Andy’s Wedding & Week at the Beach

After the girl’s weekend it was time for my brother’s wedding in the Outer Banks of North Carolina! His to-be in-laws rented a house on the beach and invited our family to come stay for the week prior to the wedding. We had a wonderful time relaxing and celebrating with the two families. Getting there and back turned out to be quite the adventure- especially by myself the day after chemo!

so bald :)

Getting to NC

My parents took Noah to North Carolina on Sunday afternoon and Brad left for San Francisco for a work trip early Monday morning. That left David and me to fend for ourselves getting to chemo on Monday and to the airport Tuesday.

Enter “Angel” Janice.

Janice is our Bible Fellowship Group teacher that we met at the beginning of the summer. I asked her to take me to chemo and watch David Monday morning. I’m ridiculously thankful that I was able to get chemo on Monday and didn’t have to push my flight out to later that week. My WBCs and platelets were surprisingly high considering I had the Carbo+Taxol just one week earlier. All the nurses at chemo were so happy for me, knowing that I wanted to go on my trip the next day.

When Janice dropped me off back at home she told me to go in and take a nap while she took David back to her house.  I was exhausted so I didn't put up much of a fight. She came back over around 9pm and brought an overnight bag with her. She stayed up with me until midnight helping me pack, do dishes, laundry, take trash to the street, etc. to get the house ready to leave for a week. THEN she woke up at 3:45AM to get me to the airport for a 6AM flight out. Ah-mazing, right?

I am so thankful for the support of our church, family, and friends that do heroic things like this for us all the time. I didn’t ask her to do anything but drive me to/from chemo and then she just started doing the rest on her own. I don’t know how David and I would have been able to get to the airport for such an early flight on our own. Thank you so much Janice!!

So Tuesday had an early start but we made it to the airport with all of our bags and baby gear in tow. My parents suggested I request wheelchair assistance so once we checked in someone came and “assisted me”. I wonder if I can start requesting "assistance" even after I’m off chemo but flying alone with kids. It was kind of amazing. My helper walked beside me with my luggage and helped me through security to my gate. What mom flying alone with kids wouldn’t want a couple extra hands through that process??

We had a layover in Philly. Someone was waiting for me with a wheelchair once I exited the plane. Since I had the stroller/car seat someone had to push the wheelchair and someone had to push the stroller/car seat too. The pilot volunteered to get us up the ramp. We were quite the parade. 

Even the pilot helped me out

We got to ride in one of those carts that are always beeping behind you in the airport trying to communicate for you to get out of the way. It was pretty awesome. Again, can I request one of these even when it’s not the day after chemo with an infant?

beep, beep cart

My dad came to the airport in Norfolk, VA to pick us up (1.5 hours from the beach house). Thanks Dad! We went out to the 18-mile Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel while we waited for my Grandma’s flight to arrive. Check out this cool Navy ship we saw. My Navy Jag friend said it’s probably a supply ship.

naval ship

We got to the house around 8pm and I was pretty exhausted. My folks took the baby overnight so I could get a full night’s rest – thanks mom and dad! It was wonderful being reunited with Noah after three days of being apart. I think my parents were pretty excited to have me there too to help with Noah. J

Week at the Beach

Our view

The house that the Dobson’s rented was pretty stinkin’ amazing. It was brand new and slept 50 with 15(!!) master bedrooms. It had its own heated private pool and beach access. The kitchen had three dishwashers, two sinks, two refrigerators…you get the idea. The dining room had two giant tables with seating for 30.

dining/living room

kitchen

They had a nursery room with a crib in it that was absolutely perfect for Noah. He had zero transition time to the new space and never had trouble with naps or sleeping- yay! Don't ask me how, but we were somehow assigned the owner’s suite next to the nursery to stay in. It was the only room in the house that overlooked the ocean and had a huge bathroom including a tub (which was awesome for bathing the kids). Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Dobson!!

We had a terrific week. Everyone at the house was super helpful with entertaining Noah and holding David. There were a TON of redheads. I felt like I was family with everyone. It was the first time I've ever been to a beach when everyone else was just as worried about getting burned as I was!

Speaking of getting sun…I had to be super duper careful about sun exposure. I’m normally pretty careful because of my red hair, blue eyes, and neon-white skin, but now the chemo makes me even more sensitive to UV rays. I got sun poisoning the other day just from running a few errands without sunscreen on! I pretty much always had a “sun shirt” on- even in the pool and ocean. I looked really cool.

I know, I'm SO cool

We were able to get in the ocean despite it being October in North Carolina. It felt so good floating in the water or catching a wave on a boogie board. Noah liked the ocean until Brad got knocked over by a wave while holding Noah. Thank goodness he kept a hold of him!! On the other hand, Noah LOVED the pool. By the end of the week he was so confident in the water that he would just jump off the side of the pool into the water - whether one of us was waiting to catch him or not!  We had to make sure someone was always waiting for him in the pool since he definitely sinks!

The Wedding

Can't wait to see the photographer's version of this pic

My brother, Andy, met his now-wife, Christi, when she was in Jacksonville for an internship and needed a place to stay. She became the fourth roommate in Andy’s apartment. She was tall, beautiful, a strong Christian, and in school to be a physical therapist like Andy. They dated while they were both in grad school, much of which was long distance. They waited to get married until Andy had graduated and started his first job as a PT in Greenville, SC.

People from the house next door watched the wedding.

The wedding was stunning down on the beach. The weather could not have been more perfect for it. During the ceremony Noah kept exclaiming, "OH nooooo!" Poor Brad had to sing/whisper in Noah's ear over and over, "The mamas on the bus go shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, shh, allll over town" to keep Noah quiet. Finally at one point during the ceremony Brad and Noah took a walk down the beach. It turns out two year olds and being quiet/sitting still don't really go together.

Christi’s family did the whole reception essentially by themselves. Christi’s mom, aunt, and grandma cooked all week while the uncles and cousins set up decorations, tables, and chairs. The reception around the pool looked amazing. Christi had a photo booth set up and hired a DJ and had a dance floor put in. The whole night was a blast.

Noah turned out to be quite the little dancer. At home he loves music and dancing. He also loves being the center of attention. You combine those two things and he was certainly in his element. He was in the center of the dance floor entertaining everyone the whole night. He would move his little feet, shake his hips and raise his arms. It was just too funny. We kept trying to take him off thinking he was done or getting tired, but he kept running back to the dance floor for more. If he is like this at 20 months, what are we going to do with him as a 4 year old??

Noah is a dancing fool!

All of my aunts and uncles came for the wedding – from Hawaii to Florida to Vermont. It was neat having my grandma’s four kids all in one place.

All of my Aunts and Uncles!

Getting Home

It was so sad leaving our little paradise but it was made better by knowing we were going to meet up with friends in Norfolk. Our friends David and Caitlin drove in from Richmond to see us for the afternoon (thanks for making the drive guys!).

David and David's namesake in matching fleece vests. :-)

One last lunch with both of the grandparents

Our flight out ended up being delayed, so much so that we missed our connection in Charlotte. Our connecting flight was of course at the other end of the airport.

I ran with the stroller and our bags piled on top through the airport to try and hold the plane. Brad couldn’t run with David strapped to him though. I got there and could see the plane.

the plane was RIGHT there

The attendant at the gate called the pilot for me but said since we weren’t both there they were going to have to close the door. Daaannnggg it!

It ended up not being so bad. They gave us hotel vouchers for a brand new Crown Plaza. It was almost like we got to extend our vacation for an extra night. Thank goodness Noah went home with my parents and they were planning on keeping him overnight anyway. I cannot imagine what being delayed and staying someplace overnight would have been like with a tired toddler melting down.  David, however, couldn't have cared less.

The next day our flight out had to be routed an extra 350 miles due to weather and then had to circle DFW for an extra hour because of traffic on runways. I ended up being two hours late for chemo but thankfully they still took me and gave me chemo! Yay chemo!

Photos from the trip

Noah and Dad being cute

me and my bro

Great-grandma and Noah

The whole family