Cabbage patch kid

Happy Halloween!

Our little cabbage patch kid had a very fun day!

She got to dress up in costume at school and of course she looked adorable. Last year I saw a friend on FB created this costume theme for her little girl and I was smitten. I ordered the beanie wig on etsy but otherwise used clothes A already had (along with an iron on transfer for the logo on her t-shirt). I found a wig that reminded me of my very first cabbage doll (I swear her name was Heather Nicole; maybe mom or dad could verify that for me since I couldn't find it on google).

It took awhile for her to get comfortable with the wig.

A's class is so cute. Unfortunately I had to teach so by the time I got to the party (30 minutes after it started), the kids had already eaten their cupcakes and A was ready to leave. She got an adorable goody bag with a fruit squeeze pack, fruit snacks and fruit leather, a Little People car, and a few pieces of candy. Her teacher also made these really cute mummy Hershey bars.

I took A to work with me just to hang out a little bit and then we came home. I switched up her outfit to try to be a bit more authentic to what Cabbage Patch Kids wear. We took her out in her little car. We went to the houses of two of my friends in our neighborhood. We were going to let her go knock on their doors but she loves sitting in the car so she got really mad when we tried to unbuckle her seat belt. It's amazing how quickly toddlers get opinionated. Hopefully next year she will actually trick or treat.

She really liked the bubbles at Christopher & Angela's house.

We also ran into our sweet friends Jen and Asa the lion (and Leo, superman).

Once we went to those houses and took a walk around the block. We came back home to hand out candy. A's costume was a big hit. In fact, one lady started taking pictures of her and talking about how they would be having a grand daughter soon. It was a little weird.

A spent most of the night playing with her car and she loved watching the other kids.

I told Chad we really just need to buy a push lawnmower. She would love that! Our lines wouldn't be very straight but that's okay. :)

By the end of the night, we were all pretty tired. We got rid of the wig but she wanted to stay outside and play in the candy bowl. She was very unhappy when we brought her back inside. Overall, though, we had a really fantastic day!

And just in case you forgot how sweet she was last year...I just can't stand the cuteness.

Little piggy sprouts

Seriously. How cute is this kid? I can't wait to post for Halloween. A is going to be SO super cute in her costume. :)

She is always on the go. We definitely keep saying we need to get cabinet and drawer locks because she loves getting into the cutting board drawer and the tupperware cabinet.

What does the fox say?

A is cute even (especially?) with bed head.

Below we have parallel play/lay. Poor Madeline. A has decided that Madeline is her very best friend. She always wants to play with her, lay on her, hug her, and pet her. Every night before bed, A has to give her a hug and say 'bye bye.' Madeline is very patient.

Sometimes it benefits her so her patience is well worth it.

A is usually laughing.

So...usually. She also screams a lot. I don't have a video of it but the 6-7pm hour is sometimes pretty trying. I am sure she is just hungry and tired. Me too, baby girl.

Shoes are her kryptonite. 

Miss Ashley says that they call A "Cinderella" because any time someone loses a shoe, A swoops in to put it on and says "shoe. shoe. shoe." We are in so much trouble.

Too good at sharing

Who had guessed that A would share her stomach virus with her loving parents? Everyone, right? Although A was back to 100% by Sunday morning, Chad and I got hit hard this week. I'm just so thankful the illness was staggered and short-lived (I was sick Tuesday evening through Wednesday afternoon and Chad was sick Wednesday morning to Thursday morning). I am also SO thankful for daycare. This is ironic given we probably wouldn't have been sick if she hasn't been exposed there but hey, I digress. I am so very hopeful that we can escape any major illnesses the rest of the semester.

By Sunday, she was ready to rock & roll, probably laughing at mine and Chad's fruitless efforts to decontaminate the house (doesn't she just *look* like she already knows it's too late?!?).

"Waste of time, Mommy...most stomach bugs are caused by a norovirus and they will get you."

On Monday, she was so ready to go to school that she grabbed her bag and headed for the door. 

She was so upset when Chad went to move the car. 

We are all glad to be back at work & school! Just in time for the weekend. Our PSA, everyone should pay particular attention when washing their hands in soapy water this time of year! They say to sing happy birthday twice (& don't forget under your nails!). Those pesky viruses can hang out on most any surface, including fabric, for days. Pretty much the only ways to get rid of them are bleach solutions (on surfaces, not your skin! and p.s. Clorox wipes and most "green" products do not cut it here!) and washing them down the drain. There isn't much you can do when you are literally thrown up on, but for everyone else, good hygiene helps. So, wash up!

Viral baby

No, the latest adorable A videos haven't gone viral (I generally make them private so you can only view them with a direct link). Instead, A picked up the latest virus at school. She got sick Thursday night after I rocked her to sleep. She threw up about 6 times in a 3-hour period, which isn't as much as some of the stories I read on the internet where kids were throwing up every 5-10 minutes the first few hours of illness. I stayed up with her sleeping in my lap until about 3 am and fortunately she went the rest of the night without getting sick. I canceled everything on Friday and stayed home. She was pretty tired but no throwing up. We managed to get her to eat (& keep down) some pedialyte pops, club crackers, and applesauce. She ended up sleeping quite a bit. However, this morning she unexpectedly threw up again. She just seemed off the rest of the day. I worry because I know she isn't eating enough (a pedialyte pop, some saltines and graham crackers, and a few peas in plain pasta is all she's managed to eat) and she's slightly dehydrated. Not much we can do, though. And I know she will be okay once she is able to eat again.

She woke up from this afternoon's nap completely inconsolable. It took almost 30 minutes to even get to the point where we could touch her or pick her up. Poor sweet pea. Broke our hearts.

I spent a lot of time Thursday night reading random google pages and blogs in between episodes. I found quite a few helpful tips. Given that we went through 2 pairs of pjs for me, 3 pairs for her, 2 robes, 1 blanket, and 4 towels, trying to minimize laundry became a priority. Some people say keeping bowls nearby is a good idea. I didn't get to try that one (though I did hang out with a big bowl within arm's reach this afternoon) but I liked it enough I thought it was worth mentioning. 

So my tips--

1) Keep pedialyte popsicles in your freezer. The pedialyte liquid quickly goes bad once it's opened (typically 24-48 hours). The popsicles can just wait for these middle of the night events. I think they also might make pedialyte packets that you can mix in water. A hates pedialyte drinks but she loves when I cut the popsicles into chunks and let her eat them with her hands. Win.

They do have a dye in them that little miss sensitive reacts to, though. Note her skin just after finishing an orange one. 

2) Clothing choices are tough--the options (that I considered) are one-piece pajamas, t-shirt separates, and button up separates. A usually sleeps in one-piece footed pajamas but having to take them off multiple times didn't seem like the best idea so we switched to two pieces, hoping we could at least just take off the shirt. I didn't want to mess with buttons but just know, you run the risk of having to deal with pulling a dirty shirt over arms and head. Though, you also run the risk of being totally mismatched the next morning...

3) Towels and receiving blankets. These can pull double duty by providing warmth and also covering the body. By the end of the night, I was able to save our clothes by catching everything in a towel. I chose towels and blankets that were easily washed in hot water, had no sentimental value, and were thin enough that I felt comfortable putting them in her crib with her (just in case).
4) Wash your hands often and sleep as much as you can. That may help your immune system enough to avoid the illness.
5) Just remember that this won't last forever. Usually you just have to make it through the night. It's always darkest just before the dawn and all that. It may or may not help to tell your child that as well. I tried to keep telling A that it was almost over and she was doing great. I have no idea if it helped at all but it did help me to try to stay calm.
6) Try to enjoy the cuddles. Even if you are secretly terrified that close cuddling means being thrown up on (as well as increasing the likelihood that you'll be the sick one in 24 hours) and you jump every time s/he coughs, enjoy as much of it as you can.
7) If you are married, don't kill your spouse. It's amazing when s/he gets up the first time you call and comes running with extra towels, wet washcloths, and theories on what might have made your child sick (even though you both know it's a virus). So even when s/he makes arguments for why it would be okay to feed your still-ill toddler pizza for dinner, stabbing him/her with a spoon is not a good idea.
8) Never ever have two or more children. I can't imagine trying to handle more than one sick child. Clearly people do it. 

Before Smudge

I don't often talk about our story. I know that part of it is because it's ours. It's intensely personal and private. But it also doesn't seem like that much of a story.

It's pretty hard for me to remember what life was like before A. But today is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance day and so I am pushed to stop and really think about things.  I've mentioned briefly on the blog and most of our friends and family know that there were two pregnancies before A. Two previous moments of excitement about pink lines and baby dreams. A whole lot of innocence and naivete lost when we got bad news. Almost ten months of pregnant worries that, at any moment, the bottom might fall out again.

On a day to day basis, I don't think of these things but tonight--as I was rocking A to sleep--I had a rush of memories that had been hidden away in the recesses of my mind. I thought about the time that I just walked into the laundry room and burst into tears. I thought about how my optimistic, sunny personality became a bit jaded and dark. I remember people saying I would look back on that time and feel like it was a lifetime ago. And it does. Mostly I just feel really lucky. We are so blessed to have a healthy little girl. And if either of the previous pregnancies had worked out, we never would have met A. To this day, though, I still do not understand why it happened but I've come to terms with it.

Again, I don't say that "it doesn't seem like that much of a story" to downplay or invalidate our losses. I was devastated and feel like they truly changed me physically and emotionally. But just within my network of friends and family, I have seen so much unimaginable loss that makes this seem so small in comparison. And tonight I'm remembering those babies as well. My friends with early and second trimester losses. My colleague who had her baby too early. The childhood friend whose son died of SIDS. And my friend who lost her sweet daughter at 20 months. And those who still have not brought a baby home. My heart is heavy tonight as I remember.

Pumpkin Patch Take 1

We had such a fun day!

We made our first trip to a "pumpkin patch." It's actually the first time I've ever been to one (at least that I remember). Unfortunately, I had been warned that the farm we were going to wasn't as good for pumpkin picking; however, they would have a lot of activities for kids. Both of those were true. In reality, I would *not* say that this was a pumpkin patch at all but more of a "family fun farm." As you can see from the pictures, there really were just random bales of hay laying around with pumpkins on them. And those pumpkins weren't in great shape.

But...we all had fun. A loves being outside so having free reign to run around a farm was probably a dream come true. In fact, I bet she is dreaming about the wind and the grass and the little fences right now. :)

There were a few farm animals that A loved. She got to see a donkey, a pony, some chickens, two goats, and a sheep. She preferred to maintain a distance of at least a couple feet from all of the above. She did get brave and pet the donkey but immediately recoiled in horror once she realized what she had done. She enjoyed watching me pet a little goat though.

We weren't sure what was up with this pony. Seriously, she was acting really weird.

Using the moment to take it all in.

Cousin Avery loves to swing!

And of course once A saw Avery swinging, it was all over. She thought she needed to swing, too. Never mind that the swing was way too big for her.

She was very, very upset when it was time to stop.



But going down the slides seemed to help.



Daddy isn't quite as tall as Uncle Neil, which made this a little more difficult.



But she still LOVED it.

Investigating the OSU tractor

She was not a fan of the pumpkin float.





She discovered the fastest way out of the "hay maze" was to turn around and leave the way she came in.





Even though she has this same little car at home, something about the bumpy grass made this so much more fun!



A found a friend in the little ride.



I was really glad she did not bite him when he joined her...



She was not a fan of the unrealistic pony rides.





Not quite the photo opportunity we were hoping for...








We are hoping to make it out to an actual pumpkin patch week after next. Fingers crossed that weather and schedules permit!