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EP 90: April Catch Up
1.6k Plays2 months ago
This week on Mom Group Chat, we’re catching up on everything that’s been going down in our worlds lately—and trust us, it’s a lot.
Candace gives a full recap of Alice’s third birthday (yes, she’s THREE 😭), the absolute germ storm that hit her house, and how baby Evie ended up in the hospital. Plus, the birthday party that had to be rescheduled because life really said, “plot twist.”
Meanwhile, Whitney is sharing all the details from her family trip to Key West—a spontaneous getaway that turned into one of their best family trips yet. Sunshine, chaos, and all the good stuff in between.
It’s a real life, real mom kind of episode—and we’re so glad you’re here to catch up with us.
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Transcript
Introduction and Spring Vibes
00:00:07
Speaker
There's no right way to do it. Oh, we're going to get into it. What up, my spring mamas? My name is Candice, and I'm here with my best friend, Whitney, and this is the Mom Group Chat Podcast.
00:00:22
Speaker
Did you say that right? and Maybe. I don't know. um Anyway, anyway. podcast I think I did. Did I have a stroke? I'm a spring chicken. um It's feeling like so nice that it's getting lighter later ah and the sun's out even though we're getting storms this week. But you know what I mean? Like it's a little patio season happening here.
Obsessions and Fresh Starts
00:00:48
Speaker
Okay, I saw a thing yesterday. There's a creator I'm obsessed with. i She creates. They're kind of nat note e like like NatNote-inspired. Hold on. Let me find her um handle because I want to shout her out.
00:01:03
Speaker
But there's a creator. Her name is – okay, her name is strange. Han Ox Raisins. Don't fucking know. I'll tag her. It's H-A-N underscore A-U-X underscore Raisins. Oh, okay.
00:01:17
Speaker
I don't know. But she creates these like vibe checks. Do you see? Oh, cute. It is cute. Yeah, yeah. But she posted the April one yesterday on April 1st. And it says, April is what January wishes it were for fresh starts and soft pastel pinks and the first sip of rosé after a long winter.
00:01:35
Speaker
It's for ballet pumps and sunglasses, making ice lattes at home and sitting on the grass to read. Like, I don't know. She creates these like very vibey like month mood boards. yeah And I just loved that.
00:01:47
Speaker
Like April is what January wants to be. And it's so true. Like April feels like more of a fresh start than january does i think a lot of people all say that yeah because you kind of come are coming off christmas and you have like that overwhelm you're taking down christmas well yes that feels like a new but it's like still wintry and dreary but man april feels good oh my gosh sitting in the grass having some iced coffee sounds fab It's so
Morning Routines and Friendship Dynamics
00:02:18
Speaker
funny. I was like this morning thinking about my morning routine and um I got up this morning and I did something different. I was proud of myself because i havet this is my first time wearing makeup in two weeks, which I'll get into as we talk about the update of like the past two weeks.
00:02:34
Speaker
But this is my first time wearing makeup in two weeks. And I was really intentional this morning, even though I knew I didn't have childcare today. I was like, I'm going get up and I'm going to get ready and I'm going to put on makeup. And I was like, and I'm not going to let the kids stop me. So i I got a new love every box that actually I've had for months.
00:02:52
Speaker
ah That's just been sitting in Alice's closet. And I was like, I'm going to open up that new box of love every here in my office. And I'm going to let them play and do my makeup while they play. And honestly, it was so nice.
00:03:03
Speaker
And I was thinking to myself, what can I add to this now that it's summer? Cause I walked outside, it was already so warm. Oh my God. And I was like, I need to perfect an iced coffee recipe. I, that's something I drink hot coffee every day yeah and I need to perfect an iced coffee situation.
00:03:23
Speaker
That's a goal of mine for April. So stupid goal. No, I'm not kidding. Chris and I said we wanted to perfect a pina colada recipe. i mean That's hard.
00:03:34
Speaker
I know. But since. Because they can be like too sweet or too milky, you know. We have that like Margaritaville blender, which I've talked about before. So I'm like, we've got to like make that fucking awesome. Plus, you know, we just got back from Key West and you know, those little tubies, the extra shot you can put in um your glass at sloppy Joe's.
00:03:56
Speaker
We brought home. We saved him. We brought home five of them. Yeah. ah well I'm coming. I know. I was like, oh, that my mom thought of it. i was like, what a fantastic idea. Like who doesn't want an extra shot of rum?
00:04:13
Speaker
So good. Wow. um I'm so excited for this episode. This feels like, well, first of all, we're a week later than our normal catch up episode. Just right.
00:04:24
Speaker
yeah we usually post it on 4-2, but it'll be next week. We're a little bit behind, but that's fine. I feel like we have so much to catch up on. You went on vacation.
00:04:36
Speaker
Alice had a birthday. We have a lot of health issues. Just lots. There's so much that happened in the month of March. Like, I don't know.
00:04:47
Speaker
I just feel like we have so much to chit chat about. I love our catch-up episodes just because, number one, I mean, Candace and I talk all the time, but it's like so nice to hear like a full story. I mean, Candace and I are voice note queens.
00:05:04
Speaker
I don't know if anyone else out there is. Well, it's so funny because you know that trend that was going on, going around where you like highlight the texts, like texts that like recent texts that were sent in our group chat. And it's just like a snapshot of all the texts.
00:05:20
Speaker
I wanted to do that for mom group chat. And I started to go through our chat and I realized and all of our messages are voice notes. So I actually can't do that because literally there's no text to like highlight in there.
00:05:34
Speaker
I feel like we are little kids and we have walkie talkies or like or something. And we're just like walkie talking back and forth all day. Honestly. Well, it's just I'm so on the go Like, I don't know how i just couldn't text all the time. It's so annoying. I just prefer to speak it.
00:05:54
Speaker
Well, you know, I'm not that my job's new, but like I'm in a new like little group text with my new work people and I'll like send a voice note and they like think it's so funny that I do that. And I'm like, oh, this isn't normal.
00:06:10
Speaker
Yeah. I'm like, oh, um I love them. And now they like them. But. I'm not going to lie. Whenever I do send someone a voice note and they immediately are like, oh, thank God, I love voice notes. I'm like instant five points. Like you are up five points in my book. Like your friend Brittany, the first time I sent her a voice note, she was like, oh, thank God.
00:06:30
Speaker
And I was like, yes, girl, I'm a voice note girly. No, we have this joke about Britney. She knows it. She's on in on it. But she loves a voice note and she'll send five minute ones. And so we have like a disclaimer before she sends something. She'll say it's Britney, bitch, which means a long one's coming.
00:06:52
Speaker
OK, OK, OK. now anytime any of us i love that anytime any of us have a lot to say, we text it's Britney, bitch, like buckle up. but yeah yeah oh my god i love that it's not funny it's so funny we're like oops sorry you got a long one coming i love that so much yeah have voices are just more efficient i feel you know i'm telling you i feel like we're in the movie now and then and you know how they had like have you seen that movie i don't think so oh no oh oh
00:07:28
Speaker
Oh, no. No, it's like Christina Ritchie, like when she was younger, Rosie O'Donnell's in it. And it's four best friends like from the 60s.
00:07:40
Speaker
Okay, wait, hold on. I have seen this. They ride their bikes and they're like... Yes, have seen this. well they I have seen this. Yeah, they all live in the same neighborhood and they have walkie-talkies. And I feel like that's me and you. like We're best friend neighbors. We're 12 years old. We're walkie-talking, talking about life. And I'm just like, that's the vibe it's given.
00:08:00
Speaker
It is. I love it. um No, I have seen that movie. It's fuzzy. It's been years and years and years. um That sounds like something I would like to rewatch, though. I feel like it sounds like... it's probably top five movie for me.
00:08:14
Speaker
no joke like I know love love love that movie and the nostalgia and the vibe it gives oh good it's so good and love it love it so much and I like all right I'm Richie sorry oh no you don't need to be sorry i love Christina Ricci like when you think of Christina Ricci what's the first is that the first movie you think of Casper.
00:08:40
Speaker
Same. Okay. I was wondering if we were on the same page there. But i Casper's in that movie too now and then. He's a wormer and she kisses him in the movie.
00:08:54
Speaker
I'm sorry. wormer? wormer? Yeah, that's what the boys club is called or what they call them because they're warm. Got it. Yeah. Okay. I see. I see.
00:09:05
Speaker
I need to watch that movie. i and so behind on television. That's the other thing I wish that we could chat about. I'm so behind on Southern Charm. I'm so behind on Summer House. I am behind.
00:09:18
Speaker
No, I'm mad that you're not watching White Lotus because that has been my whole life. Oh I literally just said to Vinny, I'm like, the fact that we're not watching White Lotus is a problem because it's everywhere. I feel like everyone's talking about it. my God. Please like start today and just do one ah day until Sunday because I think Sunday is the finale.
00:09:39
Speaker
Already? Yes. Okay. I'll tell Vinny that today. And maybe here's the problem. We don't have a TV in our master bedroom here in this house. And there's literally like, even if we wanted to, there is nowhere to put it in our bedroom. Our master is like smaller in this house than it was in our old house.
00:09:58
Speaker
And there's genuine, like, even if we wanted to, unless it's going come down from the ceiling, it's not, there's no place to put it. So ah we, so we used to watch so much TV in bed together before bed.
00:10:13
Speaker
And now that we don't have that, like we either just go straight to sleep or just like scroll on our phones, which is not a great habit. And I'm trying to stop that, but it's like, I, ah we were missing out on TV now that we don't have a tv in our bedroom i think it's we don't have one either which sometimes i'm kind of like now's the opportunity to freaking have it because my wall isn't backing up to margo's anymore i'm like now i actually could like i feel like relax and watch whatever the frick i want for yeah as long as i want but like we also don't have anywhere to put it it's not like i mean we could but i don't want to like i'm enjoying not having it in my room for the first time in my entire life um
00:10:55
Speaker
But we'll watch it like right after Graydon goes to bed is when we pop on our show and then we go to bed. Okay. That was my next question. Do you and Chris always watch together? Like, do you wait for him or is this? Yes.
00:11:06
Speaker
Or I mean, like if he watched White Lotus without me, but we watch on Sunday night, like that's our like thing. But like if either of us watch Southern Charm or Summer House without one another, oo it's a fight.
00:11:22
Speaker
Okay, so same. we watch every like We try to watch everything together. And so I was wondering if that's like how you're getting it done, was like you split, divide, and conquer, and you watch whenever you both can. Because I feel like we would get it done faster that way, but I'm happy to know that we're on the same page there. just wait until Graydon's out, and then we hurry up and watch something. Because then it's like from 8.30 to 9.30, we'll watch a show, and then we'll hit the hay.
00:11:53
Speaker
I saw a clip of the um Southern charm reunion and I was like, Ooh, I'm excited. so we watched that. Yeah.
00:12:02
Speaker
It was it was i mean again, I haven't watched it yet, but it was the um it was between JT and um butita Vanita.
00:12:13
Speaker
She looked fucking good. ah She is ah Gorgina, like so gorgeous. And JT is a little worm. Speaking of a worm, a warmer. He's a warmer.
00:12:24
Speaker
He's kind of annoying. All the guys on that show to me are a wormer. Yeah. Definition for sure. yeah i also. But anyways. Watching Righteous Gemstones, which is.
00:12:37
Speaker
Oh, that's a Vinny show. Vinny loves Righteous Gemstones. It's so funny. I was. That's so on brand for you.
00:12:46
Speaker
I was watching it last night like howling laughing. It was so funny. So funny. That's funny. No, that's very on brand for you. I totally see that you would be into that. Olivia said the same thing to me yesterday. She was like, you would watch that.
00:13:01
Speaker
Yeah, literally. ah love it. It's so funny. um But yeah, I feel like we should get into the updates. I feel like we have a lot that happened. Where shall where shall we begin?
00:13:15
Speaker
Um, do we want to make a happy sandwich? Let's do a happy sandwich. That's a good idea. Okay. Okay.
Birthday Celebrations and Health Challenges
00:13:24
Speaker
Maybe, ill well, it's Alice's birthday.
00:13:27
Speaker
Parts of it are happy. Parts of it were happy. Okay. For sure.
00:13:33
Speaker
Okay. Alice turned three on March 26. Um, and honestly we had a really great, like chill birthday day. We, I decorated her, um, I, I decorated our like living room and hung like streamers and balloons and she got presents to open up right when she woke up, which is like a tradition and that I grew up with.
00:13:56
Speaker
I'm sure that's like a common tradition, but, um, Like my mom would wake us up with presents and like we would sing happy birthday and do all of that. um So we did that. And then she got to go to school on her birthday, which I was so jealous of because that's something I never got to do for my birthday ever.
00:14:15
Speaker
wow I never got to have like birthday cupcakes because my birthday is during Christmas. I've never thought about that. Yeah. Like that was something I genuinely like had sad feelings about when I was a kid. I know. Some people like – As I've gotten older, they'll be like, I'm taking my birthday off at work. And I'm like, why? Like, don't you want to be around people celebrating like all day? Right. Like, don't you want to be center of attention? I can't relate if you don't like can't relate. Yeah. So I so she got to go and I took cupcakes into her class. Cute. And they sang happy birthday. And there's the cutest photos of her from that, like of them singing her happy birthday and stuff. They're so sweet.
00:14:56
Speaker
um And then we picked her up and we Vinny came home early from work and all she wanted to do was go to Chick-fil-A and play in the playground and eat Chick-fil-A there. Oh, sweet.
00:15:07
Speaker
Okay, she's ah she's a 90s gal. She really is. like She loves a Chick-fil-A playground, let me tell you. So we went there. Oh, my God. Actually, wild story while we were there. So the kids playground there was packed.
00:15:22
Speaker
It was packed, which Alice is like pumped about. She's like the more kids, the better. She wants kids to play with. She's excited. But there are these two little boys there.
00:15:34
Speaker
They're probably... no more no more than five or six. Like, they're still little. They got into a, like, for real fight. Like, they were... Were they brothers?
00:15:48
Speaker
No. Oh. It was like the parents had to get involved. It was, like, very dramatic. the One of the little boys kicked the other little boy in the stomach, like, hard to the point where he, like, screamed and then they were, like, wrestling. It was like a cartoon where it's, like, literally, like...
00:16:05
Speaker
dust ruffle you know dust cloud like that's what was happening and you should have seen and vinnie and i were sitting right outside you know the you know the playgrounds like glassed in and we were sitting at the table right outside the glass so we were letting her play independently and like we could see her through the grass she looked back at us through the glass like are y'all fucking seeing this she was like so shocked And then she walked out and she came and sat and she was like, that was crazy in there.
00:16:34
Speaker
It was so funny. um But we, I don't know. It was, that's really scary. It was like kind of intense. You're like, welcome to your first like high school fight.
00:16:45
Speaker
No, it was like they were fighting. It was wild. I've never seen that with little kids. know. Neither have I. It was kind of crazy. so we um But we did that, and we had ah milkshake and a cookie, which is what she wanted. And like it was honestly so nice.
00:17:02
Speaker
We came home. It was a dream. birthday milkshake. Wow. That's what she wanted. and I need to bring that into Graydon's life. I think he would love that. I don't know if he's ever had A Chick-fil-A.
00:17:15
Speaker
oh I cannot relate to that. ah My child is obsessed with milkshakes. I mean, oh my god and that was like my favorite thing was going to steak and shake and getting hand spun cookies and cream milkshake.
00:17:30
Speaker
Yum. Whoa, baby. I want that right now. um really do. Actually, Me too.
00:17:39
Speaker
Um, so yeah, that was, I mean, we had such a good day. It was so like, I don't know. It was just a good day. We had a, we like, yeah, perfect day.
00:17:52
Speaker
Low like effort on my part. I mean, I decorate and stuff, but like, it wasn't any big to do Like it was great. It was so good. And she's three. Wow. And she's three.
00:18:05
Speaker
i definitely had an emotional moment while she was at school when I was creating her little birthday post. my God, I know. And I was like, Hannah is calling me. hello.
00:18:18
Speaker
We are recording right now.
00:18:23
Speaker
hey, y'all. I don't do it. Can I call you back? Okay, it sounds good. Okay, bye. Her voice.
00:18:37
Speaker
Oh, it sounds just like Shannon. Yeah. I don't hear it a lot. And it's like, shocking every time. Like this morning, i was like,
00:18:47
Speaker
they sound so similar. Yeah. um What was I saying? I can't remember. Oh, you said, um oh, you were making her real and you got emotional. Oh, yeah, making her birthday post. It's always emotional, scrolling back through the photos and seeing, like, how quickly they up. No, that trend of three minutes to three hours to three days.
00:19:08
Speaker
ah You gut me, truly. And it's the song, too. Like, that... Everything that I have. Which like I actually do not like using that song because like I ah do not endorse Kanye West and his lunacy. But i that song just works for the trend and is a beautiful song. And that's what sucks about Kanye is that he is so fucking talented.
00:19:29
Speaker
But he's a fucking loony tune and he's like making his women be naked for. i don't even know. I can't even go there. I mean, but I mean, I let me just say that I'm scared for him and I'm scared of him right now. One thousand percent.
00:19:44
Speaker
but yeah well person 1000%. Yeah. Get well sued. Kanye.
00:19:49
Speaker
Peace out. Honestly. um So yeah. Other than that, I didn't have as many like big emotions this time that I, I feel like I had bigger emotions at one and at two than I did at three.
00:20:02
Speaker
i just was like happy that she's, she's set in such a fun age and it's a little crazy, but like, you know, I just love her so much. I feel like I've been Chris, Chris,
00:20:14
Speaker
I'm calling them the opposite name. Like, you know how I'm Om does. oh yeah, yeah, It's so embarrassing, literally. I did that at the grocery store yesterday. I called, was like, Alice.
00:20:25
Speaker
And it was Evie. Well, I call him Chris. And I'm like, or I'll call Chris Grayton. And I'm like, oh, get it together. um But... ah I feel like he's been three for 100 years.
00:20:39
Speaker
so Well, it's crazy because like they i mean they are six months apart. so yeah you're He's three and a half now. Yeah. Which is so crazy. I feel like four is kind of a big milestone. Is that... I don't know. Four seems...
00:20:53
Speaker
No, actually, like Hatch really slapped me in the face because I had to buy a new one. His other one like was just not computing anymore. And so when I was setting up the new Hatch, it described him as as his age, whatever. When was he born? It said little kid.
00:21:11
Speaker
versus toddler anymore and it got me and I was like fuck you Hatch alright when do they like what is that threshold i think four it's like turning four you're out of toddler into little kid and then when you're six it's like your kid wow just kid that ah I mean that's on Hatch's scale it seems yeah which makes sense crazy Wow.
00:21:43
Speaker
yeah But yeah, she's three. i have a three-year-old and it was a great day. And then life took a turn. Let's get to the meat of our sandwich. ah Okay.
00:21:56
Speaker
I'm going to make this as quick as possible. I always say that and it's so long. um Thursday, Evie woke up with a fever. i I didn't send her to daycare. She went to my mom's.
00:22:09
Speaker
My mom was like, Evie's unwell. Like she's not herself. She only wants to be held. Something's wrong. I ended up, she called me half day, my mom, and was like, we need to take her to the pediatrician. Like something's wrong.
00:22:21
Speaker
And so I called the pediatrician. They had a 6 p.m. like evening appointment. And I was like, great. Amazing. Take her to the ped. And I was like, oh, something's. And I could tell as soon as she my mom brought her here.
00:22:34
Speaker
I was like, oh, shit, something's wrong. Like she was really lethargic, high fever, not herself, just only wanted to be held. It was almost like she was so miserable that she didn't want to cry.
00:22:47
Speaker
That's genuinely how it felt. And then we took her to the PED and I had a weird pediatrician visit. First of all, I didn't see the PED. I saw a nurse practitioner, which I'm not, that is not a dog.
00:22:59
Speaker
This is not a dig at nurse practitioners. I've had amazing experiences with them. This particular nurse practitioner, I feel like was not super in depth with her evaluation.
00:23:11
Speaker
while When we got in there, she took Evie's PASI out and Evie had a tiny little red sore on her lip. And immediately the nurse practitioner was like, um oh, yeah.
00:23:26
Speaker
she's got a sore in her mouth. Like I'm pretty sure this is hand, foot and mouth. And I, I was shocked. Cause I was like, Oh fuck. I didn't even think about that. Like what? And yeah, I was shocked. I was like, is it that time of year where this is happening already? Like, and she did look in her mouth so quickly and was like, Oh yeah, I see lesions back there is what she said. And I was like, Oh fuck. Okay.
00:23:48
Speaker
So we went on our merry merry way thinking Evie has hand, foot and mouth. Done and dusted. Like, that's fine. We immediately pivot to ah Alice was we were supposed to have Alice's third birthday party. We had 45 to 50 people coming to my house that next Saturday.
00:24:04
Speaker
So we had to, like, make the decision and we decided to reschedule Alice's birthday party. We just didn't feel comfortable with a bunch of kids coming over here. And not to mention like Evie, if she with had hand, foot, and mouth, we thought she was probably going to be worse by Saturday. yeah Like that's literally what. Yeah. You can't with hand, foot, and mouth, you know? Yeah.
00:24:27
Speaker
Like it's so contagious. It was. um Especially on a bouncy house. I mean, not that she could really like get on the bouncy house, but like, woo. Yeah. That's a lot. That's just sucks.
00:24:40
Speaker
Awful time. Yeah. Yeah. So luckily all the like vendors I had booked, the balloon lady, the bounce house and the princess that I had booked, they were all super like willing to help.
00:24:52
Speaker
And, you know, they were like, no problem. Choose a new date and we'll try and make it work. All of them. And, um, so that was that no problem. We let everyone know we were rescheduling. Everyone was sent their well wishes.
00:25:06
Speaker
That's it Friday night in between Friday to Saturday, Alice woke up at 1 a.m. and started to throw up to which she then started to throw up every 30 to 45 minutes.
00:25:18
Speaker
And I was like, oh, my God, Evie's got a hand, foot and mouth. Alice has the stomach bug. What the fuck is my life? we dealt with the stomach bug all night and all morning.
00:25:30
Speaker
Alice started to feel a little bit better around 11, whatever. Evie's still super lethargic, not herself. But again, I'm just thinking it's hand, foot and mouth, whatever, whatever. Finally, Saturday night, like I could see she was not getting any better. And also the sore that was on her lip had completely gone away.
00:25:48
Speaker
To me, I think it was just like a drool rash under her PASI. It had completely gone away. i didn't see any other spots on her. I just started to have this like mom gut doubt that she even had hand, foot and mouth, especially with Alice throwing up. I thought, okay, maybe they just have some sort of like viral bug and she didn't have hand, foot and mouth, whatever.
00:26:10
Speaker
Finally, Sunday morning, she woke up and it was like she had gotten even worse. so Super lethargic, fever consistently. She was not perking up with any sort of medicine. I would give her Motrin. It did not perk her up at all.
00:26:24
Speaker
Her fever would come down a little, but it was, I don't know. My mom gut was like, something's not right. I'm like, something's wrong. Something bad is wrong. Her cough was disgusting. So I went back into the pediatrician and I like demanded to see a doctor I was like, I don't want to see a knit nurse practitioner. I want to see the doctor. And so I did.
00:26:43
Speaker
I talked through how she's been sick for three weeks on and off. Nothing's changed. She hasn't gotten better. She's gotten worse, blah, blah, blah, lethargic. And the doctor was was like, i don't like anything I'm hearing. Like, I don't, this all sounds bad.
00:26:57
Speaker
Like, I think you need to go to the yeah ER. We need a chest x-ray. We need blood work. We need a full workup to see what's going on. Which is so scary to hear. You're like, okay, that escalated. I also felt validated in a way that was like, okay, I'm not crazy, you know? For sure.
00:27:12
Speaker
And she also looked in her mouth and said, I don't see any lesions. Like, this is not hand, foot, mouth. So I was like, okay, well, what the fuck did the nurse practitioner see? But whatever. Mm-hmm. So I, we take her to the emergency room. They start to do a full workup and they did a chest x-ray.
00:27:28
Speaker
They tested her urine, which, oh my God, that part, them putting that catheter in, uh, was so sad. She screamed so loud. Um, it was so just heartbreaking, but they did the chest x-ray and did, they swapped for a bunch of viral things and And lo and behold, they come back in and they're like, she has pneumonia and we need to admit her.
00:27:53
Speaker
The reason they admitted her was because technically within those three weeks, we had done two whole rounds of antibiotics. We had done a whole round of amoxicillin and a whole round of ceftonur, which are two antibiotics that they would use to treat pneumonia. Not necessarily, like maybe the dosage would have been different. Like right now, like we're back home from the hospital and we're on amoxicillin, but it's three times a day and like more aggressive.
00:28:20
Speaker
So, but because she had been resistant to those two rounds of antibiotics and still is down with pneumonia, they were like, we need to admit you because we need to make sure that she's responding to these antibiotics.
00:28:32
Speaker
Yeah. Um, and also while we were in the hospital, she had developed like a crazy hives rash all over her body and her diaper on her, on her like whole trunk of her body, her upper, up the side of her neck and face.
00:28:46
Speaker
Um, and so, yeah, we were admitted to the hospital, um and we spent a night there and, um, it was really,
00:28:58
Speaker
I don't know. It was definitely scary. I have a whole new respect for moms who have spent time in the hospital with their kids because that shit is so fucking hard to be out of your space. And to them, she had ah she was hooked up to a hand IV and ah blood oxygen monitor the whole time.
00:29:17
Speaker
So for her to sleep and nap with being hooked up to these things, they ended up having to put this like, they called it a home. Yeah. It was like a literally a dome over her hand so that she couldn't tug at her iv And I don't know. It was just, it was so hard. i told Vinny when, okay, because he relieved me on Monday and like let me come home and nap and rest for a little.
00:29:43
Speaker
And I told him the only way I could describe how I felt when leaving the hospital is like I had left Vegas. Like I didn't know what day it was. I didn't know what time it was. I'm nauseous.
00:29:55
Speaker
I haven't slept. Like I genuinely felt like I was leaving Las Vegas. Like I just was like so disoriented. Which if you're a listener from the beginning, the story of Candace and Shannon going to Vegas. Literally, that's how I felt. I'm not kidding. Yeah. Where they bought a sober living book after. Yeah.
00:30:17
Speaker
No, I did. was convinced I was going to be a sober person. I really did. um Yeah. i So that's the only way i could like describe how I felt.
00:30:29
Speaker
um Okay. So then on top of all of this, so Alice, my mom took Alice to take care of her. Alice is still like coming down from the stomach bug. She's doing much better. The days are fine, but she's puking every night at my mom's just at night, right before bed. It was like a thing.
00:30:46
Speaker
So while we're in the hospital, I wake up Monday morning in the hospital, haven't slept all night long, and I wake up and I am not feeling good. I'm feeling super nauseous. I've got the chills.
00:30:58
Speaker
I'm sweaty. ah Like, it was just, I was feeling shady. You're like, hey, um since I'm here, yeah can I get an IV too? No, literally.
00:31:09
Speaker
i was I was this close to being like, so... what do I need to do to get an IV for myself genuinely? um So i literally, I see the doctor. I'm just powering through while I'm there. I'm talking to the doctors.
00:31:24
Speaker
I haven't thrown up yet, but I'm like unwell. My mom and Alice get there to visit. Vinny comes finally to like meet me and relieve me. He's like, hey, let me go grab some food from the cafeteria and then I'll come back up and you can go.
00:31:38
Speaker
When he leaves to go to the cafeteria, i projectile vomit in the bathroom like and i empty my stomach like everything it was crazy but I felt so much better afterwards oh my god I felt so much better and I he got back up there and I was like yo I just puked my brains out like I gotta go so I came home showered and I slept for two hours and I felt a lot better after that but I still was like I definitely had the stomach bug yeah we go back we're getting discharged vinny's like i'm not feeling so great and i was like oh my fucking god so we get discharged with evie he's unwell in the parking garage evie's looking at him like are you okay dude like ah we just they just got me out of here like and he's anyways but yeah the stomach bug is like running through all of us while we get home and
00:32:31
Speaker
My mom, then we wake up Tuesday morning. My mom calls me who still has Alice and she's like, I'm unwell. I have the stomach bug. I have to go pick up Alice. We're now all at home back from the hospital.
00:32:44
Speaker
Evie's doing great. By the way, Evie's like back to her perky little self. We're on antibiotics three times a day, but she's fine. But the stomach bug is just like rampant in our house.
00:32:56
Speaker
It was just a crazy four days. And I i texted, voice noted Vinny. noted and vinny i voiced anded Whitney this morning and was like, I am a new person today. Like you do not appreciate health as much as the recovery day, the comeback day of the stomach bug.
00:33:17
Speaker
You're like, I'm so grateful to just feel better that it's like I could do anything today it's like that and then um when your nostril opens up from having a cold oh yeah and you're like oh my god I can breathe oh there's nothing better um but back to your story was telling Candace like You went from living in hell to going below that. Like, and I don't know how that happened, but like, I mean, the fact that you thought you had hand, foot and mouth, which is number one on my list for. Yeah. Fuck you. You got to post that.
00:33:54
Speaker
You got to post that photo you sent me of you and Graydon. Oh my God. It's so I sent Candice a photo when Graydon had it and was like day eight and I am like sobbing in the picture and Graydon's just like She looks the most unwell I've ever seen her in that photo. I was like, oh, damn.
00:34:13
Speaker
And I know you probably sent that to Shannon and I back when he had And i mean, that's probably why I took it. was like yeah this is how i'm doing over here and grayden looks horrible because he had sores all over him my dog had also bit his nose so his nose was bloody i mean it he looked ram like ratchet yeah yeah and so anyway i was like number one that's the worst thing ever to then have alice start puking which is number two on my list of four of horrible things to then finding out, oh, the nurse practitioner sent you home without any medication for Evie for two days. Like, yeah.
00:34:53
Speaker
Wow. Wow. wow That's a lot. It was a lot. I mean, looking back now, like I don't even have, I just am like so grateful to be out of it. And Evie is like a brand new baby. The fact like, I can't even tell you what two rounds of IV antibiotics did for her. Like I sent you a video yeah like of her literally,
00:35:13
Speaker
Six hours later, she was a new person. Well, I can't send a video. She's sitting like almost like crisscross applesauce or something then like on the bed. She has the smiley face fries, a plate of chicken nugs, right?
00:35:28
Speaker
And like was it fruit? all this like Yeah. It was sliced strawberries and sliced bananas. plethora. And the girl has... She had not eaten in days and she had lost over two pounds, which for a 20 pound baby, like is a lot of weight to lose. yeah And, um, so the fact that she was like, like they brought her that little dinner. Like I did not order that for her. They just brought it to her.
00:35:54
Speaker
I have never seen the girl so happy. She was like doing happy dances while she was eating her smiley face, French fries. Yeah. It was so Which, way, are such a throwback. I've never, so like i hadn't seen them, like, in person, like, since having kids. And I was like, what a cute little dinner for her.
00:36:12
Speaker
And she looks so content. I'm just happy to be home. We made it through. it was definitely a scary and very humbling 48 hours.
00:36:23
Speaker
um but I'm just happy to be through it. And I feel like we have checked every sickness box possible. In the past month, we've had ear infections. We've had ah sinus infections. We've had um cough.
00:36:39
Speaker
We've had what I thought was hand from mouth. I guess we haven't had that. So I guess that's still on the table for us at some point. and Which that one's fun because you can get it more than once. Yeah.
00:36:50
Speaker
Yeah. Sweet rock and titties on that one. hey Okay.
Family Trip to Key West
00:36:57
Speaker
Let's end this with a happy sandwich. Okay. Tell us about your Key West trip.
00:37:01
Speaker
Yeah. I'm so glad everyone's feeling better. We're on the, on your side. Okay. And you have Alice's party rescheduled. Can I say one more thing about that? It's just that was, and I said this in my Instagram stories, but this is just a reminder to trust your mom gut because I definitely felt like I was questioning the hand, foot and mouth diagnosis and I was just like...
00:37:23
Speaker
Something feels wrong and turns out something was really wrong and I'm happy because who knows how bad it could have been. Like I, I, another mom messaged me that she also had a missed pneumonia diagnosis and they ended up spending two weeks in the hospital. but all And the fact that we were only there for one night is like incredible. and And so I'm just grateful that I followed my mom gut. And this is your reminder that if you feel like something's off, it probably is. And you got to advocate for yourself for sure. You're basically a doctor. Remember how I tell you that all the time? I'm basically a doctor. Chris like chris always like is like not convinced that one of our kids has an ear infection, and I'm always convinced. And so when I take them in and they do, I'm like, I'm smarter than you.
00:38:14
Speaker
I'm better than you. this Actually, this is so funny because i i when this happened, I meant to screenshot it and send it to you. But one of the moms in my group, her son has scarlet fever.
00:38:25
Speaker
What? Did that that thing did you know that was a thing okay so she had sent us a picture of this like rash he had on his neck so she sent a picture and she was like oliver has scarlet fever lmfao and she she was like doesn't that feel like such an old-timey illness and then she said he's a frail maiden
00:38:50
Speaker
And that made me laugh. And that it just sounded like something you would laugh at or something you would say. And she was like, ah she was like, didn't, oh my God. it She was like, didn't Joe die in Little Women from Scarlet Fever?
00:39:04
Speaker
yeah It's like, it's a complication of strep. Did you know that? I didn't. No, I didn't. apparently he had strep throat and then it can turn into Scarlet Fever. Joe didn't die, wasn't it, Beth?
00:39:17
Speaker
Oh, I don't know. One of them. Whatever. or But that made me laugh. I was like, oh that's so funny. That was funny. um It's like that interview with Brittany Broski and one of the twins from Suite Life, Zach and Cody, whatever.
00:39:33
Speaker
She's like, what disease would you want now if you had to pick? And he's like, maybe tuberculosis. And he's like, you know, because like, it's not trendy anymore. So it's kind of niche and cool to have. so wow She's like really trendy having scarlet fever.
00:39:52
Speaker
No, literally. So different. So indie, you know?
00:39:57
Speaker
is Oh, no. Okay. Okay. Tell us about down south. Downtown. um So let me just say, like, my expectations for QS were on the floor.
00:40:13
Speaker
Like... They were low just because i had come off of a ski trip through with Graydon where he was kind of difficult. And I've gone to Key West probably 10 times in my life. And it I mean, anyone that's gone, anyone knows it is just a party town. It's basically Nashville on the beach. Like all there is to do there is drinking. There's no really beach you can go to There's sort of one, but it's like, eh.
00:40:43
Speaker
you know what i mean so yeah i was like what the fuck are we gonna do with yeah toddlers toddler and little kid um so i was just like okay well i told my mom like this is the last time i'm coming like because they're my child care if i am coming or chris can't come so i was like i don't think we're gonna come again like i'm gonna come and bring them whatever And it ended up being the best trip we've ever taken as a family.
00:41:12
Speaker
like i love that. It was so fun. i think just because our expectations were low, like they just had a blast. My parents' house had a pool. So like Graydon lived in it.
00:41:25
Speaker
Like the second we woke up, pool... um he just loved to love loved it um and margo was just happy being out there she'd get in sometimes but she was like we brought those little water balloons that you can refill like that open and close with a magnet and she would just sit on the side of the pool we'd fill it up she'd squeeze it roll it back fill it up squeeze it so like we just like did that and they were so down to bar hop and do that with the adults like we hit up sloppy joe's then we went to another bar and then we sat in another place and they were just eating french fries and snack club another club another club play oh my god they were so down and like everyone's so chill down there like they didn't care that like little kids were running around because i mean fuck there's chickens and roosters running around so yeah yeah yeah but the kids to know key west is like a weird place so like kids running around it's just like na whatever
00:42:17
Speaker
Yeah. and so they loved all the chickens. They loved all the roosters. Like Margo's new thing is cock-a-doodle-doo. Like she says it all the time now.
00:42:28
Speaker
um I love her She's so funny. it was just fabulous. And their um their house was also close to like a little splash pad. So we like would go there for an hour in the morning. amazing. Come home, jump in the pool.
00:42:44
Speaker
eat lunch they'd nap then we'd like go about our like we would get ready and then we'd just like go about our day and do so do stuff so man it was like easy freaking living down there they were so good they didn't fight it was just I was shocked and I was like wow unfortunately I'm gonna have to come back you're like mom remember how I said i was never coming back here mom I'm sorry I was wrong Oh, my God. I love that, though. i'm going to come next time, too. ah Yeah.
00:43:17
Speaker
Well, Candace has been with me before. You know how am. have. We had so much fun. um i love Key West, though. It's like a very interesting place. I feel like it's not what people would – if you don't know, it's not really what you would think.
00:43:31
Speaker
I think people think, like, you spend the day on the beach. But like you said, there's not really – No, everyone's like, oh, it's warm. Like, let's go to the beach. And it's like, no, that's not really, like, the vibe down here. it's, like, more artsy. and Yeah, very artsy, huge, like, LGBTQ scene. Yeah. um Lots, like I said, lots of bars, lots of good food. Like, so it's very, like...
00:43:57
Speaker
nashville on the freaking beach um thoughts of dutydity we took them out to yeah literally there's nude bars there we took them out to dinner every night and they were so good like we went to blue heaven oh my god i dream about that meal i'm not kidding It is the best meal. um It's like lobster or you can get like swordfish or whatever. And they put like corn and green beans in this huge. Corn. Your new veggie.
00:44:27
Speaker
Oh, corn. um And this huge cornbread that's filled with butter. yeah The way i I am a cornbread slut.
00:44:37
Speaker
I'm not kidding. It's a slice of cake type cornbread. Whew. I want that. Wow. And that's how you know I'm coming off the the ah stomach butt because I have barely eaten in three days and I'm fucking starving right now. Like the way i would murder you for some cornbread right now, like bye.
00:44:54
Speaker
ah it was so good. And then like, so Blue Heaven's like a little outdoor restaurant and they let chickens and stuff run around in there, but it's enclosed. It's super beautiful. Like it's called Blue Heaven because like it's like a heaven on earth situation. Like there's a little bar, tiki bar in there. There's sand. So Graydon made bestie, a two and a half year old bestie boy.
00:45:17
Speaker
yeah They played, played in the sand the entire dinner. And then he came and ate his grilled cheese and went back to playing. It was, I swear to God, the most pleasant dinner I've had in my life.
00:45:28
Speaker
I had like two Cosmos. I was living, living. See, I mean, like, that's the, that's the key. I've started to learn. I've said this to you recently.
00:45:40
Speaker
I'm starting to learn that the hack is that the only dinners and the only outings that are actually pleasant are the ones who have kids around the same age because the kids play together and they're just, they're keeping each other busy and the adults can actually connect.
00:45:53
Speaker
Yeah. And you need like a, an activity like, and then the next night we went to a place that was on the beach. It's like one of the only places you can eat on the beach. He just, we gave him these like toy sharks and he just buried them in the sand and played with Addy. Cause my brother's family came in the next day and Addy played with him on the beach the whole time.
00:46:13
Speaker
I was like, so nice. Yeah. And Margot was like a hungry queen. She ate calamari, Candice. Oh my god. Her palate. Wild. Literally. Absolutely never. She's going to try corn it at age. She's eating it she's She eats anything. like We got calamari delivered table and she's like yo, let me get one. And we were like, okay.
00:46:37
Speaker
She ate 15 of them. I was like, this girl. It was so funny. yeah Wow. I want Calamari now. Like you' you're making me so hungry. can't wait to eat.
00:46:48
Speaker
I'm already thinking like, what am I going to order for lunch? But yeah, so fun. So fabulous. I remember last year when I went by myself because I think Margo was like five months. I was like five months postpartum.
00:47:01
Speaker
And I last minute went down there because I was like, I just want a break. Like, man let me do this. So I went down there by myself and I remember...
00:47:13
Speaker
Elena was like, or Alina, God, I swear to God, I do that every time. Yeah. Every time um told me, um my God, it's so kid friendly down there. And I was thinking, hell no, would I ever bring my kids here?
00:47:27
Speaker
Yeah. I didn't like realize like she had probably taken her older children. And so I get it now. Okay. So this is good information for me as a Floridian because we are always looking for someplace to go. That's like, I mean, Key West is kind of far, obviously still from us, but like, it's a quick, short flight.
00:47:47
Speaker
I'm like, Oh, I mean, yeah. I would probably wait till Evie is like another, i guess she's one. i mean, so I don't know. thinking I'm like, she'll be fine. Like, yeah, she loves to walk around and play. And I'm starting to see the start of her and Alice really playing together.
00:48:07
Speaker
Like she's at that age now where like if you ask her to bring you something, she'll bring it and yeah she can follow directions, you know, and I'm like starting to see the roots of that. And I was like, hell yeah, guys.
00:48:19
Speaker
I like I like what I'm seeing. Yeah, it's it's fun when they finally start playing and then they. fight but it's fine there's there's happy moments in there but like I'm just so happy that your trip was amazing it was so good and you know highs and lows but it was definitely like the I'm not kidding best trip I've had and I mean I have to chalk that up to like going with my parents too like it was four versus two and then having my brother's family come as well who also then played with a well my kids I was like yeah
00:48:56
Speaker
Wow.
Reflections and Personal Growth
00:48:57
Speaker
That is – was goals. It was so fun. It was really great. That's nice. I do want to say, like, yesterday I posted a little, like, carousel of just, like, things that happened in March because it was so easy for me to be like, oh, my God, March was a hard month. Like, when really, like, we had – a couple of hard days in March, but I looked back and I was like, wow, we actually did have so many fun things. Like Vinny and I went to that like race day in St. Pete and like, Oh yeah. We, we celebrated Shannon's birthday with her parents and sister. And like, um, um,
00:49:34
Speaker
I don't know. We did so many and we had great times and like we're getting more settled in this house and like it's not all bad. And sometimes like, again, social media is like can be used for bad, but it was one of those moments where I was like, wow, creating this little post is really good for my mental health and is making me like remember that even though March may have like ended kind of bad, like for the most part, it was such a good month.
00:50:01
Speaker
And you're on the up and up. We're on the up and up. We got this. April's our bitch. April is the new January. so i'm Start over.
00:50:12
Speaker
We're here. What's your news resolution? This is Q1. Q1. Springtime resolution.
00:50:22
Speaker
Also, I'm so skinny, you guys. Hi! You groundhog too close to the sun, bitch. I just, um you know, ah you know that post stomach bug skinny feeling. That's how I'm feeling today. I'm like, I am so skinny. That's silver lining, girl.
00:50:39
Speaker
I got it. You got to look for it always. But like, no, for real, my jaw, I've been looking at my jawline in this recording and I'm like, this jawline right here was not here five days ago. Candice, we're making moves, okay? Yeah.
00:50:53
Speaker
We're doing it. We committed and we're doing it. Actually, one of my things on my to-do list like today and tomorrow is to place some bathing suit orders because I have Hannah's Bachelorette.
00:51:05
Speaker
I need to be in a bathing suit. I have lots of bathing suit things coming up. So... Oh, let me say one more thing, too, about that. This was the first time in a while that I wanted to take pictures with my family because I've lost weight.
00:51:19
Speaker
so That was like a huge win. Did I not text you and I was like, Whitney, you can really tell. You looked so good in the photos. Guys, I've lost 18 pounds, though. You look good all the time. Oh!
00:51:33
Speaker
and So I needed it and I feel so happy and I felt so much better like on our vacation. And like I said, I wanted to take pictures with my family and my kids, which I haven't in a while because I like to hide behind the camera.
00:51:47
Speaker
And it was just so nice s to like... not be appalled at what I was seeing. Yeah. And not put me in a bad mood. You know what I mean? Like literally the best feeling.
00:51:58
Speaker
Not kidding. So I'm happy. Yeah. Amazing. You're killing it. We're going to keep killing it. And yeah, I love you.
00:52:10
Speaker
I love you so much. Thank you so much for being a part of our mom group chat. New episodes drop every Tuesday. And don't forget, the group chat is blowing up on our Instagram page. So make sure you're following along over there.
00:52:22
Speaker
All right, gotta go. My toddler just put something in her mouth.