Nick and Emily's Excellent Adventure: January 2014 recap

January was a very full month!

Nick and I both worked on New Years' Eve, but after work Nick went to a friend's house and I went with Freyja to my parents' house. I enjoyed having dinner with my parents' friends, and then putting Freyja to bed before meeting up with Nick. The clock struck midnight as we were on our way to the second of two parties for the night; while I am one for tradition in some cases, I don't mind missing the ball dropping in Time's Square. I couldn't stay up as late as some other friends (many of whom don't have kids), but I ended up sleeping from 2:30 am until 4:30 pm and it had nothing to do with drinking (I had one drink the entire night). I think my body was just fighting something.

The first weekend in January, my friend Laura & I took the girls to an indoor playground nearby. It was a nice way for them to run around despite the cold weather! (See pictures below)

On January 6, Freyja's daycare was closed because of record low temperatures (Mark Dayton closed all MN schools). Then the following day Freyja sounded wheezy and had a barking cough (like a seal) so my mom helped and brought her to the doctor as I didn't have any vacation time accrued from when I was sick a few times in November and December. I had a busy morning calling the pediatrician and teaching my mom how to use the car seat (the harness got stuck and wasn't adjusting),but was so thankful my mom could help out. I love our pediatrician's office. It seems like when she gets sick it comes in clumps, and it's hard to tell if it's treatable but they never make me feel bad for bringing her in. On Tuesday she got an intramuscular injection of dexamethasone (steroid) for the croup and antibiotics for the ear infection, and she got enough better to bring her to daycare on Thursday. However, by the end of the day she was congested and still coughing, so I called the pediatrician's office, Nick brought her back to the doctor and they started her on an oral steroid (prednisolone). Because she was doing better on Friday, we let Freyja stay with Nick's dad, step-mom, and sister while we went to work and then to a friend's wedding. The following day we stopped by for an hour at my work party in downtown Minneapolis, and then on Sunday we took it easy and relaxed at home.

The next weekend we went to Jackie & Nick Wilkie's wedding in downtown Minneapolis. It was a wonderful celebration of a great couple. I am also friends with Jackie's twin sister, Becky, so it was great to see her as she was in town from Montana. She is doing a doctoral program out in Bozeman.

Our Christmas gift from my parents was a family ski weekend as there weren't enough people able to go on the annual winter ski weekend at Camp du Nord. On January 18-19 we went to Duluth with my parents and Brian & Michelle. It was nice to use my downhill skis again, as I hadn't gone downhill skiing since before I was pregnant with Freyja!

The last weekend in January, I had a fun time with "Girl's Night" at our house. It is always good to catch up with friends. I am so lucky to know so many wonderful people.