Yuck!

I have some major posting to catch up on.  Our baby girl turned a year old!  We had two parties and lots of celebrating and it kind of feels like a huge relief to have passed this milestone.  It was fun to see her reaction to the balloons, cake and presents but she really just enjoyed being around all of the family.

I plan to write a post that sums up this past year and finally write about Brianna's birth story.  I can't believe I haven't posted about this.  When something so big happens I seem to always have the intention of going back and writing about it later but I'm not great about actually doing it!  I want to write about it for her... and myself, so that I remember all of the little details forever.

My lack of posting these past few weeks have been due to SICKNESS!  February 7th I posted about "The New Sick Day".  Ummm... I guess that is where my mistake began.  I talked about how my sick days were now for my baby.  I think God was laughing when He saw that.  Brianna and Michael started all of the madness with a cold.  They were so sick and I stayed home with my baby girl.  As soon as I got back to work, I realized I was coming down with the same thing.  It was rough but not terrible.  I missed a day or two myself and had to miss my photography class which made me incredibly sad (and scared).  I was feeling a little better, we had Brianna's birthday celebrations Saturday (Feb 18th) and Sunday (Feb 19th) and Sunday night Brianna started with a fever.  The next day, Michael was sick again.  The day after I took Brianna to the doctor after work and got some antibiotics for her. That night I went to bed feeling fine and woke up at 3AM with a fever and chills.  I went ahead and went to work hoping I could fight through it.  I woke up Thursday morning with the intention of taking a shower and taking Brianna to the sitter and before getting her up I took my temperature and it was 102.  I realized I couldn't take all of those germs to work, even if I could make it through the day.

I was excited we had a weekend of nothing planned so all three of us could get lots of rest and feel better. Michael and Brianna seemed to be doing great, I however, was worse.  I didn't go to the doctor Thursday or Friday because I figured it was the flu or a cold and I could fight through it.  This past Sunday I was having some intense ear pain on top of all of the other symptoms I had been having.  I woke up Monday morning and there was no way I could go to work.  I called my Mom to come save the day and she came up to stay with Brianna while I went to the doctor to finally get some much needed medication!  Turns out I had the flu which turned into a sinus infection, bronchitis, an ear infection and because I didn't go get treated my ear drum burst!  Today is my second day on antibiotics and I'm feeling better but still not 100%.  Because of my stubbornness I have had to miss more days for myself being sick, than days to be home with Brianna while she was sick which is why my recent sick day post is so laughable now.  I'm hoping to have some of my hearing back by tomorrow when I'm back to work.  This all has been so frustrating!

I'm hoping that March is much more healthy for our family.  We want to be able to enjoy our one year old who is exploring and learning so fast these days.  It is so fun!  I can't wait for spring!

We Have a Walker!!!

Brianna was early to crawl and she was so good at crawling she didn't show much interest in walking.  She has been cruising (walking while holding onto furniture) for months and has been taking steps for the past few weeks.  She has slowly added a step here and there.  Tonight she has turned into a full blown walker!  She walks from one room to another following me.  Michael and I sat on the floor tonight and she walked back and forth and got so excited when we cheered that she would almost jump up and down.  My heart seems to keep bursting with love.  It amazes me how much my love for the beautiful baby girl keeps growing and growing.  

She still loves music and dancing.  She has discovered that it is very fun to throw a ball with Daddy and Michael loves it too.  We have started transitioning to whole milk from formula today and so far she has done really well.  She hasn't been eating a lot of food but from what I hear that is normal.  Only 7 more days until this baby girl turns one year old.  I'm trying to just concentrate on how much joy she has brought to our lives and try to be less sad about this milestone.  We are so incredibly blessed that we have reached this milestone and I can't wait to have many many more years of happiness with Brianna.  She truly could not be more loved and wanted!  

Now that I'm taking this photography class I seem to take less pictures and in my opinion they are getting worse.  I'm not sure if that is a normal thing or not... I just am paying a lot more attention to all of the little details.  In the long run I think this will be great but for now I'm posting less pictures.  Hopefully we will get some good shots as we party all weekend long next weekend.  

I hope everyone has a wonderful week! I'm looking forward to chasing around my little walking baby :) 

The New Sick Day

Sick days used to be spent in bed feeling crummy and sleeping a lot.  Sick days are no longer for me... they are now for Brianna!  Brianna had a really rough night Sunday night and was having trouble breathing because of all of this congestion that seemed to come out of nowhere.  I spent yesterday and today at home with my baby girl and while I wish she didn't feel so bad it has been nice to be home with her.  She has spent a lot of time in my lap and I am enjoying this cuddle time more than ever because she is so busy these days.  

It is going to be so hard leaving her tomorrow... especially since I probably won't get much sleep tonight... but she is going to be spoiled by her grandmothers for the next two days.  She gets to stay at home and play with two of her favorite people so hopefully she will keep getting better.  She has some birthday celebrations right around the corner!  

Cousins

My family got together on Sunday to celebrate Larry and Juliane's birthdays.  It was a nice end to a long weekend.  I'm so thankful that I have grown up so close to my cousins.  They really are like siblings to me.  I don't remember a time in my life that I haven't had a close relationship with them.  As if that luck wasn't enough, I happen to have married into a family that I absolutely adore.  I have added even more close relationships with Michael's cousins.  I am so thankful for this!  

Because I value these relationships so much I am so excited that Brianna has so many cousins that she is going to be able to grow up with on both sides of her family.  

Here are some of the cute moments that Brianna shared with Lexie yesterday.  Lexie is so tiny for her age... she will be 2 in May.  (9 months older than Brianna)

 With Great-Grandpa

 Looking for trouble :) 

 Seriously... does it get any sweeter?

My Week in Review

This week has been kind of crazy.  Work seemed to go kind of fast but I think it was because I was all but dreading the weekend.  My Uncle Daryl's funeral was today.  I'm thankful that I have been able to spend so much time with my family but it is a very sad reason to be brought together.  I'm so lucky to be so close to all of my many aunts and uncles.  I have so many memories of Sunday dinners at my grandparents house growing up.  My family always is celebrating something.  I do think we do a good job of cherishing our time together... there is always lots of laughter, kids screaming, yummy food and of course a little drama.  Saying goodbye to one of the kindest men I have ever known who always had a smile on his face and hug and kiss to make your day better was difficult.  But I think it says a lot about how wonderful my family is that I feel like I did get to spend a lot of time with him and I have endless happy memories of the times we shared with Daryl.

I had a very good day on Thursday.  I was surprised with flowers in the morning from my sweet husband.  I have never been a fan of flowers on a birthday or anniversary but when you least expect them they are such a wonderful surprise!  My work friends and I had scheduled a lunch using Groundhog's Day as an excuse to get together with some of our friends that have retired or moved on from our office.  It was so much fun!  It is always nice to have a break from the office and I'm so lucky that I genuinely love my co-workers!  Libby also came back to the office to meet the man who took her position.  It felt like old times!

Cindi and I also had our second class of a 12 week photography class at Baker Hunt.  It was supposed to help us with learning to shoot manually with our DSLR cameras.  Let me tell you... it is sooooooo much more complicated than I ever could have imagined.  So far it has just made me feel stupid.  I'm hoping it gets better.  I just keep reminding myself that if I can just learn two or three things that I can take from the class and actually use then it will be worth while.

One more thing that I've been dealing with are some insane nightmares.  I've never been a very good sleeper and have been known to sleep walk and talk in my sleep.  This nightmare thing  is new since Brianna was born.  A lot of the times the nightmares involve her... being scared that something is happening to her.  I guess that is my new biggest fear but it is exhausting.  I need all the sleep I can get these days and it is supposed to be peaceful... not scary!  If anyone has any suggestions on remedies for this please let me know!

I'll leave you with a self-pic of me with my angel baby :)