it was 4:20 and both Jay and I were exhausted. When they came back from the bathroom, I kicked Jay out of our queen size bed and told him to climb in Levi's twin bed and go to sleep. I told Levi to climb into our bed and I held him until he finally fell asleep around 5:15! What a Long night!!!

Thankfully Levi slept until 7:30! When he woke up I gave him his tablet and headphones for a few minutes so that I could wake up a little more before facing the day.

Then Levi and I headed downstairs for breakfast. I gave him what I thought was apple sauce. He spit out the first bite and I told him that wasn't ok. He said it was yucky. I told him it was apple sauce and that he like apple sauce, only to find out that it wasn't apple sauce but instead some sort of pureed mango sauce stuff. Yea I agree with him, it was yucky! But I did have him eat all of his Rice Crispies. He was double fisting his drinks! Couldn't decide if he wanted to drink from Strawberry Shortcake or Doc McStuffins.

We had a few minutes to kill before our 9:30 appointment, and Jay was still sleeping, so Levi and I headed downstairs to play. We cleaned up a giant mess down there that someone else had made so that we could get to the slide and desk. Levi was a great helper with cleaning up even though he hadn't made the mess. Then we played at the desk and colored.

Levi had fun playing with the clip board!

In the middle of playing with the crayons and clipboard, Jay woke up and came downstairs so he played with us for a few minutes.

After we were done coloring we played tower and slide. Levi always giggles at that. And we had a blast as a family.

Then it was time to get ready to go. Levi and I headed upstairs to get dressed, do button cream, fill in the thank you envelope, and pack up. Jay went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. Levi was awesome with the button cream, laid right down flat and kept his arms at his sides. Then we got him dressed and he played in the mirror while I got everything else done.

We read one more page in the space book before heading out. We said goodbye to Jay and the volunteers and headed over to the hospital. We don't know when we will be back! But don't worry we will! David's House is our home away from home and we are so grateful that they are there for us always!