Recovering... we hope and Breakfast with Santa

Max is finally starting to do a little bit better today. He's coughing up a LOT of goop... but his eyes aren't oozing anymore, his fever is gone, and he's maintaining his body temperature with some extra layers of clothes and blankets.

It's been a rough week! Troy and I both wound up with the same respiratory infection that Max has. We had to miss the Erickson's Christmas party, which we really look forward to. (since it's the party where we first met 8 years ago)

We stayed in and took care of Max and one another... then we tag-teamed urgent care on Sunday morning when we both felt pretty horrible.

We basically drew straws and Troy was more miserable than me, so I took Ella and Alex to our neighborhood "Breakfast with Santa." They were so excited and honestly, we don't want to drag Max to a mall, so this was an easy option to get them some face time with the big guy. I just wish that Max could have gone with them. Not that he realized it, but this is his first Christmas, and I so wanted that picture of all 3 of my babies with Santa. I'm just grateful to have him home and while this is a challenging winter, basically living like hermits!!! We can do this! We made it through 123 days in the NICU and we will survive this long, lonely winter. Max needs to be away from everyone. We have that imaginary 3 foot barrier to keep our "boy in the bubble" safe and it's a small price to pay for having him home with us.

Max and Daddy just hung out together at home... but Ella and Alex both did really well... they made ornaments, sat on Santa's lap and told him what they wanted, and didn't scream or cry. In my book, that's a successful sitting.

I think they like the "Chris Cakes" pancakes and sausage best... he tosses them off the grill and kids get to catch them on their plate. Mine both missed of course... but there were LOTS of other pancakes on the floor.

(notice Ella's new "big girl" hair cut... she's been begging for it and actually wants to go shorter.. she already has the shortest hair in her dance class, and I have to be able to get it up for their competitions in a few months, so she may be out of luck, but it is a LOT easier for her to take care of herself at this shorter length...)