I haven't ever done a holiday or end of the year letter but I thought this might be a good tradition to start on New Year's Eve (you can tell what kind of fun we are having here, huh? At least it's better than last year when Miss A was sick!).
So, the good:
2013 brought A crawling and walking.
We celebrated her very first birthday.
Chad and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary (no matter that it was with frozen pizza in the basement of North Murray Hall while waiting out a tornado warning...).
We welcomed my sister and her wonderful family to Oklahoma.
Work is picking back up for me. I wrote 3 (and a half...) grants, submitted a number of papers (and had some accepted), took a position as Associate Director of Clinical Training, taught my first online course, and submitted my tenure packet (I haven't said anything about that on the blog or on Facebook and I'm not sure why. Superstitious, I guess?).
The not as good:
A had tubes put in her ears.
We had more viral illnesses than you could shake a stick at.
This is us. Happy. Counting our blessings and thankful for such wonderful years where the good always outweighs the bad. And hoping that 2014 is even better for us all. Happy New Year to all our friends and family. Maybe this year we will get to come home for a visit!
In case I don't mention it enough, we live in tornado alley. Our biggest Christmas gift this year was installing a storm shelter.
Back in 2011, we found out that the city of Stillwater was applying for a FEMA grant to help homeowners purchase storm shelters. We immediately signed up but then didn't hear anything about it until recently. The grant covers 75% (up to $2,000) of a professionally installed shelter. Ours was completed today and I couldn't be happier. It still ended up costing $800 but we consider this a wise investment and know that we will sleep more soundly at night.
As you can see, the shelter was installed in our garage. The process lasted approximately 3 hours and was relatively painless on our part.
I plan to put a couple of waterproof boxes in there with our tornado preparations (with some additional items like glow sticks, flashlights, batteries, towels, and a weather radio). Each spring, we will inventory what needs to be discarded and replaced. We thought our friends and family outside the state might be interested in the whole process so Chad took a few photos and videos. We have to wait 7 days for everything to dry/set, otherwise we would take pictures inside for you to see. The shelter we got "seats 7" though really I can't imagine hunkering down there with that many people. I think it will feel tight with me, Chad, A, and the puppies. And that's okay. Our hope is that we never really need to test it out. It'd still be the best $800 we ever spent. :)
The Wondertorium has easily become our favorite place in Stillwater.
A was also quite pleased just to make it out of the house since she's been trapped inside since last Friday.
The first time we visited, she was a little uncertain about the whole place. But today she walked in like she knew exactly where she was.
Yes, her shirt says "Chance of Sprinkles." Too cute.
Taking a tumble with the alligator pull toy.
Such a silly face.
Our absolute favorite part of the day was watching A "cook/prepare sushi" in the Kameoka Kids section. I knew that A was developing an imagination and that she liked to mimic our activities but watching her in action completely floored all of us. It was also a nice reminder of the joy in simply observing uninterrupted, independent play. If MasterChef Junior develops a toddler edition, I think we've found our audition tape.
A had such a fun afternoon (oh, and I neglected to mention that she was up for 3.5 hours last night...) that she couldn't even make it to our late lunch. Either that or she knew it was a futile attempt because the first three restaurants we tried to go to we're *closed.* Oh, Stillwater.
A is feeling much better today. She is even eating again which makes us very happy. Christmas was a lot of fun last year, as you can see from the pictures and videos. This year was a whole new ball game, though. A still doesn't quite get it but she did love all the new toys. So there was a little Christmas magic. We are excited for the joy of years to come but also really enjoyed how this year A truly enjoyed each gift she saw and opened.
She is such a sweetheart. Who knows what she was really thinking about but in the midst of opening presents, A ran over to Chad and gave him a big hug and kiss and then turned around and ran to me and did the same. We feel like she was telling us what a fun day she had.
We've also started her baking career early. She really enjoyed "painting" the rolls with yogurt butter.
She enjoyed the fruits of her labor. She ate really well all day today.
Tonight we watched Despicable Me and started How to Train Your Dragon before being forced to turn Mickey Mouse Clubhouse back on.
Her adorable pajamas are from her cousin Avery. Here is a shot of Avery in 2009 and A today. Cute little girls.
In addition to all the fun we had, here are the "money" shots from this year in comparison to last. Look how big our girl has gotten. We are so blessed.
So I am in this vicious anxious-avoid cycle. I have too many new photos, videos, events, and thoughts to post so I get overwhelmed and just don't do it. Negative reinforcement at its best. So I'm just going to flood this blog post. This doesn't even include all the stuff I missed in November...but it will be long.
Earlier this month we had a lab brunch at my house. A was excited to have people come see her in her pretty dress (thanks, Grace). :) We had yummy food, exchanged white elephant gifts, and watched A play with the gift bags and dance to the "Hot Dog" song. My students are all so grateful that I put that song in their heads...
Here is a random photo of A not sleeping.
We also had to take Miss A in for a follow-up regarding her lung functioning with the new inhaler (Qvar). Her pediatrician wasn't happy with the continued coughing. We discussed several options. She agrees that the cough seems to be allergies but also believes it might be a cough-variant of asthma. One option we discussed was upping her inhaler dosage. However, I really didn't think that would make much of a difference. Steroids are another, less appealing option. Ultimately, we decided to add Singulair in the hopes that it could better control her allergies and asthma. I admit that I was a little nervous because I had read that it has side effects of anxiety and problems sleeping. I took Singulair briefly in graduate school and remembered having really weird dreams while on it and it wasn't very effective for me. However, I talked to several other parents who said it did help (though it didn't help universally) so I felt good about trying it. It's a weird medicine because it comes in granule packets that is most easily taken mixed in applesauce. It has to be consumed within 15 minutes of opening the packet. That isn't always easy when you are dealing with a toddler who has very specific whims of what and when she wants to eat...
Otherwise, she looked good for her visit. Her growth continues to be on track. She had actually grown a little taller even! After the doctor's appointment, we went out to eat. A loves acting silly.
Random pictures hanging out with Daddy.
A got a little bit wind burned at school.
She also had a school party on Friday. Her sweet teacher, Miss Ashley, got all of the kids a cute book about Santa's Reindeer and she got A a cute baby doll with a pacifier. We also got adorable handmade ornaments for the tree/keepsakes.
We got her teachers a little basket with nail polish, hand lotion, chap stick, and gloves. I let A help me pick out the gifts and which item went in which basket. She thought that was a lot of fun. We also made tiger butter bark for all the additional staff and teachers who help at her school. I think Chad was disappointed I didn't make extra for us.
Unfortunately it hasn't all been fun and parties the last few weeks. A also has been sick with what we assume is a virus. She was sent home from school on Thursday because she threw up. Once Chad got her home, she was pretty good.
Friday morning, she was in a great mood. Even with crazy bed head.
Such a good mood that we really didn't even discuss whether she should stay home from school/miss their Christmas party. It had been over 24 hours since she had thrown up and she hadn't had a fever. However, Friday night she developed a fever and started throwing up again. I felt so horrible that we sent a contagious baby to school (she really was acting perfectly fine!). On Saturday, she became even sicker and more lethargic. For the last 3 days, it truly has just been Chad and I taking turns holding her and trying to make her feel better. She hasn't been eating or drinking much either so we are on constant watch for signs of dehydration (she is not dehydrated) and are taking extreme measures like using a syringe to give small amounts of pedialyte and applesauce.
She keeps having these moments where she seems totally better (running through the hallway, smiling, laughing) but then within an hour she is back to seeming pitiful.
And although her fever hasn't broken yet, we are already seeing our good friend, skin spots. This makes me think she had roseola again but that doesn't typically involve vomiting (if anyone ever has questions about bumps or spots, seriously, you should call me, I could make an entire blog post about A's skin sensitivity and rashes). Maybe she was just doubly lucky and had two viral infections back to back...if she still has a fever or isn't eating/drinking tomorrow, we will call her pediatrician.
Wow, so if you stuck with that whole post, congratulations! I will reward you with two of the many adorable videos I have not been posting recently.
I couldn't get the second one to upload so here is a link.
