Upset Tummies and Other Thoughts

It's December already? On the one hand it seems like we should still be enjoying the fall colors. On the other, it seems like it was November for a long, long time. Christmas is a little more than three weeks away? Yikes!!
The good news is that Katya isn't sick. Night before last she threw up twice, and I was afraid we were revisiting her stomach flu episode of last spring. But I think dinner disagreed with her. I made a Chicken Jerk recipe I had never tried before--I was kind of intrigued by all the spices it called for--eight I think, plus orange juice, lemon juice and soy sauce.
But it turned out really spicy--it actually made my lips hurt.
Katya ate only a little bit, but the look on her face in the middle of dinner made me think "Uh oh, I hope she doesn't throw up." I guess I should have been tipped off by the recipe calling for one teaspoon of cayenne pepper and one teaspoon of black pepper. (Duuuuh, Rena) It didn't smell that spicy as it was cooking, but I also had a cold. And even when you first take a bite, you don't get the full effect. Then your head ignites. I didn't care for it. Brent developed a taste for spicy foods when he worked in Texas so he actually had seconds.
But I have a weakness for comfort foods. Italian foods. Dishes with creamy sauces. Dishes with pasta in them. Dishes with cheeses. Dishes that I suppose aren't that healthy for your arteries.
A few weeks ago I made macaroni and cheese. I used my mom's recipe: lots of cheese chunks, elbow macaroni and Betty Crocker's medium white sauce doubled.
Brent was eating it as leftovers in school the next day, and some students dropped by to see what he was eating. Apparently his lunches are kind of a big deal over there. There is a group that stops by nearly every day and if he's eating something interesting, they stop to talk about it, and if he's not, they mosey on. So when they asked him what he had that day and he said mac and cheese they were surprised and said "What? That's kind of plain!"
Just take a look, he said. When they saw, they said oooh, that looks good!
So anyway, this spicy dish was a bit much for Katya.
Sadly, just as I was putting her down to bed, she threw up all over her beloved pink blankie.
Then we had to wash it and she was not fooled at all by me trying to slip her another blanket to go to sleep with. No deal.
So we had wait and wait for the magic blanket to finish getting washed, and in the meantime she threw up again. But I was fairly sure it wasn't the flu because she was chatty and not all lethargic like the last time she was so sick.
Now I was kind of stalling with putting her back to bed, waiting for Brent to come home because I had sent out a distress call for him to bring home some Pedialyte. But when the blankie was out of the washer and she had had a big drink of water, Katya led me to her room and stood in front of her crib. I put her down, and we've had no problems since.
In other news, it was such fun to watch Katya enjoy the first snow a couple days ago. There was about half an inch on the ground and we were on our way somewhere, running late as usual. It was also super cold. But I just had to stop and give Katya a moment to do a happy stomping dance in the snow and watch her try to figure this white stuff out.
I was glancing over this blog and I noticed that I haven't posted any pictures in awhile. So as we're on the subject of cold, here's a picture of Katya in her new winter coat. Grandma B in her perpetual worry that someone in the family is cold sent it. And is it ever cozy warm. It's so thick it practically stands up by itself. It's also big enough that at this point in her life, it almost reaches Katya's knees. That won't last long, I know. When you see her from the back with the hood up, she looks like a big pink marshmallow.