I want a do-over

I pretty much am just writing off the month of February.  I actually don't even really want a do-over, I just want to erase it from memory.  First, the kids were sick for a week after Super Bowl.  And starting February 21st or so, I came down with something nasty.  I had a fever of 102 or higher, I had the chills, I was lethargic and I just plain didn't feel good.  It knocked me out for a solid three days.  I ended up with an annoying cough and congestion, which I am still fighting off, almost two weeks later.  And the best part?  I called our pediatrician, and I can take zyrtec (for allergies) and that's pretty much it (besides tylenol/ibuprofen, which I did for the fever and the headache, but that barely counts).  No real medication.  Totally sucks.  

So that is my excuse for not posting much in the past few weeks.  I've barely been able to get myself out of bed, much less play photographer, upload photos and write anything remotely clever.  Or even just write anything.  Needless to say, work has been a challenge as well!  And of course, Carmen was out of town for the combine - but lucky for me my mom came to visit the day after Carmen left.  She allowed me to take a nap, she made dinner for us (and bought us a couple dinners too!) and generally kept the kids entertained so I could rest a little more.  I'm sure we would have survived, but there would have been a whole lot more television watching I'm sure!

Tomorrow is Carmen's company's charity dinner.  I didn't get a babysitter, so I'll take the kids to the silent auction to say "hi" to everyone and then take them to the hotel room.

Hanging out with my college teammate T.

Cheering on the Pomona-Pitzer women.  Jayden's first live basketball game.  When I told him he might not get to see it because it would be too late, he said "it's okay, I'll just watch it on TV."  I had to explain to him this wasn't exactly the kind of game that was shown on TV...

Jayden had a blast at the game, was shouting "DE-FENSE" with the crown, cheering when  P-P scored, etc.  It was awesome.
Until Carmen took the kids home at halftime and he threw a fit, and then Dakota started crying, and the two of them basically tortured Carmen for the first 20 or 30 minutes of his drive home.  Oh well.  A small price to pay.  

After the double overtime win with my teammates.  So great to these ladies - and so sad to miss those that couldn't make it.  

Friday night was "family movie night" at Children's Village.  They showed The Good Dinosaur.  It turns out the movie is rated PG and probably wasn't great for Jayden, but he powered through.  And Dakota loved it, because she loved the music.  

Just a cute picture of Dakota chewing on blocks.  Everything goes in her mouth these days.  She has a small tooth in the front that has popped through, and I think others are on their way.  Last night I was convinced she has swallowed a marble.  Turns out she didn't.  But Carmen and I were watching her pretty closely for the evening.

Jayden was loving his knee-high striped socks from Gigi. He told me he only wanted to wear them on the weekends so that he didn't get them dirty.  And then he proceeded to wear them both Saturday and Sunday and fall all over the grass and the concrete in them.  Plus, they're socks, so yeah.  Dirty is not something that can be avoided.
But check out the kid's form.  He was basketball obsessed this past weekend.

Jayden and Kylie trying to pull the soccer ball backwards first.  They had a great time with this game.

At soccer class Dakota thought about crawling.  She got the one leg under her...

And propped herself up on her arms...

And then got stuck and eventually fell over.  She just couldn't quite figure out what to do next, once her leg was under her.
Since then she has mostly stuck to scooting while sitting up.  But I think we're probably not too far away from real movement.  

Love the kiddos in their Adidas track suits.  I'm just not a girly girl, and I love dressing Dakota in sporty little outfits.  She's so cute!

It was Dr. Seuss' birthday this week, so Children's Village celebrated all week.  They made green eggs, read a bunch of Dr. Seuss books, and had this picture opportunity set up in the courtyard.  One of the teachers told Jayden there was a stool back there for the kids to stand on, but that he was pretty sure Jayden wouldn't need it.  And it was true.  Jayden is bending over to get his head in the hole.  :)

Dakota and Daddy chilling on the floor tonight before bedtime.

Carmen is home tonight, tomorrow we have his event and Sunday he takes a red eye to Minnesota.  He gets home Tuesday, and then leaves Friday for Atlanta.  He gets home Saturday, and then leaves Thursday for Vegas.  He gets home Sunday and then leaves Wednesday or Thursday for North Carolina.  I think after that he's home for a few weeks.  He better be - or else we're going to have some problems!

Jayden wanted to be "crazy" again, so this is the beginning of the series.

He didn't like this one because he was all blurry.  I had to explain to him that if he was being "crazy," he was likely to be blurry because he was moving.  So I told him he'd have to be "crazy" and then freeze.

And so this is what we got. I'm not complaining.  It's pretty cute.

For everyone out there, do everything you can to avoid the flu that's going around.  It's so not worth it.  And if you DO get it?  Lock your doors and just sleep it off for four days.  Try not to let work drag you back in, because inevitably you'll end up with a lingering cough/congestion that just prevents you from sleeping.  Don't do it.  The only positive thing I can come up with is that I have now passed on the antibodies to Dakota by nursing her, building up her immunity to one more illness, hopefully.  Gotta see the silver lining, right?