Good news.. kinda

I'm happy to report that Olivia hasn't thrown up since Friday. The bad news is that she still cries all day at daycare and barely eats or drinks anything. I'm wondering how long she is going to be stubborn for because it's been really stressful, on both of us. Luckily today was my day off so I took her to the park and then we went for a walk. She really loves being outside (except when she's at school) and she would stay out at all day if she could. There were a lot of kids at the park today (including some annoying teenagers). When I was pushing Liv on the swing, another little girl was laughing so Olivia started fake laughing. It was really funny, she just wanted to copy the girl. She's silly, she makes me so happy no matter how bad my day is going. I know I've been neglecting this blog a bit but I've been super busy. My job is absolutely exhausting and when I'm home, I like to spend as much time as possible with Liv. I have a lot I want to post though so hopefully I will have some time this weekend.

Party planning

This has been a busy/crazy kind of month. I've been trying to plan Liv's party, I still can't believe she will be two in less than a month! Her party is going to be Dora themed since she's obsessed. I found a ton of cool ideas on Pinterest but since Olivia's been sick and I've been busy that got pushed to the back burner. I ended up picking up some Dora stuff from the store so I don't have to do any DIY stuff this year (even though it was all so cute), maybe next year I'll have the time and energy. I really got the ball rolling this week and now I only have a few more things to do (order the food and make a couple more trips to the store for supplies). I'm also planning to do something special for her heart surgery anniversary, maybe I'll make her cupcakes or a cake. I got her a booboo buddy and a heart hero cape so I'll be giving her those on that day. I wish time would slow down a little, it makes me sad that my baby isn't really a baby anymore.. sigh.

Christmas cookie fail

I know I've been lacking with the posts but it's December and things have been crazy busy. Between Christmas shopping, decorating, wrapping presents and doing all the other little errands I have to do, I've been exhausted. I mentioned in my last post how I was up till 2am the other night putting together Olivia's play kitchen, I seriously can't wait until she opens it on Christmas! I also made her a playhouse out of the box that it came in. She loved it but it only last about five days, she ripped apart the roof and all the wrapping paper. I knew it wouldn't take long for that to happen but it's okay because it took up half the living room.

I'm not very crafty but I tried my best.

We've been doing some fun Christmas stuff lately. We took Olivia to a park that had a ton of light displays but she wasn't too interested. I also tried making Christmas cookies but it was a total fail, they taste good but they look horrible. Next year will be more fun because Olivia will understand a lot more and she can even help me decorate cookies, she will probably do a better job than me.
 

At least Olivia liked them.
 

I finally sent out our Christmas cards, I swear I'm so behind on everything this year. I usually have everything done by this point but I still need to get a few more gifts. Anyway, after Monday then I'll be done and I can just sit back and enjoy Christmas. I am so excited to see how Olivia reacts to everything this year!









Retractment of a favorite

I posted my favorites at the beginning of the week and I was on the fence about the tablet. It was not exactly what I had thought it would be. It was too difficult to type on (I know, that makes me sound super old) and Olivia is still pretty young to need a tablet. When she is a little bit older, we will possibly get one for her. I just couldn't find a need for it right now so I returned it. I ended up getting a laptop instead (which was only $40 more than the tablet). So far I really love the laptop, I had no idea that I could get one for so cheap. I'm not going to lie, Windows 8.1 is new to me so I am having a little bit of trouble navigating around it but Google has been a huge help. I may do a review on the laptop within the next few weeks but so far, so good!

The past few days have been pretty busy, I've either been working or running around with Liv. There has been a lot on my "to do" list that I have been meaning to get around to for a while now. Luckily today was my day off from work so I was able to get a lot of it done, I feel pretty accomplished. It's amazing what I can get done when I skip my afternoon nap, I love when I surprise myself. By the way, posting on my blog was on that list so I can check that off now too!

On Thursday I took Olivia to playgroup like always and she had so much fun. She was in the best mood (I wish I could say that all the time). She gets so excited when the teacher blows bubbles, all the kids do but Olivia and two other kids start yelling excitedly and run around trying to pop them all. It's so cute, everyone gets a kick out of them. After playgroup I had to stop by the store for some groceries. As we were walking down the aisle, Olivia spotted some Dora fruit snacks and started reaching for them so I let her hold them (bad move, I ended up buying them). When we got home, I tried them but they were a little too chewy and I'm paranoid of her choking so I never gave her any. I don't think she cared about anything but the box anyway. I'm pretty sure that seeing Dora on the box was Olivia's highlight of the day.

"Mommy, you can't say no to this adorable face!"

Today, I had to run a bunch of errands (returning the tablet, getting the laptop, going to the bank, picking up food, etc.) and it was pouring out the entire time, I was soaked by the end of it. I also had to do laundry, give Liv a bath and organize some stuff. Like I mentioned earlier, I got a lot done. I took Livy to one of the stores with me and every time we passed by a mirror, she would smile at herself and start playing with her hair. She is seriously my entertainment, I love her.

 Left: My mom sent me this picture while I was at work and it melted my heart.

Right: She has been obsessed with sitting in boxes/buckets lately. Silly girl.

Quick doctor visit

Today was a long day. Olivia was fine all morning but when she woke up from her nap, she had a coughing fit. After that, she was breathing kind of fast. I brought her to the doctor and everything looked okay, no ear infection and her lungs sounded clear. I may just be paranoid but even the doctor told me that it's always better to check. He also said it's just rhinovirus (a cold) and since I was sick, she most likely caught it from me (sorry Liv). I didn't want to work tonight because I wanted to be home to take care of Livy but she was fine. It was super busy at work and I was going a little crazy for a while but I was able to leave fairly early. Tomorrow we are going to the Big E (if Liv seems better) so I'm excited for that, I can't wait to eat some terrible delicious food! The last few days I've only gotten around 3 hours of sleep per night so I'm off to bed now.

No time to rest

So I've been sick since Thursday and it just keeps lingering, I really don't feel any better yet. When I get a cold, it usually only lasts for two days but I haven't had a chance to rest so it's taking longer for me to get better. Between working and chasing after Liv, things have been hectic. I feel so terrible that I got her sick but she seemed much better today than she was yesterday, I'm glad she got over it fast. I was worried that maybe we caught the virus (Enterovirus D68) that's been going around (I know, I'm paranoid) but we haven't had any respiratory symptoms so I'm pretty sure its just a cold. We were supposed to go to the Big E over the weekend but I wasn't feeling up to it, hopefully I'll feel better by this weekend so we can go. I'm so happy that I have tomorrow off because I need to relax, hopefully Olivia will let me (ha). On a good note, she slept awesome last night! It was the first time in almost three weeks that she actually slept through the night. I think it may have been because she wasn't feeling well and needed the sleep but I'm hoping she will keep it up!

Quick weekend update

It's been another busy weekend and next weekend I'll be going into work even earlier (thanks to football). I feel like it's just work work work lately. At least I have Mondays and Tuesdays off so my "weekend" is at the beginning of the week. Today was a fun day, we took Livy to the McDonald's playplace and let her run around and have fun for a while. I actually wanted to take her to the park but it was way too humid out. She wore herself out and then we went out for ice cream afterwards. Watching her run around and looking at the pictures I took today made me sad, she's not a baby anymore. Well, she will always be my baby but she's getting big and it bums me out because I'll miss it. I'm starting to get baby fever again so I need to stop talking about this right now. So, I'm not doing a monthly favorites post for August (obviously since it's September already) because I didn't really have any, I have been trying really hard to be frugal. This month I will have one though, I promise! Okay, sorry to cut this short but I am dying to go watch the Saved By The Bell Lifetime movie (don't make fun of me, I grew up on that show and I have to watch it)! I'm a little too excited so hopefully it's good!

 "Stop taking pictures of me mom, I'm busy!"

Messy toddler

Olivia was quite the handful today. I can no longer put anything on the end tables because now she is tall enough to reach, I found that out the hard way tonight. I was finishing up her dinner and she was playing quietly in the living room (never a good sign). When I walked in to check on her, she was sitting on the couch playing with my (now empty) cup of iced tea. She was soaked, the couch was soaked and the floor was soaked, then she got pretty mad at me for taking away the cup. Ugh. By the way, my horrible sleep routine is back and I'm stuck in the rut of needing a nap every day again. It's not my fault though, the other night Liv just didn't want to sleep, she woke up around 4am and didn't go back to bed until 6. She wasn't crying, she was just talking to herself and keeping me and Paul awake. It was a long night and I was so exhausted the next day but she was wide awake and fine. I was worried she would do the same thing again last night but she didn't (thankfully). Unfortunately, since I took a nap the next day, I couldn't fall asleep last night and so now I have to start all over and try to break the bad habit again, wish me luck.

Liv doesn't suck her thumb but shes been sucking on her big toe lately. Gross, right?

Stalker cricket update: I killed one and I thought that would be the end of it. I didn't hear it for a whole day but now I hear it again, they better not be multiplying! I set up some sticky traps, I'm really hoping that takes care of the problem because I seriously feel like I'm camping outside, the noise is going to drive me insane!

Never fully rested

I know I always talk about how tired I am but it's been pretty out of control lately. I'm stuck in this horrible cycle of not being able to fall asleep at night and that makes taking a nap necessary if I want to function during the day. I think the nap is what makes it so hard for me to fall asleep so I've been trying to skip it but I just can't. My eyes start closing and I just start drifting so I don't bother fighting it. A few people suggested trying melatonin before bed so I'm going to and hopefully it will get me off of this terrible sleep (or lack of sleep) schedule. I seriously haven't felt fully rested in a good two years and I can't remember waking up on my own in forever, I wake up to Liv crying or an alarm clock. I truly miss sleeping in and I can't wait for the day I'll get to again! Okay, rant over. It's going to be a busy week/weekend!

Rained out

I'm still here! I've been working a lot lately, five days a week. It has been a little difficult so I changed my schedule to just four days instead. I really need more time with Liv and Paul so I'm happy I was able to give up one of my shifts. I met up with my sister and her friends at the beach today, I was shocked that Olivia was walking around in the sand because last time she hated it. I think it helped that it was cloudy out and the sun wasn't in her eyes, she gets really annoyed when it's too sunny. Unfortunately the clouds brought on the rain and we only got to stay for an hour. We had fun while we were there though, we tried staying for a little longer to see if it would stop but it didn't let up. We left just in time too because about three minutes after we got in the car, it started to downpour. My sunroof is busted and Paul fixed it a few weeks ago but somehow it busted again so he had to come meet us to switch cars with me. It was a pretty busy day and then I had to work, it was a slow night tonight though so I got home fairly early. I feel like I haven't had time to sit down and relax in a while so I'm super content right now. I may actually get to catch up on some of my shows. Oh and I'm waiting on three different subscription boxes so new reviews will be up soon. I will try not to neglect this blog as much, I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Livy had a blast playing peekaboo with the sand sifter, walking in the sand and stealing Doritos!

Fourth of July weekend

So I pretty much worked all weekend. I was so bummed about not being able to take Livy to see the fireworks yesterday and when I got home, Paul was just about to put her to bed. Then we realized that we could see them from our front yard so we brought her outside in her pajamas and she loved it. Her eyes would get really wide when she saw them and she would start yelling "babababa!" I have no idea why she was saying that but it was adorable. I was so happy we got to watch them together because that's all I wanted! I know it's kind of dorky but little things like that really mean a lot to me. Although when it was time to go inside and put her to bed, she freaked out! She wanted to stay outside but it was pretty late at that point. She calmed down once I started reading her some bedtime stories though. I had to work again today so Paul and my parents took Liv to our family picnic. I wish I got to join them but I'm glad Livy and everyone else had fun, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend too!

My mom sent me this adorable picture of Liv at the picnic.

Good news & bad news

So I'll give you the good news first.. I got a job! (huge sigh of relief) I was running out of money and had no idea what I was going to do so thank goodness! The bad news is.. I don't get to see Olivia and Paul as much, it breaks my heart. I really miss them, even though Paul doesn't really believe that I miss him, I do. They both mean everything to me and I want to spend all the time I can with them but unfortunately right now making money is very necessary. It's been less than a week but things have been a bit crazy. I've worked every night, I can't wait to be done with training and get my normal schedule. I'm hoping after a few weeks, we will adjust and everything will get a bit easier. Paul has been doing such a great job watching Liv at night, he's the best daddy! As far as the blog goes, I will try to update whenever I get the chance. It may only be once or twice a week but when I have free time, I want to spend it with my family. So.. I will post when everyone is sleeping and I'm not super exhausted.

Another busy weekend

I meant to post this yesterday but I forgot. I wasn't home much this weekend. Friday night I stayed in so I could spend time with Olivia since I had so much to do the rest of the weekend. Saturday afternoon I went job hunting so my mom watched Olivia, I went pretty much everywhere so hopefully I find something soon. Then I met up with one of my friends to get our nails done and have dinner. After that I went out bowling with my other friend for her birthday. It was a lot of fun but I pretty much suck at bowling now (I swear I used to be really good, we used to go every week). On Sunday I went to my cousins bridal shower, it was fun and nice to spend time with my mom. I discovered a new obsession while I was there too.. Moscato, it was my first time trying it. I've never had wine that sweet, I usually stick to Pinot Grigio but it was so good! It might be my new favorite. I was happy to finally relax when I got home. Paul watched Olivia most of the weekend but I'm glad they got to spend some time together since he doesn't see her much during the week, she loves her daddy. It was a great weekend but I really missed Livy. She caught a cold too so she's been a little cranky tonight, hoping she feels better soon!

 With my BFF on the left and my awesome mom on the right.

Easter bunny & chocolate cravings

Today I woke up exhausted but I took a short nap with Liv and then I felt much better. My mom stopped by to hang out for a little while and I lost my phone (as always) but we kept calling it over and over, we could hear it vibrate but couldn't find it, at one point I just said "okay, it's gone forever". Somehow it got stuck in between the couch (not the cushions, the actual couch) no idea how that happened but very glad I found it. When Paul got home from work, we took Olivia to the mall to get a picture of her with the Easter bunny. I was really nervous when I took her to see Santa but she was happy and even smiled for the picture so this time I was pretty confident that she would do well and she did! Here's your cuteness for the day.

 

I was clapping and Paul was doing a little dance behind the camera but hey it worked. People were probably laughing at us but I wasn't paying attention. There were a few where she was looking at the camera but her smile wasn't as big as this one so that's why we picked it. After that we went to a few stores and I got some cheap pink sunglasses for Color Me Rad (5K color run) because it's coming up in a few weeks. I decided I'm going to run the race blind. If I wear my contacts, the color powder might get behind one and then it's going to be pretty painful. I can't really wear my glasses under my sunglasses because it looks ridiculous, plus I don't want my glasses to get ruined by the color. Hopefully I'll be able to finish the race, I also really need to get back on the treadmill because I've been seriously lacking. I also haven't been eating great, I made a barbecue chicken pizza for dinner tonight and oh my god, it was amazing! I usually hate cooking but today I was actually in the mood. So glad I made it and I will definitely be making it again very soon. I've been craving sweets a lot lately, today I couldn't stop talking about chocolate covered strawberries (thanks to whoever posted that on FB by the way) I looked around the mall to see if anyone sold them but they didn't, I wouldn't shut up about them so Paul suggested going to the grocery store and I gladly agreed. I couldn't decide on white chocolate or milk chocolate so I got both. Let me just say that the picture I'm about the post is amazing, they came out perfect and I'm pretty proud of myself.

 If you don't think these look absolutely delicious, you're lying to yourself.

I'm glad I finally got to have my strawberries, there is nothing better than fulfilling a craving (okay I'm sure there is but they were so good!) Moving on.. I feel like there is so much stuff I need to do in the upcoming months, we have tons of  play dates, birthday parties, a few weddings, a 5K & 3K, Easter.. yikes! Usually our summers are pretty relaxed but this one is packed with stuff to do. I also want to baby proof the house at some point. I wasn't planning on doing it yet because I watch Olivia pretty closely but shes had a few bumps already and I think it's time. She's really into opening cabinets and drawers now, she throws all my measuring cups onto the floor and sometimes hides toys in the drawers. She also has a weird obsessed with the whisk, she likes to just carry it around everywhere and occasionally chew on it. Baby proofing might also benefit me, I bump into everything and I'm always all bruised up. The only things we have right now are gates and rubber bumpers for the corners of our tables, we have a lot more to get, I feel like it will be an all day event. This is going to sound so lazy but I really love when we have nothing to do. Yesterday was one of those days and it was so great just hanging around the house with Liv, it was nice spending time with her knowing that we didn't have to be anywhere, it made me feel relaxed. I feel like we are always running places so having a break sometimes is awesome. Everyone else is sleeping and of course I'm still awake but those strawberries are calling my name.. hope they can last until tomorrow at least!