'Tis the Season

Happy Holidays everyone! We hope this blog entry finds you and your loved ones happy and healthy. 'Tis the Season for visiting with family and friends, indulging in scrumptious foods, having fun, shopping, etc. 'Tis also the season for germs and viruses. Yes, Keira was hit with a MAJOR bug of some sort. She kept Mark and me hopping the past couple of weeks. This is the first time I've been able to find time to catch up on our blog.

My abilities and patience as a parent were put to the test the past 14, yes 14 days!! From vomit down my shirt to a direct hit with liquid diarrhea, I've definitely completed my round of hazing for parents! It was a bit scary at times since she was walking the line of dehydration. Fortunately, things have turned around. She's still got the runs, but the vomiting has ceased and she's taking down her usual amount of formula. She lost a little weight, but seems to have regained it nicely. Unfortunately for Mark and me, her sleep routine is now erratic. We had just gotten over the hump of needing to feed her in the middle of the night and were looking forward to getting a full night's sleep when the bug hit. Since then we've been getting up with her every 2-3 hours. Sometimes she's crying for no apparent reason, but half the time it's because she's pooped her pants and wants to be changed. We'll have to work on the sleeping thing all over again. I'm not looking forward to that.

Here are a couple of photos from Keira's visit with her friend, Sam. They took to each other right away and had a good time.

I love this photo. Keira's teacher, Miss Laura, put her in the basket with all the stuffed toys. As you can see, she enjoyed it very much. Can you find her among the toys?

Miss Laura caught Keira napping on the floor. She tired herself out from scooting all over the place and fell asleep!

Here's Keira working on her first finger painting. She didn't know what to make of the cold, slimy paint at first, but once she got the hang of it, she loved it!

For one reason or another this holiday has been tougher than I thought it would be. I feel the loss of my Mom more now than I have in a long time. Perhaps it's knowing she won't be here for Keira's 1st Christmas or perhaps it's just because she's not here period. I guess I'm still grieving because my emotions have overwhelmed and snuck up on me at the most unsuspecting times, particularly over the past month. For someone who likes to be in control, it's hard to deal with.

My Mom's 51st birthday would've been last Tuesday. My family and I went to the cemetery to pay our respects and to celebrate her life. I'm fortunate my family is so close to me. I don't know what I'd do without them.

On top of it all, we got word that my uncle, my Mom's brother, passed away from cancer. While I didn't know him well and only met him once when my family traveled to Vietnam, I still feel the loss and pain for my Mom's family. They have buried 4 members of their family in less than 2 years. That seems to be a ridiculous amount of loss for one family to bear. My heart goes out to his family and my relatives.

The good news in our lives, however, is that our friends have welcomed two new babies into the world. Congrats to Raj, Andrea and Ajay for welcoming their baby boy, Avishan, into the world! He shares my Mom's birthday on Dec 11. It's a day I won't ever forget. And, congrats to Jose, Amy, and Nico for welcoming their baby girl, Portia, into the world! She shares a birthday with my aunt on Dec 12. There's another birthday I'll never forget...And, of course, Mark and I are blessed with our little girl who amazes us more and more every day. Despite the hardships, we truly are blessed in our lives.