Post Christmas Play Date

(Psst...don't miss my post down below...I posted twice in one day! Crazy

Michael & Marci came over for a play date yesterday. Here's some of the cute pics:

Olivia showing Michael how to be naughty and play with diapers
(I know, she looks a little drunk)..."What, Mom? We're not doing anything wrong! Really!"
I just noticed Michael is copping a feel too...naughty boy... It's one of two, you decide:

"Gimme!" OR

"I love you!"

They must have thought I was crazy...

So I took Olivia to the Dr. today because I thought she had an ear infection. Why you ask? Well, if you remember back (Signs & Symptoms) Olivia does not show the classic signs of an ear infection. I've had to get creative with my diagnoses.

I told the Dr., "Well, she has been eating a TON and she is crabby when she wakes up from her naps...so I think she has an ear infection." She tried not to laugh at me, but I could tell she thought I was a little wacky. I explained O's history and I think she thought I was a little less wacky. But then she checked O's ears...SURE ENOUGH! She's got an ear infection. It is in the same ear as before, so it may be residual...but here goes another round of antibiotics.

Poor little Oli! On another note...I think I may be psychic.

O's First Christmas

What a joy it was to celebrate Olivia's first Christmas! She was such a little trooper through all of hte hustle and bustle...traveling to different places, all the presents, and attention. It was a busy few days for Miss O! But boy oh boy, did she love Christmas!

Christmas Eve we spent with family friends of my side of the family for dinner and then went to Ryan's Mom's side for presents. Like Ryan said on the way home," it is so much fun to see other people enjoy her as much as we do!". I second that!

Christmas day was spent at our house with my family. We had brunch and then spent the afternoon opening presents. It was a wonderful time and Olivia loved playing with all of her new toys! That evening we also went over to the Thompson's for a bit to crash their Christmas party. O was exhausted, but loved playing with her cousins. I'll post pics later, but...

Here's a clip of O's new favorite toy:

Ho Ho Healthy!

Okay...before I jinx the family (because I usually do by blogging..) let me just say that WE ARE HEALTHY! Hooray! And Olivia is napping...in her crib! Without a fight! For the 2nd time in 9 days.

Merry Christmas to you and yours! Enjoy the holiday season. Eat lots, be merry, and hopefully get a little R & R! May blessings, Ehlan, Ryan, & Olivia

I don't even know what day of Christmas we are on anymore...

Well, I tried the days of Christmas thing, and I did pretty good...till we got sick anyway!

Last night before we went to bed, my mom called to say my Dad had gotten sick. Poor Grampy who took such good care of his little O and Bug caught our germies. Sorry Grampy! Ryan and I have company this weekend; his hunting buddy Brandon, so after Grammi called I thougth I better do some more disinfecting. As we were talking up stairs, Ryan said to Brandon, "Don't worry, I haven't gotten sick!". Famous last words. I dont' think I even have to tell you who was up sick half the night last night.

So the disinfecting begins all over again. I'm off to get my 2 Clorox sprays, wipes, and then to Target to buy Lysol and TP.

Sigh.

I've learned an important lesson:

When you have a sick baby, you throw out all of your rules about sleeping and eating.
I sure hope they are easy to get back!

Thank Goodness for Daddys

This afternoon when Ry got home from work he had to run a few errands. He knew I needed a break, so he took Miss O with him. I have now been home alone for 2 1/2 hours, and I am thoroughly enjoying myself. Even though most of my time was spent picking up, cleaning, and doing laundry to catch up from working & being sick this week, I have managed to spend some time online and watching Oprah too.

Pray that Miss O is recovered tonight! I'm not ready for more puke now that I've done the laundry!!

On the 6th & 7th days of Christmas...

Olivia and I spent our days bowing before the porcelin throne. Well, Olivia didn't ever make it to the throne, she puked in stead in her bed and all over Mommy. But I made it to the thone--an amazing 7 times yesterday. Oh feel the Christmas joy! :)

I seem to be fully recovered today, but Olivia, after being fine most of the day yesterday started throwing up again during the night. She just had diarrhea (ish), but has not thrown up now since 4 am. I'm hoping we're on the road to recovery.

Let's see...something Christmas related--I spend most of my days now trying to keep Olivia out of the tree and the presents! Silly lady! She's pretty good at listening, but they are so much fun to get into!!

frustrating morning.

The last few days Olivia has not wanted to nap by herself. She has been napping by herself consistently since she was like 2 months old. I don't know if it is her teeth bothering her or what, but she will fall asleep and then wake up as soon as I lay her down and won't go back to sleep.

Last night she slept great, 12 hours total! An hour after she woke up, she was totally ready for her nap. Usually she goes 2 hours at least, but she was exhausted! She fell asleep right away, but woke up of course when I laid her down. UGH. So I thought, okay, I'm getting tough, you are crying it out. After 45 min. (not of her crying that long, but off and on), I gave in. I know, I know, it's not going to help...but seriously. She was not going to sleep. So we cuddled on the couch for a bit and watched a few minutes of Sesame Street. Finally she went to sleep and laid down. So we started the process at 8:45...now it's 10:30. How annoying!!

When we have times like this, I always try to figure out what went wrong. Did I start the nap process too early? Should I have just let her cry until she finally fell asleep? I just don't know... Hopefully she will take a good long nap now...

On the 5th Day of Christmas...

My mom helped me wrap all of my presents! Thanks Mom! Seeing all of the presents always makes me excited for Christmas to arrive so I can enjoy watching everyone's faces while they open their presents.

I love giving gifts, especially to children! Their reactions are so genuine. I love that when they really don't care for something, you can totally tell! But it's okay, because they're kids! :) They haven't learned to fake it yet. And really, isn't being genuine and honest more important anyway?