9/27/12

Even though we had Allison's birthday party the Saturday before her birthday, we still wanted to do something for her on her actual birthday. We invited the Grandparents over for supper. We had a great night. Alli got more presents (as if she needed any thing else). We got our replacement gift the day before so I was so excited. I didn't want to have nothing for my baby on her birthday.



 

 

Her new Minnie Chair!  I think she was happy.

 

A See n Say.  She was trying to figure it out

Giving her chair a hug

ENT Referral

So after having 10 ear infections in 9 months, we were referred to and ENT, Dr. Bass.  We met with him on 10/4/12.  He agreed that we need to have tubes put in.  So we now have surgery scheduled for 10/31/12, Halloween.  It's kinda funny that Alli's doctor is the same doctor that I had with my tonsils about 20 years ago.  My surgery was on April fools day.  Too funny!  I am so nervous about the procedure, but know it will be what's best for Allison in the long run.

Allison's 1st Birthday

Can it really be true?  Can my baby really be 1?  Well whether or not I can believe, Allison is truly 1.  Where has the time gone? 

Allison's birthday did not go off without a hitch.  Mike and I had figured out the perfect gift for Allison.  She LOVES to jump.  Her jumperoo was her favorite toy.  So I found a "spring horse" that was a 4 in 1 grow with me.  It would rock for now and then had 3 other height settings for when she could bounce.  I even found one with purple, pink, and white.  I was so cute.  So I ordered it two weeks early.  Target said it would be here long before her birthday.  I hadn't had any problems before so I didn't worry about it.  Well we get to the week of her party and Target says they have shipped her horse, but not tracking information was available.  I call and they assure me not to worry (really because I wouldn't be calling if i wasn't already worrying right) that the horse would be there Friday by end of day.  Well Friday rolls around, I get a package from UPS, but it is NOT the one I was waiting on.  I call back to talk to customer service and it all went downhill from here.  Now I work in customer service and I know how rough it can be so I am overly nice and kind.  This was not the case this day.  I was okay until they told me that Alli's horse was at the Girard, IL UPS sorting facility.  REALLY???!!!!  I WAS MAD!  I knew they were lying to me and I let loose and got nowhere.  By the time Mike got home, I was sitting in the floor, holding Allison just bawling.  Mike then calls Target and gets the same stupid run around.  He asks for a supervisor and she lies to him.  We then call UPS and they say that there was a shipping label created by the vendor, but nothing ever sent to UPS for delivery.  At this point I am totally distraught.  My daughter's first birthday is completely ruin(even though it wasn't) and nothing was going to make it any better.  Mike call back to Target and gets a gentleman who actually tells us the truth.  There was an error with the shipment and it was never sent.  We asked him to cancel the order which he did.  I got online and order her the other present that we had thought about getting her, but we had nothing but a couple outfits for her party. We spent at least 3 to 4 hours on the phone with Target that day.  Sheesh!  After the way Friday afternoon had gone, I didn't figure decorating would go very well, but Mike was my hero and helped me so much.  We got everything done we could do and I was very please with the way it turned out.

I was up early of course because I couldn't sleep.  I had to go check the garage decorations.  I just knew they were all going to be on the floor in a heap, but they weren't.  Everything looked the same as when I had left it the night before.  Allison had a great time at her party and enjoyed spending time with family and friends.

My good friend Tonya made these 3 boards.  They were beautiful and made me cry!

The banner I made.  The glitter will be around the house for YEARS!

Cupcakes made by my friend Becky!

Pinterest inspired cupcake stands. 

I am so happy with the way that all the decoration turned out.  The colors of everything were perfect and matched great.

The Birthday Princess

Alli and Mommy

My 1 year old!

Not too sure about the cake.  Liked the icing though.

My birthday girl

Our favorite baby sitter Lacey.  She had homecoming and had to miss the party, but we still wanted to get a picture with her.

The days of our lives......

Ummmm....... Where are the time gone?  Was it really July the last time I posted a blog?  WOW!!!

No, this blog isn't going to be about "Days of our Lives", but I have been thinking about about the days of this last year.  Alli will be 1 in just over two weeks.  It seems totally unbelievable.  The days seem to all run together.  There was the day she was born, the day I first met and held my baby, the day we brought her home, and so many more special days.  But have I really made the most of all the days in the last year?  Time has just flown and I want to remember to make the most out of all of our days.  Allison is just so special and I don't want to get so busy moving from one thing to the next and miss enjoying every moment with her.

Alli had her first trip to the river in August.  She loves water and really liked the river.  The river water was just a little too cold for her, but she still liked it.  She did GREAT camping.  She actually slept all night for the first time camping on our canoe trip. 

Allison has had at least two more ear infections.  I am so ready to be done with them.  Alli has such a high pain tolerance that you just don't know she has one until it's almost too late.  But thankfully I have learned to watch for cues.  One of the biggest things is she is fussy.  She is never fussy or whiny so when she is, something is up.  This last one I noticed late on a Saturday.  Of course no one is open at that time but the ER.  She went to sleep and seemed okay.  We decided to see how she was the next day.  Thankfully we have a nurse in the family now and she looked at Alli's ears for us.  She couldn't really see in her left ear very well because of a chunk of gunk, but he ear canal was red and she sure didn't like the otoscope (sp?) in that ear.  So we took her to Koke Mill Express care in Springfield.  They were FANTASTIC and had us in and out.  Alli's left ear was really infected, she has a sinus infection, and her tonsils were a little swollen.  My poor little baby.

We have been busy planning for her party and getting everything ready.  It just doesn't seem like she can be a year old already.  She is learning new things all the time.  She is such a little mimic too.  She now lays her head on your shoulder and if you start patting her back, she pats yours.  She has this ornery little laugh that just makes me smile.  We have had to get baby gates because she will not stay where you put her.  She doesn't crawl and she doesn't walk, she rolls everywhere.  It is the funniest thing I have ever seen.  I need to get a video of her doing it.  If she gets stuck in a corner, she will push herself off whatever she can with her legs and keep going.  She is NOT a fan of the gate and has sat there and cried at it.  I cannot tell you how much I love this little girl and how much I believe that she was made just for Mike and I.  She is a part of me I never knew was missing.  She is one of the first things I see in the morning and the reason I can't wait to get home from work at night.  I love Mike more know seeing how wonderful he is with her.  Being a mother is more of a blessing than anyone can ever tell you.

Here are some pictures from the last couple months.  We are so blessed.

She was supposed to be napping!

Love the smile and you can see her teeth!  She has two more now.



Alli's new hair cut.  She looks too grown up!

 

 

 



Watching for Daddy!


 

Crazy weekend ahead

Last week was the Macoupin County Fair.  Mike and I really haven't gone in the last couple of years so we figured we would get out with Alli for a bit and go grab something to eat.  Boy was it a hot one.  Thankful we were able to get a place to sit and eat our food in front of one of the big fans.  That was nice.  We stayed cool until we walked back to the car.  We went to Wal-Mart afterwards, because what is a trip to Carlinville without Wal-mart right.  It was so hot, Wal-Mart didn't even seem cool.  The heat must have taken everything out of Alli because she was asleep in the van before we even got all the groceries in.  I finally caught a picture of her sleeping.  She usually wakes up.  She always looks so peaceful.  I love to watch her sleep.

I noticed the other day that Alli had a 3rd tooth.  I didn't even know this one was coming in.  It was another bottom one.  I would have told you the next one she was going to get were the top two.  I think she is working on at least one if not more.  She is really pretty happy for cutting teeth.  Nothing like the ear infections.

Last night Allison had a really rough night.  For some reason all of the sudden she has started rolling over in her sleep and then waking up screaming because she hates to be on her stomach.  I was up at least 5 to 6 times last night.  She would not roll back over.  She had her blanket wadded up behind her and the side of the crib at the other so I dont' know if she felt like she couldn't roll or what.  Needless to say, I was one tired Mom today.  But seeing those little eyes and smile this morning made all of that fade.  I just love that little girl.  But her rough, sleepless night play havoc on her hair.  She woke up with the craziest hair I have seen her have yet.  It was much worse when I pick her up, but you can still tell below how funny it looked.

I don't know how to fix this picture.  Sorry!

This weekend is Girard Festival Days.  Mike has been busy setting up for the Food and Beer Tent.  Friday night "Leaving Ashland" is playing until 1am and Saturday "Sable" is playing until 1am.  It is a long, hot, but fun weekend.  Please come out and support your local fire, rescue, and dive squad so that they can buy equipment and pay for training to keep us all safe! 

Finger Foods/ 9 month well baby visit

Lately I have been having to fight Alli to get her to eat her supper at night.  She wants more and more to feed herself.  I wasn't sure exactly what I should or shouldn't be doing as far as finger foods for her.  So at her 9 month check up the other day, I talked with the doctor about it.  Dr. Cruz said to try giving them to her and that it was good for her to want to be picking up her food by herself.  So Monday night, Alli had her first big girl meal.  She ate chicken, green beans, and potatoes.  She loved it.  She ate quite a bit, I gave her a little of cereal (just to make sure she got enough to eat), and her bottle.  She did great!  This was not the case last night.  Nothing went well.  She cried, screamed, and slapped food out of my hands.  It was horrible.  I was upset, she was upset and it just made for a bad night.  She wouldn't eat ANYTHING except her bottle, so that's what I gave her.  She slept horrible.  I don't know if she was hungry or not, but I didn't want to give her a bottle because I don't want to have to do that every night again.  I just don't know what her deal is with eating.  I am sure it is just a phase, but man it wears me out.  But after being so frustrated and scared because she is not eating, she can give me her smile and laugh and it makes everything right in the world again. 

Alli's 9 month check up went great.  I thought she was going to have to have shots and was relieved when she didn't have to.  They did have to prick her finger to check her hemoglobin level.  It was so funny.  The nurse pricked her finger and Alli looked at her like "What did you just do?"  I wish I could have gotten a picture.  She made an "O" with her mouth and looked at me as if to say "Why did you let her do that"?  She cried for about 2 seconds and then calmed down.  But the nurse had a heck of a time getting the band aide on because Alli was bleeding to bad.  There was blood everywhere.  It was just running out of her.  Once we got it stopped, I had to hold her while the nurse cleaned off the bed.  Alli weighed 23 lbs 2 oz and was 31 1/2 in tall which put her in the 90th and 97th percentile on the growth chart respectively.  She is just getting so big.  Dr. Cruz said everything looked good.  I still can't believe my baby is already 9 months old.  It will be 10 months in a week.

Family Pictures

We got new family pictures done outside at my Grandpa's old barn and pond.  Beth Oswald took them and see did a great job!  She even got Alli to smile which is an accomplishment.  We are very happy with them.  Thought I would share them here.

Life is good!

I will put up a post in the next few days about Alli's first 4th of July and our annual family campout.  It's been such a hot one!

Today I have been really emotional.  A year ago today, I started my regimen of infertility medicines to begin our first invitro cycle.  I remember being so excited and nervous.  We have come so far from that day.  Our IVF cycle ended in failure in archiving a pregnancy of my own, but out of those dark days came our miracle child Allison Grace. The whole IVF process was overwhelming but one I would gladly go thru again if it meant that was the way we got to Allison.  I truly believe that we HAD to go thru the IVF process in order to get to Allison.  I am still not totally sure what lesson we were supposed to learn from it.   I have been sitting here today thinking about the Jason Aldean song "Laughed Until We Cried".  The song has a part in it that goes something like this, "Just the other night the baby was crying so I got out of bed and rocked her awhile and I held her tight and I told her it would be alright.  My mind went back to a few years ago when we tried so long we almost gave up hope and then I remember you coming in and giving me the news.  Oh man we were living, going crazy in the kitchen.  We danced and screamed and held each other tight.  We laughed until we cried".  Those lyrics really are how it was for us.  It sums it up so perfectly.  I couldn't have said it better myself.  I may never know why Alli's birth mother choose us, but I am so thankful that she did.  She is an amazing young woman, who I think of daily and will ALWAYS talk about with the utmost respect.  I don't think I can ever truly convey to her how much she really means to us and what her decision means to us.  It's so hard to believe where we have come in only one short year.  And that my wonderful miracle baby is sleeping soundly in the other room.  I am loving life and am so happy.  Life if great and God is good!

9 months

I cannot believe that Allison is 9 months old already.  We are just amazed everyday that we get to be her parents.  She is an amazing child.  I just love to sit and watch her as she learns new things.  She is changing so fast and I don't want to miss a minute.  I took some pictures tonight with the quilt that Allison's birthgrandmother made.  Alli got really tired of Mommy playing photographer, but she was a trooper. 

Yeah for Allison

Mom, I am so done with this!!!

Finally a smile

If I can just grab Mom's camera she can't take any more pictures.

Allison's 9 month check up is July 12th.  I can't wait to see how much she has grown.  I think she is getting so big.  It will be interesting to see how different her numbers are from her 6 month checkup.





Diaper Rash GO AWAY!!!

We noticed that Alli had little red bumps in her diaper area and had been treating it with the diaper rash cream our doctor recommend.  But after 7 days, it still wasn't any better.  I called the doctor to talk to the nurse.  I had been reading about a yeast infection diaper rash and was afraid that's what she had.  That's what the doctor thought too so she prescribed a cream and we started putting it on.  By Friday her diaper rash was SO bad.  I called the doctor and they told me a few other things to do which included two different creams, rinsing all the chemicals off the wipes we are using, and trying to keep her out of her diaper for as long as possible.  Really, that want me to keep my almost 9 month old daughter out of a diaper.  I didn't see this going well, but if it made her feel better, I was all for it.  So Saturday, Mike cut a garbage bad and laid it out on the floor, we put a blanket down over it, and then put a changing pod underneath. 

She played and was doing fine.  About 5 or so mintues in, I check her to make sure she hadn't potty yet when I notice her shirt was wet and big wet spot on the changing pad.  Mike was right there and started freaking out.  Not only had she peed, but she pooped too.  Now our daughter is not a quite pooper but of course this one time she would be.  Mike runs to the kitchen to get a paper towel.  I pick her up and he holds the paper towel underneather her tush so the poop doesn't fall to the floor when Alli decides she needs to poop again.  YIKES!!!!!  Mike doesn't handle dirty diapers well.  I was laughing so hard.  All I had going thru my head was the scene from Full House where Michelle had a dirty diaper and Uncle Jesse and Joey were home with her.  They ended up putting her in the kitchen sink and washing her with the hand held wand and wrapping her paper towels instead of a diaper.  She wasn't really all that messy and I cleaned her up.  But what a funny few mintues.  By Monday she was looking better, but today she is really red again.  But I am thinking we are getting teeth and that's not helping anything.

We had a photo session on Saturday with my Bosses daughter Beth Oswald who is studying photography at Hannibal LaGrange University.  Alli did pretty well.  I had three outfits for her and we only got to two, but that's okay.  We will save the other one for a little later.  Beth thinks she should have the pictures soon and I can't wait to see them.  Next up are her 1 year pictures.  Holy cow, where has the time gone.  I love her more and more each day and Mike and I are so blessed!

First 4wheeling trip and Mike's 1st Father's day

Last Thursday, we loaded up the camper with the ton of stuff for Allison, the 4wheeler, and all our other essentials and headed out to St. Joe's State Park in Missouri for our Annual 4wheeling trip.  After our last camping trip with Allison I was prepared for the no naps and not sleeping very well at night, but Allison loves outside so we were going to have fun.  We stopped at Hardees to eat before getting to the campground.  I get Allison out of her seat and realize that she has peed everywhere.  So Mike and I grab all her stuff and head into Hardees to order food and change her diaper.  I get into the bathroom only to notice that there is NO changing station.  REALLY!!!  Does Hardees not expect people to have kids and need to change their diaper?  So we head back out to the truck, which is not parked by the door mind you because we have a 25ft camper with it and it's hot, to change Alli's diaper and clothes.  I get her all set and we head back in to get food.  Alli was great while we ate!  Mike gets her out of the high chair and she has peed again all over her clothes.  It was mostly all over her pants, but I didn't have anything else in her diaper bag and I couldn't get to her clothes in the camper.  So i stripped her down to her onsie and back in her car seat she went.  We get to the campground and get the camper set up probably easier than ever.  Our friend Mona took Alli for a walk so she could fall asleep.  Alli took a good nap outside.  I went to take her over and change her and she had peed again in her stroller.  Her stroller was sopping wet so I had to put it in front of a fan to dry and change her clothes yet again.  I wasn't sure how this weekend was going to go after that.  I had quite the load of laundry and we hadn't even been there 4 hours.   There was a nice playground there and so Allison got to play on her very first playground.  They had two baby swings so we swang for awhile.  We took Allison's favorite toy, her jumperoo, and she had a blast playing in it outside. 

She is such a happy girl outside.  She got to visit with lots of friends.  She had a great time.  I can't believe how much she loves outside. 

There were a few times that it was hot so we went in to play.  She loves having her toys in her bag so she can play with all of them.



Allison had a rough night Friday night and was up from midnight to 6 am off and on.  But she was pretty good that day and slept ALL night Saturday night which was a first in the camper.  She really was a good girl and was so happy.  We have been blessed with such a happy baby.

Sunday was Mike's first father's day.  I would like to say that we made it super special by him not having to do any work and he got breakfast in bed, but that didn't happen.  Let's face it, I can't do much with the outside of the camper so he had to work a lot that day and then drive all the way home.  I did let him sneek in a little nap in his chair when we got home.  Sunday morning before we left the camp site, Allison and I gave Daddy his gifts.  Mommy got Daddy a Dad and Me camo picture frame for he and Allison's special times.  I got this especially for their first hunting trip together.  Yes I know it is a few years away yet, but it was just so fitting.  Allison got Daddy a gift certificate for Cabela's and lots of kisses.  I think he had a good day all and all.  I know he was really happy just having his baby with him.  

Daddy is my best friend

Nothing makes my heart happier than my daughter laughing.  Unless it is hearing my daughter laughing and peeking around the corner seeing her playing with her Daddy and that's why she is laughing.  It's in those sweet moments that "my cup runeth over" to quote a great movie!  She is truly a Daddy's girl already and she has him wrapped around her finger.  They are so sweet together.

The other day while I was getting ready, I noticed that Alli was being awfully quiet so I peeked around the corner to find Allison had ALL of her toys out of her toy bag.  She had not only emptied it, but she had figured out how to grab the handle and drag the bag to her to empty it.  She is such a smart little girl who I have a feeling is going to keep this Momma on her toes.  But I am ready for every minute of it.

New Trick

Allison has learned a new trick.  She claps and loves to do it.  You say "Yeah Allison" and clap she will copy you.  If you start saying "Patty Cake Patty Cake" she starts clapping too.  It is so cute.  I got it on tape.  Here is a video of it.

She of course didn't really want to do it after I got the camera, but you get a little bit of it.  She is saying DaDaDa all the time.  It is so cute.  She changes so much every day.  She is such a blessing.



Ear Infection

So those of you that have had children with Ear infections know what I am talking about.  It is horrible.  Mike and I had to make an after hours phone call to Alli's doctor on Friday night.  Alli was in so much pain she screamed for almost 3 hours.  Doctor advised we should probably take her to the emergency room.  I didn't feel comfortable with taking her to Carlinville and didn't want to make her ride all the way to Springfield screaming.  She finally calmed down about 11:30 and fell asleep about midnight.  She slept until 8 the next morning, which is a miracle because Allison like to wake up at 5 am daily (she got her father's morning person personality.  Mommy is NOT a morning person).  She was still pretty fussy and did not want to eat or take her bottle.  We gave her a little time and she finally took 3 oz.  We finally made the decision that if she was still acting like she felt bad at 10 am we were going to load her in the car and head to Springfield.  Alli's doctor called about 9:30 and wanted to know how she was.  I told her she was very fussy and wasn't wanting to eat.  She told us to bring her in to the office and she would see her.  She took one look in her left ear and said, yup she needs a shot.  Great, Mom and Alli don't like Alli getting shots.  Especially one's where Mom and Dad both have to hold her down.  I think that shot was hard on everyone including the doctor.  She gave her the shot and Motrin and sent us home.  Dr. Cruz said she should be feeling better by evening and that she would probably go home and sleep.  Well she didn't sleep, but she did seem to be feeling a little better.  She was at least no fussing non stop and playing a little.  By Sunday morning I could see a total difference.  She was running a fever, but was happy and playing, still not eating well, but better than before.  What Dr. Cruz forgot to tell me was that this medicine could cause diarrhea.  Well, it causes a lot of it.  Enough that she had poop all the way up to her neck!  And I had just change her clothes and put her on the floor.  It was maybe 5 minutes or less and she had poop everyone.  Daddy was out on Dive Training for the Rescue Squad so Mommy got this one on her own.  Daddy probably wouldn't have been much help.  He probably would have puked and then I would have had two messes to clean up.

We had 3 really bad diapers Sunday, but I will take that if it made Allison feel better.  Shortly after the poop explosion# 1, I notice Alli had a spot on her foot.  So I got to looking her over and I noticed a horrible, prickly looking rash that was super hot in one spot on her leg.  Alli has always had sensitive skin so it didn't really alarm me at first.  But the spot got bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

 Then I noticed it was on the top of her leg and her arm.  I was starting to get alarmed at this point, but I didn't want to be an alarmist first time mom.  All I could think was this was spreading rapidly and going to stop her heart or her breathing.  Thankfully I have two good friends that are nurses and they assured me as long as Alli wasn't experiencing any shortness of breath or trouble breathing she was fine (although then I didn't want to put her down because as soon as I left her she was going to have trouble.  Yes I know I am a total worry wart).   I called the after hours doctor's number again because I just wanted to make sure Dr. Cruz knew and she said to give her benadryl and call first thing on Monday morning to set an appointment.  Alli was fine all night.  The rash didn't bother her at all.  We saw Dr. Cruz Monday morning and she said the rash was fine and that Alli's ears were starting to look better.  Tuesday morning Alli finally finished a bottle and her food.  We are seeing improvement every day.  I hope we are on the downhill side of this.  Dr. Cruz said we don't have to worry about tubes yet and that she would see her at her nine month check up.  Can she really be almost 9 months old?

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a big weekend full of events.  I was dreading how Allison was going to do with them, but she did GREAT!  We had friends come home from Florida so Thursday night we went to Virden and ate at DiCarlos.  Alli is a very schedule oriented girl (probably because her mama is too!!!) and she normally takes a bath at 7 and is in bed at 7:30.  We weren't going to meet at DiCarlo's until 7 and I was sure Allison was going to be awful!  But she did great.  Friday night we had a graduation party and didn't start until 7 again.  Allison was pretty good at the graduation, but she did get pretty fussy towards the end.  At one point Mike was holding Allison and I had just gotten done telling him to make sure he was holding on to his cup tight because Allison was going to get it.  The next thing I know, Allison hits my cup and spills it all over me, all over the floor, and on the poor woman across from me's feet.  How embarrassing.  Then I am going to get a towel to wipe up the floor looking like I peed my pants.  Oh well, just the first of many moments like that I am sure.  Saturday was a pretty uneventful day for us, but we made sure to spend some time outside.  Allison got to try out her new wagon and I think she liked it.

Sunday was a BIG day for Allison.  We went to our friend Brenda's house for a party for George and Sandy, our friends from Florida and  She got to get in a pool for the first time.  She loves the water in her bath so I was hoping she would like the pool.  And boy did she.  She doesn't even mind getting splashed with water and she loves to do a lot of splashing herself.  Of course I didn't get any pictures of her in the water because I was in the water with her and Daddy doesn't take good pictures (plus the camera was in the van).  I think our friend Tonya got some so there are at least pictures around to prove she was in the pool.  She did really good until about 7 and she was tired so we went home.  But a good time was had by all.  It was good to see Sandy and George.  Allison really took to both of them.

Monday, we got to spend with family.  My sister and her family were over so Mom and Dad had lunch.  Allison and Mike went to his Aunt Darla's and had lunch.  It was a nice relaxing day before heading back into the work week.

Tuesday I ended up taking Alli to the doctor because she was pulling on her ears and sure enough, we have our 3rd ear infection.  The doctor was out so we saw the nurse practitioner.  She told us to be prepared to be sent to and Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor when we go back next Thursday for a recheck.  Alli does not like taking her meds, but seems to be doing better so hopefully she is getting enough of them down.  She hasn't been eating well either and the nurse said it was probably because of all the fluid on her ears so she advised us that we needed to break her feedings down and feed her in between so she was getting enough formula.  Hopefully she gets rid of this ear infection quickly and if we have to get tubes, so be it.  If it's what's best for Allison, then we will do it.  It will be way harder on me than her I think, but I don't want her to have hearing problems or anything else as a result.

Alli did great for having such a busy weekend and proved to me that we CAN go out in public and it be okay even if I think it's going to be too much work. She is just amazing.