Feeling Hot (hot hot)

Sorry for the stupid title. We are smack-dab in the middle of Ava's first fever, and it is no good. She isn't sick, I don't think, but she is teething, which I think is the cause. She has never had a noticeable temperature, has never had more than a minor cold, and has never had an ear infection since she's been born! (Knocking on so much wood). So, I didn't know how to take her temperature, as we don't have an ear thermometer and I am not about to take it rectally (you're welcome Ava!). I ended up using the digital under the arm. Yesterday her temp was somewhere around 102 and this afternoon it was 103. I've been giving her ibuprofen, and it's been helping. She has been cranky, unbelievable whiny and clingy. I was losing my mind yesterday, before I knew what was wrong. I only discovered she was teething this morning. When Brent got home from work yesterday I left to go to Walmart just to be on my own for an hour. I feel so bad for her, this afternoon she just looked miserable. She hasn't been eating as much, all she wants to eat is fruit, and we could tell she had a headache. I laid down on the floor with her in her room, and she ended up cuddling me like I was her teddy bear and falling asleep within a few minutes! Anytime I tried to pull away she would hold on to me and not let me go. That made me forget about the crying and whining for a little bit.
As if that weren't enough, the nanny at work has been out sick the past 2 days, so guess who's been watching Ava and Max? Yup, me. In a way it's good, since Ava isn't feeling well and is being a total Mommy's girl, but lord I am going crazy. I'll be honest - Max drives me nuts! He turns 2 in July, he is a trouble-maker, and he is mean to Ava quite often. Not cool with me at all.
We are so close to going on vacation and I cannot wait! There is so much to do before we go. Besides the fact that our house is a disaster, we have more shopping to do for Ava, we are debating about buying a portable DVD player for her on the plane. That would be mostly for our sanity and the sanity of our fellow passengers. I am already thinking about what to pack!
Here are some old-ish pictures that I never posted. We went on a rare family outing to Jungle Gardens, which is like a cheap, smaller version of a zoo. The nearest zoo is in Tampa, which is a hike for us. We will get up there one day, but for now, Jungle it is. Did I mention how hot is was? Thank goodness it is all shade pretty much. They have nice walking paths and lots of free roaming ducks, birds and flamingos. I guess all 3 of those are technically "birds" but I wanted to specify. There is a big pond where you can feed them and they are all hanging out. Ava wanted to grab one. She ran up on unsuspecting snoozing ducks and literally tried to pet them.