Our 1st Christmas at home did not start out like I imagined. Jos, and John and I, had been fighting a cold all week and just when I thought we were all getting over it, Jos got a fever on Saturday night. We gave her some motrin and it went down but she woke up the next morning with a fever. I called the nurse and she said it was probably just her body fighting off the last of the cold. So we kept an eye on her, tried to get her to drink fluids and canceled plans to go to a friend's house that night for dinner. Jos was sitting on the couch watching TV and all of a sudden she started seizing. That was by far the scariest moment I've ever had as a parent. I had febrile seizures as a child (you spike a fever and have a seizure) so I mostly knew what to do but I had John call 911 anyway. I got her on the floor, took off her clothes and held her head while counting the seconds until it was over. The hardest thing about being a parent is when you can't do anything to help your child. I felt completely helpless. We got a ride to the ER in an ambulance and after a few different tests, they diagnosed her with RSV. Finally I had an explanation for the never-ending cold we all had. We were told to keep her fever down with motrin and tylenol because if it went over 102 again, she could have another seizure. We let her open a couple presents when we got home and spent the rest of the day and night obsessively taking her temperature. I slept in her room, waking up every hour to feel her forehead. We had to struggle with her every time she had to take medicine but we kept the fever down. Christmas Eve, we didn't do much but monitor her fever and rest (we of course opened some presents too!) but by that night her fever had gone down and was still down when she woke up Christmas morning. Best Christmas present John and I could have gotten! My 1st Christmas as the holiday matriarch did not go as I planned but it taught me that the most important thing about the holidays is being with the people you love most. As long as we were together, it was perfect!
John helping out Santa by making Jos's dress up closet.
Opening some presents from Ga Ga and Grandpa on Christmas Eve morning.
John got a surprise visit from his old stuffed dog, Barney.
John gave me this cool Wonka bar phone cover and a spa day with my girlfriends next month!
I started a new tradition of a special delivery on Christmas Eve.
Yay for mail!
New pajamas (which she couldn't wear because we were trying to keep her cool but oh well) and a new Christmas book. She is in love with Curious George lately.
Sprinkling reindeer food on the driveway.
Making a plate for Santa and his reindeer.
John's mom had a tradition of making a line of presents to the tree. John really wanted to do it this year for Jos and asked me to wrap every little gift so she could have a really long line :) She was slightly overwhelmed when she saw it Christmas morning but then got a big smile on her face.
She sat on her new Mickey chair and opened every present with determination :)
She LOVES her princess snow boots. She put them on and wore them most of the morning.
The tape measure daddy picked out for her was a big hit too.
Opening Abby's stocking for her.
Helping daddy open his gift.
Christmas morning aftermath!
Our attempt at a family picture <3 p="p">
One of Jos's new ornaments!
I made snowman pancakes for breakfast.
Jos still had one more present, her dress up closet!
That's her very happy face!
I got out the good china and set a pretty table.
And we had a yummy dinner of alcatra, mashed potatoes and green beans!
Perfect end to a perfect Christmas with my two favorite people in the world!
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