Charliezona

When I went into the hospital, we were a little bit concerned about how we could keep life normal and engaging for Charlie and Ephram.  Andy took a leave from work, so they had him full time, but we knew that it would be different and confusing for them to have mom living in the hospital.  Also, Charlie's spring break was coming in what we thought would be my second full week there.  We knew that he would go stir crazy if we couldn't find something for him to do.

Enter my sister Daja.  She offered, (jokingly I think,) to let me send my boys to Arizona for awhile during a Facebook conversation we were having one day.  I started to think about it, and realized that it was a great option for Charlie to occupy his week away from school.  I had some obstacles to overcome.  He would need to fly there by himself and he would be gone over Easter.  Also, it was less than a week until the timeframe we were considering, and I thought tickets might be too expensive.  Regardless, I asked my sister if she would seriously be willing to take him in for a week.  She was great and agreed to have him.  I went online and found tickets, and used miles to buy them so that the price wouldn't be ridiculous.  We told Charlie about his upcoming trip and he was beside himself with excitement.

Then everything changed and Macie came weeks earlier than anticipated.  I was even more grateful that this trip was organized.  Charlie could get away from the mayhem and avoid the back-and-forth to the hospital, and we would only have to manage Ephram during that time.  I was sad about an Easter apart, but I knew that Daja would include Charlie in their plans.

Charlie flew out the same day that my mom flew back to California.  He was both excited and nervous to fly all by himself.  All of us walked him back to the gate and watched his plane take off.  (Walking to the gate, which was all the way in the north satellite, was a bit of an ordeal for me as it was just five days post c-section.)  And then we waited for a call from his uncle Russ to let us know he'd arrived safely.  During the week he was there my sister sent us several pictures and shared some of Charlie's quips.  My personal favorite was when Charlie informed her that he was allergic to butter.  I have been trying to explain allergies to him for awhile, that an allergy is a condition where someone's body can't handle a certain food or substance.  Charlie seems to think that it means you don't like something.  Apparently he currently does not like butter.

I asked Charlie about some of his memories from the trip so that we can share them with him in the future.

Describe Arizona: Arizona is very neat and very hot, like the sun.  I like the sun and I didn't melt.  I would need so much sunscreen if I lived there.

Favorite thing about your cousin's house:  They have a swimming pool, Quinlan has two rooms and they have very yummy foods, like lemons and crab cakes.

Favorite thing about the plane ride:  Coming back I colored in the Spongebob color pack Aunt Daja got me.  I also got to have sodas - TWO sodas - both ways.

Best outing:  Riding on a special bike that is green.

Favorite food:  The food we can pick from the trees.  They have trees with fruits there.  Orange fruits, yellow fruits and other yellow fruits.  I like the yellow fruits that were not lemons (grapefruits).

Favorite thing you played:  Playing baby with Quinlan

Favorite part about Easter:  Coming to the Easter baskets first before everyone.  And getting the light.

Best memory:  My cousin Evin let me play with his legos.  I also like swimming with Dustin in the pool and playing with Braxton outside.

Charlie ended our interview by telling me that he is going to go back the first Thursday in June.  I have no idea what is special about that day, but he told me that it was really close.

Here are a few pictures my sister sent me from his trip.  I didn't include the Easter pics because they were in the last post!