First, Hallie got sick. It was February 10th, the day of the much anticipated FCC Memphis Chinese New Year party, which we missed. Hallie woke up that morning with a fever and with her history of febrile seizures, we immediately started to worry. We ended up taking her to the doctor that morning and she had a viral infection which did eventually lead to an ear infection. She ran a fever for a few days (we successfully kept it from ever getting over 102 degrees). She stayed home for three days, which means Brett and I stayed home off and on for three days. We celebrated Chinese New Year at home by reading a new book I bought for Hallie about the Chinese holiday and eating lo mein.
By that Friday, I started to feel horrible. I knew this would happen. It was inevitable. It started with a cough and fatigue. I think I ran a fever for a few days, too. I slept as much as I could all weekend and Brett really helped out. I had Monday the 19th off for President's Day, but because I missed so much work the week before and I was faced with a huge project, I went in for most of the day. I finally went to the doctor on Thursday because I was so congested. I got some antibiotics, went back to work, then picked up my mom at the airport that night. She came to stay with us for a week so I could travel to Nashville for that big project I mentioned earlier. I worked on it all the following weekend then went to Nashville for two days. I finally started to feel better the day we left.
It was really great to have my mom here all week, although I was so busy with work, I didn't have much time to spend with her. Hallie had so much fun playing with Grandma, though. I kept her out of school all week. It is really important to me that she gets to bond with her grandparents, none of whom she sees very often.
We took my mom to the airport last Friday, then loaded up the car and drove to Brett's sister's house in St. Charles, Missouri to prepare for his mom's surprise 80th birthday party Saturday night in Vandalia, Illinois. Bonnie was completely surprised. We walked out of church after 5:00 Mass and this huge group of family and friends yelled "Happy Birthday!" Brett's nephews and one of his sisters entertained everyone with music. It was a very nice party. Hallie had a great time, too. But, were we ever tired on the way back to Memphis Sunday.
This past Monday, Hallie "moved up" to the next class at her daycare. It's for early 3-year-olds and Hallie (who won't turn 3 until April 28th) is the youngest in the class. At FLICC, they move children into older classes as they are ready. The director thought it was time for Hallie to move up. I was very sad as I absolutely adore her Miss Sandra and Miss Maricela. But, she still has breakfast with them and her new class, "The Little Frogs," shares the playground twice a day with Los Ositos ("The Little Bears"). Her new teacher, Miss Lorena, is very nice, too. She has a daughter who also attends the daycare. Hallie seems to love her new class, as the past three nights when I've come to pick her up, she doesn't want to leave. Today, she had a barrette in her hair. When I asked her who put the pretty there, she said "Miss Lorena." FLICC is such a great place. And Hallie is really speaking a lot of Spanish. She knows all of her colors in English and Spanish. She can count to ten in Spanish without blinking an eye. We plan to keep her at FLICC as possible. We may not send her to Pre-K, as I don't really think she will benefit any more from it.
Well, that should get you up to speed on our lives. Three weekends in a row of sickness, mixed in with a lot of work at the office (for both me and Brett). But Hallie was able to spend some good, quality time with both of her grandmothers.
I think March will be better, if we can all stay healthy!
Oh, one more thing...I booked our Disney cruise for next January! We're taking it after running the Disney Family 5K at Animal Kingdom and watching (we're not that crazy) Brett's nephew run in the Disney Marathon. Brett and I went on our first Disney cruise in June 2004, right after we started to paperchase for Hallie. It will be so great to have her with us on the next cruise! Just ten months away from Florida and a Bahamian island adventure. In the words of Jimmy... "I gotta go where it's warm!"
