The Good Life

The good life will always fit when there's not really a title that I have in mind. I guess today could be "rained out," but rained out sounds negative. Like we had to cancel our super, awesome, amazing plans & do something different, when, in actuality, the rain made the day.

At just over 9 weeks pregnant, the nausea & utter exhaustion seem to have vanished. The laziness has stayed. So, today, inspired by the weather & the coziness of the gloomy afternoon, I started a blanket & made a date to eat & shop with my girls.

It's been boring around here these days, but now that Mama's feeling better, things are changing. So, I had decided this morning to take this girl simpin', then the rains came. We traded bathing suits for a shopping cart, & lollygagged through the many rows of Hobby Lobby with Auntie KyKy. 

Christmas. I know. In July. I can't help it. These stockings need to be in my house this Christmas. I'm twitterpated.

Talent: Photographing & Instagraming. Simultaneously.

We laughed, dressed up the baby in fall decor, flooded Instagram with obnoxious pictures of fall & Christmas decor, redecorated our houses in our heads 15 times, picked up every owl trinket known to man, & had a nice day out. Just the girls. Being goofy.

So, now I sit. Blanket to be crocheted, my chamomile tea steeping. It feels good to feel good again. This rainy day makes me long for fall - the crisp air, brightly colored leaves, & boots. Oh, the boots. I miss them. It's time. Summer, I'm over you. Bring in fall. I'm ready.

Enjoy the rain. It's a cozy, rainy, snuggle day. 

a.

The Mellow Life

The last posting was July 10 - it's July 24. Insert sad face. I want to be fun, & do fun stuff with my girl, but this pregnancy is knocking me on my butt. It's been lots of Disney movies, running around in nothing but a diaper (her, not me), & afternoons huddled on the couch or reading the same books over & over. I feel very badly that we can't be out a lot, but I just have zero energy. Thinking about taking her to Centerra to play in the water pads makes me want to lie down for an hour.

Needless to say, it's been a bit of a boring month. Some fun little days in there, but nothing epic like I had been hoping. Hopefully, that will kick back up soon. Cooler temperatures could also make that more feasible.

So, while I don't have any darling photos of my girl picking cherries or simpin', I've got some great Instagram photos of her having fun & being her darling self. My favorite has been this week - meeting family members we didn't know. I'm in love. Hopelessly. They need to move here. We had a blast with them in Old Town tonight. It was refreshing to get out in the fresh air, let my girl run around, & be with people who think the world of you after knowing you for 5 minutes. These people are GOOD people. Be jealy.

Oh ya, the other thing...working on my bestie's wedding. Be still my heart.

I'm pooped & I need to go see my husband. But one last thing...I've had people ask, so if you'd like to view Maddie's photo book in it's entirety, click here.

Here's to the good-mellow life! 

a.

22 months & 29 days

When I went to start this post, I thought that I had a 23 month old little girl. That's tomorrow. Duh.

So, today, I have a 22 month & 29 day old little girl. That makes less of a statement, don't it? Today I have an almost 23 month old kid. She's so goofy & silly & sweet all rolled into one cute, little, 24 pound, blonde package. I might add that I turned around just now after hearing a disgusting slurping sound to said blonde girl rubbing yogurt all over her face & asking for "fwies." Be jealous.

I write today because something that I wait for every year has happened yet again. This beaut is on it's way:

I can't wait to get into this book! I spend an entire year working on these books, & to have them completed, to have her year summed up, written up, & photoed up in one perfect little 8x8 book...well, it just tickles this mama's heart to no end. The final pages have been completed, the final proofing has been done, & that bright orange package will be in my hands early next week. 

Here are a few more pages that were just added. Enjoy!

Obviously, I have some OCD when it comes to these books. Hi, my name is Andrea & I have OCD about photo books. "Hiiiii, Andrea." Shutterfly makes it so easy to create these darling photo books. Go make some for your kiddos. You will be so happy you have them. They take no time at all when you use their standard path. Go create!

It's the good-photo-book-life today!

a.

In Sickness & In Health

So, - Mrs. Burnworth would beat me if she knew I started half of my sentences with so - she clearly taught me nothing. SO, if you are not on Instagram, you probably don't know much of what I am about to tell you. Full disclosure? There is much ado about poop in this entry. Turn back now if you need to. Also, this is not my most eloquent post - forgive me. I am clearly off my game.


For over a month now, we have been dealing with intestinal issues with Maddie. It started with 4-5 days of diarrhea which I figured was a bug, but after day 6, we went to the dr. We did Pedialyte for 3 days, went back to milk & juice, & the diarrhea came back. We did Pedialyte for 6-7 days days, back to milk & juice & the diarrhea came back. So, we went back to the dr & he asked me to get a stool sample. So, of course, she has no more diarrhea for about 10-12 days, so I figure we're good. I swear kids suddenly get better the second they sense that you need a sample or whatever it may be from them. 

WELL, then, last Sunday, she had a fever & appeared to be constipated. She was grunting, kind of cramping up, then squeezed out some rabbit turds. The next day, she had a GIANT poop in the TUB, so I figured it had passed. Well, that night she has a fever of 102.7 again. We decide that with the month's history, we needed to go to ER. Keep in mind, this whole time she is cranky & irritable. She has moments of being my sweet girl, but she obviously doesn't feel good & she's acting like it. So, they poke & prod her for 5 hours , do a chest X-ray (clean) & a catheter test (clean), they determine it's a virus & give her a shot of antibiotics for the "virus."

They tell us to follow up with our dr within 1-2 days, so we see her the next morning where she says the same - probably a virus. We go home.

The very next day (July 4th), she has diarrhea which I promptly FINALLY collect & take to the lab. She then has 4 more small diapers of diarrhea that day, but none since - back to pedialyte. Now, I'm pissed. Throughout this whole month, she's hardly eaten anything. She lost a pound in 10 days after we took away the milk when this first started. She'll go a couple of days & just have some little snacks all day. She has gained that weight back, but her appetite is not what it was.

YESTERDAY, she wakes up COVERED in hives. Head to toe. She looks awful, & feels awful. I was hysterical all day yesterday. Calling the dr, calling the lab about her poop. Every time someone asked me about it, I burst into tears. Something's wrong. So, we go see the dr AGAIN, & I'm armed with questions. First thing she says to me is that there isn't enough poop to test for C-Diff. &#$#!!!!! I burst into tears again. They were able to test some of it because there were 2 containers I had to fill. It's not a parasite which is what I had decided it must be - test was negative. It's not something else - sounded almost like Shingles. No idea. We don't think food allergy because the high fevers don't necessarily fit into that. 

We are now being sent to a GI specialist next week where he will run a battery of tests, & hopefully, get us some answers. She said he probably will test for food allergies, but she thinks it's unlikely that that's what it is. We are going to test for the parasite one more time with the C-Diff since they said they didn't have enough for that - maybe there's a chance they didn't actually have enough for the parasite. 

I'm at my wits end. I'm exhausted trying to figure this out, I'm exhausted having a needy, cranky baby, & exhausted from worrying over my girl. I'm mad & scared & annoyed & want answers. PRAY for her. She's miserable, & God knows what is wrong with her - I need Him to tell the doctors so we can treat her & get her back to the sweet, hyper, crazy little toddler that she is.


Still the good life just a little melancholy around here lately.
a.