Oh, November

Oy vey....

November has been a forever long month packed FULL of lifetime changes.  So much has happened this month I hardly know where to begin.

For starters (naturally)....our little peanut pumpkin turned one.  *tear*

Have some, Daddy!

Hahaa...I love this picture.  Girl loves her cake, just like her mama!

Her birthday was so special!  I spent much of the days leading up to her birthday reminiscing about those final days before she arrived and how anxious and scared and excited we were! Thinking about how I felt the day my water broke and recalling her labor!   Remembering how it felt to be pregnant, which....by the way...I truly miss!  Everything about this past year has been incredible!  Her daddy and I say on a daily basis how lucky we are to be her parents.  She is such a good little girl with a great disposition!  We are, without a doubt, blessed!

During the month of November our little one has perfected the art of walking.  She still has her wobbly moments and relies heavily on crawling, but she is capable of walking (not that neither her Nannie or Nana ever allow her tiny feet to touch the ground).  Our little lady also said a very final and happy (for Mommy and Daddy's wallet) good-bye to formula!  We are strictly whole milk!  Now...if we could just get her used to drinking her milk out of a sippy cup! 

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Brandon's folks up near Chicago.  We had a wonderful trip and tried to soak in as much Nannie and Papi time as possible.  Wednesday through Saturday morning Josie had her Nannie and Papi all to her self....and it was fantastic (although we missed the rest of the family)!  On Thanksgiving, Nannie made a delicious meal that we ALL enjoyed, even Jo.

Nannie gave her a little plate, piled high with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy, turkey, green beans and sweet potatoes.  Josie used her spoon and fed herself, then moved onto the more age appropriate- shoving handfuls of food in her mouth.  She loved it.  I swear every time I turned around last week she was eating.  I guarantee she gained a pound in the 4 days we were in IL.  For a little girl who barely broke 19 pounds by her first birthday....that's a lot of weight in only a few days! 

And finally (I won't touch on this long) earlier this month we had to say good-bye to our sweet dog, Noah.  He was the most amazing dog.  Loyal, gentle, smart (sooo smart), sweet and funny.  If any dog EVER had personality, it was Noah.  It was tough to say good-bye and let go, but it was the very best thing for him.  He will be missed (and is missed daily).  Until I see him again.....No dog could ever compare...and I am glad!  We love you, Noah. 

I am currently working on getting our house ready for Christmas.  We will be doing lots of decorating this year.  I am looking forward to taking Josie to see Santa (which I am certain will end in tears).  We are so excited for the holidays!  So much to do!  Brandon's family will be in town for Christmas!  We will all be together and although I know it will be CRAZY CHAOTIC, it will also be so much fun. 

Parental learning curve....

I hate to say it, but up until this point Brandon and I have really prided ourselves in not being overly paranoid parents.  We don't jump up and make doctor appointments every time our peanut sneezes.  Even on the two occasions she has ended up with the stomach virus, we both recognized there was nothing the doctor could do for her, we had to wait it out, and making an appointment was just a huge waste of time.  It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine to see or hear parents who take their kids to the doctor over the silliest and simplest of things.  But, whose to say what is "silly" or "simple".  I thought I knew.....until this week.

This past weekend Josie started running a low grade fever.  She was a little whiny, but no major symptoms, other than the cold she's been living with for the past few months (daycare babies and winter don't mix well).  We knew a stomach bug was going around her school, so we just assumed she was fighting something off.  Monday morning we dropped her at school and by 10am I received a phone call from her teacher. She was pretty sure Jo had the stomach funk.  And sure enough, by lunch time I had to go pick her up.  No big deal right....it's the stomach funk and there isn't much we can do about it other than wait for it to pass through her body.  In my mind, that explained the low grade fever. 

By Tuesday morning Jo's cold turned into a pretty rough cough.  By Tuesday afternoon I was a little concerned about the cough and decided to make an appointment. Not 30 minutes after making her appointment the school called a said a kid in her class had RSV. 

So, there we were, Tuesday afternoon in the doctor's office.  Not for the stomach bug that was running my kid ragged, but for a cough.  It should be noted that I didn't think I would ever be that parent.  Taking her kid to the doc for a cough.  It's a cough.  Man am I glad we took her in.  Our little peanut was pretty sick. I know, because that was what the doctor kept saying..."She's pretty sick".  Positive for RSV, stomach bug, double ear infections, oh...and a small touch of viral pneumonia. 

I guess the point of my blog is.....
There must be a HUGE learning curve on children's illnesses for first time parents.  I pray that is the case and we aren't just total dummies.  Maybe there is a "Parenting for Dummies" book we can buy?  Oh great....apparently there is. 

Who am I kidding? I won't read that book.

Being proud of ourselves for not running to the doctor with each sneeze was working out great, until our kid ended up with a laundry list of illnesses and us with nothing more than our stupid pride.  I am not saying we will call the doctor at the first sign of snot from this point forward, and we certainly will NOT be investing in industrial rolls of bubble wrap, but we will try to be more aware of how her "not feeling well" might be more than a simple cold. 

Needless to say, our sick peanut did not get to do the door-to-door Trick-or-Treating we had planned.  Instead we took her out, to one house, then had her back in her pj's in the warm house.  Below is one of only a few pictures of her in her lamb costume!  She's pretty cute, even when she's sick!