So Far 2012 Blows

The New Year in our household has not started off very well between some of us getting sick and none of us getting any sleep; we're all a little worse for the wear.

So, to begin with Marcus and I went on a date night the first weekend of January.  This is such a rare occurrence the last time we went out alone was for our anniversary in August.  Anyway, we went to the movies which we never do, in fact I think the last movie we saw in the theater was Avatar though I'm probably exaggerating.  We saw Mission Impossible:  Ghost Protocol which was entertaining and less than two hours so my ADD never fully kicked in.  After the movie we went to a local Japanese steakhouse for dinner.  Now, bare with me because I still can't think about this place without feeling just a tab bit nauseous because, you see, I went outside of my box that night and ordered the shrimp and chicken entree.  I never eat shrimp.  I don't even like shrimp that much.  But for some reason, that night I wanted shrimp.  The next morning it was verified why I don't go outside of my box and that's because I woke up with a moderate case of food poisoning.  For four straight days I consumed maybe 300 calories total.  Poor Marcus tried so hard to get me to eat and drink (all while trying to make sure Alex was taken care of) but I couldn't.  I just couldn't.  It was a very strange feeling to have food put in front of me and to try so hard to eat it but not be able to.  Everything I put in my body, even water, hurt my stomach and made me feel even more sick.  Finally, after four full days I felt the first pangs of hunger and I knew I was on the mend.  While it's not a doctor recommended diet I'm pretty sure I lost about 5 pounds during that ordeal so that's a plus?

So that was me.  Now, this past week, Alex has been sick though I'm beginning to suspect she was playing hooky.  At the end of the day on Monday we received a call from her daycare saying she had a fever.  When we picked her up she was clearly uncomfortable so we took her home, got her comfy and watched for any signs of serious illness which never appeared in any other form other than a fever.  Unfortunately, Alex's daycare has a rule that the kiddos have to be 24 hours fever free and unfortunately she spent all of Tuesday with a fever so she was home with mamma for two whole days.  So, back to the story.  On Tuesday she slept for most of the day and when she was awake I essentially forced her to drink a gallon in fluids.  I even let her sit on the couch, surrounded by her stuffed animals, and watch TV with me (currently our plans are to exclude any and all TV from her until she's 2...but I made an exception this time because I wanted her to sit still and rest).  The most excitement we had that day was when we started dropping her stuffed animals into her wagon from the couch which she found to be particularly hilarious.  I wish I could see things in life with as much enthusiasm as she does.  Alas, I suppose that's the curse of being an adult.

So, we're all now feeling better but we have one thing that is driving all three of us crazy, although I guarantee you it's driving Marcus and me more crazy, and that is Alex's non-sleeping.  It was right around Christmas that Alex decided sleeping was for the birds and started waking at least twice a night.  Last weekend, and at my wits end from a lack of sleep, I played hardball with her which finally ended around 2:00 in the morning with a whimpering baby and a drained mamma.  However, she slept through the night the next two nights so whatever I did worked.  That was short-lived though because now, and I'm assuming it's due to her fever, she's back to her old habits and this time it's not as easy to play hardball when we're concerned she's truly sick.  Monday night was rough as she woke up on at least three different occasions but the worst night was Tuesday when she woke-up every hour and a half, crying so hard I'm sure our neighbors heard.  Every time she woke up Marcus and I would take turns trying to assess the situation:  Is she hot?  Cold?  Worried about paying the bills?  Hungry?  Dirty diaper?  Stressed about her big presentation to the corporate office?  Gassy?  Teething?  Wondering who will win this year's Presidential election?  Every time we assessed the situation we came back empty handed, not knowing what was going on and feeling like parental failures (both of us) and somewhat murderous (that one is totally me...I really gotta work on controlling my stress), we would finally get her back to sleep only to go through the cycle all over again.  Sitting here today I still have no clue what was going on and, despite my recent musings over what life used to be like pre-kiddo, there is no doubt in mind that life post-kiddo is definitely better despite a lack of sleep.  Of course, these are not my same sentiments at 11 PM (we're boring, we got to bed at 10 PM), 12:30 AM, 2 AM, 3:30 AM, or 5 AM but after the day has worn on and the memories of the previous night have faded all I can think about is her beautiful face and how much I love her.  Plus, it's hard to stay mad at someone as cute as this: