Sick and Tired

Its been a while since I've blogged, which I guess is really nothing new.  I think the two words which would encompass our January would be "sick" and "tired," and, frankly, I'm sick and tired of both.  It started on December 30th.  We had both worked a long couple of weeks right around the Holidays, and we were ready for our little escape up north with the Fezzeys to celebrate the New Year.  This was also our last opportunity to get away before the new baby came.  I got home from work and put the final touches on all the food I had prepared to go up north (cookie dough, pizza dough, hummus...the essentials).  Dave packed the car to the brim including strapping things on the roof.  We were finally ready to hit the road, so we went to get Isla up from her nap.  She was covered in puke and burning up.  Needless to say, we didn't go up North.

About a week later, Dave got some nasty upper respiratory virus which we all passed around for a few weeks.  Our heat was on the fritz during that time too.  Fortunately, we have the GREATEST neighbors in the whole world who also happen to be in the heating and cooling business.  It was chilly for a few days, but about 48 hours later, we were up and running, free of charge.  Thank you Jesus (and Lynn)!  I've got 4 weeks to go until this new little bundle comes to join our family.  How do I feel?  Chubby, tired, and swollen.  Other than that, top of the world :)

Right about the time we were all fighting the respiratory virus, Isla started climbing out of her crib.  Not ideal timing.  Thank goodness we know someone in the mattress biz who got us some twin mattresses on the fly.  After hurting herself a few times, Isla resigned to staying in the crib (for now).  We were pretty happy about that because neither of us has felt up to preparing her new room.  So what happened to the mattresses?  Dave put them on the stairway and Isla used them as a slide...isn't that what everybody does?  They are now in her play room.   But, if you are in the area and need a place to sleep we have 4 unutilized (but awesome) mattresses at any given time.  Also available, the flu.

This past Wednesday, Dave started feeling crumby again.  I had an extremely long day at work and by the time I got home my feet looked like sausages.  I was so looking forward to a really relaxing, yet productive weekend.  2 days later, Dave was feeling no better and Isla woke up coughing with a fever.  So we took a family trip to Urgent Care this morning.

Our two patients reading together in the waiting room

 Dave was a bit dehydrated and Isla's fever was up to 102 by the time we got there.

They put us in the "procedure room" and did a bunch of tests.

Isla was a champ through a throat swab, toe prick and chest X-ray and even earned herself a ball.  They both have the flu and Isla has a touch of bronchitis (nothing a little bubble gum medicine won't fix).  I got a flu shot at the insistence of my OB.  Wahoo for me!  I just get to be the one doing endless loads of laundry and disinfecting the house in preparation for a newborn (but I'd rather do that than have no appetite and a fever.)  We promise not to come visit anyone for at least 3 days.  Next year, EVERYONE IS GETTING A FLU SHOT, and we urge you to do the same.  Happy Saturday!

A few December Highlights

 The 1st finding of the pickle hidden in the tree.

Well done Mark.  The girls will appreciate it more next year I'm sure.

 Timmy's 2nd Birthday.

A great time at the Goldfish Swim Club.

 I think we've sang him the Happy Happy Birthday song 200 times.

 A rip-roarin good time with great friends.

Talking and laughing...

hysterically.  

 Baking cookies with Grandma Jan.

 She might have licked her fingers after each cookie she helped with.

Can you blame her?  They had peanut butter cups in them.

Dave has been on a smoothie kick lately.  One of my dad's friends is letting us borrow their awesome blender.  Dave, who previously was known for only eating a limited amount of items and no vegetables, now daily consumes 2 smoothies complete with veggies like spinach and kale, all sorts of fruit, sprouted flax seed and aloe vera oil.  Miracles do happen.

A Real Nice Time

The last time Dave and I went on a vacation was when I was still pregnant with Isla.  So we figured, what the heck, I'm pregnant again, let's go on vacation.  It also helped that my mom blessed us with her timeshare, so we could go without having to sell anything.  

We headed to Pompano Beach, Florida with a few of our besties, the DeKornes.  We flew into Ft. Lauderdale at about 11pm.  Because our flight was a little late, the car rental place cancelled our reservation.  Seriously.  Aren't planes late all the time.  Thank goodness for Mark.  He landed us a sweet minivan around 1am.  We arrived at our accommodations a little after 2 am (there may have been a brief stop at Taco Bell...obviously, I did not participate.)  I was thirsty, shocking, but the water was a little weird for my taste.  So Dave and I headed to WalMart and got a few things.  I think we made it to bed by about 4am.  A few hours later we woke up and got pedicures.

 We celebrated by putting our toes in the water.

That was pretty much as far as Heidi and I got into the pool.

We needed sun more than anything.

 That night we drove down to Miami to see our buddy Laz.

His cute wife, Maria, is pregnant with their first baby.

The child is bound to be an amazing public speaker and athlete.

 The next night, we went and had dinner at this great little place by the beach.

 Steamed mussels.  Delish.

 We woke up the next morning at 5 a.m. to make the 4 hour car ride to Key West.

It was our first time to Key West.  Dave was so excited he could barely sleep.

He provided storytelling accompanied by Jimmy Buffett music the whole way down.

 We stopped in Islamorada and picked up a few of these buoys.

We have them hanging at various places in our house.

For those of you who thought they were a temporary Christmas decoration, you were mistaken.

 During one of our stops, Mark left his phone on the roof of the car.

You can imagine what happened when we got back on the road.

He got a new phone, free of charge, the next day.

You know, manufacturing defect.

 At last we had arrived at the original Margaritaville, Key West.

 We ate at this place called Caroline's Cafe.

I love this picture of Dave because this is pretty much how happy he was the whole time we were there.

 This is us at the beach.

Toes in the water, toes in the sand....in Key West!

I've spared you all of the pictures of me in a bathing suit while pregnant.

Be grateful.

 Seriously, is Dave a hot dude or what?

 Sunset in Mallory Square.

Pardon my multiple chins.

 After sunset, we went down to Capt. Tony's.

Everyone had some Pirate's Punch.

Everyone except me of course, I drove most of the way home.

 You can imagine all the fun we had together.

It was a real nice time.  With some real nice people.

Hope to do it again soon (and perhaps while neither me nor Heidi is pregnant).

Giving Thanks

You may be thinking to yourself, that's a great title, but seems more suitable for Thanksgiving.  Well that's about the last time I posted.  So yep, these are just a few pics from Thanksgiving.  I've been terrible about taking pictures lately.  Here's what's not pictured in this post: 1) The amazing Thanksgiving dinner that Jan prepared. 2) The efforts it took to remove the make-up from the clown. 3) Our trip to Frankenmuth with the Yatooma, Geha, Mitzel, Mayer, VanderLaan....you get the picture, Crew. 4) Mitzel Thanksgiving that occurred the week before (that's right, we celebrate 3 times).  What is pictured?  Isla's cuteness.

Her cute little Elmo hoodie from Grandma Jan

 My mom is very proud to be in the Designated Clown Corps at the Annual Detroit Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Every year she PAYS to get up at the crack of dawn and hands out thousands of beads to onlookers.  She wanted Isla to see her in full costume.  They exchanged a few beads and a bump.  The next hour was spent trying to remove the make-up.

 Thankfully, Isla likes baby dolls.  When she puts them to bed, its more like just throwing them on the ground.  We are hoping she's a bit more gentle with her new sibling.

 Checkin out the adds for Black Friday.

I don't think either of them actually ventured out to shop.

The traditional food coma after the amazing meal.

We really are grateful for so much.

Jesus's many blessings, a wonderful family, the best friends anyone could ask for and health.

Next year I'll try to post during the same year.