Happy 200th Post!

Wow! I didn't even realize I had managed to post that much!

Ok, so the point of this post is actually just to put up a few new photos of my little girl, who we all have shared time with in life and via this blog. She is the light of my life and makes every day more special than the last. Please join me in oogling the newest pics! :)

Long weekend

Since DH left two weeks ago, Miss C and I have been figuring each other out again. Its not that we don't spend loads of time together when DH is home but when he's gone, that third person to play with is gone. So, we've been trying to find lots of fun things for both of us to do.
This is a long weekend so we decided to have loads of fun. Miss C had a big FIRST today. We decided after our morning of errands (we typically grocery shop on Saturday mornings) that today was the day to get a library card.
After Miss C's nap, which was rather short due to her excitement, we got our coats and shoes on and ran off to the local library. We filled out the form and Miss C even "signed" her name (all of that signing in at school is really paying off!) and then Miss C got to hand her paper over to the lady for a brand new library card! What excitement!
We explored the children's section, built some castles with their blocks (love this library!), made a heart picture to take home (again, love this library!) and found 5 books (her decision) to read for the week. We also decided that this will be our Saturday routine.
We live in a very small town and there aren't a whole lot of things to do here that don't cost an arm and a leg. We are still going to the "new playground" tomorrow (I think someone might try to convince me that its our Sunday routine!) after nap. Now we just have to come up with something super fun for Monday!
How are you spending your weekend?

Hives?

Hey all!
Its been nearly a month since I last posted. I blame, well, life. :)
You all know how busy being a parent coupled with having a full time job can be. You do your best to make sure everything is taken care of but every now then something, in my case this blog, gets left behind.
So, a quick recap. Miss C has been getting hive like rashes about once a week for the past couple of months. Before you start to worry, there is no associated breathing issues and the rash goes away within 30-45 minutes of its discovery. After a lot of investigation on our part and a quick trip today to the doctor, I have come away with a couple of points:
1. If this happens to you, keep a food and activity log for your child
2. Unless there is associated breathing issues, don't freak
3. Look through your family history to determine if there is a history of allergies
4. Find a great doctor
5. Don't let this overwhelm you
Ok. so we found a great doc who thinks that we should keep some benedryl on hand in case you do get an adverse reaction, keep up with the logs and not to stress it out. She doesn't think we need to do allergy testing because the reactions aren't severe and there is no family history of allergies.
After all that, Miss C had to get one of her HIB shots (some issue here a couple of years ago prevented most kids her age from getting these on time) but we celebrated her bravery (not a peep during the shot!) with a Mama/Daughter lunch! What a big girl! She even ordered for herself!
So, in all a very successful trip! Quick stats update: 38 inches tall and 35 pounds! My little girl is going to be a very tall girl indeed!
Hope everyone is having a great day and has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, DH!

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, DH. I don't know what we would do without you. My world wouldn't be whole, that is sure. We love you!

Vacation Recap

Ok, so the long and short of our vacation:

Miss C got to go to the zoo 3 times during our grand adventure! That alone was worth the flight time involved! On the third visit, she even got to feed a giraffe! Yea!

While visiting with DH's family, Miss C built a snowman, made snow angels with me and participated in a snow ball fight (everyone got into that one!). She also got to taste her first strawberry shake (ala Jack in the Box following a wonderful Grilled Cheese Meal).

On our last day before we came home, Miss C and I had to drop DH off at the airport for yet another (albeit short) trip. After we left the airport, Miss C and I decided it would be grand fun to meet my side of the family that lived in the local area.

We drove to my Aunt's house but alas, no one answered the door (frown here). We did call later and left a message with my Uncle that we were in town and wanted to visit with my Grandmother. My Aunt called back later to arrange a good time for a visit.

Little did I know that the visit would turn into a reunion of sorts. As it turns out, two of my cousins still live near my Aunt and Grandmother. My aunt called them and they all came by with their families to see us (totally unexpected and quite a lot of fun). We all went out to dinner after a bit of visiting.

Miss C absolutely adores my cousin J. He has two kids (a boy, 9 and a girl, 11 who are both so sweet its not funny) and thinks my other cousin (C)'s two boys are supposed to come with us because one rode to dinner with us. She had no issues with this new crowd of people, probably because she had just visited with DH's side of the family and she understood me when I explained who everyone was.

Most importantly, Miss C got to meet my Grandmother. My grandma isn't doing great. I mean, she's doing ok, kind of. I was told that she was living in an assisted living facility so I didn't know what to expect but then when I talked to my Aunt, she told me that Grandma was out at the Casino playing poker so I figured, eh, really, how bad could it be? When I saw her using her walker, so frail looking, I realized how much time had passed. I decided to make the visit during this trip because it just seemed like the right time to.

To see the photos for the visit (there are quite a few) look here.

Vacation, all I ever wanted

We made it, sort of!
We left the house yesterday at nap time (no joy on that, but more to be said in a minute) to drive to the airport. Since we don't exactly live around the corner from the airport, we habitually drive down the night before a flight and stay in one of the hotels there. Miss C was fine for the drive but didn't take more than a 30 minute nap (traffic didn't help much). Once we got to the hotel, she had fun for about an hour then asked to go home. Poor kiddo.
This morning we got up gawd awful early (my fault, I chose the flights) to fly out. Our flight was uneventful, thankfully, but again, Miss C failed to nap and got up 2 hours earlier than normal because of the flight. Ugh. We're at our first stop, we'll see my SIL and the Zoo tomorrow but at present, I am lounging on the couch in our hotel room, hoping Miss C settles down enough to take a nap. Fingers crossed! Photos will be taken and more posts will be made, just wanted to catch everyone up for now!

"Tis the season

'Tis the season to:
Make and ship 10 batches of fudge (a whopping 30 or so pounds worth!)
Appreciate pack and ship from the USPS (11 packages per trip, but not having to deal with long lines at the post office, priceless!)
Write and mail approximately 165 holiday greeting cards (totally worth it though)
Have your hubby sick and pretty much unable to do anything (finally got the right meds so he should, fingers crossed, be on the mend)
Listen to your adorable 2 1/2 year old sing "jingle bells" 10 times in a row (its terribly cute though!)
Make stockings for school
To help your 2 1/2 year old take pictures using your DSi (she loves it, too!)
Have half of your staff on vacation and the other half trying to keep up with increasing taskers
Try to stay on track getting your department ready for a huge inspection after the holidays
Figure out how to handle flying back from vacation with your 2 1/2 year old after your hubby has to fly off on another (albeit short) trip (we've flown alone together before, its just going to be, well, challenging is all)
To have one of your people run up to shake your hand, thanking you for the card and recognition of their efforts. (Blew my mind and made my hand hurt less)
Truly, honestly, it is the season.
Happy holidays, everyone!