February...Leap On Outta Here!

I don't know if had something to do with this being a leap year, but February kind of leaped in & out quickly, leaving it's mark. First of all, as is normal for Nebraska, it was SO cold! I have to say that, for me, the winter blahs set in early this year! I've been working hard and keep learning more & more everyday but I find myself yearning to go to Margaritaville and have a cheeseburger in paradise on some beach somewhere (get all the song references there? lol). Early in February, Zoie & I started on a special Valentine's Day project - little flower pot photo holders - which we both enjoyed - she loved painting!


For the actual Valentine's Day, I was a good mommy and made cupcakes for all of Zoie's daycare friends (and for us at home!) and Zoie 'wrote' on all the cards that she gave to them. We also were treated to an early Valentine's Day gift from Grandma Lucy and she took us to Zoie's first theater experience at a local college who was putting on a production of Rudyard Kipling's "The Jungle Book" - and we were seated in the FRONT row! It was a great production (no photos) and for the most part, Zoie was enthralled until the character of "Shere Khan" (the tiger) came out and he was quite menacing. It scared her a bit at first but then she really enjoyed it. The play was interactive and the characters (especially the monkeys) were in the audience - at one point Zoie, a little girl next to me and I had to hold the rope that was capturing Mowgli! Very dramatic! After that we had a tad bit of a rocky period...Zoie got sick with what I thought was a cold but then it kept going and had high fever (almost 105 at one point - yikes!!), achiness, etc - so I was getting very concerned that she had the flu especially since the vaccine they gave this year didn't end up covering what it was supposed to. So, we went to the doctor and he said it was probably something more viral or bacterial and we got some meds that she was on for 10 days and that helped immensely...she still has a little nagging cough and a runny nose, but for the most part, it's gone. She did, however, keep her sense of humor and fashion during the whole thing as you can see by these "cheeky" pics...


In the middle of Zoie being sick, Grandma Lucy got really sick...so I was really getting worried about them both...mom did all she could here at home to try & get rid of it, but she was in a bad way and finally went to the doctor as well after a couple of weeks into it...he gave her some instense antibiotics but she is still very weak and coughing and experiencing a shortage of Vitamin D so she's going to start a new 'script of that to see if it takes better than the once a week dosage they tried before (with bad results)! I myself have been avoiding them both as much as possible (hard when Zoie was a second skin) to stay healthy using the hand sanitizer like it's going out of style, keeping my fluids up and resting as much as I can and - knock on wood - so far, so good. Oh - and to add to all this fun - mom's cat, Godiva had ringworm that constituted vet visits (which means $$$...grrr), medication that she hated and keeping everyone away from her! Somewhere in all this, I had another birthday - #37 for the curious few - and I indulged myself in a haircut, color & eyebrow wax to feel a little more human....ahhhh. My dear friends - Swister Wendy, Porkchop and Piglet - were gracious enough to watch Zoie so I could go and get that done and relax while doing it! Zoie loved being with them - especially all of Piglet's ride-on trucks,toys & balls - to the point of not sharing! But she thanked him often with kisses aplenty!



Another nice thing for February is a visit from Mitchell who was out this way for a National Honor Society college visit trip and he was also on Spring Break at the same time so he just stayed here with us and will head back with his friend, Allyn (who Zoie LOVED!). He's a senior (and learning to fly a plane!) so pinning him down for visits are getting few & far between and we are very happy that he got to be here.





That pretty much wraps up the month for us - and you can understand the lack of photos, but I tried to get a few in here...we're looking forward to a much better March - it will finally be spring after all! Woohoo!

Blessings to all of you and hope you're safe, healthy & happy!!

Lots of love,
Heather, Zoie, Indie & Melody

Happy February Birthday Wishes also to:

Uncle Gary
Linda K
'Aunt' Susan N
'Auntie' Michelle P
Friend Connor H
Vonda H