Vacation?

When we last left our intrepid vacationers, there was talk of cuddles and hot flashes. We've had a lot of the former this week, and, thankfully, none of the latter.

Monday morning we checked Sera's throat to see what her red splotches looked like and found they'd turned to canker sores. I went ahead and called her doctor and scheduled an appointment. They could fit us in at 2:50. I put Sera down for her nap at noon thinking she could get two hours sleep and have time for a quick snack before her appointment. Instead of being a smart mommy and showering and dressing during her nap, I surfed and read blogs. At 1:45, I decided I needed to jump in the shower and dress quickly. At 1:46, Sera woke up crying. I used our phone intercom to call Jim up from the basement to watch Sera while I got showered and dressed. In the minute I did that her cries became more strident. I ran to her room and found her hysterical on all fours. She was crying so hard, I knew she was about to throw up. I quickly moved her pillow and blanket out of the way, and started rubbing her back while letting her know I was there, and she was okay. Jim ran in just as she finished. I pulled off her shirt quickly, swiping her face while I did. Jim ran and got something to clean up the mess, and I held Sera and took her to our room and sat on the bed.

She was hysterical. The closest I've seen her to this upset was the night she had the ear infection. She finally stopped crying while I was holding her, but the shuddering went on and on. Jim and I decided not to wait, but to leave right away for the doctor.

The shower was out, but I definitely needed to put on something else before going out in public. I handed Sera to Jim, and that started another crying jag. She was crying for me and telling Jim, "no, daddy. bye, daddy." It was heartbreaking. I threw on a t-shirt and some athletic pants. Not much better than what I'd had on, but at least it didn't have kitty-cats and stars all over it. Jim ran and got her another shirt, and we took off. We didn't even stop to get her shoes.

As soon as I put her in the car, she was calming down. By the time we got to the doctor, she had completely stopped crying. In fact, she seemed fine. I reached to get her out of the car seat and that was when she noticed she didn't have shoes. "Ohhhh, nooooo, mama. No shoes!"

We sat down in the waiting room while Jim checked us in. She didn't run around playing with the toys or visiting the fish in the aquarium like usual. She sat right next to me on the chairs and snuggled into my side.

The doctor tested her for strep - negative. She diagnosed her with a really bad sore throat. No, she did actually call it a name, but it was gone as soon as I heard it. Basically, it's a similar virus to hand, foot, and mouth disease, but it only affects her mouth. Her throat, roof of her mouth, tongue, inside of her cheek, and the inside of her lower lip had canker sores. The only real danger, the doctor said, was that many children wouldn't eat or drink enough to stay hydrated because of the pain. Sera had asked for yogurt for breakfast and had eaten an entire adult-sized container, plus part of a second. We also let her have some ice cream for lunch. Okay, we let her have a second bowl, too. Once we saw those sores, we let her have as much as she wanted.

She's been taking ibuprofen every six hours to alleviate the pain and has been on a six-day quarantine. She's handled the quarantine better than mommy. I'm about to go stir crazy. Daddy went back to work on Wednesday.

Overall, she's been so good through this. We've had some mood swings. I was calling her Sybil the other day. Wait 60 seconds and a new personality came out. Sometimes good; sometimes not so good.

We learned she likes going by new names. Jim was playing with her, and she started squealing at such a high level I'm surprised all the neighbors dogs didn't end up in our yard. Jim asked her if she was Mariah. She nodded, pointed to herself, and said Mariah. Then I called for Mariah to come to me. She started laughing and came running to my arms. She's a hoot.

My only excuse for not aknowledging this lovely award earlier this week is the amount of time I've spent on the couch snuggling a certain someone. Tammie, thank you so much for this. You are definitely one of the blogs that I visit daily. I love reading about your adventures with Erin, and it's a fun little reminder of life in south Florida. Did I ever tell you that I lived in North Lauderdale for four years?

Now, it's my turn to nominate five blogs that make my day.

This first blog won't come as a surprise to anyone. Why I nominate may though. Jim and I got to know each other through the written word. Reading his blog gives me insight to his thoughts that may not get expressed in the day-to-day, and reminds me of the early days of our relationship.

It's much harder to narrow down four others.

I have to include Susan and As We Wait for Eleanor and LilyKate. Susan is my sister's good friend and neighbor. We all waited together and are so thrilled to see her twins. She and her husband will be travelling in just days to get their girls.

For number three, I'm going to pick an extremely popular blogger. She certainly doesn't need any traffic I'll send her way, but I love her site and think you will, too. If you don't already. Be sure to visit the cooking tab of Confessions of a Pioneer Woman. Every recipe she posts makes you want to run out and cook. Her photography is amazing, and she's an excellent and witty writer.

My criteria for choosing these blogs are the ones I get excited about when I see Bloglines showing a new posting. I enjoy every blog on my list, or they wouldn't be on my list, but with some you just know you're going to get a good read. Know what I mean? Well Meredith from A Mother Singing is one such blogger. She doesn't write daily, but when she does....wow!

And last, but certainly not least, I have a tie. Again I'm going to show some nepotism. But how could I not get excited when these bloggers post. I get to see photos of some of my favorite people in the world, my nieces and nephews. Enjoy visiting my sisters' blogs, Marcia at Waiting for a Graceful Morning, and Jessica at Her Name is Not Mini!