If Only

Carli - How do you really feel about the flu?

If only we all had the energy and stamina of a child when we were sick! The double flu + double ear infection has not slown Carli down much. She had a really bad day last Thursday when we took her in to see the doctor. Since then, she has been going on like normal, maybe a little more head strong and stubborn if anything else. We've struggled to keep her drinking fluids and struggled even more with getting her to take her meds. She sees a syringe and she starts gagging - literally. So we hid the medicine in her juice and it didn't take long for her to figure that either. Thankfully, as of Tuesday, we are no longer on meds, unless her fever reappears. She is done taking her Tamiflu and now we are hopefully on the upward swing of this whole illness issue.

The flu wasn't enough to keep Carli's Naggy from saying Hi!

One of her famous, "Where did it go?" faces with hand motions. We were asking her where her puppies were I think.

Pitiful Baby snuggling with her Daddy.

Ava's Baby Shower

We have been blessed by a wonderful group of ppl at Shiloh Road and even more so by our friends we have made there. I know it is not unusual to not have a baby shower for a second born child, especially if they are of the same sex as your first born. I was a little worried that Ava wouldn't have something that was just her's. I'm all about hand-me-downs, consignment shops, etc. But every child should have something that is just theirs. And having an empty baby book is a little depressing (not to say that I have completely filled out Carli's but I have tried.) So, when the girls at church asked me about doing a shower for Ava - I was more than thankful for their efforts.

Carli was not able to go to the shower, and I was sad b/c she would have had a blast. My Grandma and Mom got to come and a surprise visit from Naggy and Aunt Sarah made for a fun afternoon.

Since Carli wasn't there to help me with gifts, Allie filled in and had a blast!

The amazing spread of food - a pregnant woman's delight! Mostly all chocolate!

And this little cupcake is heaven - Keith said, "It's like eating a chocolate cake with ice cream on it...only there is no ice cream!"

Ava's gifts to the hostesses - on one side we put a little note from Ava, and on the other a Bible verse that corresponded to the plaque in the basket.

Cute little poem from Ava.

Ava's gift from the hostess! She got a cradle and we already got it all set up and ready for her to come home and sleep in. She may not have a bed or any of her clothes out of the attic, but thanks to some wonderful ladies, she has a place to lay her head!

Thanks again ladies for all your time and generosity. We are so thankful for you all and appreciative of each and everyone of you.

The Swine Flu??

Well it's been an interesting week to say the least. Carli woke up last Thursday morning with fever and was really pitiful. So we took her to the Dr. that afternoon, and it turns out she had good reason to be pitiful. She tested positive for H1N1, the regular flu, and had 2 ear infections. We weren't aware that you could have both flu's at the same time, but apparently you can! Once we got some Motrin down her and the fever came down, she was pretty much back to normal. So we've spent the last 4 days trying to get her to drink liquids to stay hydrated. It's actually somewhat embarrassing knowing how I would be acting if I were that sick compared to how she acts, because it doesn't even phase her and I would be laid up in bed feeling sorry for myself. She is still really snotty and has a cough (which means she must continue to be sequestered), but other than that, she's back to normal, goofy things! We are definitely thankful that we have a healthy baby girl that can take what the swine flu is dishing out!

So that's pretty much the reason for a break in posting. Resa asked me to write an update, so there it is. So far, the parents are doing good with no major flu-related issues. Hopefully we'll all be back to normal for Easter Weekend!

Keith

This is my life...

The other day I put Carli down for her nap and didn't hear a peep from her. When I checked on her with the baby monitor, things looked a big strange. So I went in to double check on her, this is what I found.



Apparently in the 10 minutes between when I put her down and checked on her, the crib went from a nicely organized area of bumper pads, caterpillar and blanket to chaos...yeah, story of my life these days!

Merry Christmas Dad!

Back in December Anthony went in with us and we gave Dad a bedliner for Christmas. It is a product called Herculiner, kind of a do-it-yourself type thing. It had awesome reviews and we figured that at least it was something he wouldn't ever give himself! Anthony's spring break was last week and the weather was awesome on Friday - so we finally finished Dad's gift. His '97 Ford F-250 looks pretty good now-a-days if I do say so myself!


The key to the Herculiner working is preparation - no gloss on the paint and practically a spotless surface...the no gloss was not a problem...spotless? This is a working truck!

Here are some before pictures...

Carli helped us clean things up a bit...

This is a mid-way picture. Carli was helping Uncle Tone - can you tell?

They had a fun game of "sit down"

We finished about 10 pm that night and Anthony drove it back home to park under some shelter b/c after a wonderful day of 70+ degree weather, it was forecasted to snow the next day...and it did!

Here are some after pictures taken from Anthony's phone the following day...

We bought two kits to do this project with and only used one! The cool thing about Herculiner is that you can use it on tons of other things...so maybe Dad will put it to good use around the house too!

31 Weeks 4 Days

We are in the homestretch...maybe...

Less than 8 weeks to go!

We Play Harder...

Carli had some fun last weekend as well. With Naggy here, Carli took full advantage of a full time play mate and the wonderful weather outside and in between "helping" in the garage, she and Naggy got some play time in.

Taking her "baby" to swing

She convinced Pappy to come play a little too!
Pushing her "baby" in the stroller
Uncle Tone made Carli a comic book, it came last Saturday and Carli and Naggy enjoyed reading it together.
Really, it was an exhausting wkd!

We Work Hard...

We've been busy at our house and my laptop crashed, so I have not had the means I had before in posting on here. So, in an attempt to catch up...we'll start with last wkd.

We were quite blessed to have Naggy and Pappy come visit us last wkd. I really wanted to Keith to get his garage fixed up before Ava gets here b/c if he didn't, he would never get it done. He and I think so differently, we spend half the time disagreeing with how something should be done vs getting it done. Pappy and Keith on the other hand are two peas in a pod and work wonderfully together. So Pappy came to the rescue! He and Keith got a work bench built and peg board up on the wall - HUGE progress!

Carli and Naggy stayed busy too. Carli insisted on helping - and Naggy did her best to let Carli help while not getting in the way. Carli stayed outside all day Friday and Saturday and slept hard at night. I'm not sure who was more worn out...Pappy, Naggy or Carli!

We are very thankful for all the help we had this wkd and Carli was sad to see her Naggy and Pappy have to go. Kind of freaky, when they left Naggy and Pappy made the comment that they would see us when Ava arrived! WHOA! Where is the time going?!

Carli loved sweeping so much, she went over to take care of the neighbors driveway!

The step ladder was a favorite - here Carli is helping Pappy.

"Painting" the wall

"Painting" Daddy...

Carli helped me sand her new bed in preparation for a little paint touch up job...

Have no worries - Carli had some play time too...more to come on that later...

4 Teeth

17 Months, 1 week and 4 days...we now have 4 teeth - her right top tooth has broken through!  Good news is she is coming to terms with the tooth brush, to some extent.  We still have a screaming fit when she sees Daddy getting it out, but after we get the teeth brushed she wants to do it herself.  HUGE progress considering a few weeks ago she broke down into inconsolable tears and screams if she even saw the toothbrush!

Woohoo - It's Spring!

Carli and I had an absolutely perfect day last Saturday (if you don't include the number of diapers Carli managed to soak through...but that's another story).  Saturday we loaded up bright and early and headed out for a day in Dallas with Grammy.  Carli did AWESOME in the car.  I was very surprised and pleased.  She never had a melt down!  Sure made the day a bit easier for sure!  So our first stop was to pick up Suzy Q - and Carli got to meet Alpacas for the first time.  They are interesting looking creatures.  She thought they were horses and neighed at them.  After we got Suzy Q, it was off to see Uncle Danny.  Uncle Danny is the most awesome uncle.  I found a bed on craigslist that is the Jenny Lind style AND coverts to a toddler bed for only $50!  He not only went and picked it up for us but he stored it for us until we got up to see him and pick it up.  He also let Suzy Q hang out in his yard while us women folk continued our day of pretending to have plans and deviating from them when we came across a sign for an estate sale, etc...

Grammy found some really neat stools at the estate sale we went too.  They stack up on each other, and are antiques.  She said growing up they use to have some just like them - so it was pretty cool.  Plus, by the time we got to the sale, everything was 50% off  AND Carli was there to test the stools out and assure Grammy that they were most definately the right size for the grandkids!  Woohoo!  Love Estate Sales...

And finally...how could you resist this?

I kept an eye on craigslist all day while we were in the big city and talked to a couple of folks who had a Little Tikes slide and climb unit.  As we were heading home we got lucky and found a used one for only $40!  To say that Carli enjoys it would be an understatement.  The age on this unit says 18 mths to 3 yrs or something like that.  So Carli needs a little help climbing it, but that doesn't slow her down!  Thank goodness the weather has been super nice this week b/c every morning I hear "Side, Slide?" and it is rather difficult to say no to that!  I have tons more cute pics of her playing, but blogger wasn't cooperating all week.  Maybe we will get some more good ones with Naggy and Pappy here this wkd.

Oh!  And to top off the perfect day, with awesome finds...dinner at Little Mexico in Palestine.  This pregnant lady was in heaven!  :)

Introducing...

Little Ms. Suzy Q!

Carli has obviously been around puppy dogs since day one and she loves them all.  Grammy has puppy dogs at her house too, and actually one of Carli's first words that we understood clearly was "Sally," which is Grammy's Great Pryenees.  This Saturday, Carli and I had an awesome day with Grammy.  We had lots of things in store, but two major items on our list - first, pick up Grammy's new Great Pryenees puppy in Rockwall and second, pick up Carli's new bed from Uncle Danny in Dallas.  Grammy got Sally a new playmate, Suzy Q.  She was a bit shy, but not with Carli.  When the adults would try to get Suzy Q to come to them, she would hunker down and lay there looking quite pitiful, but for Carli she would jump up and come with her tail just a-waggin'!  Clearly, Carli has a special touch with puppies!

More from our wkd adventures later!

29 Weeks, 4 Days

Here is our weekly picture.  Strange - I went from ppl not believing I was ONLY 28-29 weeks, to now they don't think I am big enough to be this far along!  Strange - I still feel big, that's for sure!

Learning to Share

Carli really loves all her baby dolls.  Most recently she has started sharing her sippy cup and paci's with them.  The other day she had her paci in the truck as we were going home and we hear this sucking sound that was a bit unusual.  I look back to find her sharing her paci with "Itty Bitty Big Headed Baby" and making a sucking noise.  Ha!  Very cute!

The Sweetest Song

Carli has been "singing" songs for the last couple of weeks.  They usually consist of one word with varying pitches.  Her most favorite is the Daddy song.  We sing for Daddy all the way home from Alto or about the time she thinks he should be home.  She has sang various versions of her song - she includes the puppies, Pa, and some words we have yet to interpret.  One word I rarely hear Carli say is Momma.  Maybe it is because I am with her all the time, but she rarely says it and when she does I've usually made her mad and she is telling on me.  Wednesday night Keith and I were in two separate cars coming home from church and he had Carli with him.  When we got home, he handed me his phone and told me Carli had sang me a song...it was awesome!

I could not figure out how to simply do an audio file, so we did a mini video with Carli's song...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

28 weeks, 4 Days

Here we are at 28 Weeks, 4 days. 

Last week I had to go get my Rhogam shot b/c I have negative blood type.  The shot itself wasn't so bad I suppose, but it is a long drawn out process b/c I had to go to the hospital, have blood work done so the hospital could verify that my blood type had not changed from my doctors office to their office, then get the shot - a two day affair.  But we got it done, and we had our regular doctor check up today.  All was well.  Ava kicked the doctor again - she's a sweet one!  We are having another sonogram in two weeks, and will see the doctor every two weeks after that until Ava makes her grand entrance.

We had some fun taking pictures with Carli on Sunday.  We decided we need one with her and Daddy - she wanted to hug him, and kiss him but really didn't care too much to smile for him!


Here is her first "CHEESE" face when she took her picture with me.  I think her cheese looks better than mine!  :)  Afterward, she really wanted to know where the cheese was, it is one of her favorite foods!