Sleep and Christmas Cards

So - last night we had to do split duties. Hulk was really fussy on Weds night, and continued to be sad during the day yesterday. He ended up with a fever of 100.8 by the end of the day, so of course, we freaked out. In the back of my mind I was sure it was an ear infection (or more I was praying that it was?) but nervous nonetheless. We were a little freaked that it could be something contagious - gotta love daycare - and then I just wasn't sure what we would do. But, Aaron got him to the doc, and he confirmed it was a pretty bad ear infection. But the doc warned us that Hulk probably wouldn't sleep well. We decided to divide and conquer.

Aaron slept downstairs with Hulk's monitor, and I had Maggie with me in bed (and thanks for the heads up on the Amby Baby bed recall, but the issue is more with people who were using it with children who could sit up and/or roll over - which a) they tell you not to use it for children who can do that, and b) it doesn't seem to be working anyway so we stopped using it). She is much easier to calm down if I'm close, so last night she slept just as well as other nights but with less freaking out. She goes about 3 - 4 hour between feedings, which I think is pretty great. It's just the getting her to fall asleep that is the stressful part. She is just such a shrieker, that it goes right to Aaron's core. It sounds like something is wrong with her - even though there isn't. She just needs to settle down, and we are finding that takes some time. With Aaron in another room, I could deal with settling her down. And I can take a nap in the daytime to make up for any lost sleep (although thank god for the weekend!). Hulk only stirred a few times, so here is hoping the ear infection passes quickly.

We are getting there.

In August, I picked out the cutest baby announcements (little sheep!) for the girls. They were from Paper Culture, and the day I got home from the hospital, I ordered a bunch. I wanted to send them out ASAP. When the proof arrived, a day later, we had already lost Nora. I wasn't sure at that point what I was going to do about the announcements*, but I couldn't bring myself to get those. I wrote to tell them them of Nora's passing, and the CEO of the company actually wrote me back. He dealt with the whole thing in a very classy manner - and I'm hoping that anyone that needs announcements or cards will check them out. I picked out this for our Christmas card (I changed the wording to Peace, Love and Joy instead of what they have there). I know I don't have to do Christmas cards, and this is the one year I could easily get away with it - but I now feel like Maggie and Hulk have this huge family that is following up on them, and deserve a sweet Christmas card.

* We did a baby naming for Nora at the memorial service, so that was her 'announcement' and Maggie will be getting her own soon.