Happy Monday! Happy Boston Marathon Day! Happy Tax Day! Happy Easter Week! 
Thereās a lot happening on this April 15th. Itās absolutely GORGEOUS in Charlotte today. After a weekend full of clouds and rain, itās sunny and cool. Iām all dressed for a run so once Finn wakes up from his morning nap, weāll head out. I started running with a friend every Monday morning and itās been the best way to start the week. Sheās out of town for spring break with her fam but Iām going to run anyway. The combination of seeing all of the Boston posts this morning + the weather has me in the mood.
I wish that I could say that itās a goal of mine to run Bostonā¦but it is not. Haha. Iām not saying āneverā on another marathon but I think Iāll stick with shorter to mid-distance runs and races for the foreseeable future. (You can read my first marathon experience in this post and my second, the Marine Corps Marathon, in this post.)
It was quite the eventful weekend over here in not the best of way. WARNING: the rest of this post is mostly baby-related should you continue to read. 
Friday morning greeted us with Finnās first stomach bug. It was a weekend full of vomit and the other stuff. Poor guy. Friday was definitely the worst of it. He had a fever and was so subdued. He wanted to be held all day and spent a lot of it sleeping in my arms. Ugh. So hard to see him not feeling well. Needless to say, I cleared my schedule and we didnāt leave the house on Friday.
Since it was his first time being sick like this, I called his pediatrician to check in. He walked me through how to take care of Finn at home and what to watch for.
After I got Finn down for bed, I made myself dinner. I sautƩed some kale and then topped it with Spanish Right Rice, leftover roasted chicken, half an avocado, a drizzle of ranch and sriracha aioli.
Mama needed some ice cream after a long day. I defrosted two brownies from the freezer and topped them with a scoop each of caramel cone and white chocolate raspberry truffle.
Saturday morning breakfast was a pink smoothie bowl with strawberries, bananas, peaches, cauliflower rice, peanut butter, a date, plain greek yogurt and almond milk.
Finn was still not feeling well and getting sick on Saturday morning and it was time to send him off to spend time with his father. It was hard to do when all I wanted to do was comfort/cuddle/nurse him.
My first order of business was to get out of the house. I took Zoey for a run in the rain. It was my only window of time to get in a run before an afternoon hair appointment.
I actually really love running in the rain as long as itās not pouring or cold. And Zoey doesnāt mind it either. It just made for a lot of wet dog cleanup when we got home. Between the dogs, all the pollen and stuff falling from the trees and Finn, my vacuum pretty much never makes it back into the closet. I have been vacuuming 2-3x a day in my main area for the last couple of weeks.
And speaking of vacuums, my Hoover SmartWash carpet cleaner got a LOT of use this weekend. So much laundry. So much floor cleaning.
I spent most of Saturday afternoon getting my hair cut and colored. I had plans to hang out with my friend Suzanne (who was one of my first yoga teachers years ago and I credit her for making me āfall in loveā with yoga!). We did a long walk on the greenway and then grabbed a casual dinner. I had a spinach salad with lots of roasted beets, pumpkin seeds, goat cheese and salmon.
And we shared these zucchini chips that one of our friends sent out for us. Heās a server at this restaurant. These things are as good as they look and the yogurt dipping sauce is extra yum.
The rest of my Saturday evening looked like working, ice cream and TV on the couch. I ended up sleeping in the guest bed on Saturday night because it was the only bed that was made up with clean linens.
Sunday morning started with another smoothie bowl, coffee and work on the couch before heading to Suzanneās yoga class at 11. It felt so wonderful to practice.
I picked up my little guy around noon and he was in better spirits but still not feeling great.
We stayed close to home all day. I did some baking! A variation of my carrot maple oat banana bread and Neiman Marcus cookies. I wanted to try a cookie recipe that Iād never baked before. These were really good. I left the nuts out.
We all needed some fresh air so we ended our evening with a walk. (Can you see all of the pollen fronds on the ground? They are EVERYWHERE!)
I wish I could say that the rest of the evening was uneventful but it was not. Finn really struggled to go down, ended up getting sick again and I didnāt eat dinner until after 10pā¦and I did so with a baby in my arms. He would not let me put him down.
Fingers crossed that we are FINALLY over the hump! Heās been acting like his regular busy self this morning and hasnāt gotten sick again.
Iām sure this is the first of many stomach bugs that we will battle. Iām just so very grateful that so far I seem to be spared. Praying so hard that it stays this way.
Okay, Finn is awake and we are going to soak up the sunshine.
Happy Monday friends! Have the best week.
Any tips for dealing with stomach bugs? Or how to avoid getting them!?
What did you do over the weekend?
Have you run a marathon? If so, do you want to run another? If not, do you want to run one?
those zucchini chips look just like the ones from Nolenās kitchen (they were the best!)ā¦so where do I find them!?
my 10 month old got her first bug two weeks ago! ugh, hopefully itās over for both of your sakes!
Hey Kate! They were from Ilios Noche, same group that did Nolen Kitchen and they taste exactly the same.
Iām so sorry to hear about your daughter! These things are the worst.
I am shocked you didnāt get the bug, either! It is SO contagious! Its very hard to avoidābut hand sanitizer and clorox wipes do NOT kill the bug. Only Lysol and hand soap, does. It can live on surfaces for a while, so clean everything! The bug started in our house with our little girl, who caught it at daycare, and then gave it to everyone including our extended family who was around her! It is the worst!! I am glad you are over it!
Oh I didnāt know that about Lysol and hand soap. Thank you. I will pick up some Lysol today. Iām so sorry to hear that happened to your family. I am still so paranoid that Iām going to come down with it. Ahhhhhhh
(Diarrhea is much more contagious than vomit, so wash your hands a lot and you should be ok. We donāt get it each time, maybe 1/3ā¦ But normally, they donāt get that sick if breastfedā¦)
Thanks so much for the tip! I am washing like crazy and crossing my fingers and toes.
Yes, where did you find those zucchini chips?? Makes me miss Nolenās!
Hi Grace ā at Ilios Noche Quail Corners. Same group that did Nolen Kitchen so they are exactly the same!
Iām just coming back from 3 long years of an injured foot. I ran 3 fantastic half marathons and then decided to up my training game to shoot for a fullā¦ bam foot injury. Fingers crossed Iāll be doing a half again next month, my long run yesterday was 8mi and so far so good. Iāve promised if I could only get back to doing halfās, Iāll never think full again! Iāve watched many friends do a full and hate running after. I love running and am acknowledging that the need to do a full for me would be purely ego driven. So Iām just trying to be grateful for the ability to run at all, even just a 3mi with the dog. Glad Finn is doing better!
While Iām sure it was hard to let go while Finn was sick, I actually think itās a really good thing that his dad is involved (and not just while he is happy ā the responsible mother/fun dad is not a good long term solutionā¦ for any of you, in my opinion!).
I hope youāre both healthy and heās back to happy baby now!
No tricks to avoid the bugs, but we had our first too and it took us all. My son was 6 months at the time, and one night he was crying for us in his crib but we had to put him down to go get sick! By the end I was so sick of vomit! 3 months later and I am still scarred from that memory. I will say his immune system seems to much stronger now. He catches a lot of colds but beats them so much faster!
Oh no, this is so sad. I can totally relate to having to put him down to go get sick. Itās the worst. I hope it is a VERY long time before we deal with this again.
My best advice is to wear a mask and gloves religiously when cleaning up or doing any āsickā laundry. I unfortunately have gotten my kids bugs several times and it is so worth the extra steps. The problem is that theyāre also contagious before theyāre sick so itās hard to know! Nothing worse than the stomach bug!! Fingers crossed youāre in the clear!
I am going to be all about the gloves and mask next time. And yes, the āmost contagious before they actually get sickā is the tricky part. Definitely motivation to take all hand washing practices to the next level!
You are so lucky you didnāt get it too! My 11 month old has had two stomach bugs (thanks, daycare!) and my husband and I have gotten them both times as well. Not fun and so sad/scary when theyāre that sick. Glad heās on the mend!
Gosh, I spoke too soon. Shortly after writing that post I went down. UGH! The worst and made me SO SAD for how bad Finn must have been feeling.
Iām surprised that a few charlotteans donāt know about Ilios Noche! Iāve been to both Ilios Noche (quail corners) and Nolan kitchen (RIP) but always loved the food at Ilios Noche best!! Itās so good!! Those zucchini chips!!!
Yes, itās a great spot!
Iāve been a few times over the years.
For the stomach bugs: at times exposure is inevitable, but ginger is a fast acting preventive for vomiting. It helps so much, either in tea form or strong ginger candy. Spearmint or peppermint tea can help too, especially for the little ones. For diarrhea, I really like tea made from red raspberry leaves or blackberry leaves or roots (roots are a bit stronger). Hope that helps!
I definitely feel like exposure was inevitable in this case, especially with a little one that is literally throwing up ON you! Thank you so much for the tips! I knew about the ginger but not the red raspberry. So helpful!