I'm Back

I have always heard "Oh, look how much she has changed" from people that haven't seen Olivia in a while. I always knew that she changed a little, but this week I went out of town for a conference for 4 days. When I got back I thought "Wow, look how much she has changed." It is amazing that even for a short time at this age the small changes that happen. Her babbling has changed and she has a new "phrase." She even looks a little different, cuter of course, but different.
Brooke discovered the "joy" of single motherhood while I was gone. Yes, that is a sarcastic JOY. One of the nights I was gone Chili re-injured his back, Zoe puked in her box in the middle of the night (which required tending to immediately because otherwise she lays in it and foot prints it out in the morning. Livi coughed all night keeping Brooke slightly awake all night, then had a giant poop right before Brooke was walking out the door with her for daycare. On another night, Olivia had a poop explosion sometime at night that about made Brooke gag when walking in the room. She said there was even liquid in Olivia's toes trapped in the jammies. She had to change the bed, changing pad, leave the window open all morning and give her an impromptu bath all before running out the door for work. Blah, poor Brooke, but I am home now so she can sleep in in the mornings now. I got real sick again while on the trip, even thought I was getting swine last night but after a full night of sleep (which I did not get on this trip) I feel refreshed today, yay!! That is all for now, I need to get reacquainted with Olivia so I can share some new stories....
P.S. Check out Olivia moving from her little baby chairs to wanting to be on a big girl chair. She does not quite have the strength yet to get herself up there, but she is determined..

After Shots

It was a long week for us. Olivia had her 1 year shots Thursday morning, which she was not fond of. She got 4 shots, including H1N1 (we weren't expecting that but they said it was available so we decided it couldn't hurt.) She did well the rest of the day, and actually hasn't slept too bad compared to her 4 month shots. She has been waking up a few times a night and crying, but usually will go right back to sleep.
This morning we started miking whole milk into her formula. We are going to get her off formula soon and stick to milk, assuming her stomach does not react poorly to it.
Friday evening we brought Olivia to a nearby park. We have been wanting to put her on a swing for a while but never got around to it. Olivia was already very tired when we went to the park so even though she had a good time, she didn't smile nearly as much as normal. We will have to bring her back again on the weekend when she is fully rested so she can have more fun. In true Livi form though, she saw a cat across the street and left the park on a cat hunt. She is pretty fast when she wants to be. She also really liked to pick up rocks, sticks and pine cones too.

Shots and more Shots

Tomorrow is Olivia's 1 year shots. She just started feeling better and getting back to normal after her cold and now it is going to be turned on its head again. Oh well, she will survive. We will just expect a week of off-schedule.
We finally decided to setup Olivia's little chair that she has had as a baby. She did not like laying in it when she was younger, but really likes sitting in it now that she can walk. She especially loves having her bottle in it while she watches the Today Show in the morning.

Video

Here is a little video of Olivia eating her cake on Saturday. We are happy to announce that we never got ants on the highchair after the cake. You can't beat a good Brooke cleaning.

Birthday Celebration

Olivia's first birthday party morning started out with a home made waffle from Daddy. You can tell it is a Daddy made waffle because it is not nice and round like the way Mommy makes them, it is some strange star shaped waffle hybrid, but Olivia loved it no matter what the shape.
She spent some more time playing around until nap time, then I put her down for her rest. We planned on leaving for Lexington after Olivia's nap, which ended up being 3 hours. It was crazy, but she hasn't been napping at Daycare, and with the time change, she is also losing an hour of sleep because she awakes as soon as the sun comes up now.
So after she awoke from her 3 hour nap, we dressed her and fed her in the car on the way to Mima's for her celebration. Steph and John were coming down to celebrate with us, but unfortunatly John wasn't feeling well so he stayed home. We arrived at Mima's and waited around until Mima got off work, and Rob went and picked up some pizzas for dinner.
After dinner, we gathered in the living room to open presents. Olivia seemed excited by all the packages and colors. She opened some great gifts and had fun tearing the wrapping paper, and even eating some.
After presents we gave her her "smash" cake. She was unsure at first, but quickly got the hang of it and made quite the mess. There was a lot of cleanup involved afterwards, including a quick bath in the kitchen sink for Livi. After that it was time for the adults to have their cake, then clean up and leave. Olivia's first birthday was a success, everyone had a good time. It was a very late night for Livi, but well worth it. Happy Birthday Livi!!

Olivia's Smash Cake

The big stuffed puppy from Auntie Steph and Uncle John

Olivia attacking her cake

The after-cake bath

The B-day family

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Olivia Lee!! My how time flies. The household is coming to the end of it's plague I think. I for one am feeling much better, still have a horrible cough that hurts, but other than that I feel good. Brooke does not have a voice yet and is coughing a lot but I think is starting to get better as well. Tomorrow we head down to Lexington to celebrate Livi's birthday with Mima and Grandpa Rob, and Auntie Steph and Uncle John are coming down as well. I can't wait for Olivia to eat her first cake!!

The Morning After

Well, Halloween was a bust. All three of us were too sick to do anything. My cold got much worse as the day went on, even ran a 101 fever for a while. I also had a hard night, but as of this morning, I feel pretty good. Owe that to part medications, but I also think I may be starting to get over this crap. As for Olivia, I was a little worried when I went in to get her this morning. I opened the door and she was standing with her head resting against the crib rail as though she was exhausted. When I picked her up though, I saw both of those beautiful blue eyes looking at me. Neither was crusted shut like the other mornings. I brought her out and gave her all of her medications which she HATES now. It is like we are murdering her. But after I got all the meds in her and brought her out to eat, she was almost her normal self. Still very congested, but running around playing with all her toys and talking up a storm. There are sneezes every 10 minutes or so, but our Livi is back. We will keep up with all her meds, especially the Tamiflu and hope that she is 110% by her birthday party Saturday. I have not taken her temp yet today because that would send her over the edge, but she does not feel at all like a hot-potato that she has normally been feeling like the past few days. We are approaching nap time, I hope she can get some more good sleep!!

Here is a picture of all her Meds, well organized as you know Brooke would do


Below is a video of Olivia yesterday. I figure if I share the good times, I might as well share the bad. Video not for the faint of heart!!