Numbers project

I got this "Numbers Train" project out of one of the activities workbooks I have. Acadia loved doing it - she's really into trains at the moment so this seemed like a perfect project for her right now.

The finished project

I have no idea what to name this post..ummm..."swirly thingy?"

TFT - Everything is temporary

Today was an awesome day. Acadia has been feeling better so we met up with our friends Laurel and Sten at art class this morning. After art we went to pick up my glasses (ummm...yes - I have glasses now - I'll have to post pics soon) and met Miche to do a little shopping. After Acadia's nap we played, colored and my mom stopped by for a visit. Acadia has been SO fun all day - laughing, making (toddler) jokes, being silly. She's just been awesome.

Today was just another reminder that everything I go through is temporary. We've been having a difficult time lately with Acadia - she's been pushing boundaries, throwing tantrums, struggling with us during diaper changes and nothing seems to be easy.

It's very easy to forget when your child is throwing a tantrum and you're just plain exhausted that what is happening at the moment is temporary. One minute seems like an hour during those moments. Today was just a reminder that everything is, indeed, temporary...

How she's doing

So, in the end, after a million awesome suggestions from friends and family, she never ended up taking the damn Amoxicillin. I tried putting it into: applesauce, milk, chocolate milk, ice cream, pure chocolate syrup. I tried forcing it on her - literally holding her down and using the syringe to push it into side and back of her throat. (Please don't call SRS on me.) NOTHING worked. She would spit it out every single time. We wasted literally half the medicine within a day and a half and I was beyond stressed. I kept thinking of her in 3 years - deaf because the ear infections got so bad. LOL! Ok - that's a little extreme, but I was honestly stressed about making sure she got her medicine.

I called the pediatrician's office yesterday and asked them to call in the chewable tablets. After trying one (I may or may not have told her it was candy. Please see above on SRS.) and having her successfully eat it, they called in a full prescription of it. She ate her "candy" just fine last night and this am - phew!!

She's still pretty cranky (the doctor said her ears are probably hurting her) and whiny. We are dying to get out of the house - I think tomorrow we'll adventure out to our art class now that she isn't contagious anymore. She's down for a nap now and I'm hoping she takes another nap this afternoon. Even though she's (thankfully!) sleeping through the nights even though she's sick, she seems to still require more sleep than she normally does.

Thanks again for all your advice and get well wishes!

Yeah baby, I sick

I usually end every question to Acadia with "baby". "Do you want some juice, baby?" "Wanna read a book, baby?" So lately she's been answering me with baby. Yesterday afternoon she was coughing a lot so I gave her a bath with Vick's Vapor Bath Gel in it. During her bath I asked her if she was sick and she said, "Yeah baby, I sick" I started laughing SO hard. I was able to catch her on tape a few minutes after her bath. She tells me she's sick then starts singing "You are my sunshine" from her book, although I don't actually hear any words when she's singing! LOL!

Wordless Wednesday: Reading together in their fort

How to get a toddler to eat

Last one

Ok - I promise no more V-Day crafts!! I throw away most of the crafts we do around here (and keep a select few), so I always make sure to post the crafts she does so I'll always have them. Someday I'll get around to printing out my blog and we'll have that keepsake with all her artwork.

I'm sure we've all done this painting before - you put some paint onto a piece of paper and use a salad spinner to spread the paint out. I would say this is one of the favorite crafts of Acadia :)

While I have a few minutes

I'm going to try to post some updates. Even though I update daily, somehow I'm still way behind in sharing recent pictures. Here is another V-Day craft we did in honor of daddy. I had bought a few hearts with no plan in mind for them. It occurred to me one day when she was asking to wear one of my necklaces that I should use one of the hearts to make an "I love daddy" necklace.

He was very excited when he came home from work and saw his little girl's necklace!

We're back

Acadia had a good night last night, but woke up struggling to breath a bit. We were able to get into the pediatrician's office this morning at 8:30. Turns out she has croup and a double ear infection, poor thing. He prescribed Amoxicillin and we picked that up at the pharmacy as well as some popsicles.

I just tried giving her her first dose of Amoxicillin and she spit it out. I tried 4 times with a syringe and she spit it out all 4 times, which wouldn't be a huge deal if we had extra of the medicine, but we have the exact dosage for 10 days, so we can't waste anymore.

I put her in her crib a few minutes ago so I could sit and think about how I'm going to get a dose in her and went to check on her literally two minutes later and she had fallen asleep. It's only 10am, but I figured she needs her sleep so I let her be.

I am going to call the pharmacy to see if I can mix the medicine with something - milk, juice, etc. Of all the times she decides not to take her medicine - having a double ear infection is the worst possible time!! I really hope she takes her meds when she wakes up - she needs it.

Storytime at the library

Last Wednesday evening we brought Acadia to pajama storytime at the local library. I LOVE this program and the librarian is awesome - she's so sweet with the kids and remembered Acadia's name! After she reads 4 stories, the kids are invited to have milk and cookies.



Part of this book says "Shhhhh" and that was Acadia's favorite part!

I remember Monday

I remember washing all your baby clothing and putting them neatly away before you were born. I thought that there was NO way you would ever fit into any of them - they looked like doll clothing. We brought you home from the hospital and were shocked to find out that the clothes we had were actually pretty big on you! We couldn't believe it. Even now (actually - especially now) it's hard to believe you were ever that small.

I'm sure years from now I'll think the same thing about the clothing you wear now...

Croup

Acadia woke up from her nap with the signs of croup. We're going to take her to the doctor's office tomorrow, although I'm sure there isn't much they can do besides steroids. Matt just took a long shower with her and is now outside with her, both of which I'm hoping will help her little lungs.

Meal planning Sunday

S - Homemade corn chowder with fresh bread
M - Spare ribs with steamed broccoli and a salad
T - Cheeseburger pie and baked beans
W - California roll ups and a Caesar salad
TH - Chicken broccoli fettuccine with garlic bread
F - Jenny out to dinner with the girls/Matti leftovers
S - Matt and Jen out to dinner with friends

True love

My definition of romance has definitely changed over the years - especially since having Acadia. Years ago, cards and flowers would give me butterflies. Now, it's the simple things like Matt noticing that Acadia needs her diaper changed and changing it before I do. It's that he gets up with her every morning during the week, takes her downstairs and builds a fire. Then comes upstairs to make coffee for us and wakes me up. I am not a morning person and those 15 extra minutes do wonders for me, so that I am able to wake up slowly.

Friday morning (the day Acadia slept until 9am), Matt left for work before I even got up, which normally never happens. I came out to the kitchen when I woke up to find a note from him:

"Coffee is ready to brew...xoxo"

And that is my definition of true love...

Good news!

Acadia seems to be better :) Thanks for all the sweet comments! xo

What can I say? She loves hats!

I was trying to get breakfast ready the other day and when I got to her table, I found her like this. She had gone into the cupboards and grabbed her lunchbox to wear.

I think she thought she was in trouble - look at that face! A second later, she took it off her head and said "Sorry mama" LOL!!

Update

It's 8:30pm and Acadia is sleeping soundly in her crib. The rest of the night went as well as could be expected - she was sick once more so we hopped into the shower again. She seems to love being held in the shower and I don't think she wanted to get out. We tried giving her some rice for dinner but she didn't eat much. Same with drinking - we tried Pedialyte and watered down Gatorade, but she only took small sips of the Gatorade and none of the Pedialyte.

I'm crossing my fingers that she wakes up tomorrow rested and feeling better!

In case you're wondering

This is what sick looks like...

I woke up this morning rested. Very strange. It was also bright outside, not dark. Extra strange. I looked at my clock and it was 9am! I don't think Acadia has ever slept in that late. She woke up about 15 minutes later crying and when I went in to get her and she was burning up. I brought her into the living room to give her some Tylenol and she started vomiting. We went into the shower and stayed there for about 15 minutes, which helped. I put her into new jammies and we just sat on the couch together watching cartoons. Matt called the pediatrician and they said the fever wasn't too concerning and there has been a stomach bug going around - to call back if she started acting lethargic.

Matt and I were saying over lunch how lucky we are that he has such a flexible job. He was able to leave work at noon to work from home so I could run out during her nap and get the supplies I needed - an ear thermometer, pedialyte, Tylenol. We took her temp when she woke up from her nap about an hour ago and it was at 103. We just gave her more Tylenol, some toast and Pedialyte, and took her temp again and it's gone down to 100.6. She hasn't been sick since this am, so I'm hoping that was a fluke. Let's hope our little girl gets better soon - this is the first real sickness we've ever dealt with and it's heartbreaking to see her not acting like herself.

Saying goodbye

As I mentioned earlier in the week, Monday was Acadia's last day of day care. Matt and I picked her up and she was cute as ever - kissing and hugging all her friends goodbye.

Finishing up lunch


Kissing her friend Mikey goodbye

TFT - Books

Moms - do you find that the books you enjoy reading (ok....stop laughing...I know, I know - it's very rare that we get to actually read, but hypothetically speaking...) after having kids has changed?

I used to love biographies, memoirs and non-fiction books, and would save "chick lit" books for vacations and summer reads. I just finished reading Honeymoon with My Brother (awesome book, by the way) and really enjoyed it - but I found it really hard to keep straight. It's a true story about a guy who gets dumped a few days before his wedding. His honeymoon is paid for, so he decides to take his brother with him and they end up traveling across the world for a year. I found that while reading this book, it was hard to keep track of the places they had visited, the places they were about to visit and where they were visiting at the moment.

efore having Acadia, I was able to read all the time. I would read when I got home from work, before bed, in the bath, on the weekends. Now, I am lucky if I read a few nights a week. Sometimes I purposely schedule bath time for me just so I can get in some reading.

Recently I started the book The Undomestic Goddess and I am loving it!! I can pick it up after not reading it for a few days and not have to re-trace my steps. There aren't a lot of characters to remember, the plot isn't confusing - it's purely entertaining. And you know what? I need that right now. Honestly, I'm not in the mood to think at the end of the day. I want to lay in bed and read a book that will make me laugh.

TFT - What about you? Have you found that the books you enjoy reading has changed since becoming a mom? Do you even have the time to read?

Wordless Wednesday: Waiting for a snack

Happy Valentine's Day!!

For the record - I'm sorry about all the pictures. I've gone a little camera happy lately! We had a great V-Day; we woke up together around 7:30 and exchanged cards. Then I made some heart shaped strawberry pancakes - YUM. We then decided to go to open gym at a local school for the first time. I can't believe how much Acadia loved it there!! It might have to be a weekly Saturday event for us :)

We then went home and were going to feed Acadia lunch until we realized how tired she was and put her down for her nap first. When she woke up, she saw the cupcakes I had made and threw an absolute fit over them! After about 15 minutes of tears and hearing her whine "cake??" for about 50 times, we gave in. For the first time (and probably not the last...) Acadia ate cupcakes for lunch!

Later that night, we dropped Acadia off at my mom's house and visited for a while with her, Auntie Brenda and Auntie Bonnie - three of the best ladies in the entire world. Then Matt and I went to Silver Palace for dinner which was to die for!! It was one of the best meals I have ever had. After a quick visit to Miche and Jim to drop off a card and some cupcakes, we went to the movies and saw Taken.

The next day we got to sleep in (a parent's dream!!) and went out to breakfast together before picking Acadia up. It was such a relaxing and romantic weekend - a time to catch up, have many uninterrupted conversations, laugh and just enjoy each other's company.

Opening up the card she gave me


Yummy pancakes

Open gym

Jumping off the foam mats

After getting instructions from daddy, she jumped off herself

Home for "lunch"

Card for grandma

Matt and I had an amazing Valentine's Day (I will post about it tomorrow) and we owe a huge thanks to my mom for watching Acadia overnight!! It gave us a chance to be alone for the first time in a loooong time. We were saying at dinner that night that we couldn't remember the last time we had gone to dinner by ourselves. Normally when someone watches Acadia, it's because we are meeting up with friends. It was a great chance to reconnect, relax and laugh with each other :)

To thank Grandma, Acadia made her a V-Day card out of wax and tissue paper

The finished product

Putting it in the envelope

Writing out Grandma's address

Can't forget the stamp!


All ready to "mail" to Grandma :)

So true

I posted a link to her blog recently - maybe last week. But here is another post that I just love. She's so funny and what she's saying is sooo true:

http://www.sundrymourning.com/2009/02/16/adult-life-and-interests/

I remember Monday

I remember...your first day of "school" last July. I was so excited - we bought you a brand new backpack and lunch box. I had my checklist of things you needed - Tylenol, sunblock, diaper cream, wipes, diapers, extra clothing.

I dropped you off and was pretty nervous about how you would react, because you had never been watched by anyone but family and close friends. How would you react to two complete strangers taking care of you in a new room with 6 other kids? My nervousness, however, went away the second we got to your classroom. You bolted to your new friends and started playing with them. I tried to say goodbye to you and explain that I would see you in 4 hours, but you were busy. I left in tears - fearful that something would happen to you while I was gone - what if they forgot to put sunblock on you? Would they know what to do if you started choking? What if you ran too fast and fell down and hurt yourself?

I honestly don't remember what I did that first day you were there, but I do remember watching the clock. The entire time. I picked you up 15 minutes early and you were eating lunch with all your friends. The teachers told me you had an awesome day - that you were very friendly, shared well and didn't cry once.

We left and you fell asleep almost instantly in the car. At the time, you were still on two naps a day and this was the longest you'd ever been awake, probably in your life. It got easier for me every time I dropped you off and I started looking forward to Monday and Friday mornings so I could work from home, do housework or just relax.

Today was your last day and it was very bittersweet. There are so many emotions going through my head - I'm sad that you are no longer going there for a few hours a week, I'm excited that you and I will be able to join a class (maybe swimming or gymnastics) before Emma gets here, now that you are no longer in school, I am fearful of how it will be taking care of two young children with no breaks during the day.

So today we say goodbye to your preschool memories and look forward to many more memories to come. Dance class, music time, gymnastics, library hour, art time. I can't wait to share those memories with you....

Playing in the puddles

One day this past week it was....wait for it.....close to 50 degrees out!!! It was awesome! We opened up all the windows and enjoyed the amazing weather with all the other Vermonters :) The weather melted away a lot of the snow we had, so Acadia and I played outside in the puddles for an hour or so. SO much fun and it got me really excited for spring!

And yes - she IS wearing my hat. Damn kid keeps stealing it from me. It's a good thing she's cute!

Pointing at the airplanes flying by

Splashing around

The fog was crazy (side note for those who don't know - we are the second to last house on a dead end road - hence me letting my girl walk around in the road. I swear I'm not a bad mom! LOL!)

Watching more planes go by

Last but not least we had to have some time on her swing

Mommy went on the swings too!