Last night was another rough night of sleep. I am not sure what time I fell asleep but it was early. We took turns being up with her. She started a runny nose yesterday afternoon and it was runny today. It is clear and no fever...I am thinking teeth. She just finished 5 days of antibiotics..ahhh... it is madness I tell you. A good night of sleep would do us all good!
This morning we went to Breakfast with Santa at Vines Botanical Gardens. We did the same last year but this year we met some friends there. We met Nikki, Ethan, and Emma and their parents. I wasn't sure how Santa turned out. Nikki went first and it was a no go. Then Olivia. We got close but she would NOT sit on his lap. We settled for standing next to him and got a few shots and even got her to smile. I think Ethan did the best out of the group when seeing Santa. Then we ate some breakfast. We fed Olivia before we left so she ate a few grapes and a little muffin and a piece of Brendon's cupcake. Olivia then wanted to walk around so we walked all around and went up and down the stairs a bunch of times. She even peeked back in on Santa and looked out the window with him. Then she said, "Let's go Ho Ho!" and wanted Santa to walk with her. It was fun...different than last year but better.
Then my friend Jennifer met us there and we did some pictures outside. It was chilly but we got a few shots. Then we left and did some shopping at a few stores.
The best shot we got and as close as she would get.
Sleep was minimal last night. It was NOT from Black Friday shopping but Olivia was up from about 3:15 until almost 5:00!! It was insanity. At one point in my delirium I considered just getting her dressed and taking her shopping at 4:00 in the morning. But then I thought someone would probably call DFACS on me and say it is not safe to have a baby out. Finally I just brought her in our room and we slept on the recliner. I would have thought she would then sleep in....nope 7:00 she was up! Grrrrr....I was tired.
Olivia ate an awesome breakfast. She ate her whole pancake but did not eat her fruit again =( After breakfast and coffee time was over Olivia and I did some Black Friday shopping. We first brought the nebulizer back to the doctor. Then we went to Kohls. The lines were not bad at all. We were in and out in 30 minutes or less. Funny thing was when we left the fire alarm went off and the manager told the people to just keep shopping! Then we went to Fleet Feet my favorite store to get my running shoes. I got my favorite pair and Olivia was so cute with the girls working there. She helped the one girl sweep and then showed off her running skills. We then went to Publix and CVS and then finally made it home.
We played outside for a bit and then had lunch. Then Olivia was a crabby Patty!! I think she was tired. Then I made the awful mistake of washing Lamby because she was really dirty. So when I put her down for a nap she was upset that Lamby was in the laundry! I get the awful mom award for that!!
After her nap and dinner we went to the Loganville Tree lighting. Santa arrived on a train. We would have taken her on the train but it was REALLY loud. Too loud for her little ears. We didn't wait in the line for Santa either because that line was REALLY long! But we saw Santa arrive, the tree light up, the train, and they had some fake snow. She loved watching the snow blow around and the lights on the tree. We even had time when we got there to go on the swing and go down the slide!
Tomorrow we go to Breakfast with Santa...I am sure she will cry but when she saw a fake Santa at CVS she loved his glasses! But that is all part of the experience so if she cries it won't break my heart!
What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had today. It was great weather. Brendon threw the turkey in the brine last night. Olivia slept until about 7:15ish and then snuggled with us for a few minutes. I made an egg casserole last night so we just had to wait for it to cook this morning. Olivia was not the biggest fan of eating this morning. But eventually she ate some toast. We watched the Macy's Thanksgiving parade. We saw some familiar faces like Sesame Street and a few other characters. We decided to have Olivia nap this morning instead of this afternoon because of when we wanted to eat turkey. So she napped until about 12:45.
Lunch
Snacks
Olivia ate some lunch and snacked with us on some cheese and crackers. We played outside for a little bit. Olivia tossed the football around, raked some leaves, and chased Jake around.
Football
We then tried to Skype with my parents but it was really loud at my parents house but we tried and it was nice to see everyone. We then Skyped with Uncle Kenny and his girlfriend Kristie. Olivia like saying Kenny, she drew him a picture, and built some blocks for him.
After that it was time for us to eat! It was soooooo yummy. Of course Olivia wasn't ready to eat but Jake was and enjoyed his turkey. Olivia ate just a little bit...she ate a 1/2 of a roll and a little bit of turkey. We ate about an hour and a half before she is used to. So I just wrapped her plate and put it in the fridge. After I was done eating we had our own Turkey Trot and went for a walk outside. She ended up eating at about 5:30ish.
The turkey
We then watched Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and had pumpkin pie. Olivia LOVED the pumpkin pie. She almost ate my whole piece of pie. Then we played more and then took a bath and went to bed. Hopefully she won't wake up tonight....she woke up crying about 9:15ish for a bit.
Post Thanksgiving relaxation
Overall it was a great Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for and feel blessed for all that we have. Right now I think we are most thankful for elastic waist pants.
"It
comes in waves. There's a lull and then another wave hits you. I just
wanted you to know that its okay not to be fine sometimes." -Grey's
Anatomy
I saw this quote the other night and that is about how I felt today. Three years ago was when we found out my water broke at 13.5 weeks pregnant and that we were going to lose our baby. There were moments today when I was fine and other quiet times when I would have my wave of sadness. I have to say it never goes completely away. I still question what happened...but I think with the genetic information we now have, some of those blanks could be filled. But it is still here in my heart and it lingers, just like any loss. It did help to go for a run this morning and help clear out some of those thoughts and it seemed to help. We know that God has a plan for us and we have learned so much. I learned about patience, hope, faith, and love. Probably the most difficult was patience. Learning to be patient when wanting to become pregnant so bad, was the hardest thing to do. But our patience did finally pay off.
On the flip side of the coin Olivia is 20 months old today. She is my reminder of the blessings we have in our life. She truly is a miracle and a blessing. We are so thankful to have her in our life. She brings us so much joy and happiness. Yes there are times of frustration but most of that is trying to figure out what she wants or needs. And yes there is lack of sleep, especially in the last few weeks but we love every moment with her- the good and the bad.
Here are some new things she is doing:
* Imitating lots of things- running, swimming, playing with dolls
* Can walk up and down the stairs on her own holding the wall or bottom of the railing.
* Saying so many words that I can't count. Ms. Liz at Gymboree was impressed by all her talking today.
* Likes to boss us around- mommy do, daddy do
* Loves to read- we have read several books many times! Goodnight Moon had to be retired for awhile * Still loves Sesame Street but has taken a liking to Mickey Mouse and Thomas the Train * Loves music- sings parts of a few songs...Row, Row, Row your boat, Old MacDonald, Dust, Dust, Dust and some others * Climbs on everything- she can climb in her high chair and waits to be fed * Pretends to like to talk on the phone...picks it up, dials, says Hello? She will often ask me to call people or ask who was on the phone. But then when she hears the people's voices she stops talking. * Loves shopping- favorite stores are Target and Kroger. She can even recognize the Kroger logo in the newspaper. She will even ask,"Shopping?" and then say, "Sit down in the cart." * She still is a good cleaner upper. * Excellent memory- she knows landmarks in the car. She knows where the goats, horses, cows, trian tracks, airport, the Gwinnett Braves stadium are when we are in the car. * Starting to relate things to size- big, small, loud, quiet. * Counts to ten with support...but she has 6-10 down solid. * Recognizes a few letters- O, E, G, and some others once in awhile. * Knows her shapes- square, triangle, circle, oval, star * Recognizes the moon and stars outside. * Knows that it is dark outside, chilly, and that you can see the moon * Loves to be tickled! She even asks to be tickled. * Says, "Love you!" and gives hugs and kisses * Finally got some teeth =) Tonight she did something funny...she said, "Swimming" and then started pushing herself all over the kitchen floor. It was hilarious. I guess we have a future triathlete in the making. Last night running, tonight swimming, I guess tomorrow we have to work on biking! Ironman here we come!!
Well last night wasn't so fun. Olivia was up at midnight for a bit and then up again at 6:30 a.m. I really think it is her teeth. I guess this is what happens when they are all coming in at once. Poor girly!
Olivia didn't want much for breakfast but ate a few bites of toast. I have found a pattern...when she is getting a new tooth she doesn't want to eat fruit and sometimes her yogurt! We went to Gymboree today. Daddy stayed with her at the class as I rushed around to try to find something to wear for our pictures on Saturday. My wardrobe is so lame...I hate it...Even though it is like wearing brand new things because most of the stuff hasn't been worn since 2010...so really my closet is full of out of style clothes. But trying to find something to wear is horrible...things don't look right on this post-baby body, plus add to it everything has sparkles, weird designs, or is way too low cut to try to wear to school. Ugh..hate shopping!! I think I found something though...the hard thing about pictures is that we have to kind of match.
After Gymboree we came home for lunch and then played outside. It was so nice today. We even saw the neighbors. Olivia wore a special shirt today from them that they bought in Switzerland. She looked so cute and such a big girl.
After her nap she was a hot mess...crying and then really quiet. By the time dinner came around she was starting to perk up. Brendon told me to not make anything because we need room in the fridge. I can't complain about that. So tonight we have brinner- breakfast for dinner...my favorite. Olivia is starting to get into some different character besides the Sesame Street gang. She likes Thomas the Train and Mickey and Minnie Mouse. So I made Mickey Mouse pancakes tonight. I snuck some blueberries in them =) She liked her Mickey Mouse...she almost ate the whole thing.
Mickey pancakes! I gave her a little bit of whip cream...it disappeared as soon as I cut the pancake up!
After dinner we played. She showed off her running skills. See video below. Skip ahead to about the one minute and 40 second mark...it is hilarious. You can even hear her cough in the video too...yuck.
Then bath time came...whoa. Olivia will usually sit on the potty seat for a few minutes before her bath. Well she sat about a minute and then all of a sudden stood up and started crying. I looked all over to see if anything was wrong and didn't see anything. I put her in the tub figuring that was what she wanted and nope...she cried the entire time. Once I got her out I finally calmed her down...and she was happy Olivia again. I am hoping it is just all her teeth coming in and that nothing else is wrong. She drank her milk and ate her snack fine before bed...so I gave her some medicine before bed that I hope will help her sleep better tonight. She has already been up once...so I am sure she will be up again soon.
Right now I am half asleep and half awake. I have been rocking Olivia in the dark for the past 40 minutes!!!! So I was almost asleep...like right on the verge of sleeping. So if this doesn't make any sense then you know why!
Olivia woke up coughing again this morning. I called to get her rechecked since the cough doesn't sound any better to me. Brendon took her since I had a hair appointment. They said to cut the breathing treatments to 2 times a day and stop on Wednesday. They gave us some antibiotics for a few days. The doctor said it may be something bacterial but not sure and that the cough could linger for awhile...up to 6 weeks! Ahhhh!! That is crazy.
Olivia pretty much slept the afternoon away. I did some cleaning downstairs. She didn't want to eat much dinner...I think her tummy was bothering her. Finally she did poop and the poor thing cried! But at least she went....finally.
Hopefully she will now stay asleep or I may just go to bed too...rocking made me sleepy too!
Olivia woke up right on schedule...no need for an alarm for us. We got up ate breakfast and then went to church. Olivia did really well again. She ate her snack, sat on the pew, and talked just a little. Thankfully we sit around the same people so they think her random outbursts of saying man, baseball, or whatever else she says is cute to them.
After church we got a picture of her in her turkey dress and then read the newspaper. We then ate lunch and she ate A LOT. Then she napped for a pretty long time. She still has a little bit of a cough but I noticed another tooth yesterday. The left tooth to the bottom one is now coming in. Her teeth are like popcorn....pop, pop, pop they are all coming in...finally!!
We watched a bit of football and then ate dinner. She even ate some ribs. No worries it was off the bone and in little pieces. She also ate a 1/2 of a biscuit and most of her other food.
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