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.