The love of family...

While I have been one of the worst bloggers... I have also been stressing over far too many things, so sorry for the lack of all things happy and sunny!

As to not have to go into all of the stupid stressful drama that is life, I will just do a recap of the highlights from the last two months or so.

OMG... MY SUNSHINE IS A YEAR OLD!!!!!!!!!! Her birthday party was a hit! I was actually glad when it was over, nothing else to plan or organize... just day to day stuff... back to normal life. Not even a week after her birthday, my sweet girl officially gave up crawling!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. We spent it at my Aunt's house and spent the rest of the time hanging out at home... and I was spoiled with lots of one on one time with Audrey... it was the best!

About two weeks after Thanksgiving, Audrey decided that she was done with walking and wanted to run... evidently her little legs were not ready and she fell in just the right way that as she tried to catch her fall, she fractured her right arm just below her shoulder, and busted her lip a bit. Poor baby! She is so good and so happy that I didn't know that anything was truly wrong until the next day when she was not using her right arm and would cry if she was sitting or laying down because she wasn't able to push herself to a standing position. We took her to the ER and they put a splint on her arm. At first she was so smiley and laid back that I think the nurses and doctor thought I was full of it and being an overly obsessive mommy, cause boy did their demeanor change after her xrays! The following Monday we followed up an Orthopedic (who I hated, but I won't even get into that). They took off the splint the ER had put on, and then wrapped her arm to her body saying that it would heal just fine. OY! She has a check up on Monday and at this point is all healed up. Though, every time she walks too fast and/or slips and falls, our hearts stop for a second and we hold our breathe... so far so good for now...


CHRISTMAS WAS WONDERFUL SPENT IN TOLEDO, OHIO!!! I LOVE my grandparents more than I can even put into words. They are two of the absolute most important people in my life. We took Audrey out there for her second Christmas... (the first Christmas that she was actually aware of everything going on) and I'm so happy we did. My Meme and Grandpa both has smiles on their faces every time they watched my sweet sunshine... and she did the same. She did so many things while we were there that I use to do at her age in that very same house, and I felt like my heart could just explode at any moment. It wasn't even Christmas that made Christmas so wonderful, it was being surrounded by what I grew up knowing to be the safest four walls in the world! And held within those walls were most of my best memories from my childhood... and to see Audrey running around, stealing magnets off the fridge, laughing, playing with the tupperware on the floor of the kitchen, and being mesmerized by the suncatchers on the windows... it was all just too much, I didn't want to leave! I'm sad that I can't just jump in my car at any moment and see my grandparents. Maybe it's actually better this way because I would never be at my own house... I would basically only need a small one room apartment to sleep and shower in... but Toledo is not a place that I want Audrey growing up within... I wish that I could just drag my grandparents home with me instead... along with their whole condo! One of my other favorite things is how they treat my husband and how he treats them, it's like he's been part of our family all along.


My mom came home with us, planning to stay about a week and that's going well so far. I love that she has more of an opportunity to bond with her little "Angel Face" as she calls Audrey. There are no real plans for New Years and I think I like it that way. I will say that I wish I was at home right now instead of having to work this week. Joe is off work this week, Mom is in town, and Audrey is at home with them both... seems a bit unfair since I am more addicted to my sunshine than either one of them... oh and it would be nice to spend time with them too, ha ha!


Well, until I get kicked in the butt to blog again... HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Where to begin?

Well, I must admit that I've been a bad blogger the last month... such a slacker! Audrey had a great time at the zoo... and her photos came back better than I imagined. I also discovered about a week later that she had an ear infection. I'm glad that I decided to go with my gut feeling and take her to the doctor even though most everyone was saying that she was just bothered by teething effects. Well... that just wasn't so. Within two days of finishing her antibiotics and finally looking like herself again, she got a cold... another week of a congested runny little nose... and she is finally looking happy and healthy again! And only three weeks until her first birthday!

I have to admit, while I am beyond excited for her first birthday party, and my sweet girl growing up and doing more and more amazing things ever day and becoming more of a tiny person that's full of personality... I'm a little sad to see the end of her infant days.

After having a miscarriage a little over two years ago, I can hardly believe that my sunshine is really here and mine some days. Time is going by so fast, my pregnancy now seems like more of a blur of time... and giving birth was only last week... how is my sweet tiny girl already on the verge of taking her first steps??? I do my best to soak up every single moment I have with her and never take anything for granted... I just can't believe that time is going by so fast!

Her party is going to be crazy. I've never invited so many people over for anything before, I think my limit was about 10 or 12 people for drinking parties on Halloween or New Years and not everyone ever came. For my sunshine's first birthday, I have invited about 45 people over! Thankfully we are having it in our neighborhood clubhouse which can hold about 75. I'm kind of stressing over it a little actually... I've never thrown this kind of party before, for this many people... boy am I nervous. I doesn't help that I'm a complete OCD control freak when it comes to this stuff... so I'm obsessing a little more over everything than any other "normal" person would. First task... get everything needed for the party... lets see how that goes first...
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who... what... huh? Is it Friday yet?

I have been so tired lately. Today has been kind of slow at work and with only 30 minutes to go before I leap from my chair and run for the elevators... I'm falling asleep at my desk. My sweet sunshine has been having a pretty hard time with her third tooth breaking through. It's one of her top ones and it's causing her nose to run like crazy. She even had her first official fever on Sunday which made her more clingy, which I like to just call "needing extra cuddles". Two nights in a row she woke up screaming... and refused to lay back down for about two hours. She just couldn't breath through her nose from all the yuckyness and I couldn't get it all out either. Fortunately for the both of us, she was able to sleep through the night last night after I put a humidifier in her room with some vapor liquid to help with her breathing.

I hate seeing her not feeling well. Even with the pain from teething, and a major runny nose, she still seemed to be in great spirits during the day, though I could see it in her face. She just looked "off" and her eyes weren't big and bright like they normally are, they were a little more puffy and pink. I will be so happy to see her healthy and back to her normal sunshiney self soon.

This Friday, two of my closest friends and I are planning to take Audrey to the Zoo for the very first time and we are all very excited, me most of all. She loves our cat and dog so much that she smiles more for them than she does for my husband and I combined! In fact, she loves our poor cat so much she runs from Audrey now when she sees her coming! haha! I hope that she will be all better and ready for fun when Friday finally comes!

FOTO FUN FRIDAY!

She wore the above outfit for her photo shoot at Walmart last weekend... so cute!

Looking like Pebbles, and then I took the pony tail holder out and couldn't tame her hair! I had to wet it down to make it normal again, but this was just too cute/funny!

My Sunshine is in a contest!

So once again my sweet Audrey is in a contest, this time only against a handful of other gorgeous kids, all showing off lovely hair pieces by Baby K Designs (found in my likes section to the right). She is tied in second place so far, and I'm a little bummed since I can only harass people so much, haha! Voting is going to be open until Wednesday the 8th, and then the winner gets a $50 shopping spree at Baby K's etsy page. SO EXCITING!!!!! I pretty much have what I want for my sunshine all picked out :p

For anyone that is on Facebok, please go to "Baby K Designs" and "Like" the page, at the top... and then check out my SUNSHINE'S PHOTO and "like" if you think her's is the best... although you can vote for others as well as for mine. The last contest she was in she was up against hundreds and ended up in 31st place, which is exciting, but I hate that it was such a popularity contest of who had the most computers and access and so on... "A specific computer/ip address could vote once everyday... and there was a photo on there that got second place that was taken with someone's phone, horrible lighting, and not that cute. Now, I have to admit, yes I'm biased, but I'm also telling the truth since I was hoping for three other photos to get 1st if Audrey didn't because the children were so stinkin adorable. Sometimes I kick myself for entering contests because all my friends get so excited and vote for her and ask me how she's doing in the ranking and are disapointed when she doesn't win... and then I get roped into all of that as well when I'm trying to keep my thoughts at "I know she's the cutest, she doesn't have to win, it's just fun to let her be noticed." Oh goodness, the things that parenting does to us!

I'm smiling because...

Those little things that make me smile today:
(sunshine overload of smile reasons...)

• sunshine sitting in her carseat, making herself laugh while playing with her paci clip, while I observe quietly through the lovely kid mirror...
• sunshine reacting to Mommy silliness (she was yanking my hair this morning and I made a growl/snarl noise and got her fingers with my lips, she quickly pulled her arm back and held it with her other arm while shrieking and giggling)
• Awesome photo book delivered on what was a "blah" morning up to that point...

• A three day weekend approaching quickly and knowing I get to leave work 2 1/2 hours early on Friday as well!
  
• Sunshine going back to her old home daycare next week to spend the day with her bff four days per week!!!
  

• Taking sunshine for a free photo sitting at Walmart the day after she becomes 10 months old!

(the above with jeans)

• Going over the many choices of outfits to put sunshine in for said photos. Must pick one.
  
• Going to the store to pick up something I need, and finding that it's on sale!
• Comments from new (or old) followers saying they love reading my blog... and to me I'm only gushing about my sunshine on a blog because I can tell my co-workers are "over it" :p
• Anxiously awaiting the purchase of a rug I've been eyeing for our "it's just missing something" living room to make it feel more homey.
  
• Blogging about everything that makes me smile, and my sunshine taking up almost all of them!

Wordless Wednesday