Recovery Time

I'm going to start with some additional pictures from Florida. I brought my camera with me and was taking pictures of Mira in the water when I obviously did not secure it well enough and it fell into the water. Just in case anyone was wondering, sea water kills cameras pretty much instantly. Sadly it's beyond repair. I'm really upset at myself for that. But a few days ago I decided I should see if, by any chance, the memory card had survived and guess what - it had!! So here are a few more shots of Mira, in which you will notice she becomes progressively wetter and wetter.

 And some pictures of Jacksonville Beach, and a couple pictures I got from Mark's phone.

Once we got back to Utah a few things happened. The first is that Mira has pretty much given up napping. Mega boo. The weird thing is even though she's been so used to naps she's still in a fairly good mood by the end of the day. I might push her bedtime forward a little just for my sanity some days though. She'll still nap a couple times a week but she's basically done. Watch out world, my afternoons just opened up!

The next thing that happened is we all had our turn getting sick. It started with Mark right about the time we got back with some nasty respiratory virus (which he's still battling, so even though I'm a nurse and not allowed to diagnose health problems I think his cold turned into bronchitis and he's also suffering from a case of male stubbornness). The next week it was my turn. Luckily our census is low at work so it was actually easy to get a day off without using a sick day. And even though we had our fingers crossed that Mira wouldn't be next, it was her turn too. We were at one of Mark's hockey games when I noticed she wasn't feeling well. She fell asleep in the middle of the game and I could feel her poor little body burning up through her clothes. I managed to get a few pictures of Mark before the game but I think from now on if I want to actually watch Mark play hockey I'm leaving Mira with someone else. We went to another game last week and I spent so much time chasing Mira I didn't get to see the game.

Too bad the shots are blurry. I should have brought my camera... oh, right.

The next day was Thanksgiving. I had been planning on taking Mira to my sister's for dinner with the family but when she decided halfway through the day that all she wanted to do was cuddle with me on the couch (not complaining about that but it's not normal for her to sit still) and her temperature was 104.1, our plans changed. Her temp was probably actually higher than that, since all we have is an oral thermometer and we couldn't get her to put the probe under her tongue, so her temperature with the probe just sitting in her mouth was 104.1. And of course we were out of children's Motrin so I had to run out and buy some. Normally I refuse to purchase anything on Thanksgiving or the day after, just on principle, but clearly I had to make an exception. Luckily her temp came down 6 degrees after Motrin (yikes) and I decided I was very thankful that I have access to medication on a holiday. My family understood why we weren't coming over (we had had Thanksgiving dinner with Mark's family the previous weekend so at least we got some turkey) and we spent the day on the couch.

I did end up taking Mira to the InstaCare once she was on day 5 of 100+ degree fevers and she developed a really nasty cough, but mostly because Mark was freaking out and really worried about her. My nurse brain was telling me that she could still be managed at home (good color, making wet diapers, no stridor or increased work of breathing, in no apparent distress) but I still took her in. She was diagnosed with croup, given a dose of steroids and a popsicle (she's going to love going to see doctors now), and we were sent on our way. And besides a little bit of a cough she's definitely over being sick. Yesterday she was upset about something and almost gave Mark a concussion with a puzzle piece. Okay that was an exaggeration, but she did chuck a puzzle piece at Mark's head and we're not really sure why. Good thing she was contrite after her time out.

The other thing that's happened is winter. And highs in the 20s. Which means lows in the single digits. But it came with some snow, which Mira was very excited about. She kept begging me to take her outside when it was like 16 degrees but she did have fun in the snow. We definitely gave her an appropriate middle name after all.

I showed her how to make a snow angel.

 And what better way to finish off than with a mug of hot chocolate?

A few days ago I took Mira to my mom's for a belated Hanukkah celebration. We missed the actual holiday because Mira was still sick. Mira got a few presents from her grandma, which she loved, of course.

On the way to Grandma's house.

Then we rode the new streetcar that goes through Sugarhouse. Mira was so excited to ride a "choo choo" and kept making references to the train we had ridden in St. Augustine. This girl loves trains!

And finally here are a bunch of random pictures.

Hanging out with Daddy waiting for Mommy to get home from work.

Grumpy face because I told her she couldn't sit on the coffee table.

Washing the dishes - or just playing in the water.

Taking her doll on a walk (before it snowed, obviously).

Disclaimer: she chose her outfit.

Wearing Mommy's glasses.

Eating one of her favorite snacks, nori.

"Smile!"

This was while she was sick, hence the binkie.

The last exciting bit of news is that Mark's daughter Jintelle has moved back to Utah with her boyfriend for awhile! So to celebrate we took them out to eat at out favorite Japanese restaurant. Actually it's the only Japanese restaurant for miles but they do have really good food, even if it's a bit Americanized. We took the occasion to order the chef's choice sashimi platter. Whoever says Japanese food is not an art form is deranged, to say the least.

 Impressive, right? And really good too.

Hope everyone is having a relatively stress-free and healthy holiday season!