i am still here...

It's been two weeks since my last post....that's a record for me...I think? It's been a crazy couple weeks. Alyssa and Jason were both sick. I luckily only got a touch of a sore throat.

In the past two weeks I haven't taken any pictures either...that was until today...it was great to see her smiling again :)

Right when we thought Alyssa was getting better she had an ear infection! When we took her to the Doctor she said Alyssa had an ear infection, but that her throat was also quite red. We got medication for her; which must have worked, because by the time we gave her the last dose of it, she was doing much better. We're just glad it's all done with! It all started the Friday before Mother's Day. I was getting a manicure and pedicure...a gift from Jason for last Mother's day....I was finally getting around to using the gift certificate. It was awesome to get it done!! I'll be going back for a pedicure once the weather gets warmer. On my way home Jason called to tell me that the daycare had called and we needed to pick Alyssa up as she had a fever. It's a good thing I was headed home and it didn't take me too long to get there. She was sitting down for lunch and seemed to be doing okay, but was quite warm. Once I got her home it was apparent she was not feeling well as she just wanted to lay down for a nap. She slept for almost 2 hrs and then spent most of the afternoon laying on the couch watching cartoons. That's pretty much what she did for that entire weekend and into the week. I've never seen her sleep so much. She would fall asleep on the couch in the morning and then still have an afternoon nap! But sleeping at night was a whole other story!! She was up at least 10 times a night crying for me! Sometimes it was because she had a fever, other times she just wanted me to rub her back and then other times she just wanted me to be close by. Poor thing! I did feel bad for her, but I seriously was a walking zombie!!

Her fever went up and down almost a week!!! On the Friday night, Jason had to go out to get more Tylenol, because what we had Alyssa wouldn't take, it made her gag and she even got sick. It was grape flavoured Mortin and something about it didn't agree with her. She just refused to take it. So he got some more cherry flavoured Tylenol, since we knew she was a little better with it. Sure enough she would open up for it...not willingly, but at least we could get it in her with less of a fight. The only problem was it didn't last long; as soon as it wore off her fever was up again!

Monday and Tuesday I stayed home with her. By Wednesday she seemed a little better, even though she had a fever in the middle of the night. But by morning she seemed okay....well she wasn't! At noon I got the phone call to say her fever was back and that I needed to pick her up. Thursday we tried again and she lasted the whole day without a fever!! Thank goodness!

She was a bit out of sorts for a few days, but now she's back to normal! It's a good thing too, as her birthday is in two days!! She can't be sick for her 2nd birthday :) We're going to do something small on Wednesday for her actual birthday, than on Saturday we're having a birthday party for her...should be lots of fun!

I still can't believe my baby girl is turning two!

a rough week

What a week it has been...I won't go into details, but just know it's been a really crappy week for us! I really don't feel like writing, but at the same time I feel like I should.

Alyssa is sick yet again! Well I should say she's on the mend, or at least we hope. Not this past Thursday, but the Thursday before she was up all night getting sick! We'd just get her changed and new sheets on her bed and she would get sick an hour later! Luckily by morning it stopped. Then she was running a fever all weekend! It would go down when we gave her something, but as soon as it wore off the fever was back! We took her to the Doctor last Monday and that's when she was diagnosed with an ear infection! So she's back on the antibiotics yet again! I think she was only off them for a week!! She is doing a bit better, but still has an awful cough and runny nose! She's been in one awful mood too!! I know it's not fun being sick, no one likes it, but most of us are somewhat bearable. She's not! She is when she is really sick and has a fever and just wants to cuddle with me. But it's the few days after that when she gets in one nasty mood! I think we're almost out of that phase now and she's moving on to being more normal...which we are so thankful for! We've had many sleepless nights this past week, as we've also been battling a cold.

Yesterday we finally got out for a bit! It's not fun being cooped up in the house! I wanted to look for bedding for Alyssa's room. We are going to move the office to the basement when it's finished and then Alyssa will move to that room. So I'd like to do it all girly for her! We went to Home Sense, as I had seen kids quilts there before. I was able to get a double quilt with two shams and a bed skirt! It's a very bright and cheery quilt with big flowers on it. It looks really grown up too; which will be nice as it'll last her a few years. I wasn't originally thinking of a double bed, but the quilt was the last one and was only in double. The more we thought about it we thought a double bed would be nice, as it could do her for years to come. It'll be a few months before she moves into her big girl room, since we have to finish the basement first and of course paint her room and get the furniture for it. Picking a colour should be fun...I'd really like to paint it pink! It might be my only chance to paint a room pink! Once it's all done I'll post some pictures of it.

I took this picture yesterday. She was in a happier mood as she was growling at me! It's better than her actual growl that she does when she says no to us. We're working on that one, along with some other issues she has, such of throwing things and screaming at the top of lungs!! We had no idea she could scream like that, as she has never done it before. Maybe bad habits from daycare or the terrible twos starting early! All we know is we'd like to have our happy baby girl back. A few moments are bearable, but not when it lasts for days on end!

P.S. I thought she was getting another molar, and tonight while giving her a bath I double checked and yup, the lower right second molar is about half way in. So this might explain some of the behaviour we've been seeing and even the runny nose and fever too!

checking in

I am a little late in posting these pictures...especially since we no longer have any snow!! I am very happy about that...although now it looks very messy and dirty outside.

On New Year's day we took Alyssa out in the sled...she just loved it!! We didn't stay out too long as it was really cold, but it was good to get outside for a bit, since we had been indoors all that week as we were sick. I am happy to say that we're over that now. I didn't think my cough would ever end!!

Alyssa has been in such a great mood since getting over her cold. She still has a few moments, but nothing like she was when she was sick. I guess we're all like that when we're sick. I am just happy to see our happy little girl. She is so full of energy first thing in the morning too. Then at night before bed she runs around laughing and playing! So much fun!!

On the weekend we went to the mall and she did so great. In the past she would be good for a little while then get in one terrible mood. But this time she was so happy the entire time. She even walked around holding onto both our hands...it was pretty cute!

Right now we're working on finishing our basement!! We're pretty excited about that, since it's something we've wanted to do for years and even started at one point. Right now we're still in the planning stages, but we're getting closer every day. Right now I am looking at options for a new craft desk!! I really like stuff at Ikea, so I might go with something from there. I like the idea of a built in with cabinets with a counter, like in a kitchen. But that's just not in the budget! What I really need is lots and lots of storage!!

Here are a few more pictures from New Year's day.

update on everything

There is no doubt that winter is here and that we'll have a white Christmas this year! We got dumped on over night and today!! It's crazy how much snow we have already! Jason shoveled the driveway twice today and already it's starting to pile up again! We took Alyssa out for a bit this afternoon but it was just way too cold out for her to stay too long; even though she really wanted to. We even got her a shovel, although she wasn't too interested in helping Daddy shovel snow as she was playing in it. She really didn't want to come in!! It's a good thing we did our shopping yesterday, as there was no way we were driving in that mess!

I think we're finally done our Christmas shopping. This year it was not fun at all, not that Christmas shopping is always fun, but it just seemed so much more stressful than past years. For one we had no idea what to get each other and really couldn't buy stuff without the other knowing since we had no time to do shopping separately. Oh well, at least we got some really fun stuff for Alyssa! We had some of it out last night to test to make sure they worked, etc. Than I finally got some of it wrapped. Although we haven't put any presents under the tree yet! She'll either try to carry them around or actually open them! Not only that we figured it'll be better for her to see presents for the first time on Christmas morning. Because every morning when we come downstairs she wants to turn the lights on the tree on, so then on Christmas morning we'll do it and there will be all this stuff. It should make her eyes light up! Not sure how much interest she'll have in opening gifts or if she'll open one and just want to play with it...we'll just have to wait and see.

I am happy to say I got our cards in the mail this week. I thought I'd never get done. I don't know why I thought making all the cards was such a good idea, but I did it...at least most of them anyway! We also got our annual family photo taken...finally! I am happy with them, but I have my issues with them too! I love the poses and I love how great Alyssa did! She was awesome! Smiling and posing for the lady! I couldn't believe it was the same little girl that I try to take pictures of. I guess because it was someone new and not Mommy. I just wish the quality of the photos was better. I personally found them to be a bit washed out and a little out of focus. I guess you get what you pay for. I know most people will say they are great, but compared to the pictures I get with my camera, I think they could've been better. But it's neither here nor there, we got them done and I am glad we did. We went through a lot to get them done, so there was no re-taking them!

I am also happy to say that Alyssa is much better. She hasn't coughed much, if at all the last few days. We finished up the last of her medicine tonight. We're supposed to take her on Friday for a follow-up appointment, so hopefully all is well. Once we were able to give her cough medicine it made a world of difference because than she could sleep at night without her coughing waking her up.

Besides being sick she had a really good week. She's been doing so great at daycare. The one morning, I think it was Friday she didn't even cry when we dropped her off!! She had a little pout but no tears! I think it's because the night before we were there for her Christmas social. It was a chance for the parent's to come to the daycare. We weren't sure if we were going to be able to go, but the thought of her being the only child without at least one of her parent's there upset us. Luckily we both could go. Sadly there were some kids whose parent's could make it, but they still had fun. When we showed up Alyssa was sitting at one of the tables enjoying a sugar cookie...she looked so cute and grown-up eating with the other kids and other parent's at the table. Then she spotted us and started to cry! There was green sugar cookie falling out of her mouth! Because when she sees us she just loses it and goes into the ugly cry! But once we were there for a bit she was showing us all her favourite toys. The other thing we got to see while we were there was how she interacts with her teachers and other classmates. She tends to shy away from the other kids, although she'll wave good-bye to them and wave to just about anyone walking by the daycare! She also greets all the parent's with a wave when they come to pick up their kids. A big change for her, as she has always been so shy. She still is, but now we're noticing her waving and smiling at people more often. I wish I had brought my camera, but I think everyone would've thought I was a bit crazy, as no one else had theirs. But I really do want to get a picture of her at daycare...one day I will. Since this is a huge milestone in her life so it can't go undocumented! When it was time to go she actually didn't want to leave! Normally she can't wait to get out. Although I have to say she is doing much better, she would normally stay upset for quite some time after picking her up. Now she smiles at her teachers and blows them kisses as she leaves.

She is also doing so well with eating and sleeping at daycare. She eats more than most kids in her class, including the boys! Where she puts it I have no idea! Because at her last Doctor appointment she only weighed 24 lbs. She does love to eat, and now she loves to eat more foods than she was eating. She still has things she doesn't like, but we're noticing that she is trying more foods and starting to like them. The big difference has been her ability to feed herself with a spoon on her own. She's been able eat with a spoon for awhile, but she still tended to use her fingers, and she still does that too, but now she mostly uses her spoon or fork. She gets quite upset if we try to feed her, she wants to do it herself! Which can mean a very messy girl, but at least she did it all on her own!

She is also talking up a storm...it may only be a few words, but it's a lot more than she was saying a few weeks ago. Her new favourite is "no"...we were waiting for this one, since she hears it so much from us! It's usually followed by her shaking her head no. She is still saying "go, go, go" all the time. We even got her to say "ho, ho, ho" I see a pattern here!

This is my last week of work, than I am off for a week. Although I'll be just as busy since I'll be home with Alyssa, as her daycare is closed that week. I am looking forward to it though, as it'll actually feel like a holiday compared to going to work all week. It's not work that's so draining, it's the getting up early, rushing to get all of us out the door by quarter to 8:00, than coming home and getting dinner ready, doing dishes, giving her a bath and putting her to bed. By 8:00 I am so tired, but than I usually stay up to at least 11:00 or later. After the holidays I hope that changes as I won't have so many craft projects to work on, although there is always something I want to get done and can't do it while she's awake! But I seriously need to start getting to bed sooner, there is only so many hours of sleep you can work on and lately I haven't had enough :)

Here are some pictures I took this week. Most of them are from this weekend though. In the one picture (taken today) she's trying to put on her boots on. She actually got both of them on and then started to work on getting her snow pants on...I guess she was determined to go outside. The pictures at the start of the post were taken today with my old camera. I am not happy with how they turned out, but they are still cute! Plus there was no way I was taking my new camera out in that weather!

I think that's all for now...I feel like I wrote a novel! There is just so much happening and not enough time to write about it! I will be busy this week trying to get my projects done for Christmas. Only 9 more sleeps to go!!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving this weekend! We're off to my parent's tomorrow and then to Jason's parent's on Monday.

It's crazy how warm it'll be this weekend and how warm it has been this week. I don't remember too many Thanksgiving's where I wore shorts! I really wanted to get some pictures of Alyssa at my parent's house, as they have a corn field and a bush, so a great backdrop for fall photos...but I think she would look a little odd wearing shorts in fall photos! I'll probably take some anyway :)

I have no idea where this week went! One minute it was Monday and now it's already Friday! We've been busy trying to find daycare for Alyssa. But I am happy to say we are going to look at three daycare centres next week. They all have spots in November, so that's good. We just need to see them and find out a bit more about them and then decide. The whole process has been hard for me, as I really don't want to leave her, the thought of it makes me so sad! But I know after a few weeks she'll enjoy being with other kids and a new surrounding. She'll probably adjust a lot sooner than I will and there will be days that she'll be begging to go to daycare! I know that won't happen right away, as she is so use to being home with me.

I wish it was all so easy, but even if we do have daycare lined up, I still need to get a job! The good news is I have an interview on October 16th. I applied for the job this week and got a phone call yesterday. The job is where I use to work and where Jason works now, so it would be great if I got it. I am glad it's not next week because I need time to prepare by buying something to wear and most importantly to try and remember everything I've done in the past!! Being at home changes your whole thought process and work stuff is the furthest thing from my mind right now, so I am glad I have a week to prepare.

Other than that we're all doing well. Alyssa is quite the little character, her new thing now is playing with her dolly (an old cabbage patch doll of mine) by feeding him a bottle or giving him her sippy cup. This morning she wanted him to have some of her breakfast, so I had to pretend to feed him! I really need to get it on video, as it so cute to see. She carries him around and gives him big hugs and even pats his head. She'll also bring him over to me to hold and then proceeds to sit on my lap too. I don't know where she learns these things, maybe it's just a little girls instinct to be motherly, I really don't know! She'll make a great big sister one day. Although, she does tend to want to poke at his eyes, drop him on his head or sit on him!!!

Okay, I can't complete this post without having a picture of something...I always include pictures, and since I didn't take any this week!!! So hard to believe, isn't it? I do have a picture Jason took of Alyssa and I last Sunday...we were dressed like twins...sorta!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!