Well 2020 is off to a rough start! A few days after Christmas, Jake (our 3 year old) got sick. He seemed to fend off whatever god awful virus it was, escaping with just a yucky cough, but my daughter was not so lucky. The day before NYE she had a super high fever, cough, headache and was just not herself. Well fast forward a week and a ton of tests that have pretty much traumatized her and left me emotionally scarred, we’re concluding it was a bad virus that resulted in Pneumonia. She has never, in her almost 5 years, been this sick. My smiley, bubbly girl that has defied sleep since she was an infant, wanted nothing other than to sleep and snuggle (I was not hating that part). She had no appetite, resulting in a 2 lb weight loss, and I had to beg her to drink so we wouldn’t end up in the hospital in need of fluids. Thankfully she is now feeling much better, has been fever free for days and is starting to get her appetite back. Although this is not the way we would have chosen to start off a new year and a new decade, it really has opened our eyes to what we want to focus on this year… having fun and making memories together as a family.

With that being said, I have a little caveat… we will be hibernating for the next couple of weeks until the memory making begins. You see, we are surprising the kids in just a couple weeks with a trip to Florida. Alex happens to have a work obligation in Orlando the week of Katie’s 5th birthday, so I am flying down with the kids to meet him when he’s done, for a fun family vacation. **Feel free to comment with advice on flying solo with a 3 and 5 year old** We are beyond excited! The best part is, with all she has been through she keeps saying when she blows out her birthday candles, she will wish for a vacation for us. We went to Florida last March and it might have just been the highlight of her life. She LOVED everything about it. The family time, the warm weather, the constant swimming, and the special sugary cereal she doesn’t typically get at home. She has wished to go back ever since we left and even makes comments about saving money in her piggy bank for a vacation (because we are trying to teach them the importance of money and that it doesn’t grow on trees).

Her big day will be spent at Magic Kingdom and I CAN NOT WAIT! We are having a little family birthday party next weekend before Alex leaves and will share the surprise with them then. I just can’t wait to turn this month around and I am so glad we have this trip to look forward to. I apologize to every friend and family member that is having an event over the next couple of weeks that we won’t be attending. To all of our preschool friends, we will miss you but the kids won’t be seeing you again until February. I have gone back and forth in my mind about whether or not to send them back to school but the overwhelming feeling in my gut is NO. Missing a month of preschool is not going to set my daughter back in the long run and my son still has two more years of preschool so he will be just fine. The risk of them getting sick again when their immune systems are so weak is just not worth it. I need to stop worrying about what others think is best, or will say to us for “trying to keep them in a bubble”… and just live. As their mama, I want to lay low, rest, get their strength up and enjoy this fun family trip to Disney before we continue our year of memory making.

I’m going to spend the next couple of weeks looking up fun things to do in our area so we can create a “2020 Bucket List”. The kids are at the ages now that I want to freeze. We are out of the diapers, bottles, cribs phase and not yet in full time school. If you’ve read my previous post, you know I was laid off last year after 14 years with the same company and my dad unexpectedly passed away. I want to just enjoy this year, being with the kids, and making memories whenever we can. If you live in the area and have suggestions please let me know! List is too short and our kids grow up too fast, let’s enjoy this time and forget about anything else!