Should I or Shouldn't I

and the answer is I should or I should have....gotten the flu shot.

I am day 5 of this crazy flu that everyone has. Three of my closet friends have had this in the past 3 weeks and I didn't even get it from them. It is nothing like I have experienced before so my advice is to get the flu shot.

Lily is fine thank goodness but on this day number 5 I am still fuzzy headed which makes me really off balance and light headed that gives you the feeling you could faint. Terrible cough that can bring on a headache blast and because of this cough your stomach muscles and back just hurt all the time.

If you are feeling any of these symptoms, cease and desist going to work as that is how it spreads quickly.

There that is my PSA for the day and now, back to bed.

TDH Gala Event - Save the Date March 26th

Hello Family and Friends!

Terres des Hommes (TDH) is the agency that helped with all the administrative work for me to travel to Vientam to adopt Lily. TDH partners with many orphanages not just to help facilitate adoptions but also raise money and awareness to help orphanages that are in need.

Although I missed last year's gala as my sister and I were in Vietnam meeting my beautiful daughter Lily, the event raised enough money to renovate an orphanage, provide transportation and tuition for a school, build a new bathing area, and pay for nanny training and new appliances.

This year the focus will be on helping to build the Long Hai Centre, a new social protection centre in Vung Tau, Vietnam. Vung Tau is the town where Lily's orphanage is.

The event is Saturday, March 26th at 6:00pm at Le Jardin, 8440 Hwy 27, Woodbridge. The evening will be full of fun and life changing for so many children in Vietnam. Please come out to support the cause.

To find out more information visit: www.tdhcharitygala.com. It is a wonderful event to share with others. There will be a silent auction as part of the festivities. I would love to create a couple tables of family, friends and co-workers. If you are interested please email me at ethieps@hotmail.com and I would be happy to provide tickets to you.

Sunday Night Fever

No dancing in this house, at least not yet.

I put Lily to bed last night and within an hour she spiked a high fever. It was just so out of the blue as she had a very active day at home with me and a visit to Aunti R's house. No one we were near were sick and no one at daycare had been sick.

It has been a very restless night with checking temperature through the night, keeping her comfortable and cool but Lily would wake every hour. It is now morning and she has slept for 1.5 hours which is the longest stint of sleep.

The good news is that she is not vomiting and does not seem to be congested but since she can't talk it is hard to determine the source of the fever.

More later...

It is later and the fever has gone down significantly but she is still really hot...and now I doubt my digital thermometer. Anyway I will check in an hour or so because i get a better read when she is asleep.

Lily clung to me like a monkey all day and I spied that fourth molar just cutting through her gums. That could be the culprit although the other three did not give her symptoms at all.

She is now asleep and it is about 6:30pm. She took some milk, her blanky and went right to sleep. Fingers crossed we will both get some sleep tonight.

It is a New Year - Welcome 2011

I have not been too keen on adding new blog entries over the holidays. Not sure why but I seemed to have an aversion to my computer these days. I turn it on but I just don't want to be in front of it for any great length of time. I am sure this shall pass. I am writing this entry from bed. I wanted to get all tucked in early so I could specifically focus on putting a few paragraphs down on our grand holiday adventure and our very first Christmas together.

It all started on Christmas Eve day when Lily, Charlotte (our dog) and me, packed into a car with little room for anything else. The back was loaded with presents and a dog. I was keen to get out of dodge and head to where all the snow had been blowing. So just north/east of Barrie we arrived at my sister's house, out in the country. It was truly picture perfect.

It did not take long for Lily to warm up to her Auntie and Uncle (and her two cousins) and I was thankful as the little Miss has been very attached to Mama (like a monkey on my back attached). I can barely put her down since she started teething those nasty first year molars, three at one time. I have seen the other side of Lily and it is not so pretty. She has a crazy set of lungs on her. She has had her first "throw herself to the floor and kick" tantrum with these molars. So that on top of her not wanting to be near water unless it is in her sippy cup, really sums up the not so picture perfect holiday we have had together. But...in between all of the crazy meltdowns there was my sweet daughter making me laugh with her singsong voice, her wiggly hips swishing to and fro to Christmas music and the nosey kisses I received spontaneously throughout the day. I can't help myself. I can't get enough of that.

It is back to work tomorrow and Lily and I have finally reached a milestone. She is back to taking her baths and has no trepidation when entering the tub. I chalk it up to the sensitivity to her new molars. For some it could be no sleeping, no eating or even fever but for this little mouse it was all about the water and not being in it. Our fist successful bath without any cries was in the kitchen sink, while her focus was on brushing her teeth.