Our weekend

Yes, this little girl was my weekend. And sitting on the couch looking at books and watching TV was pretty much what the weekend consisted of. This picture is from today when she started feeling better. Let me start from the beginning.

Friday:
I went to work while Grandma Nancy (my mom) watched the baby. I came home to Avila with a slight fever, but I REALLY wanted to go shopping with my mom......so like any good mommy I gave her some Tylenol and went shopping. By the time we came home her temp was up to 103.

Saturday:
8am -Slight fever, but low enough to enjoy my famous Saturday morning pancakes.
8:30 am - Temp check 102.5 - put on the Elmo movie
9:30am - We get a call from Patti (my dad's awesome lady) to find out that Hawaii is supposed to get hit by a tsunami that afternoon. Since we have family there we tuned in to the TV to watch - and admit it, we all though it would be kind of cool to watch. Problem: the only station broadcasting info about the tsunami was the spanish station, so yes we watched the news for an hour in spanish.
We spent the rest of the morning watching a months worth of TV since Avila was either sleeping, crying, or staring into space - Temp check 104.something.
8:00 - I like to think I'm a calm person, but after watching hours of TV (spanish and english) and wondering why I can't get this fever down much lower than 104 I decide to call the advice nurse... She of course says the baby is fine.

Sunday:
8:00 am - temp check 102.5 - Blair leaves for church and mom gets ready to go back to Napa
10:00am - mom leaves while Avila is sleeping
11:00 am - temp check 104.2 and she now has dark pink spots all over her arm and legs - so I calmly call the advice nurse who tells me to call 911 immediately. Nice. just what I wanted to hear.

Make a LONG story short - did not call 911, went to ER, ER Dr. thinks it is Meningitis, Avila had a urine test and blood drawn, IV fluids, and they prepared her to be admitted to the hospital. So after waiting a total of 7 hours we hear the spots were caused by the fever and the fever was caused by a major double ear infection and go home.

Deep breath, sigh, praise the Lord for good news.

What a LONG weekend!

Life after a 1 year old

Life AFTER Avila turned one has been a lot of fun. She's walking, can and will eat practically anything, and for the most part has an easy going-fun personality. It's crazy to think we've reached the easy section of babyhood and in a few months are headed back to the hungry/sleepy newborn phase of life. So we've been living it up for these last few easy, parents of 1 child, months.

We went for a hike with Adam and Ali. Talk about adventurous. She hiked through 4 rivers while 8 months pregnant. I'm only 6 months pregnant so my center of balance wasn't so off. Thankfully none of us fell into the snow run off water!

Mommy's little helper; at least that's what she likes to think. At the moment she enjoys adding toys and removing clothes from the washing machine while I'm loading. It takes a little longer, but when the pay off comes and she can do it by herself I will be thrilled. In the mean time, it keeps her busy while I am busy.

Like I said, she loves helping. This is her unloading the dishwasher. The other day she decided to take her dirty clothes and wash them all by herself - in the toilet. At least I caught her before she pulled the handle!Oh how we love hummus. While I have been craving hummus the baby has decided to become an addict to. It's been nice to share this yumminess with her.


Baby #2's first photo. 22 weeks here. I'm a few weeks late posting this.....sorry.
Raining day art! So we've been awake for atleast 3 hours at this point. Avila has been crying to go outside for about and hour - on and off (she of course has no idea that it's raining outside) and mom has run out of fun things to do. So what was my brilliant plan you ask? Give my 13 month old markers and let her go wild! I learned 3 things today.
1. Yes, crayola markers so wash off easy
2. Avila is right handed
3. And YES, babies will try to eat markers when you're not looking even if you think they understand - markers=paper, food=mouth. We'll keep working on that one. Buy I will say she did have a blast coloring. I think I will invest in crayons though.
More pictures to come soon!!!

Funzone Clubhouse

It was rainy today in Ventura so I decided to try out the Clubhouse Funzone indoor playground in Ventura. Avila had a blast playing with all the toys while I chased her around. Afterward I think we both needed a nap. Instead she slept while I worked out.

While we were there she learned to ride a bike. More like walking on it while sitting, but hey she's only 11 months old.



She loved playing in the little pretend houses. This is me looking through the window watching her play in the the sink. So cute.
She got in all by herself. She couldn't move it thought. Legs are too short and the car is too heavy. She tried at least and managed to get stuck under the car. I would have taken a picture, but I didn't want people to think I was a mean mom. :o)

Our Christmas Vacation

Well, like I mentioned earlier Avila was sick over the vacation, so the 3 of us stayed at home together. 3 days of vacation actually went by slowly and we were able to enjoy each other as a family.

We watch A LOT of movies! I am extremely thankful for Baby Einstein. And although I had Mozart stuck in my head every waking moment, it kept Avila happy and rested.

The cat loved having us home with a sick baby. The baby's room was always the warmest place in the house. It was a warm, lazy weekend for everyone; even the cats.

Once she started feeling better we made her do all her chores!!! Just kidding, this is her new favorite activity. Unloading the clean or dirty dishes onto the floor. One day she'll get the hang of it. Sick or not, when she heard the dishes being loaded she came full speed to help.

Merry Sickmas

December 5th
Getting ready for Christmas!!! She loved playing/breaking all the ornaments!

She loved the tree. It is her newest toy - taking everything off and mom putting everything back on. Pine needles EVERYWHERE! Lot's of empty boxes to practice for Christmas.

December 25th
Sickmas is here. Day three of swine flu and feeling much better in time for Christmas. Ripping the paper was a lot of fun!

My new barn! This is her sick way of saying, "I LOVE IT! THANK YOU MOMMY AND DADDY!" We could see the excitement in her eyes. What came next (video) helped us to see how much she loved it! Made our 1st Christmas with her perfect!

Not so excited about the first gift. Practical. She was about excited as I am about getting socks in my stocking.

Priceless......... My new favorite video of Avila.

Merry Sickmas everyone!!!!

The evolution of Christmas

So I was thinking last night as I was holding my sick daughter and trying to figure how bad it was to get on a plane and give everyone the swine flu for Christmas and wondering what happened to "Christmas". And just as going to the beach will never be the same Christmas will forever be different. Not bad, just different.

As kids the anticipation of Christmas lasted the entire month of December; thinking constantly of all the things that Santa might bring. Then by college Christmas was a great time to sleep in, get new clothes and visit with family. Then the married years came along and we're trying to figure out who gets to see you and when. The baby years is all new. We have had to think of things like how many diapers to pack and pray she doesn't cry on the hour flight. Never did I think that she might be sick with the little piggy flu and NEVER did I think of the chaos the word "swine flu" brings with it.

So...... this will be our first Christmas at home as a family. We quickly are thinking of the traditions that we want to start with baby #1 and continue with baby #1 and #2 next year. So I guess for Christmas Avila got us a day home as a family, even if it meant her getting sick.

Morning hair

What could she have possibly done in the middle of the night to wake up with this hair do? Couldn't look more lovely on a Sunday before heading to church.