The Most Wonderful Time of the Year?

As I've talked to family and friends, and caught up on every one's holiday blog posts, it seems the common theme this year was that everyone had their 'best Christmas ever' well, sadly, this was just not the case for us...

I mentioned before that the Sunday before Christmas Sequoia came down with a fever, which is very uncommon for her.  Sunday and Monday she really wasn't herself and I knew she didn't feel well.  We did our best to keep her little spirit up for Christmas but things went downhill pretty quick.  Dillon went to his mom's house on Christmas Eve but Quoia just wasn't up to it.  I stayed home with her and finished a few last minute things.  When Dillon came home we got her ready for bed and Dillon took her outside to spread the 'reindeer food' on the lawn that she had made at school, and then it was off to bed. 

Christmas Morning Sequoia slept in, which is pretty typical for her.  When she came in our room she still wasn't herself and we had to tell her Santa had came and kind of get her excited about things.  She was still running a fever and still had snot and a wicked cough.  She did her best to open her presents and be happy but it was obvious, and still is in these pics, that she didn't feel good :(

 

 

 

Sequoia was funny this year about what she wanted.  There was nothing really particular on her list and in years past I've bought too much stuff just to buy stuff and I really didn't want to do that again.  This kid has everything!  A few months ago she was playing at a friends house and was obsessed with his little camera.  She loves to steal our phones and take pictures and videos so I figured that would be perfect!  We also got her some Minnie Mouse ears and some Disney stuff with a note that said we're going to Disneyland!  She was thrilled but got just as excited about the random lip gloss and jewelry that she got.  My girl is easy to please for sure!

Dillon, on the other hand, is always hard to shop for. I hit a home run this year though.  My man has been wanting an assault rifle forever.  I finally broke down and got him one.  I had a feeling I should get it early in case I had to special order it.  Well, long story short I bought it the week before the Sandy Hook Shooting and it has now nearly doubled in price if you can even find one!  I'll admit it's beautiful.  We both can't wait to shoot it! 

Santa didn't forget about me either.  One of my favorite gifts though was from my favorite lady.  Quoia and her little class made their parents a 'cookbook' which included each child's favorite recipe and the child's instructions on how to make it.  Most kids submitted cakes and candy but my girl submitted the following:

She even made it sound like I cook or something!  What a sweetheart!

Our puppies also participated in Christmas Morning Festivities.

After we opened all our presents, Dillon's mom and step-dad came over since we missed them the night before.  They brought Quoia probably her favorite present of the day and she literally wears it every. single. day.  

Quoia seemed to be doing a little better, and I was NOT going to miss the skype call from my little hermana, so we headed over to my parents house.  

AWE!  My fav part of the day!!! It was so good to see her and she wasn't like a weird missionary or anything so I was even more stoked!  I think I took the majority of her call time, but she likes me the most so its fine! I can't wait for next Christmas when she'll be home!!!

We opened some of the present at my parents and then sat down to Christmas dinner.  While I was talking to Emily I could tell Sequoia wasn't feeling well again.  As we sat down to dinner it just got worse.  She ended up puking all over at dinner so we loaded her up and headed home.  She just wasn't ready to go out I guess.  When we got home we couldn't even get her to the couch to watch one of her new movies.  She literally just wanted to lay in bed.  It was so sad!

 (Side note: my parents got sick after we did and we just opened presents with them on January 11, 2013, the first time everyone was healthy enough. Crazy!)

Quoia rested all day.  She didn't even play with her new toys or anything.  Christmas night Grandpa Story stopped by since we didn't dare go to his house for breakfast like we had planned since Quoia's little cousins and Great Grandma Story were there and we didn't want to risk getting them sick.  Quoia was so happy to see him but passed out right after he left.  It was a long day for her!

I had to work the day after Christmas.  Dillon was supposed to as well but planned on taking the day off to take care of Sequoia since we didn't want to send her to the babysitter.  She wasn't doing any better when I left for work so I called the pediatrician to see if they could see her that day.  They said they could and I headed off to work.  Dillon called me about five minutes before he was supposed to take Quoia to the doctor and said he had been so sick since I left that morning he hadn't even been able to get out of the bathroom long enough to get Sequoia ready to go.  It was also a blizzard on this particular day and I knew there was no way they were going to make it to the doctors.  I again called them and asked if we could come later since I knew Quoia needed to be seen.  Luckily I was able to leave work and get her to the doctor.  Unfortunately the doctor said it was viral and there was not much we could do.  He also said Dillon's symptoms sounded different than what Quoia had and she would probably get that next.  Awesome.  He told me of a few over the counter meds that were good and sent us on our way.   

I stopped at the store on my way home and this is what the next five days looked like for us:

I did as much work from home as I could, as Dillon was too sick to care for himself let alone Quoia.  We didn't dare go anywhere or see anyone for fear of sharing our germs.  I was lucky and didn't get more than a slight cold.  But I've never seen Dillon or Sequoia so sick!  They were down and out!  We cancelled all our plans, both our moms stocked us with soup and we holed up inside for days.  It was awful.  I don't handle germs, barf, or snot well and it seemed to linger forever.  On New Years Eve the three of us watched a movie in our bed and were all asleep by 10:30 or so.  Over a week later I was thrilled to go back to the office, send Sequoia to school and get back into a routine!  I'm so grateful for the wonderful season of Christmas, but this year I'm actually really glad it's over!  HO, Ho, HO!