Ava Elliot

Somehow Olivia has decided to ramp it up a notch lately.   Maybe it is the post-Christmas sugar let-down.  Maybe it is the four teeth that just can’t seem to make it through the gums. Maybe its the persistent ear infection.  Whatever it is, let’s just hope it is a phase.  Because I honestly don’t know if I can keep up when I am this humongously pregnant.  And, especially given the fact that in 6 weeks I am going to have another small little human who needs my constant attention (and ever present boob).  She is climbing EVERYTHING.  Turn around, and she has scaled the dining room table.  Blink and she’s pulled a spider-man and is on the counter.    Her second favorite hobby?  Emptying drawers.  Clothing drawers, kitchen drawers and cabinets, sock drawers, DVD drawers, it doesn’t really matter what’s inside, she prefers to have it on the floor.   I have to admit, she is pretty dang cute as she shrieks and runs from the crime scene whenever you hurry to stop her. 

Bella has had a rough go of it lately. She had become cranky with the girls and was frequently acting out of sorts. We took her to the vet and did a full work up, but found nothing (we were convinced it was cancer). We treated her for joint stiffness and stomach ailments that the vet and we both felt were due to old age. However, late last night she took a turn WAY downhill.

Dave and I were watching TV and chatting when she came into the living room and acted like she was going to throw up. She has had a sensitive stomach, and we’ve put her on a restricted diet because of it, so we didn’t think much of it. But, after putting her outside and waiting a few minutes, we realized she was crying at the door. We let her inside and realized her stomach/belly was swollen to about 4-5 times its normal size. It was hard as a rock. Within ten minutes, she was frothing at the mouth and groaning/wailing. We madly scrambled to look up a 24 hr vet clinic, since it was already 10 pm. We called and they said to bring her in immediately. Dave drove her and said she wailed the entire way.

Yes, we are still here…although you wouldn’t really know it from my lack of posts lately.  Since it is Thanksgiving, I will save you the montage of how busy and crazy we have been.  OK, I’ll just give you the quick version.  After having most of October off, I am back to work.  This time, I am working two back to back study sections so it has been a little chaotic.  Add in the holidays and the girls, and a computer switch-a-roo that has gotten rid of most of my blogging tools…and you have the recipe for only monthly blog posts.    So, there are my excuses.  And, of course I promise to post more often. Now, go have a wonderful Thanksgiving and we’ll see ya back here around Christmas.

Crazy how time flies!  The youngest member of our family (for now) celebrated her first birthday this weekend with lots of decorations, some presents, and of course the sugar-high-inducing frosted cake.  We had a slight mishap when Aunt Ginny’s little pup Peanut (size of the dog matches the name) walked across the cake…but we decided no one really cared and moved on.  It has become a tradition for us to have cake problems at most occasions, so this was simply following in our own footsteps.

I made some little bug cakes to go with her plates and napkins, so we used those too. 

Olivia was so happy to be eating sugar (who can blame her, right)!

She had fun opening presents (with a little help from big sis).

She is really coming into her own personality these days.  Girly-girl, loves new shoes and beads, and anything sparkly and pretty.  She has a quick temper and knows what she wants.  She is strong-willed, independent, and determined, which are great qualities for a little young lady to have I think (although they make parenting difficult, as we are learning from entering the oh-so-monstrous-threes….really people, who coined the term “terrible twos”, were they kidding?  Three is the new terrible-two…on crack!) Olivia is a very sweet little girl.  She loves to get kisses and snuggle.  She is a real ham whenever we are out.  She doesn’t shy away from anyone and is seems to get a kick out of it when people fuss over her at the supermarket or wherever.  If I had to pick one word to describe her at this stage, I would say content.  She is such a content little girl.  As long as she is not hungry, tired, or wanting something immediately beyond her reach, she is content.  She will play and read books on her own, loves to throw balls and run after them, loves to swing, and loves anything musical.   She really loves being in the thick of whatever is going on, but she is content to be part of it;  she doesn’t shy away from any attention but she also doesn’t seem to need to be the center of whatever is happening.  What a great trait to have.  I hope she always feels this way.   It is amazing to watch your little ones grow into their own souls.  So interesting and heart warming and endearing at the same time.  I feel like one of my greatest challenges as a parent is to help our children develop their own strengths and bolster their weaknesses in order to be their best selves, without placing too much of my own bias and self-interpretation in the mix.  Just letting them be who they are, and guiding them in the development of their own individualities, while maintaining fairness and harmony in our household…yikes!    So far, this little one make it easy. Happy Birthday baby girl!