Big News!

I'm finally updating with some big news!! That's right! Olivia is going to be a big sister! We are happy to announce that we are adding another little girl to our family around February 5, 2012! We are all so excited to start this new chapter in our lives!

Books of 2010

Clearly blogging is not my forte :) That being said I saw a blog before where someone kept track of all the books they read in a year. So I did that too! I wrote down every book I read in 2010. At least I tried to. I may have missed a few in the beginning. So here is my list. There are some trends as you will see. I kinda got stuck on a few authors but that's ok. A couple of us girls at work started a book club and I have definitely been expanding my reading lists.


Books I read in 2010
The Last Song- Nicholas Sparks
Knit Two- Kate Jacobs
Queen of Babble- Meg Cabot
Body Surfing- Anita Shreve
The 5th Horseman- James Patterson
The 6th Target- James Patterson
Icy Spark- Gwyn Rubio
Queen of Babble in the City- Meg Cabot
Not My Daughter- Barbara Delinsky
Peach Cobbler Murder- JoAnne Fluke
The Lucky One- Nicholas Sparks
House Rules- Jodie Picoult
Cherry Cheesecake Murder- JoAnne Fluke
Creme Puff Murder- JoAnne Fluke
7th Heaven- James Patterson
The Choice- Nicholas Sparks
Apple Turnover Murder- JoAnne Fluke
Sugar Cookie Murder- JoAnne Fluke
Queen of Babble gets Hitched- Meg Cabot
The 8th Confession- James Patterson
The 9th Judgement- James Patterson
Along Came a Spider- James Patterson
Cross My Heart Hope (not) to Die- Megan Ford
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner- Stephanie Meyer
Sizzling Sixteen- Janet Evanovich
The Secret Hour- LuAnne Rice
Kiss the Girls- James Patterson
Private- James Patterson
Jack and Jill- James Patterson
The Things We Do For Love- Kristin Hannah
Cat and Mouse- James Patterson
A Soft Place to Land- Susan Rebecca White
Pop Goes the Weasel- James Patterson
The Help- Kathryn Stockett
Strawberry Shortcake Murder- JoAnne Fluke
Blueberry Muffin Murder- JoAnne Fluke
Knit The Season- Kate Jacobs
Dance with Me- LuAnne Rice
Lemon Meringe Pie Murder- JoAnne Fluke
Fudge Cupcake Murder- JoAnne Fluke
The Art of Racing in the Rain- Garth Stein
Roses are Red- James Patterson
Saving Max- Antoinnette van Heugten

Let me know if you have any books you think I should add to my list for 2011

18 months

Wednesday I took Olivia to see Dr. Cochran for her 18 month check up. She got an A+ :) She is 27.7lbs and 32 1/2 in. A BIG girl! She got her MMR and chicken pox shot and did so well! She screamed when they poked her but then she was done and never seemed bother by them again. She is saying so many words and starting to put them together. It is so fun to hear all the things that come out of her mouth. She is really getting the hang of everyone's name. She also got teeth #11 and 12 this week. She has become quite the eater. She pretty much eats whatever you put on her plate. Broccolli, tilapia, baked beans to name a few things :) She still loves to read and LuLu is still her best friend. We are so blessed with such a perfect little girl!!

"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.