This time around…

My first pregnancy went pretty well.  A little bit of evening sickness but all and all it was a pretty easy pregnancy.  Maybe that’s why the delivery seemed to take FOREVER….

This time around….the pregnancy has been a slightly different story.  My body appears to reject pregnancy.  It all started after a somewhat normal first trimester which really only included nausea and tiredness…all very normal.  Well that’s where the normal part ended.  Around week 14 and 15 I got a random sore on my toe and hives all over my body.  None of this seemed to be out of the ordinary given my history of hives and toe things until my toe just didn’t get better.  I was warned of staph infections and ingrown nails, etc.  I didn’t think I had either but I listened to the Dr’s suggestions.  I first saw my OB, who referred me to a Family Doctor(who was worthless), I then tried a dermatologist (mainly for the hives and somewhat for the toe) who was even more worthless then the general Dr, neither gave me good or decent suggestions.  I found a podiatrist who I don’t think ever saw a pregnant patient in his life and was afraid to try or do anything but I still followed his instructions for about a month, then I came to my senses (pregnancy brain has really hindered me in the last few months) and went to a much better podiatrist.  We are going on 2.5 to 3 months now of toe issues.  He decides to remove part of my nail on my big toe, no big deal, I probably needed it, but it didn’t solve the issue.  Things look ok until a couple of weeks go by and the infection comes back worse then ever and spreads to another toe…HOLY CRAP, seriously….I go back to the better podiatrist who wants me to go on my 4th antibiotic which isn’t recommended for pregnant patients…thanks, there goes my trust in you better podiatrist.  I consult with my OB who refers me to an Infectious Disease Specialist, in case you lost track that is Dr #6 who doesn’t tell me much but sends me for an MRI to see if it is a bone infection and does several blood tests.  I assume nothing came back because they never returned my call after my visit….great referral.  My infection comes back pretty bad and I am at my wits end, this is over 4 months of craziness so I try an alternative doctor, a homeopathic doctor who is a little crazy but what else do you expect.  She tells me to cut out dairy, wheat, soy, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate and chicken from my diet…great, so my limited diet is now non existent, what in the heck was I supposed to eat now, kale and fish…I DON’T THINK SO.  I followed the restrictive diet for a couple of weeks until Thanksgiving came around and then I couldn’t take it anymore.  The good news (knock on wood) is that the infection is actually gone, I don’t know if it is actually gone or just resting until it will come back in 2 weeks but I will thank my lucky stars it is gone for now.  (somewhere in the middle of those series of events I slipped and fell at a gas station wearing flip flops which caused me to cut my OTHER foot so badly I almost needed stitches…par for the course for this pregnancy)

I hope the last 6 weeks of pregnancy will go fine and with limited issues, but who knows.  I will just appreciate the rest my sweet husband gives me at home and hope the delivery of this little boy goes a little better then his big sister’s.  If the Braxton hicks I have been experiencing lately are any indication of an early delivery he should be here any day now.

This crazy boy is measuring extremely large which is already making me cringe, but nothing I can do about it so I will just wait to see how this works out.

32 weeks pregnant…not too many pictures this time around. 

Halloween

We were hit by the fall funk a few days before Halloween so I was unsure how much if any Halloween celebrating we would be able to do.  Thankfully with a low key weekend and a little medication Princess Adeline was ready to go. 

Since we were mainly housebound during the weekend we did some light chores around the house and found some butterfly wings and random skirt.  Addie saw this as her costume for the entire weekend.  From the moment she woke up until the moment she went to bed those wings and skirt were firmly attached to her little body. 

On the big day we had a few of our favorite people over to go trick or treating together.  I was pretty sure the butterfly wings would become her costume but she was happy to wear her princess costume but wanted a much girlier bucket (shocker).  She found her pink flowered bucket and carried it around proudly for a little trick or treating.

Addie and her little buddy were a little unsure of the concept at first but once there was a prize at every door they were to go trick or treating.  I love watching these little girls play/interact together. 

Addie went to bed reluctantly that night still yelling trick or treat! 

Princess & Sparkles

How is it the my little girl loves pink, sparkles and princesses?  How is it that my little girl loves everything girly when she has no girly role models, cartoons, influences in her life?  How is it that my little girl who spends so much time with her daddy loves purses, headbands and just all things pink.

I always thought/assumed that girly girls were born to girly girl moms, but apparently that is not the case.  Addie does does her time playing in the dirt and at the playground but she loves shopping for all things girly.  She loves her dolls, her princesses and especially anything with sparkles…ANYTHING.

Princess Jeep…

Pumpkin she decorated with sparkles while holding her purse…

Wanted her picture taken again with her necklace and her sparkly ring….

Princess costume she HAD to have for Halloween…

Not sure if this is girly or just silly…

Face painting with the a little pink butterfly (one of her favorite things..)

The epitome of girly girl…pink outfit, sparkly jewelry, and tacky hair accessories…

I love this girly girl, I will just need to do a little light reading on things to keep up with her and the trends :)

These lil ones…

These are the girls my little girl LOVES

These are the girls my little girl misses so much already

These are the girls my little girl wants to go and play with every single day

These are the girls my little girl thinks hang the moon

These are the girls my little girl wants to be like when she gets big

These are the girls my little girl referencing for each and every milestone in becoming a “big girl”

These little girls are the girls who we love more than life itself and will miss more than words can describe as they start their new adventure  on the other side of the world.

I don’t even know what an appropriate title could be from this evening.  I was perusing through our pictures and found a few gems.  The ones below make me giggle because it was from a night after her bath.  She kept say “Cold!!…Brrrrnn!”  She barely enunciates any words but she tries to say brrrrr, she always says brrrrrn.  Addie sat in her chair, feeling sorry for herself, eating her favorite dinner of black beans and cheese while she was wrapped in an old dish towel.  She sat like this the entire time she ate, she made the most pitiful face I have ever seen…..

Sweetness

There is something so sweet when your little one sleeps next to you.   First, let me say that I am not an advocate for family beds or regularly sleeping next to your children but there are times when it is needed.  Last week for us, it was needed. 

There is a sweetness of seeing them so content, sleeping soundly.  It reminds you how cute they are and how much you love them.  You easily forget all the little battles you have just gone through out the day.  That’s some of the thoughts we had.

The other thoughts included annoyance of this little body who needs 3 times the space of the bed then you do, snores like an 80 year old man, exudes heat like a inferno and makes sure there is no way you get 1 hour of solid sleep during the night. 

As sweet as it was to share the bed with Addie while we were out of town I was glad to be home where she could sleep in her own bed, where she belongs :)

Cold Turkey…

Have you seen this child??

The one with her paci in your mouth??  Well not in this house, not anymore.  The cute little Pacifier or “nigh-nigh” she lovingly referred to them as are no longer present.    The child who couldn’t go to bed without having 1 in her mouth, 1 in each hand and 2-3 extra in her bed has quit cold turkey.  

Dave got fed up with the obsession, she was easily taking advantage of us and getting them throughout the day and no longer just during her sleep time.  He decided enough was enough and helped her throw them out in the trash.  For 36 hours we have been “nigh-nigh” free.  I can’t believe it.  We haven’t had any naps in the past 2 days, but night time hasn’t been too bad and during the day we can easily distract her with a treat or 2 if we get into super meltdown mode but the transition has gone MUCH easier then I expected.

I’m glad Dave took charge here because in my mind it was going to be a 12 step process to get rid of them, but he is right, let’s just rip the band aid off and go from there…..thank goodness. 

:)

This picture makes me smile.

I love it because this little one has some spunk, sorry not some but A LOT of spunk.  Her little personality just makes me smile, she loves to laugh, she loves to make others laugh.  I am very grateful for her mostly cheerful disposition :)

You know what they say….

Start them early!

Addie loves to help whenever and where ever she can :)

Sick, sick, sick

We, like everyone else has had their fair share of doctor visits in the the last month or so.  We’ve had ear aches (x2), rashes (x2), bad colds, pink eye, coughs and some mysterious bump on her neck.  With all of these ailments we have to give a decent amount of medicine over the last several weeks.  So much so, our little toddler with her limited communication skills has come up with her own sign language for medicine. 

This little example is when we had to give her 2 types of medicines which is why she is using both of her fingers.

Thankfully she doesn’t give any resistance to the ear drops, eye drops, droppers, etc during this crazy sick season.  I have never been more ready for spring/summer.

Love is…

A sweet treat for me.

Unlimited refills on his beloved G2.

A pretty good combo…

Love is not Hot Tamales, it’s not powered G2 Gatorade mix, for me, Love is being with someone who takes care of you.  Someone who loves you and all your craziness and thinks of sweet little treats to remind you that you are loved and taken care of. 

I love my husband and my family more than I could describe in one little paragraph.  I am grateful for our love for each other.

Snowapalooza 2011

Snow, snow, snow….we got our first snow of the year.  According to Dave it wasn’t ideal for making a snowman, but he managed to make a solid 3 footer and a pretty nice fort in the front yard with this not so great snow.  

I am so thankful that Dave likes to go outside and “play” in the snow, I love the snow, but from the inside while I sip on my hot chocolate and with mini marshmallows :) 

Addie loved the snow and wanted to go outside but every time we would bundle her up after a few minutes she was ready to come back inside.  She liked her snowman and waves at him every time she sees him outside the window .  She LOVED eating the snow, I am pretty sure her diet yesterday consisted of 80% snow.  No wonder she was starving right before bedtime :) She wasn’t too sure of sledding and probably only made it down the little hill about 1 time.  She enjoyed taking her car outside and being pushed around like it was sunny outside, crazy girl

Here is her first time outside just after her nap, not too sure about it all and of course Dave HAD to wear his beard/toboggan combo.

She was not happy once we got inside and she had on wet clothes

Daddy made her a snowball to play with and she started to get the idea of this snow thing….

Once we hinted about going outdoors she was quick to grab a hat and whatever shoes she could find….

She loved watching Daddy make her snowman and the final product

A few details I can’t forget….

This post is to help Mommy remember what milestones I don’t want to forget :)

As this year comes to a close I can’t help but feel incredibly blessed.  In my prayers every night I thank God for our family, our health and our friends.  I can’t believe how fortunate we have been and are. 

This year I want to remember so many things for Addie.  I often look back at pictures stored on our computer and I am always blown away on how fast and how much Addie has changed. 

1/2/2010.  This picture makes me laugh for so many reasons..

12/3/10.. My big girl

This year Addie has gone from an active crawling baby to a running toddler with countless energy.  She loves dogs, from a distance.  She loves to see dogs, hear dogs, but not touch or pet any pets.  Addie loves to play with her kitchen sets and her imagination is starting to take off.  She loves to pretend to feed us cookies she has found behind the couch or serve us silly plates with her fake foods.  She loves her stuffed animals, especially any of the dogs or monkeys.  She loves Curious George and could read her George books over, over, over and over.    The winter months have been tough because this girl loves to be outside, she loves to play outside, go to the parks, see the ducks, almost any activity that will take us outside.  Obviously because of where we live we still get to enjoy outside play dates, it’s not that bad : )

Addie also loves to laugh, her laugh is my favorite sound in the world.  She often squeals when she laughs or the thought of laugh which always gets us to giggle.   She recently started her fake laugh when she hears others laughing, she doesn’t want to miss out on anything that is funny :)

Addie loves her cousins, and her friends.  She has a very sweet heart and will give hugs willingly and often.  She is still shy so if there are a lot of kids around she tends to be more of an observer than a participant.  She is content observing from the sidelines at times.  She hates when people are sad, she is eager to make someone feel better whether it be with a hug or kiss or getting them a treat of some sort. 

Speaking of treats, Addie loves her chocolate, or candy of any sort.  She got her parent’s sweet tooth.  She is still a great eater, she loves hummus and will often only eat hummus for lunch, dinner, breakfast, snack, you name it.  She loves fruit, eggs, chicken, sausage, cheese, avocados, chips and of course fruit snacks.

Addie is a pretty good communicator.  She doesn’t have many words in her vocabulary but she will figure out a way to communicate with you.  She has a few key signs she still relies on and a few words and she seems to get what she needs :)

Speaking of getting what she needs, man this girl is hard headed.  We are entering the stages of the tantrums and the fits.  A friend of ours said that one your child turned 1 the real parenting starts, and I AGREE.  Timeouts are usually a daily occurrence in our house and for the most part they work.  She is quick to give you a hug and a kiss afterwards to say sorry for whatever it was that got her in TO in the first place.  So far they are effective, let’s hope they stay that way.

At lastly she is a mama’s girl.  My 2 weeks off of work has meant a lot of mommy time for my little girl and it has been great and exhausting.  She loves her daddy but if she had her preferences she makes mommy hold her, give her baths and put her to bed.  She is my little sweetie.

I love this little girl so much and she is greatest blessing in our lives.  I look forward to all of the adventures we will have in 2011

Best Christmas Gift I could ask for

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with our extended family and it was great.  We got to enjoy mom’s home cooking, presents, relaxing, cornhole, gingerbread train making (kind of) and lots of just catching up. 

This was a bittersweet celebration as it was probably the last family get together for the holidays we will have for the near future.  There will be gatherings again but the timing of them is unknown. 

Christmas has always been my mom’s favorite holiday.  I have many memories of decorating the house while her Christmas records (yes, records) played.  While Mom decorated the inside, Dad was always working away outside with the lights.  I have more memories about traditions we had around Christmas than any other holiday.  St. Nick, the decorations, making cookies or pies, sleeping in to purposely drive my brothers crazy on Christmas mornings :)

For this past weekend it was a pretty perfect Christmas for me.  With all of the traditions and holiday hoopla we can get caught up with I was very grateful for my family and being able to spend time together.  I love my brothers, my sister in laws, my nieces, my daughter, my husband and my parents.  This was the tradition I was most grateful to have, to spend time with each other.

Merry Christmas

Our Weekend

We had a great weekend in Childress, but man it was exhausting. 

We drove in late on Friday night and got into town around midnight.  Usually we just sneak Addie back into the crib at Granny’s house and she goes right back to sleep, well not this time.  She had a hard time sleeping on the road this time and when we rolled into town she didn’t like the fact she wasn’t in her bed in her room.  We tried everything to get her to go to sleep but nothing worked so we were going to let her cry it out.  Well, that seemed liked a good plan until her screams of desperation changed to an evil little laugh behind our legs.  Little stinker climbed out the crib for the first time.  After some additional baby proofing around the crib and little more playing she finally went down around 2 in the morning.  She was up for the day at 6:30 in the morning.  Seriously!?!?!?  Addie and I got out of the house so someone could get some rest, we picked up some donuts and headed to the park to watch the ducks.  She went ALL day with just a short little 30 minute nap and another late bedtime.  The next day was a bit better but still tiring.  When we headed out of town to come home she was fast asleep within 2 minutes of the drive and thankfully slept soundly for the next 4 hours.

Despite the lack of sleep we had a great time with the family.

Addie loved spending time with her Granny.

She got to spend some quality time with Aunt Gracie.  How sweet is the picture of her cuddling with Gracie below.  Love it.

We had some typical west Texas winds which were perfect for flying a kite.  Addie started out slowly with her daddy.

Then she went solo for a little bit, she is starting to get the hang of it……

She is quickly taking it higher…

AND HIGHER…not bad for an 18 month old

We got the girls in their Halloween outfits.   How cute is our little lady bug, Kendall.

The Seal boys and their girls. I am pretty sure this was the 100th picture we took in this pose and we finally got everyone to look at the camera and even a couple of smiles (including the boys)

Butterfly Festival

What a fun, great weekend we had.  We happened to trip upon a little butterfly festival in Grapevine several years ago and this week I randomly came across an ad for the same festival and thought it would be a fun family outing.   It was definitely worth the trip even if it was a bit overwhelming for Addie.  The little festival had definitely grown significantly from years past but is still super cute. 

They start out the festival with a little parade of all the kids who dress up for the festivities.   There are small babies, kids, adults, dogs all dressed up in some sort of butterfly gear.  They judge all of the costumes and give out prizes based on age groups, we didn’t stick around to see the winners but we definitely saw some cute costumes.

 

We tried to get a shot by the pumpkins, she wasn’t as enthused about the idea as the rest of us.

Watching the parade begin

Granny, Mommy and Addie enjoying the free crafts

The release of butterflies wasn’t as pretty as you would of hoped for but it was still pretty cool

After the festival we ended up eating an early lunch at Esparza’s and buying some fresh produce at the farmer’s market.  Once we got home Addie slept for 3 hours, I would say it was a pretty perfect Saturday.