Olive is 3

Wow, how time flies....

Olive turned 3 a couple of weeks ago. I'm still in disbelief that my little bitty baby could already be three years old but I'll say, so far so good. We had a family brunch on her actual birthday, which was a lot of fun. Then this past weekend, we did a party with a bunch of her little friends from school. What an amazing group of 3 year olds!! We also had a couple of other friends join us and it was great. I couldn't have asked for anything better!

Today I took Olive to the pediatrician for her three year checkup. Did I mention that I LOVE my new ped?? She is great. She too is a mother, which means so much to me. She is very caring but also very matter-of-fact. She gives it to me straight, tells me what I need to hear and how to do it without being condescending or judgmental about the way I do things. Sometimes I know what I need to do (a little extra "tough love") but she tells me WHY I should do it and how important it is. For me, it is validation for being what sometimes feels like a "mean mommy". So after seeing her today, I must say I feel really empowered. In control. Ready to tackle the next toddler tantrum. (well, ok, I am not exactly looking forward to the last one but I know it will happen sooner or later...)

So we started right away...I limited Olive's milk intake to 2 cups today and gave her unlimited water. I fed her dinner with no extra options and she could eat what she wanted and when dinner was over, I put the food away. I put her to bed a little earlier. I fed her a full-sized vitamin. Tomorrow we will tackle our 1-2 hour nap/quiet time (she's been "resting" in her room for about 20-30 minutes, if I'm lucky). The list continues...

I think I even feel empowered enough to take her advice on Baby Bit too and move her upstairs tonight to her own room. Maybe. But she did sleep all night last night (9-6:45) in the Pack n Play in our room, all nice and swaddled. But tonight she fell asleep early so I will have to wake her to feed her again...maybe I will wait until another night... maybe tomorrow.... this is becoming a stream of conciousness...I should probably go to bed myself. Night night!!!

Change is Hard

We've had a lot of change this summer. A LOT.

It's been mostly good stuff with some that's not so good. But it's been hard on all of us. We are finally settling in a little to our new house and new routine, including school and ballet for Olive. We're getting by but there have been a lot of tears (from all of us) of sadness, anger, frustration, and overall exhaustion. I'm finally starting to feel like a little bit of progress is being made and my head is clearing just a little. I can breathe again, if only for now.

So as I always promise, I'll try to be better about blogging. I have lots of great recommendations for children's books that we've discovered (my mom is a big fan of taking Olive to the library).

Now...I'm off to make princess lollipops for Olive's 3rd birthday (which was actually last weekend but her party with her little friends is on Sunday). Until later...

Update

Wow, it's been quite awhile since I've blogged...I promise to get back to it again soon...

Life's been a little hectic, to say the least.

Our newest addition, aka "Baby Bit" arrived on July 2nd. A beautiful, healthy little girl that we just adore. We've been having a blast with her and Olive is absolutely infatuated.

We moved to Florida. Yikes. Yes, we moved 750 miles away with a 3 week old baby. We're crazy. We're currently bunking with family until we can move into our new house next month.

We're buying a house. That, in itself, is a nightmare endeavor but add it to the other things and well, you get the idea...

Hope to be back blogging away soon.... today we re-established some sense of "normalcy" for us - we went to the pool with some friends. Wonderful and fun and now we're all tuckered out and girls are sleeping. Aahhh... guess I'd better go get working on some more stuff for the move.

Later gators!

Back to Blogging

I've been missing from the online world a bit lately but it's time to get back. Just an update on some things that have happened in recent days and weeks...

Last week we said goodbye to my dear mother-in-law who ended her long battle with cancer. Although we knew it was coming, it didn't make it a whole lot easier when it actually happened. We spent the better part of the week in New York (where she lived) and had a beautiful memorial service for her. She lived far away from us in distance but not in spirit - both Dennis and I talked to her on the phone several times each day and this void is very apparent now that we're starting to resume our daily lives. Over the past month or so, Dennis has been gone most weekends and several weekdays to tend to her while she was sick. It's been a rough few months for us and will probably continue to be for awhile. At least now she is at peace though and not in pain - there's nothing worse than seeing someone you love so much be hurting and you can't do anything about it.

On to happier news now...
We had our ultrasound of baby #2 and all looks well. She (that's right, we're going to have 2 beautiful little girls!!!) appears to be healthy and happy and is certainly proving to be as active in utero as her big sister Olive. I am deducing that this means she will be as active as Olive in person too, which both scares and delights me. I can't possibly imagine chasing TWO kids like this but at the same time, maybe there will be SOMEONE who can keep up with Olive (because Dennis and I sure can't!) We are very excited about the impending arrival of this one, due sometime around July 1st.

Business is booming. I'm staying really busy with that, along with trying to convert my office into a bedroom (I haven't gotten too far...) and trying to wrap up paperwork and outstanding things from my mother-in-law's accounts. I'm busy but I'm here and hanging in. I am going to try to get back to regular blogging and will hopefully have some giveaways coming up soon so stay tuned...

Chugging along...

It's been so long since I wrote on my blog that I don't even know where to start! The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. To get you up to speed, here's what has happened:

1. Visit from our friends from NY with their son (our beautiful godson)

2. Visit from Dennis' brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law and their super fun little dog

3. A Little Pink Pansy show that lasted two days

4. Discovery of a peanut allergy in little Olive (who we've also now affectionately been calling "Peanut")

5. Dennis ran the Marine Corps Marathon

6. Neighborhood Halloween Parade

And an assortment of other activities and events, each more exciting and fun than the next and all have kept us busy and exhausted. So here are a few pictures to keep you up to speed. I'll try to be better about posting!

Update

An update on things here...

Last night Olive's temp went back up to 102. Then, while I was at back to school night at her school, she threw up. Ugh... I took her to the doc this morning and they said what they usually do - it's just a bug. But she has taken a great nap this afternoon (and I even did too - I feel SO much better) so hopefully that will help.

Thanks for the well wishes! This much needed sleep that I got has drastically improved my mood and outlook. It's amazing how sleep can make such a big difference.

'til tomorrow....