"Death Warmed Over"

Wow, what a weekend. We caught what Ava had last week. Some sort of stomach bug. I have no idea where it came from, because we don't know anyone that is sick???

Friday night I had a conference call at 11 pm for work... Before the call I started to feel semi-icky. I ended-up throwing up while on the call. (Thank goodness for mute buttons). The call lasted an hour and a half... Doug caught the "bug" later that night, so we were both feeling miserable. Up every hour.

Friends have previously warned us about how tough it is when both parents are sick and a little one must still be watched. Little did I know how rough it would actually be! I haven't been sick like this in years (if ever). I didn't even have enough energy to be in the floor with Ava for part of the time. Fortunately Doug felt okay enough to watch her when I couldn't, and vice versa. She was an angel for cooperating while we were sick. Fortunately, I think she getting better after being sick earlier this week.

Doug slept six hours during the day on Saturday. I slept about the same! When I checked on him I had to make sure he was breathing, he looked that sick. We were absolutely wiped out. Pretty bad when drinking water causes you to get sick...

Our weekend, needless to say, was uneventful. We were able to put the tree up Sunday afternoon and get some Christmas decorations out. And that was no small feat, but I guess you'd say it made us appreciate it even more. Ava LOVES looking at the tree. She smiles and gets excited each time she sees it. We've pointed to pictures of Santa and tell her that "Santa says 'ho ho ho'." She is now able to say "ho ho ho", (and rock forward and backward) when we say it! When we introduced her to Santa today (a stuffed animal), she grabbed him and kissed his face over and over again. It was cute.

I am so happy we're getting to show Ava the fun things that go along with the holidays. If it was possible to listen to Christmas music year-round, I'm ashamed to say I probably would! It doesn't seem right to play Christmas music on the radio before Thanksgiving, but... There's just something special about holiday music that reminds me of good times at Christmas with family and friends.

I tried my hand at the first batch of holiday cookies: peppermint cookies in the shape of candy canes. Doug took them into work today. So, we're officially in the Christmas spirit, now!

Wishing you the happiest of Decembers yet!

With love,
Shelly, Doug and Ava