"Ultimate Playground"

The finished product


Jacob and I got an incredible deal on a wooden swing set last fall and a couple of weeks ago on Jacob's vacation he and his sister Emily put it together. Even though the many of the reviews said it was challenging to put together 2 Herr's did it in less than 2 days. It's a little big for Olivia yet but she will grow into it sooner than I can even imagine!!

putting the first boards together

"I'll help Daddy!!"

peek-a-boo

A month long struggle...

Since the 1st sick visit we've had sick visit 2, 3, and 4. We have a follow up visit in 2 weeks. Olivia had taken her Amoxicillin like a champ when all of the sudden on day 8 she got a rash. Little dots all over her body. Well I thought maybe it was just a viral rash because she had one of those before. So I went on to work and Jacob called me around 6 the next morning and said her rash looked worse and he wanted to give her some Benadryl. So I told him where it was and how much to give him and he took her on to daycare. I came home and went to sleep and got a call from daycare around noon that said Olivia's rash looked awful and she was itchy so did I want to come get her or just have them give her some more Benadry. I went and got her and when I did it made me so sad! Her little face was beat red!!! She looked so pitiful. Little did I know how much worse it would get... So I called the doctor and they said she should be seen. So I took her in and Dr. Cochran said he thought it was a reaction to having antibodies from trying to fight her illness mixing with the amoxicillin since it wasn't a true immune response. He said it would go away in 3 days or so and to just giver her tylenol and benadryl to keep her comfortable. He also said her ears were still red but didn't look yukcy so he didn't want to give her another antibiotic so her system could rest. So she went and stayed the night with my parents and I went to the Rascal Flatts concert as planned. When I went to get her the next morning I cried!

I gave her oatmeal baths to try and help with the itching. I'm not sure how much it helped with itching but baths generally make her happy.

My poor little baby's whole body was covered in red hives! Her lips, eyes, nose and ears were swollen! She looked awful. It was so sad. So we came home and just relaxed the next few days. That Monday she was not acting like herself at all. All she did all day was sit on my lap on the couch. She got down a few times and got a toy or a book to bring to me but mostly just sat there. We went back to the dr tuesday morning for a scheduled visit which at this time her rash had gotten some what better but she had peticiae (little bitty dots caused by blood vessels breaking) on her shoulders and purpura (purplish looking bruise like spots from blood vessels leaking) all over her legs. She had a temp and now both ears were infected :( So he put her on a new antibiotic and sent us to get lab work due to the peticiae and purpura. They put some numbing cream on her arms before we went to the lab so the actual sticks (2 :() didn't bother her but being held down sure didn't make her happy. Dr. Cochran called us late that night to say that her labs looked ok and there was no organ involvement and such. He also called that Thursday to see how she was feeling. (I Love him!!! If you are looking for a pediatrician I would defintely look into him!!!)

So she started getting better and acted kinda like herself for about a week but then last weekend she started acting really puny again so Monday we went back to the doctors office for another follow-up visit where he said BOTH ears where still infected and looked awful so yet another antibiotic and more lab results had come back and more poor little baby has MONO. Yes, that's right. My little 15 month old has the "kissing disease". Who knows where she caught it. He said she probably was exposed around new years eve. So by now she's probably no longer contagious. He also said that little kids don't have the some symptoms as older adolescants. But it still made me feel terrible that little Liv had mono. I had mono when I was a freshman in college and I thought I was dieing. I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy! So the rash from before was a reaction with the amoxicillin and her having mono. 40-50% of kids with mono who take amoxicillin get this rash! So now Olivia has been on Omnicef for 4 days and she is doing so much better!!! She has been running around all morning talking and acting so happy. I am so glad she is doing better!!!

First Sick Visit

I had to take Olivia to the doctor for her very first sick visit on Tuesday. She had been acting puny all weekend but seemed a little better so Jacob took her to daycare Tuesday morning. Tuesday afternoon Jodie (the babysitter) called and said she felt feverish and was acting very sad. So I went and picked her up and called the doctor and we got an appt for that evening. We saw Dr. Voyles and wow, Liv did not like him. She screamed from the time he walked in the room until he left. I do not know what that was about. I thought he was a nice guy! Well it turns out she has an infection in her left ear and a cold on top of it which is making her very congested and she coughs a lot. She's been on antibiotics for 3 days now and is acting much better. I'm sad my baby is sick but I'm really greatful that we've made it this far without getting anything. She will be 15 months next week! Wow how time flies!

Big Girl

Here is a little catch up of Miss Olivia Claire

At her 1 year appt. she weighed 23lbs 6oz and was 31 inches long. That is almost 90% for both height and weight. No more long and lanky Liv. She jumped right up that growth chart. She is learning new things everyday. She can say many words, "mama" "dada" "dog" "LuLu" or something that sounds like LuLu. It's a little different everytime. "book" "ball" "baby" "hot" "no" "pig" "kitty" "shoe" "hoho" for Santa "cheese" and some others I can't think of right now. She can play peek-a-boo and patty cake. She can point to several different body parts. She can make the baby and mommy noises when I sing "The wheels on the Bus". She LOVES to read books. Most of the day you can find her sitting on the floor or in her rocking chair just flipping through the pages. She is such an easy girl to take care of. We have been truly blessed.

1st Trip to the Beach

At the beginning of Novemeber Olivia and I went to Sarasota, FL with my mom, grandma and sister-in-law Vanessa. My grandma has a time share condo down there and she so graciously let us come along. Olivia was such a wonderful traveler and it was a great trip. She was great on the plane ride down even though she did pee through her clothes due to me letting her drink 16oz of milk on the 30 minute plane ride from Evansville to Cinci. So Miss O spent most of the trip from Cinci to Tampa in just her diaper. She really enjoyed sitting on grandma's lap and looking out the window. She was a perfect little girl the whole week we were down there. She loved the sand and the pool. This week was when she started strictly walking. No more crawling for this girl. She also learned to say "boo" for peek-a-boo and "book". She also can tell you where her ears, eyes, nose, and toes are. Olivia found herself a British boyfriend while we were down there. His name was Charlie and they were about the same age. They would share snacks on the beach in the afternoon. It was really cute. The weather wasn't the best due to a freak Nov. hurricane but we still had a great time.

Liv trying to redress herself before landing in Tampa

Olivia and Grandma looking out the window

Charlie and Olivia compare "costumes" as Charlie's mom called them.

Olivia's 1st Birthday Party

The Herr Family Flower Garden

We had Olivia's first birthday party on Halloween. It was a costume party at the Campbell Township Conservation Club. It was really wonderful to have all our family and friends get together to celebrate our baby. Lots of people dressed up and that was fun to see. Olivia was blessed with many fun presents so now our living room is full of all kinds of toys. She REALLY enjoyed her cake. Hadley, my goddaughter, made it for her. It was a little jack-o-lantern. It turned out really cute.
The Birthday Girl, Olivia, the Bee

I can't believe how fast this past year has gone. It's amazing that my baby isn't a baby anymore!

Update

I have been horrible at keeping this updated and since I am sick in bed and can't sleep I thought I would tackle the project. Olivia has acquired so many new skills! She learns something new everday. She is really starting to walk more and is able to say some words! "Uh Oh" "dog" "Baby" and "kitty". It doesn't sound like kitty more like a REALLY hard K sound but that's what she is meaning. She's also gotten really good at blowing kisses which is super cute. I can't believe her big birthday is only a few weeks away! Oh how the year has flown!!

She really loves to read books.

In other news, we went to Nashville and saw Emily this past weekend. The "mother ship" as we call it is really pretty and she seemed really happy. All of the other nuns were so friendly and welcoming. I think it is all going really well for her. It was neat to see a glimpse of what her daily life is like. We visit again in December. I can't wait.