Almost a year!

Wow, it has almost been a year since I last posted! Since then we have bought a home and added a beautiful little boy to the mix!
So far this year everything was going great, looking like we were finally going to get the house up to date and start doing renovations then... Last Tuesday my Husband decided to take the day off of work and join a few friends for some Bouldering, which being the totally cool wife that I am, was totally fine with! I had had some worries about the new sport he had taken up, but my hubby is the kind of guy who likes to push himself to the limit when it comes to sports, so I got over my fears and told him to go.
He left a little after 7 in the morning and just before 4 o'clock that afternoon, I got the dreaded phone call. He broke his ankle! So, I quickly got babysitters for the kids and made the hour long trek to the hospital he was taken to (during traffic hour), and when I finally made it to his bedside, they took him to have a CT. 20 minutes later the DR. came in and told us that both ankles were broken and his right foot had at least 20 broken bones!! UNBELIEVABLE!
How could this have happened? What were we going to do? We have a 9 week old and a 2.5 year old! He was going to be admitted into the hospital until they could perform the 2 surgeries it would take to repair my broken man.
I couldn't even stay with him because I had an infant to breastfeed. I had intended to go there and gather up my wounded Husband but, instead I made the sad drive back home to Fallbrook, in a daze as I kept going over what the Doctors had just told us. I got home, relieved my Mom from her babysitting duties, and realized I was alone...
The next day was one of the hardest I have had in such a long time. When I looked at the clock and saw it was 6:30pm, all I could think about was how Ben should be geting home anytime now, I should be getting dinner ready while Ben strapped Jackson onto his chest and danced around the room woth Olivia to their favorite record, yes an actual vinyl album, 'Dance Craze' (an awesome compilation of ska bands from the 70's and early 80's). We would eat dinner, have a beer then get the kids to sleep and snuggle while we caught up on our shows. That wasn't going to happen tonight. He was 40 miles away in a hospital bed.. so far away.
That night seems so far away from tonight. Ben is still in the hospital. He was supposed to come home tomorrow morning but, now they say Saturday. I just want him home. Now.
The Doctor says it could take nine months to a year for him to recover from these injuries! I can't wait to have my Husband back, we miss him so much. I haven't been away from him for more than 5 days since we met, almost 6 years ago! Tonight makes 10...

Our year, so far...

This year seems to be flying by! Olivia is running and climbing on everything.. Just last week I left the room for a few minutes and when I came back, she was sitting on top of the dining room table unrolling the paper towels!!
She has gotten into some, shall I say, messy situations too... Olivia loves her markers! She keeps using the Crayola Markers like makeup!! I'm talking red lips, cheeks and finger nails as well!! That is all in the past week :)
She is also talking up a storm lately! She has no problems mimicking any, I mean ANY words we say... for instance, her new favorite word while we change her diaper is 'gi-na'... meaning Vagina :) As long as she doesn't say it in public, i'm fine with it! It's the way she says it that is so funny... it's so innocent and almost like she is asking if she is getting it right!!
She is growing up so fast, I can hardly keep up with all that she does from day to day. I started this blog to record all of her first's, but I am doing a lousy job at it.. I am just too tired after getting her to bed to get on here and try to remember the past day or days, in this case months I have missed by not getting on here. From here on, I will try harder to get it down before I forget! If I don't get on I will keep a handwritten account of it then transfer it over... I don't want to forget this stuff, even the not so fun parts... it all counts!!
Until next time :)

multi-tasking..

Well for the second time in a month, Ben is in Barstow for work :(
It's only for a few nights but I definitely a little overwhelmed!! Olivia has been having some really bad teething pains lately and some growing pains too!! I think we are all feeling the growing pains :)
She asks for Daddy about a hundred times a day. I don't know if she understands what I mean when I tell her that he will be home in a few days, but she seems to accept the answer I give her! Since turning 1 she has started to do so many things that we couldn't wait for.. one being walking!! She walks so good now (all we need is one of those leash things) :)
She also tries to copy our mannerisms, words we say to her like: bath, dirty, night night, banana (sounds more like 'nanana')!! Along with the usuals: Mama, Dada, hello, wa wa... these are all I can think if at the moment.

Olivia also has a few new teeth!! She now has 3 front bottom, 4 front top and 1 pesky molar on it's way down.. this one just started coming through the gums the other day.. pain pain go away!!
She is learning how to use crayons and pens!! That has been loads of fun :)
Her bedtime has even changed to 7:30pm instead of 8:30 like it was before the time change!!!

We are looking forward to Christmas with our families!! Everyone will be here this year, even Olivia's little cousin Cassidy!!! It's gonna be so awesome watching the two of them opening gifts together on X-Mas!!!

I can't believe little girl let me write for this ling already, better go check on her!

My baby's 1!!!

Today was Olivia's 1st Birthday! The past year has gone by so fast, it really didn't even feel like a year at all.. ok, maybe sometimes it felt like the day was never going to end, or 3 days melded together to feel like one really loooong day! But, we got through it. We survived!
We started off the celebration with a party at our house on Sunday (the night before) and will continue our week-long Birthday week tomorrow by going to Olivia's one year doctors appointment and then, if she is feeling up to it we will go out for Sushi with Ben's Mom! Then, on Thursday for my and Ben's Birthday we are taking the little girl to Disneyland!!! We got lucky this year with all 3 of us getting in for free!!
The party went great! Olivia had a blast! She learned how to open presents and that she doesn't really have a taste for cake yet, though she did LOVE the Pumpkin Pie we gave her after she rejected the cake! There were no meltdowns or tantrums :) The thought didn't even cross my mind that it could be a possible scenario for a meltdown until after the party when she had the BIGGEST one she's ever had! She was still in bed for the night by nine-thirty, not too bad!
Here are some photos!

Olivia

It's been way too long since my last post. So much has been going on these last few weeks.. We have been out looking at houses up here in North County, very exciting!! In the baby department, Olivia has started letting go of the furniture and getting ready to start walking soon :) It's a little scary but, I guess it's necessary ;)
She has also been very vocal, she will try to say words like Bella, Kitty, Tigger, Mama, Daddy!! So very cool. Her hair is getting longer, it comes past her ears already. One side has a curl and the other is straight, just like Mommy's :)
We are also starting to scout locations for the big 1st Birthday party coming up in October!! Can't believe it is only 7 weeks away!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are taking ourselves to Disneyland on Ben and my Birthday. The two of us will get in for free (through the B-Day club thing) and Olivia will get in free for being under 3!! Now we can buy her some little stuffed animals or dress-up stuff!! I am so excited, Disneyland is my favorite place :P

Well, until next time..

My Big Girl

Dear Olivia~

You were such a big girl today.
I can't believe you are 9 months old, already...
I was so proud of you
for not crying for your shot today.
I remember the first one,
when you cried for an hour after.

I remember the day you were born,
you weighed 8 pounds and a few ounces.


You were perfect.

Now at nine months old,
your weight,
almost twenty pounds...

You are very long.
You have grown ten inches!
I love when you kick those long legs!

Your little patch of hair
has grown out to be so long!
You have two teeth,
and more on the way!

The silly little voice you started using yesterday,
it's sounds so funny,
like a little 'valley girl'!

I Love

The way you try so hard to stand up,
even when you are already so tired.

How you get so excited
when you see your Daddy.

The way you chase after the kitties,
and scream at them to let you touch them!

I love how big you are getting...
everyday.

Happy 9 Month Birthday

Love~
Mommy

Poo Poo In The Potty!

So over the last few months, since starting solids, Olivia has been having bouts of constipation :(
She will go a few weeks passing poop just fine, then she will have one really bad one. We tried 'helping' the poo out by bringing her knees to her belly while she pushes, but it takes almost 10-15 minutes for it to come out that way + so many tears :(
It's the worst thing to see your baby cry like that.. Recently Ben was at the store and decided to take a chance and purchase a training potty for her! I thought this was funny, because there is no way for her to let us know when she has to go? Then, today I noticed that while playing she got really quiet, I looked over at her and she had this look on her face, i've seen that look before.. she was trying to pass a hard poo :(
Just to see how she would react, I first checked her diaper to make sure there was still time, then I sat her on the potty. In 2 minutes, it was over!! I looked in and sure enough SHE WENT!
No tears this time :)
She was so happy when it was all over! It is so relieving to know that I can stick her on there and try to get her to get use to it (I totally thought she would try to get off the pot and go all over the floor!!) I think it will work especially well for those times when she gets a little backed up :)
Yay!! Well, that's my rant for this week!!