A Quick Update.

Whew...how have four days gone by since my last post? Geez, time flies.

We've been up to a lot of cool and exciting stuff, and this mama has been pulling some major OT at work! I actually offered to step in for the D's so that they could go to New Orleans for their tenth wedding anniversary, and so I was at work from Friday morning to Saturday late night, hauling 3 little girls to basketball practices, basketball games and birthday parties, as well as trying to get (and keep!) the house clean, bake brownies for Mr. D's birthday Saturday, and generally not lose it after something like 40 straight hours at work. It went well considering how stressful it could've been, but I'm glad it's over. Definitely not feeling like I got much of a weekend, though!

Then, there was this pesky little time change. Normally I'm down with the whole "fall back", taking full advantage of that extra hour of sleep, but Ava didn't get the memo, and woke up early just the same. To top it off, her nap schedule has been all over the place today, with her falling asleep in D's arms before she'd even had breakfast, and then napping again right before we were supposed to head out to run errands. Oh well - A's nap takes precedence over just about anything, since it directly correlates to my sanity!

After she woke up from her second nap, we ran some errands, including hitting up Toys R Us to start on A's Christmas and birthday shopping! Considering the two are days apart, I think we're going to be better off starting our purchasing out early like this in order to spread it out a bit, but we knew that we wanted something extra special for her birthday, and we just couldn't wait to pick it up for her! Check out what we got our little lady for her first birthday:

Awesome, right? We got an insane deal on it, between a merchandise credit we had, a $20 off sale and a 20% off coupon that came on our mailer! We're planning to do this for her birthday, and then the rest of the things going for Christmas/stocking stuffers/Santa :) I'm so excited!!!!

In less exciting news, A had a reaction to the yogurt we tried with her, which makes me super sad. I've been easing dairy back in - sometimes successfully, less successfully with other forms - and it's gone well enough that the doc suggested that we could try yogurt with her, as the milk protein is the most broken down in yogurt. We tried it, in a very small amount of YoBaby! Yogurt Blends, and the poor doll had diarrhea for over 24 hours. As such, no dairy for her - or I again!! - until after 1 year. Anyone have any good vegan frosting recipes to pass my way to accompany her vegan chocolate birthday cake?!

A's still on her antibiotics, and let me pass a little tip along to those of you who may also have a baby who isn't down with the refrigerated antibiotics. A is a champ medicine taker when it comes to Motrin, etc, but anything the doc prescribes, she fights like hell. So...at my wits end, I've started taking it out of the fridge an hour before she needs to take it in the dropper, and letting it settle to room temp. Voila! She takes it just fine!

Alright, that's enough update for now - time to go cuddle my little baby bear! Hope you all had a great weekend!

Ava's Blankie.

This weekend, while in San Antonio, our friends gave us a personalized blankie for A. This couldn't come at a better time because I'm trying to get her attached to a lovey for when we (someday) transition her to her own bed/room. Anyhow, she loves it! Check it out:

It's so soft and fluffy, and she likes to fall asleep with it between her and I while I'm snuggling her and nursing her. Too cute! Thanks, Vanessa and Jamie!

Wordless Wednesday - Little Red Riding Hood.

Baby Steps.

Not the best footage by any means, but at least you can see some evidence of her emergent walking skills! She's taken 3-4 steps by herself at once, but I could only get a couple on camera!

Attack of the Sickies!

Ava is sick. And not like, "Eh, she doesn't feel that great," sick. Like, super miserable sick.

It started Saturday night, when we got back from the zoo, which prompted D to ask the oh-so-hilarious, "Maybe she caught the bird flu." Oh, men.

We were going to skip the festivities for Halloween, but after a couple of great naps she seemed much, much better, so out we went, into the 85-degree night. Ha! She had a great time, we had a great time, all was well. Or so I thought.

Monday morning, we woke up to a sick little one, far worse than she was Saturday night or Sunday morning. Her nose was running non-stop, she was coughing, and she had a fever, so I called up her doc, and he was able to get her in. Unfortunately his only appointment was during my work hours, and I've only called in sick twice in two years and don't make a habit of it, so D took off work to take her.

You know what's worse than holding your baby down for a shot/lab work/breathing treatments? Not being there to do it, and hearing that she cried out "mamamama" the entire time. I'll never complain about taking her for vaccines again :(

Diagnosis? Bronchial infection (bronchitis). Treatment? She had to have a breathing treatment in the office - poor, poor baby! - and now a 7-day course of antibiotics. She's barely eating, waking up all night crying due to her inability to breathe and the coughing, and is just generally miserable. Thankfully, she's in happy spirits, and wants to sit in my lap and read all day, which is absolutely fine by me. Unfortunately, mama still has to work, and D has a test tomorrow for the class he's taking, so she'll have to come with me today :(

Here's hoping the antibiotics kick in soon!!! I HATE seeing my little baby girl suffering :(

Ava's Big Girl Car Seat!

Part of the reason we went to San Antonio was to give back Ava's infant car seat that we'd borrowed from a close family friend. As such, A's now in her big girl car seat - so exciting!

(Don't worry, we strap her in - this was as we were getting out of the car!)

Halloween Wrap-Up!

A's first Halloween was a roaring success (aside from the fact that she's feeling sick, but that's a whole other story!)! We spent most of the day low-key, just hanging out on the couch reading books and watching a bit of Dora, but then she rallied after a couple of exceptional naps - 2+ hours!!! - and so we ended up going to a Halloween party at my boss's house after all. It was a super fun time, with all the kids in costume and playing in the backyard and all the adults boozing it up WASP-style. Man, they throw some good parties :D

After the sun went down - which is considerably early compared to just two weeks ago! - we all hit the pavement for some trick-or-treating. A loved seeing all the costumes and people, and was enjoying socializing with all the little kids! She was also handing out huge, cheesy smiles in exchange for candy - love this kid!

Check it out:

Daddy & our little bumblebee:

S & her cousin at the party:

Ava and the Great Pumpkin:

Trick-or-treat!


P & friends:

Trick-or-treating in style - yes, that's a deluxe golf cart!


Happy Halloween, everyone!