Mother's Day

I know Mother's Day was four days ago but things have been pretty hectic around here, I'll talk all about that in the next post. I woke up on Sunday with horrible pain on the right side of my face, I knew immediately that I had a sinus infection. I really wanted to avoid going to the doctor so I started doing all the home remedies that I've heard about. I actually took the advice of a friend and ran out to buy a Neti Pot. It was a little different than what I was expecting, definitely not a pleasant experience or feeling but it did help a little bit. What helped the most was using a heating pad on my face, the pain was almost gone and then I took some Tylenol which took care of it completely. We went out to lunch with my family, the restaurant was packed so were there for a few hours. Olivia was really good for the most part, she started to get antsy towards the end. After lunch, we stopped at a bakery and got some cookies, Olivia picked all the M&M's off and let me have the cookie part. It was a great day but when we got home, I started to feel sick again. I used the Neti Pot and heating pad for the second time and was able to fall asleep, I felt much better on Monday morning. Anyway, on Mother's Day I always feel very grateful. I've always felt lucky to have such an amazing mother who would go above and beyond for me and now I feel lucky because I have a daughter of my own. It's hard to understand the love your mother has for you until you have your own child but now I totally get it. I think having a baby has made my relationship with my mom stronger. I always look to her for advice and she is quick to help, whether it's to babysit, give me parenting tips or just listen to me while I vent. We are very close and I know not everyone has that type of relationship with their mom so I don't ever take it for granted. I hope all of you had a great Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom, you showed me unconditional love

and I wouldn't be the mother I am today without you. I love you.

This little woman changed my life in the best way possible.

I am so proud to be her mother. No matter how many challenges

we face, it will always be worth it. I have so much love for her.

Being silly at the restaurant with her cousin.

An awesome breakthrough

I'm overly excited to say that daycare went much better today than it has the past few weeks! Olivia cried when I dropped her off but I was anticipating that. She kept crying for almost an hour and then she finally stopped. When I asked the teacher how she did, I wasn't expecting a good report. Every day she tells me that Liv had an emotional day but today she said that Liv actually had a good day! Even though she cried here and there, she was mostly running around and playing with the kids. She was smiling and laughing, hearing that just melted my heart. I am so glad that she is finally coming around to the idea of being without me and having fun with the other kids. The best part is that she ate her lunch and snacks, I didn't have to worry about her being ridiculously hungry when we got home. I am really shocked that she had such a good day but I'm extremely happy about it. I feel like a weight has been lifted. I can stop stressing so much now, I hope it only gets better from here on out.

At least she's not crying!

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.

Stuck in the foam pit

Yesterday it rained but we still went to playgroup. Olivia was not in the best mood, she has been hitting again and it's really frustrating. One little girl was trying to share her ball and Liv started pushing her away. I don't know why, maybe it was just her bad mood. Sometimes she loves playing with kids but yesterday wasn't one of those days. I took her aside and told her that she had to stop hitting and then I said to her "If you hit someone again, we're going to leave. Do you want to leave?" and she looked at me and said "Yeah!", happy as ever. I almost started to laugh but I didn't let her see that, she even ran over and got her coat and backpack. I thought she was going to get upset and start behaving but I guess she really didn't care if we stayed or not. Today was another rainy day so I took Olivia to this place down the street called Sky Zone. It's basically a bunch of trampolines and a foam pit. On Friday and Sunday mornings they have toddler time for kids five and under. I was glad because I would be nervous that she would get knocked over by older kids. Although, some of the four and five year olds were a bit rough. There was one boy following her around and every ball she picked up, he would take it from her. She would scream so loud at him and then he would run away but a few minutes later, he would be back. It was a little annoying because some of the moms weren't even paying attention to what their kids were doing. I don't follow Olivia around constantly but I always watch her from a safe distance. One boy was yelling "mommy" for a good five minutes before his mom finally looked over at him. Anyway, Liv liked the trampolines even though she can't exactly jump. She tries her best, she bends her knees and bounces but her feet never come off the floor. The staff was pretty nice, a few of them played with Liv. They would build up a tower of foam blocks and let her knock them down. The foam pit was pretty cool, I think that was her favorite part. She was crawling all around it, at one point she started sinking and I could barely see her. I had to jump in and get her because she was stuck. I had a hard time crawling through there, obviously I'm not in the best shape. When we got out, I realized that she lost a sock. They make you pay for Sky Zone socks ($2) but luckily they let us have a replacement for free. We saw a few kids from playgroup there but Olivia didn't really care and neither did they, they were all off in their own little worlds. All in all, it was a fun time and I will definitely bring Livy again soon. She had an awesome nap when we got home so that makes me love it even more. When Paul got home from work, we all went out for dinner. Liv ate before we left but she had fun coloring (on the coasters, oops). She stole some of Paul's broccoli, she doesn't take after me because I hate most vegetables. It's great that she likes them though! It was quite and eventful day, I am off the relax now.

Happy Easter!

I wanted to post this yesterday but I just didn't have the energy, Easter was a lot of fun! When Olivia woke up in the morning, she got her basket from the Easter bunny. She took everything out and wanted to open it all immediately. She ate an entire (almost) chocolate bunny but she wouldn't try the Peeps, I'm sure she would love them but she was being stubborn. I wanted her to take a nap before we went to my aunt's house but she refused (too much chocolate). She played in her crib for over an hour and I finally gave up and got her out (otherwise we would have been late). I was slightly irritated because I knew that if she didn't nap, she would be cranky and it was going to be a long day. She fell asleep in the car (about ten minutes before we got there) and she was annoyed when we woke her up. As soon as she saw her cousins though, her mood changed back to happy! She gave them hugs and kept following them around, it's really cute how much she loves them. She also loved getting all of her baskets from everyone but she liked my nephews toy cars the best. She ate more food than I thought she would and I ate more food than I should have. It was raining out so we had to do the egg hunt in the basement, kind of a bummer because the pictures would have been much nicer outside. Olivia wasn't into it this year, she found one egg and then she just wanted to sit down and open it. She liked playing with the jelly beans inside and she was content with just one egg. All of the kids were running around and one of them accidently knocked Liv over and she fell backwards and hit her head on the floor. She was crying so loud and hugging me for a while but afterwards she seemed fine. She went right back to playing but after a while, she started to get fussy again. I knew it would happen but it took a little longer than I thought so by that time we were getting ready to leave anyway. I'm glad she didn't fall asleep on the way home, it's a long drive so I expected her to but she stayed awake. Once we got home, I gave her a quick snack and put her to bed. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, that rarely happens. She went to bed earlier than normal so this morning she woke up bright and early. I think I am going to stick to this new bedtime though because she didn't even fight her nap today. She fell asleep within minutes and it was awesome. I took so many pictures but if I put them all up, this post would be way too long so I'll just share a few of my favorites.

 

 

 

 

Happy Easter everyone!

Major disaster

It's been a busy few days, I feel like I always say that but I guess that's just life with a toddler. On Friday, Paul & I were able to have a date night. We went out to dinner and it was so yummy, I ate way too much but it was nice to get out alone together, we rarely get to do that anymore. On Saturday we all went out to dinner with my family, it was a really fun night. I ate way too much again but I didn't even care, it was totally worth it. Olivia was excited to spend some time with her cousins, she kept hugging them over and over. I loved seeing how happy they all were to be playing together, it made my heart melt. Olivia definitely needs a sibling soon! It was funny though because at one point I looked around the table and all three of the kids were on our phones. It's nice to have something to keep them entertained at restaurants, Olivia gets antsy after a while and it's a huge help. Today we had an appointment in the morning to get Olivia's two year old pictures taken. It was a major disaster, she cried and screamed the entire time. I don't really know why she was so upset, she doesn't even cry that much at the doctors office. It might be because I had to wake her up this morning, maybe she was overtired. The photographer was very patient and I was thankful for that because it was a little embarrassing. Her eight month old pictures went much smoother, she didn't cry once. Somehow, we got a few good pictures and I ordered them so I am really excited but they wont be ready until next week. I'm glad we wont be taking professional pictures again until she's three and then once she's in school, I wont have to deal with it (good luck to them). Yeah, so that was exhausting. I finally got her to nap so I'm going to take advantage of this time and eat something (before she wakes up and starts destroying the house).

Kids these days.

Fighting naps and frozen yogurt

I have no idea what is going on lately but Olivia has been refusing to nap and even at night, she fights sleep. It takes her over an hour to finally fall asleep, she doesn't cry but it's frustrating because I know that she needs sleep. I also feel bad for her, she's sitting in her crib probably bored out of her mind (maybe not but I know I would be) and I just want to get her out but I know I shouldn't. I've tried skipping her nap a few times but by 4 or 5, she's falling asleep on the floor or in her high chair so taking a nap is still necessary for her. Today, I went against the rules and got her out and took her with me to run some errands (hoping that I would tire her out). After we did that, we stopped and got some frozen yogurt. I let her pick what she wanted (that was interesting), I don't think she really knew what anything was but it was still fun. We ended up getting vanilla and a little bit of coconut topped with gummy bears, caramel filled chocolate turtles, pineapples and a few cherries. It sounds a little crazy but it was actually really good, we finished it pretty quick (Liv ate most of it). It's so funny when she eats something she likes because after every bite, she says "mmmm". I started out feeding her but after a few spoons, she decided to take over. I'm not scared of a mess so I let her go for it, she actually did really well. She is becoming a pro at using a spoon, she only spilled a little bit once or twice. She is getting to be really independent when she wants to be, it's pretty stinkin cute. When we got home, we played for a while and then had some lunch. I know, we probably should have had lunch before the frozen yogurt but that's okay. She is napping now so I guess going out for a while was a good idea. I did a few things around the house that I have been meaning to do for a while now so I feel quite accomplished. Tomorrow is going to be a busy day/night so tonight we are going to keep it low key and probably just hang out at home.

Olivia is two!

Today is Olivia's second birthday and I still can't believe how quickly the years are going by. We had a really fun day, I took her to Monkey Joe's in the morning and she had a blast. She was running around as fast as she could, there were a lot of kids there because of the holiday. I love bringing her there because she always takes an epic nap once we get home. She woke up from her nap a little cranky so I let her watch a few episodes of Dora and then she was happy. We had pizza for dinner and then we sang Happy Birthday and had some cake, it was freakin delicious! Olivia isn't a huge fan of cake so she didn't have much but she devoured some M&M's. She technically isn't two yet since she was born at 11:45pm. I feel like this is my day too, I gave birth to her and that was not easy! I always think about that day and when I first saw her, she was such a tiny little thing and I instantly fell in love. We were looking through her baby book yesterday, she looks so different now. I started to get choked up looking at her newborn pictures and reading about all her firsts. It's so amazing to watch her grow up but it also makes me sad, It's bittersweet. When I was putting her to bed tonight, we just laid down together and hugged for a while. She didn't want to let go of me and I loved it, I will miss these moments so much when she is older.

Valetine's Day

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and of course it snowed. We were supposed to go out for dinner but we decided to go out for lunch instead. I ate way too much, I wasn't even hungry for the rest of the night. When we were leaving, the snow was really starting to come down so we were happy that we went early. After Olivia took her nap, I gave her a few little presents and she was super excited. Her favorite was the chocolate, she had M&M's for the first time and loved them. She would have ate the whole tube if I let her, she got mad at me when I took them away. She is getting really good at throwing tantrums lately, ugh. My mom gave her two balloons, she was running around with them and hugging them. It was cute, one of them was a monkey and she kept saying "oh oh ah ah ah". It was a really fun day but I was pretty exhausted by the end of it all. Happy Valentine's Day!

Figured it out

Have I mentioned that it's been snowing on and off pretty much all week? No, well just assume that it's always snowing here and I'm so over it. A little update on some stuff I've been posting about, the bottle situation is going much better (knock on wood). Olivia is so particular so I had to find a way that would work for her and I think I got it figured out. She will only drink milk if it's slightly warm, in an open cup, with a straw. That's how I've been giving it to her the last few days and she likes it again (no bottle necessary). I'm so glad she's been drinking it and I hope she continues. Thank goodness that I kept trying because I was so close to just giving up and giving her a bottle again. Oh, I still haven't found a job, that's been pretty stressful. If I cant find something by the end of the month then I'm going to just apply anywhere and everywhere, even if it's just temporary. On a better note, yesterday was a fun day! I took Olivia to my sisters house so she could play with her cousins. They had a good time, Olivia is obsessed with all the trucks and cars they have. Today we went to playgroup, Liv's favorite part is the bubbles. Actually, all the kids go wild when the teacher does bubbles, it's funny to watch. I'm exhausted, it's been a really long week (it seems that way at least). Tomorrow I'm going to the movies with my friend, I really need a break so I'm looking forward to it! Right now I have to go finish laundry and then it's off to bed.

Farmer Liv.

See ya later 2014

On Monday I took Olivia to the aquarium, we met up with my sister and nephews. She loved it at first (especially the sharks and seals). After about an hour, she started to get antsy. It's an hour away and I think she was getting tired, she skipped her nap which is always a bad idea. It was still fun though, next time we will take a nap before we go.

 

Yesterday I took her to the doctor, she's had a cough for almost two weeks now and it just wont go away. She hasn't had a fever and she's been eating/acting okay so I wasn't too concerned but I figured I should get her checked out just to be on the safe side. There were so many kids in the waiting room, it was packed. I've never seen that many kids there, I know it's cold season but I was still surprised. The doctor said her chest sounded fine and her ears/throat looked good. Apparently there is a nasty cold/cough going around that is lasting around three weeks. I was told to give her another week to show some improvement and if she's still sick then I have to bring her back. I'm pretty sure she will get over it soon or at least I'm hoping she will. She also gave me her cough which I've had for about a week now. I'm really surprised that I've been catching everything she has, I never got sick before so I thought my immune system was strong but that's obviously not true.

Left: Happy to be wearing Mommy's Uggs.

Right: Not happy while waiting for the doctor.

 

Well, it's the last day of 2014 and like I always say, this year once again flew by. I thought time went by fast before, it's gone by even faster after having Olivia. It was a great year and I hope that 2015 is even better. Maybe Olivia will become a big sister, I guess we'll see! ;) I hope you all have a very Happy New Year! (I'll be working through it.)

Stensland family Christmas

I can't believe that Christmas came and went so fast. We spent Christmas Eve at my aunts house, we ate dinner, played games and opened presents. We didn't get home until after 11pm and I stayed up playing Santa. I couldn't even sleep because I was so excited to see Olivia's reaction in the morning. She was pretty excited but a little overwhelmed, I think Santa I may have gone a bit overboard this year. Every time she opened a present, she just wanted to play with it and she wasn't too interested in opening the next one. Next year I am going to try my best to keep it a bit more simple but it's very hard to control myself. After presents, we ate breakfast and went over my sisters house to spend the day. It was a lot of fun but it all went by so quick. I hope everyone had a great holiday and I'll leave you with some pictures.

 

 

 

Keeping a toddler entertained

It's getting harder and harder to keep Olivia entertained, especially now that it's cold outside. I get bored being stuck in the house too so I can understand. I had to finish my Christmas shopping yesterday so I brought her along (I'm finally done by the way). After that, I decided we needed to do something fun so I took her to Monkey Joe's. I knew she would like it but she was much more excited than I anticipated, she was running around like a crazy person. I could barely keep up with her, I wasn't prepared for that. They had a huge slide but she is still a little young to climb all the way up by herself so I took her on it and I hoped that she wouldn't be scared. I couldn't have been more wrong, she absolutely loved it! Of course she made me take her on it another ten times. I know I'm not that old but I was huffing and puffing after the third time, I need to exercise more often! It was really funny to watch her in the bouncy houses because half the time she was running around and the other half, she was falling over and couldn't get back up. I'm glad we went early because there was only a few other kids there so we didn't have to wait to use anything and there weren't any big kids to knock her down. They have an area specifically for toddlers but Olivia liked going around to everything. The best part was when we got home and she ate a ton of food (an entire sandwich, half a banana, yogurt and a cookie). That's a new record I think, then she took an epic nap. I guess she worked up an appetite and wore herself out. Anyway, It was a really fun place and I'm glad we went, I can't wait to bring her again!

 

 

Christmas tag

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?
I have so many so I'll just narrow it down to my top three. A Christmas Story, The Santa Clause and Home Alone. Although, I recently just saw Arthur Christmas and I'm now obsessed with it.

2. Have you ever had a White Christmas?
Yes, I think I was around eight or nine but I remember my mom recording it with our huge camcorder. I also remember two years ago when it snowed on Christmas Eve, it took forever to drive home.

3. Where do you usually spend your holiday?
We spend Christmas Eve at my aunts house and Christmas Day at my sisters.

4. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (It always reminds me of Home Alone).

5. Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?
Yeah, we open most of our presents on Christmas Eve, On Christmas morning Olivia opens her presents from Santa and just a few from us.

6. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Yup! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner & Blitzen. Also, Rudolph. I'm pretty proud of myself for not even using Google for that.

7. What holiday traditions are you looking forward to most this year?
We already did some of them. Going to visit Santa, baking cookies, cutting down and decorating our tree. I'm looking forward to spending time with family and giving everyone presents.

8. Is your Christmas tree real or fake?
Real, always!

9. What is your all-time favorite holiday food/sweet treat?
I don't have just one favorite, I love pretty much everything. This year I made some awesome coconut macaroon kiss cookies and I wish I didn't eat them all so quick because now I want more.

10. Be honest: do you like giving gifts or receiving gifts better?
I honestly like both and maybe even giving gifts a little bit more. It's a great feeling to get the perfect gift for someone and see the surprise and happiness on their face, I love it.

11. What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
I'm not even sure, I've gotten some awesome gifts over the years and I appreciate all of them.

12. What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?
There are a ton of places that I would love to visit but during the holidays, being right here with my family and friends is the only place I want to be.

13. Are you a pro-present wrapper, or do you fail miserably?
I try my best, I wouldn't say I'm a pro but I do pretty good.

14. What made you realize the truth about Santa?
In first grade, a boy in my class told me the truth but I didn't really believe him. So I waited up and heard my parents, I wrote Santa a letter and asked him to please write something back. I knew it was all a lie when it was written in my mothers handwriting.

15.  Have you ever built a Gingerbread house?
Yeah, well.. I tried. It fell apart, I'm going to try again next year.

16. Candy Canes or Gingerbread Men?
Candy canes.. wait no, both!

17. Have you ever made a snowman?
Of course! I can't wait until Olivia is old enough to help me. She hated the snow last year.

18. White lights, or colored lights?
White lights, it just looks prettier to me.

 19. Any Christmas wishes?
Health and happiness for my family and friends, of course.

20. Do you make New Years resolutions? Do you stick to them?
No. I used to but I never stuck to them so I just stopped.

Our tree before half the ornaments were ripped off by Olivia & the cats.

Last minute stress

Before Olivia came along, I was super organized. I had everything planned out, I always got things done extra early. I would buy my Halloween costume months in advance and I never really worried about it. Now, I feel like everything I do is last minute and rushed, I guess having a kid will do that to you. The last few days I have been scrambling to get things done. It's frustrating because now that I have a job, on my days off I have to do everything I couldn't get done on the days I worked (laundry, dishes, shopping, errands). I finally figured out Olivia's costume so I went to buy it and it was sold out, I had to go to another store and get her a different version of what I wanted. She was excited though, when she saw it she started yelling out what it was (you'll see soon). I tried it on her when we got home and it's so darn cute! Next year, I will be prepared and get it earlier, although Halloween is still a few weeks away but I guess people don't want to end up like me. I also had to get myself a costume since we are having a Halloween party at work but I didn't put much effort into it, it's just something I threw together quick. I definitely didn't buy an actual costume because they were all so expensive and way too short for me (to put it politely), I would probably get fired for that. Next weekend we are going to a pumpkin patch, I think Olivia will enjoy it much more this year (last year she was unimpressed). I really love getting pumpkins and carving them, I'm like a little kid during the holidays (the complete opposite of Paul, he's a grouch). I think I'm going to have Olivia paint a little pumpkin because obviously she can't carve one yet. I just realized that she can eat candy this year so I won't get to steal all of it, bummer. That's probably a good thing though, right?

The other day Rooney (our cat) was playing with Liv's rubber ducky, he was pushing it around with his paw and running after it. Olivia thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world, she was cracking up so hard that she almost fell over. She didn't stop laughing for a good five minutes, it was the cutest thing ever. No matter how many times I've made her laugh, she has never laughed that hard before. She really loves the cats, all she wants to do lately is chase them around and play with them. She's also been hugging them a lot lately but they aren't into it.

Shopping for cats.

Early intervention

When Olivia was in the hospital, one of the things that came up was making sure that we would have the resources needed to catch her up if necessary. She spent almost an entire month in the hospital and most of that time, she was intubated (breathing tube). The doctors let me know that it is very common for children with health issues (or being at the hospital for an extended period of time) to fall a bit behind in their milestones. I have asked several heart moms about this and almost all of them said their child had some type of delay. I want to mention that just because a child is a bit behind, does not mean they can't catch up but getting them help to do so is key. I have a few friends who had their child in Birth to 3 (completely healthy kids by the way) and they are now caught up and doing great in school! Anyone I've talked to about this always stresses the importance of early intervention. Where we live, our early intervention program is called Birth to 3. When we brought Liv home from the hospital (after her surgery stay), I set up a time for them to come to our house and do an evaluation. During that evaluation, our main concern was her eating difficulties. Olivia was also slightly behind with her fine motor skills but everything else was on track. Since she wouldn't eat, they sent a therapist to our house every other week to work on helping her to learn. They also gave me tips (different bottles/nipples, face exercises, different textures to try, etc.) on helping her but as most of you know, this didn't work out so well. Olivia sort of stumped the therapists she saw, it wasn't that she didn't know how to eat, it was just that she didn't want to. I attribute a lot of that to the feeding tube, not only was it bothering her throat but it was also keeping her full. You can read more about that in my previous post - More about the tube. Just to be clear, I think feeding tubes can be a life saver in certain circumstances. After I was able to wean her off the tube, Birth to 3 continued to come. They helped her with improving her fine motor skills, therapy is basically just play time for Liv. They bring different toys and puzzles, they watch and guide her. They teach me how I can help her when they aren't there and it's been great. She is pretty much on track with fine motor skills now but last month I brought up my concern about her speech. At 18 months, a child should be saying at least ten words (don't quote me on that because I can't remember exactly what they said) but Olivia was only saying three. She was saying "mama", "dada" and "cat". After another evaluation, the therapist said Olivia was speaking at a 13-15 month old level, so we started services for speech. I was told that it's a good idea to start practicing some sign language with Liv so that she wouldn't get frustrated if she didn't know how to say the word. Livy picked it up within a few days, she can sign for "all done" and "more". I am going to introduce a few more signs this week. I was worried that signing would make her not want to talk at all, since she could just sign what she wanted but it's actually the opposite, signing helps speech. Olivia has picked up two new words in the last few weeks, she is now saying "hi" and "baby". Aside from that, she understands everything. If I say "bring me the ball" she will, if I say "where's dada?" she will look at Paul, she knows her name, she points, she makes eye contact, she smiles, laughs and socializes. The therapist said these are all great signs and that since Olivia is making progress, she is confident that she will catch up. She surprises me every day. For example, sometime last month a commercial came on for this cat toy that Olivia got last Christmas, she saw the commercial, got off the couch and ran to the shelf to point at her cat (she knew she had the same one). I know Olivia is smart, she's just quiet. I know I'm rambling a bit but I guess my point is, don't get discouraged. You know your child best and if something seems off, it doesn't hurt to get an evaluation. Olivia's cardiologist told me that he sees a huge difference between the kids that see Birth to 3 and the kids that don't. I understand that some people don't seek help because they want to believe everything is fine but it's not a bad thing if your child is behind. I have an ongoing struggle with myself, I try not to be paranoid but I also don't want to turn a blind eye. I love Olivia and I want the best for her, helping her early on was an easy decision for me. My hope is that she will be completely caught up before she starts school. If she isn't, that's okay too, we will worry about that if/when the time comes. I will continue to encourage her and I will always be a proud mama.

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.

Last year in my twenties

Yesterday was my birthday, I'm officially 29 (not 30 just yet)! I am seriously going to miss my twenties, so many awesome things happened to me in the past ten years. After I turned 21, I had a blast going out all with my friends and also got lucky that nothing bad ever happened to me during that time. I definitely got all the partying out of my system. I met Paul and we got married, we had an amazing little girl together. I know she went through a lot and I would never wish for that to happen but she has come so far and I am very grateful that we have her, I wouldn't change that for the world. I had to reflect a little bit but I had such a great day yesterday. In the afternoon I took Olivia to see my sisters new puppy, she was so adorable! Since she's just a puppy, she was nipping a lot and jumping around. Olivia loved her but she got scared when the puppy tried to nip her, she also almost knocked her over. My mom watched Liv afterwards so me and Paul could go out to dinner. We got hibachi and it was so much fun! I was finally able to catch a vegetable in my mouth and then the guy squirted me with water (hilarious). I only had one drink but I was feeling pretty tipsy. The food was amazing and the banana tempura was delicious! It was the perfect birthday and I'm so thankful for my family. Olivia has been sleeping through the night again by the way, thank goodness!

 

Sadie! How cute is she?!