COVID Testing, Chores & Family Dinner

Llama Loops on the couch for her pre-breakfast appetizer, and then working on her clipboard a little bit too.

We read the “Henry has Heart Surgery” book again this morning, and told Emmie that she was going to have heart surgery just like Henry. We talked about it a little bit more, and told her about the covid-testing, and reminded her about the nurse costume Ms. Shirley got her. All-in-all, it actually went really well, and although we don’t know exactly how much of the situation she’s fully grasped yet, this initial conversation went really well!

We all had bagels for breakfast, and then got dressed and ready to go super fast, for our 9am appointment for covid-testing at Bragg Stadium at FAMU. Grammy and Papa met us there, and Emmie hopped in the Jeep with them while we waited for them to open and call us in for our appointment time.

There were no photos allowed inside the testing site, but I snapped a photo of our feet kind of as a placeholder. Mom and I were both actually pretty nervous about the nasal swab, after hearing from so many people how bad the swab was. Jeff went first, and it didn’t seem all that bad for him, and then I went second. It wasn’t completely terrible, but it was definitely not comfortable. I kinda pulled back a little bit, and my eyes got all watery and my nose felt so weird.

It was quick and fast though, and then it was Emmie’s turn. I had to hold her for that (Jeff had already been ushered away from the testing spot), and the nurse warned me that if Emmie touched the swab, we’d have to start over. So she did the first nostril and Emerson lost it. She started screaming and crying and trying to hide her face in my shoulder, and clinging to me like a little baby monkey. The nurse let Grammy come over and help me hold her and talk to her and calm her down, while I held her head and her hands so the nurse could swab the second nostril. It was NOT fun, and my poor girl was so upset, but we made it and it was over relatively quickly.

While we were waiting in line under the bleachers, we told her that we were at a football stadium and there was a big football field out there. So she wanted to go see it after we finished, and she thought it was really cool.

When we loaded up in the car, we told her how brave she was, and that she was so strong and special for doing the test, and she had been such a good girl. She kept saying, “but it wasn’t fun.” We were like, “No it wasn’t, but we never told you it was going to be fun…” We went through the Take 5 on Pensacola for an oil change on the way home, and those guys were super fast and super friendly. We’d highly recommend it if you need to know.

We told Emmie she could pick a special treat for doing so well at the covid test, and would you believe she chose pink sprinkle donuts!? So we went through the Dunkin drive-thru, and got us each a donut for a mid-morning treat.

We got the mechanical part of the car taken care of pre-Jax-road-trip, and then spent some time cleaning up the inside of the car as well. (The trunk was an absolute mess, as well as the floorboard underneath her car seat.) We found some chalk in the trunk, so Emmie did some drawing, and then I threw her in the trunk to help get some of the junk from the way back that I couldn’t reach. What a good tiny helper!

Oh and while we cleaned out the car, Jeff hung up some new blinds in our dining room. We’ve actually lived in this house for just over four years, and never had blinds or curtains in this room. We bought those faux plantation ones a couple of months ago, and finally got around to installing them today. And they look so nice! Now we can open them up fully during the day, and then feel more closed-up and private at night.

While Emerson napped, Jeff and I had lunch and watched some YouTube videos, and then did some more chores. He painted the end of the peninsula blue (we forgot when we did the cabinets), and I cleaned and vacuumed the living room right as Emmie woke up.

Then we headed out to Grammy & Papa’s house for a family dinner! We had all planned to swim, but the weather was terrible, that didn’t so much happen. Well, Emmie still wanted to get in, so Daddy took her, but she only lasted about 10 minutes because the water was so cold after all the gray skies and rains!

We had plenty of family play time together though, and all four girls were so precious and silly playing with each other.

And my Mama made an excellent meal for all of us! Poppyseed baked chicken, zipper peas, stick-of-butter rice, and air-fryer fried kale, and everything was super delicious! Oh Grandmommie also made a peach dump cake in the crock-pot, and that was very yummy too.

Emerson was a big helper getting the babies changed into their jammies after dinner, helping pass out clothes, and keeping the girls happy.

Goodbye loves all around! Emmie wasn’t ready for them to go, so she ended up climbing up in the van, and literally sitting in their laps for a few minutes, playing with them and loving on them and giving out more kisses, and just generally being precious.

We stayed a little longer watching night-night videos with the family, and then gave lots and lots of loves to everyone. This was the last time some of our family will see Emmie before her surgery, so hugs were a little tighter and a little longer tonight. And the sky was beautiful on our ride home!

Bedtime went a little bit smoother tonight, with a little less hoopla than she’s tried to pull the last week or so. We’re exhausted after a crazy busy day, and ready to kick back and relax a little bit now!