Issues

Part of why I haven't posted is because I'm having a technical issue. Apparently I've run out of free storage space and therefore cannot post pictures. Now I'm waiting until payday to start paying for space. This seems a little silly to me; paying for online storage for pictures. I'm not a "serious" or "career" blogger. I just do this as a family scrapbook/diary. Hopefully I'll be up and running again soon.

Anyone else have this problem?! What did you do?

First Giveaway/Contest

I was a big meanie and waited until the end of the day for my announcement. I'm hosting my first ever giveaway/contest!

The contest: Guess how many pictures we have taken of Jillian since her birth on December 12, 2011, to the eve of her first birthday, December 11, 2012. 

The specifics: Any photo, (including unedited photos), that Phil or I have taken that includes Jillian. iPod, iPad, cell phone, and camera photos count. This does not include photos taken by grandparents, friends or other professionals. As a hint, I will say that we do not have more than 5,000 pictures as of today.

The prize: With Jillian being a winter baby, I thought it would be appropriate that the gift be a $30 gift card to either Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. {It will be the winner's choice}

From now until December 11th, you can comment on this post as your entry. No multiple entires please. On December 13th, I will announce the winner of the contest.

For any questions, feel free to email me at mrs {dot} c {dot} ondemand {at} gmail {dot} com.

Good luck!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jog

We are home after quite a Thanksgiving. It was bittersweet for me. Not only was it Jillian's first Thanksgiving, it was also the last major holiday for her to celebrate as a first. My baby is getting so big! {Insert crocodile mama tears and lots of blubbering here.}

I do have lots of photos to share, but I need to watermark them. In the meantime, I have something fun for you :)

...

But I'm going to be a tease about it, so come back tomorrow to find out what it is!

Hope y'all had a blessed Thanksgiving and relaxing weekend so far.

Smart Cookie

Y'all, Jillian is ridiculously smart. I'm talking I-won't-be-able-to-help-with-homework-because-it's-over-my-head kind of smart. {Trust me, I get that I'm partial.}

Jillian, if she feels like it {I can't emphasize this point enough}, will repeat what we're saying. For example, Monday night I went to my favorite place in the world. While I was there, I noticed some animal crackers and looked over the label. No dairy and no egg. I took two boxes home and decided to introduce Jillian. The box was interesting enough, but she did her excited squeal as I opened the bag and handed her a lion cracker. She dove for it and immediately started chomping. After a few moments, she pointed to the box. I said "Animal cracker?" Jillian replied with "aah-er". She was saying her version of cracker. That was the first time she was ever exposed to the work cracker purposefully. That was amazing enough for me.

Then yesterday during her afternoon nap, she decided that she was not at all tired. So she stood up and started crying. I went to our bedroom and watched her on the video monitor to see if she'd sit back down. I called Phil to tell him I wanted to lower her crib. As I was talking, she sat down. Then she leaned over and turned on the musical aquarium that came with her play mat. If that weren't enough, three separate times she turned it off and back on so that it would skip a song. {In fact, she's doing it right now as I write this post :)} 

I know most babies her age can do similar things. There are still times where she just blows my mind. I mean, knowing her daddy, it's no surprise she's good at thinking and figuring things out. Gosh I love her!

Now I'm off to make some pumpkin bread.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve everyone!

Whirlwind

This past week has been a whirlwind containing many moments of reflection.

I spent the better part of Tuesday and Wednesday doing laundry, cleaning, and getting ready to head to Tulsa for Phil's grandpa's funeral. Frank was a wonderful, Godly man that I am so thankful I got to know. It is also such a blessing to know that he got to meet Jillian, and she him. Between other obligations, we barely made it out of the house Thursday morning. We did make safe and sound. Did I mention we left our funeral clothes so Phil got to drive home and back 15 minutes after we arrived? Oh yeah, because he did.

The funeral was lovely. I think having Jillian in tow really helped most of the family members focus on celebrating his life as opposed to being sorrowful. It was nice to see my brother-in-law and his wife too! Jillian basically got to see everyone she would have met for Thanksgiving so we know she should be in good spirits that day :)

Friday also happened to be the day my dad got a root canal. This man could live a long happy life if he never saw the dentist, (and if his teeth always stayed healthy). Not that he's scared or anything, just not something he enjoys a bit. Luckily the procedure went well and he's feeling pretty good. As someone who had a root canal a few years ago, whatever pain you endure during the procedure is absolutely worth it in the end. We also had to run to the store and get Jillian some new 12 Month pjs. Well, as if it's not already hard enough for mothers to deal with your baby becoming a 1 year-old, moving their size outfits to a completely different part of the store is just torture! All these cute things that didn't fit her even made Phil a little sad.

Saturday night, Phil and I had a double date night with some good friends of ours. It was a fun and relaxed evening that we desperately needed. {Jillian did not sleep well the night before and we were almost zombies.} Plus, we got to see all the intense action involving college football. Yeesh!

Sunday we got home with 30 minutes to spare before a fundraising dinner at church. The dinner was good and I think the youth did a great job!

Now I'm trying to catch up on laundry before the big holiday. I got 75% of Jillian's birthday party decorations today and I'm pretty psyched! I mean, don't get me wrong, this mama is getting nostalgic like WHOA! However, I'm trying to focus on celebrating the little one who is such a blessing and joy in my life.

Oh, and we may get a really brutal cold front here sometime next week. It would be nice to breakout the gloves and scarfs just in time for December :)

Happy Monday y'all!

Jillian: {Eleven Months}

Jillian –

You are eleven months old today! The next 30 days better drag, because I’m not ready to have a 1 year-old toddler! According to our at-home measurements, you are 17lbs, 13 oz and 28-1/4 inches long. You lost a little weight after your sickness this month, but I know you’ll gain it back soon enough.

You have some 9 Month outfits, but they are mostly summer/warm weather clothes. You wear 12 Month clothes, even though they are a little big. You wear size 3 diapers. We have to buy either Luvs or Pampers Cruisers because you leak otherwise.

Eating is good if you’re in charge. On most days, you have 3 bottles of 6-8 oz of formula, then 1-2 oz in a sippy cup. You seem to skip your lunch, but you have been eating 6 oz of baby food for breakfast and dinner. You snack on Cheerios, bites of mama’s banana, and a sippy cup of water. Sippy cups with straws, or regular cups with or without a straw seem to be the type of cup you prefer. You are better at sippy cups with spouts, but you don’t like them as much.

You have 3 teeth, and they are all on the bottom! Your top teeth are slowly coming in. You’ve worked hard on them this month. Hopefully they’ll make an appearance soon.

You are all over the place! You crawl like an expert, you can pull up to standing, and you are easing into cruising right now. After a few days of injuries, you are hesitant to go from standing to sitting, but you do try occasionally and are usually successful. We met with a physical therapist this month, and she said you’re doing well. Just to be sure, she’s coming over to the house tomorrow. I’m hoping she’ll give me some tips to help you stay safe at home. You love being passed from person to person, and you don’t seem to have much stranger anxiety. You do get a little upset if I leave your sight on certain occasions, but you are such a social butterfly that you get over it quickly.

Sleep was a challenge this month. For a while, you would sleep until 4 or 5 a.m., but it was teething pain that woke you up. We could get you back to sleep if we laid you on our chest on the couch. Then your sleep got really out of whack when you got sick :( Hopefully next month will be better. You still take 1 or 2 naps a day for 1-2 ½ hours. Sleeping on your tummy with your butt in the air seems to make you the most comfortable. We put you down on your back, but you almost immediately roll over.

You still talk as often as you can! It’s clear that your first word is coming soon. You can say “mama” and “dada” clearly, but you getting close to other words like “bye”, “no”, “duck”, and “cup”. We can tell you are working hard on new consonant sounds, and you are getting really good at imitating us! You may not say the word correctly, but you can get the correct vowel sound, and number of syllables.

When you play, you play hard. Not only do you crawl everywhere and get into everything, you also really concentrate to figure out new toys. If we give you enough time, you usually make connections when you’re given a new command. You have to observe long enough to understand. You are definitely a big thinker like your dad. You follow simple commands and understand when we are asking you questions. After learning to clap, you stopped waving for a little while. Now you do both again and love showing off your “tricks”. However, you usually don’t do them consistently if we ask you to. You have to want to do your tricks :)

You had your first official fever and ear infection this month. For 3 days, you had a temperature that fluctuated between 98.7 and 102.3 degrees. It made for some long nights and I was very worried about you a few times. Luckily, it was some bug that worked itself out. Unfortunately, you developed a rash and ear infection almost as soon as the fever was gone. Luckily, your doctor is great and got you medicine quickly. After just a few doses, you were back to your happy/active self again! I know you need to build up your immune system, but I felt so helpless. I hope I made you comfortable enough to be a calming comfort to you baby girl.

We celebrated Halloween this month! You dressed up as a Queen Bee and even went to our church’s trunk or treat event! We didn’t get any candy since you can’t have it and I probably shouldn’t have any either ;) We kept it low key, but you seemed to have a good day overall. It’s hard to believe that you only have 1 more major holiday to celebrate as a first. This year has truly flown by.

Jillian, you are our greatest joy. We cannot remember how we lived our lives without you! Even on your sick and fussy days, we would rather spend the day and night cuddling with you than do anything else. We love you so much my dear :)

A few outtakes:

 {Wasn't feeling the picture thing today}

 {Get this off of me mama!}

 {Do. Not. Want.}

 {What are you doing to me woman?!}

 {Teetering between entertained and fussy}

 {Why won't you let me have that toy yet mama?!}

{Finally a sweet smile from my sweetie pie :)}

And comparisons for fun :)

 

 

 

 

Loss

We had a relatively busy day doing various things around the house. With Jillian feeling better, we had to catch up on chores, like laundry, that had to be ignored almost the entire week.

However, we did receive some sad news today. Phil's grandpa, the one that had the risky surgery I spoke about here, had a heart attack in his sleep, and died this morning. He was lucky enough to be home instead of still in the hospital, and we are glad he is no longer in pain. It is still a blow to the family, and we are deeply saddened. The service should be sometime next week in Tulsa.

This is my first loss to go through with Phil on his side of the family. I knew this day would come, but it is still not very easy. I'm doing my best to be there for him how he and his family need me. It is a different dynamic than my family, but I am willing to learn. Thoughts and prayers are always felt and appreciated.

Answers in the Nick of Time

I'm not sure if you remember, but I mentioned wanting to do a "Day in the Life of Jillian" post last week. I started snapping photos of her, but got sidetracked by the time Phil got home. I did get a few cute photos from early in the day though!

{Jillian's morning consists of lots of reading/crawling around, then a nice nap with her tush in the air ;)}

{In the afternoon, she helped me with laundry and putting away our Halloween decorations.}

Then Jillian's fever hit after a busybusybusy weekend. Even in two of these photos, you can tell Jillian isn't feeling well :(

{From left to right, then down: Sunday morning and looking so big! / Too busy to sit still for mama / Chewing on the headband while mama and daddy watch election results / Fever's gone, but still feeling not quite ourself (though looking cute with our huge hair bow!)}

As I said yesterday, Jillian's fever went away early Wednesday, but she acted lethargic and not herself. She barely spoke which is very much out of character for her. Then Thursday, this mysterious rash popped up. It didn't seem to bother her any more than anything else because she was just flat out uncomfortable. The nurse I spoke with on the phone yesterday told me to keep an eye on it and call if it got worse, she got another temperature, or if something changed. Jillian spent most of the day refusing liquids and sleeping on me off and on.

{The awful rash} 

{Cuddling with mama for comfort}

Jillian did sleep well overnight, but that rash is still there. Phil called the doctor's office and it seemed to be really busy. In fact, Phil was getting the impression that the nurse was encouraging us to just wait it out. After being sick for nearly a week, and the fact that Jillian seemed so miserable, I pushed Phil to go ahead and make the appointment. {I have a feeling he would have made one anyways just for peace of mind for the weekend.}

We got to see Jillian's doctor this morning and finally found out what's been ailing our poor baby girl. Turns out the rash is just a viral rash that can come up after an illness. It isn't harmful, not contagious, and will go away on it's own. However, due to whatever she was fighting off before, Jillian does have an ear infection in her right ear. Her very first ear infection in fact. This explains why she's been acting so differently. Also, because it's her bad ear, she could still hear us with her left/good ear and had no issues. She also never pulled on it or cried more when we laid her down. Maybe it has something to do with the nerves in her bad ear not being as sensitive as her left. We were given an antibiotic prescription and told to call if she's not better in 72 hours.

I picked up her medicine and had a big "uh oh!" moment. I was trying to measure it out, but couldn't quite see where the medicine was in the syringe. I tried emptying it and filling it so many times, the syringe broke into two pieces! After trying to fish it out with tweezers and {clean} hair clips, it's just going to have to stay there :-/

{This is my life y'all. I can't make this stuff up!}

Since giving her the medicine, she is already crawling around like normal, has eaten about 6 oz of baby food, and is a bit more talkative than she has been since her fever.

{Precious girl on the mend}

I'm so glad we didn't let the nurse talk us out of going to the doctor. Just another reason why you should listen to your motherly instinct and be your child's advocate!! More than anything, I'm just so glad to know Jillian will be ok with this medicine, and doesn't have measles/chickenpox/anything really awful. {Google is not your friend when your child is sick!}

Happy Friday y'all and stay healthy!!

Let Me Be Brief

Even without a fever, Jillian started getting this weird rash. She is also still not acting like herself and sleeps most of the day in my arms. We're taking her to the doctor tomorrow for a same day appointment. Hopefully Dr. V can give us some reassurance before the weekend. Plus, this mama can't stand another week of this. I'm about to go insane with worry and exhaustion :(

I'll update again tomorrow once we know what's happening with our precious girl.

First Real Illness

Jillian is on the other side of whatever bug has been plaguing her. I was hoping to update yesterday, but it was one of worst days for her :(

We had a long rehearsal Saturday, then another long afternoon on Sunday to prepare for a music festival we were a part of. {It involved volunteers from several Lutheran churches in the area.} By doing this, Jillian was in a nursery setting at a completely different place than she is used to most of the weekend. She seemed ok and we were even told to bring her back to visit because they loved her. {No surprise there ;)} Well, by the time the concert/service was over, we got home and she was conked out. We moved her to her crib and let her rest. As soon as she woke up, I was ready to have our weekly Skype date with my folks. Jillian woke up around 7:45 or so and was crying pretty intensely. I picked her up and assumed she was hungry. I put her in the high chair and Phil put some Cheerios on her tray. She picked up one and started to chew. However, as soon as she started to swallow it, she began crying hysterically. I just knew something was up. For someone who loves Cheerios, this was not her normal behavior. I picked her up and immediately felt her poor little body was burning hot. We took her temperature and it was 101.0. She ate a little formula, but was more content sleeping in my arms with a pacifier. I was able to Skype with my folks once she calmed down, but it wasn't the same having her smiley face on the screen with me. She slept pretty good Sunday night. She woke up around 5 a.m. and Phil was able to get her to sleep on his chest on the couch for another 2 hours of so.

Monday, I spent most of the day holding her. She would wake up almost instantly if I put her in a chair, her crib, or anywhere else. She ate a good amount of formula and drank a little water. Her fever was around 100.4 most of the day. There were moments where Jillian would be cooler to the touch and she would play with her toys. I thought this was a good sign and was pretty hopeful. I had to go grocery shopping once Phil was home so he could stay with her. When I got home, he told me he had fed her a few ounces of her solid food and she ate it ok. Around 8 p.m., she woke up super uncomfortable again. I got her into a warm bath, but she just cried through it. She even peed all over her changing table when I tried to get pjs on her. She nearly refused the bottle we offered, but fell asleep in my arms fairly quickly.  Phil was able to get her in her crib before we headed to bed ourselves. She woke up around 2 something and Phil went to check on her. After about 30 minutes or so of Jillian just crying hysterically, I went to see if I could help. Apparently she threw up all over and was just really hot. We took her temperature and it was 102.3. I offered to charge her into new pjs while Phil cleaned himself off from the throw up incident. She kept trying to swallow more throw up so she wouldn't. There was a lot of mucus so she most just kept gagging and choking. Then she started to shiver and I got scared. I was nearly in tears when I begged Phil to call the on-call nurse at Jillian's pediatrician's office. She was just in so much pain that it was really upsetting me. According to the nurse, we were doing all we could. She said no more solid foods, and to stop formula too if she throws up again. {Luckily she did not.} The nurse did mention that a stomach bug was going around and that they were getting lots of similar calls. For the rest of the night Jillian would sleep for about an hour or so. When she'd wake up, she would be so hot that we would unwrap her to cool her down.

Tuesday morning, I left early to vote. Phil said she did pretty well while I was gone, but that she didn't want anything to do with her bottle. Most of the day, we just snuggled. Her temperature was never out of control, and she drank a lot of water! I was so thankful she was staying hydrated. Then last night, she slept from about 10:30 to 5. Phil got her to sleep a little longer on the couch with him. Her temperature was under 100, so I took her to my bible study at church. I knew she'd be the only child there so I thought this would be a good time to see how she did. I was told she napped for 30 minutes and was a bit cranky like I warned. However, she was playing a little bit when I came to get her. We got home and she slept for a bit. I even just finished up my own nap. Hopefully she'll wake up soon and I can try giving her another bottle. She's not really interested in formula right now, so I have a sippy cup of water as a back up. Despite being so sleepy, she seems to be on the mend.

I will say this was hard for me. I can usually get to a place where I tell myself it'll be ok. However, there were a few times I just got so scared for Jillian, so sad about her pain, and even so tired that I was an emotional wreck. This was Jillian's first real sickness. She's had a few colds before, but nothing this bad. I'm glad it's almost behind us and hopefully I'll be more prepared for next time.

Fever

I started to write a post this evening about the music festival Phil and I participated in. However, Jillian took a late nap and woke up with her first official fever :( She seems to be doing better now, but it may be a long night for us.

I'll update more tomorrow with some good news {hopefully}.

Fab Friday

Today I am linking up with the fabulous Laura for Fab Friday!

- I am totally on the ball for Jillian's birthday and Christmas gifts! I have at least 80% ordered online and I even received a few of the items the other day. Hurray for fast shipping!

- Even though we didn't do much for it, I feel like I had a really good Halloween. I didn't completely stuff my face with candy, got some great pictures of my Queen Bee, and cuddled with my favorite person during a scary movie, (that didn't keep me up all night).

- An old youth director of mine has moved back to the OKC area after living in Kansas for a few years. I'm excited to finally meet his daughter and catch up!

- Jillian's birthday party is in full swing! I ordered invitations early this morning, and I've priced out the supplies. I can't wait to share!

- Last, but not least, I'm so glad it's Friday! This week has been a little harder returning to normal. I'm on day 2 of trying to pack away Halloween decorations. Having Phil home tomorrow to help with a teething and very active baby is going to be SO helpful!

What is fabulous in your life? Link up!