Break for Mommy!

After the week we had with Natalie being sick and not getting much sleep, I was worn out!  Thankfully, my parents were headed to Tennessee to see my grandparents (Natalie's great-grandparents), so they took her along since she was feeling better. It also helped that we were able to get all our gifts delivered to our house since we could use their truck and they borrowed our SUV. Aunt Amanda went along as well!

Also, it was nice not to have her once we did get back to Terre Haute from Christmas since our Christmas tree decided to take itself down and there were broken ornaments all over the floor, alongwith pine needles everywhere!  So, I was able to transform our living room from a disarray to basically Natalie's playland...haha!

Natalie's filled toybox...it is nice and neat for now!

Natalie had a great time with her cousins, great-grandparents, aunts, and grandparents. Mommy and Daddy got a nice little break with some much needed sleep for me!  I slept so good and am very thankful for that break. They got down to Tennessee around midnight on Monday, then got back to Terre Haute Thursday night to eat dinner with us, then my parents and Amanda headed to Indy to stay at Amanda and Matt's house before heading back home again.

I think my mom will enjoy the needed sleep now too since Natalie's sleep pattern is still a little altered from being sick. However, last night Natalie fell asleep around 9p, woke up at 1a to drink a bottle and have a diaper change, then fell asleep from 1:30a until 9:30a. She then fell asleep for a nap around 11:15a. I'm hoping she is getting back into her routine!  I am so glad she is eating better too!

The cute winter hat Natalie got from Great Grandma and Grandpa Barry

Happy in Tennessee!

Ready to go out to dinner!

While Natalie was in Tennessee, she got a Hokey Pokey Elmo from Great-Grandma and Grandpa Toby. Here is some video of her:

Here is also a video of Natalie on her Rocking Horse she got from Aunt Kristen and Uncle Jeff. She caught on very quickly!

1st Christmas!

We ended up having a wonderful Christmas with family and are very blessed...and spoiled!

Merry Christmas from the Andreae's!

We had to modify our original plans a bit because Natalie had a fever from Wednesday (the 21st) until Saturday night (Christmas Eve). The only way we could get her fever to stay down was to give her Triaminic, then an hour later check her temperature (which she still had) and give her Children's Motrin. We also started her on the Amoxicillin the doctor prescribed for her on Thursday night. She was miserable and didn't sleep or eat well at all. It didn't help that her nose was running like crazy and she was so stuffed up so even if she did want her bottle, she couldn't breathe to drink it. It was a long several days for me, I had a couple of breakdowns, but I was so grateful for my Mom's help who got up with me every 2 hours and sometimes took care of her by herself (or with my dad's help, too). I was completely exhausted!  Bobby slept good through all the nights but the first night, which he said I should have woken him up, but there were already enough people up trying to take care of our poor baby.

On Friday, we headed up north for my Dad's extended family Christmas gathering, but we had decided to keep Natalie away from the large crowd. So, Bobby dropped me off and took Natalie over to his parents' house, then brought her back over to my parents' (since that is where we were staying) later in the evening to put her to bed. We felt really bad that no one from my Dad's side got to see her, but we wanted to do what we thought would be best for her and all of them. No point on getting everyone else sick as well!

From that Christmas, Natalie got a cute pink fleece winter hat, a 'Wow I'm a Big Sister' baseball cap, and a Big Sister keepsake book from her Great Grandma and Grandpa Barry. We do a 'Dirty Santa' gift exchange with any family that wants to participate and Bobby ended up with a Swiss Army knife and I got a cookie mix with an iTunes giftcard.

On Saturday, Christmas Eve, Natalie was still running a fever but was going longer periods without one. We decided not to take her to the Christmas Eve service at church, so Bobby stayed home with her (I think mainly so he could watch the Cowboys game since it started around the same time), then my parents, aunt and her boyfriend, my sister and Matt, and my mom's friend, Nan, all were over for our annual fondue dinner. We had a good time and Natalie slept through most of the dinner and got up just in time for gifts. Natalie got a wooden animal puzzle that makes animal noises that she really enjoyed, as well as a couple sleepers. I got Zumba 2 for the Wii (I ended up with 3 of them by the end of all our gatherings...haha...I think that is a hint) and Bobby got a Lowe's giftcard. We also each got an ornament. We had a good time and Natalie was playful with her puzzle. She slept a tad bit better that night, but was still up often.

Poor sick baby girl

Bobby and Amanda playing Family Feud

Ready for bed

Playing with her new puzzle

Mommy and Daddy helping open presents

Usually, Christmas morning, I am the first one up, waking everyone up to see what Santa brought, but not this year. I was so exhausted, I think I could have slept for days and days!  Natalie was the first one up, but woke up in a good mood and had NO fever. This was the start to our fever-free days!  You could tell she still wasn't 100%, but no fever and she was a little more playful was good for us! Merry Christmas to all of us!

Santa came!

Christmas morning!

Her AWESOME new toybox my parents made!

Love the letters Aunt Amanda painted!

Sleepy baby

...and she's out!

Best present of 2011!!!!

Dada helping open presents

Close up of the letters Aunt Amanda painted on Natalie's new toy box

We had the presents already separated out and went around one at a time opening gifts with Bobby, my parents, and Matt & Amanda. Natalie got all kinds of neat things...cute learning toys from Amanda and Matt (my favorite was a LeapFrog dog named Violet that can be programmed to say Natalie's name and her favorite things) and my parents made an awesome toy box for Natalie, while Amanda painted her name on it. It is perfect and amazing! Natalie will love it for years and years to come!  Bobby and I got all kinds of good things too, including a glider and freestanding tall heater for our porch.

Bobby's extended family Christmas is always Christmas afternoon and we had decided to attempt to take Natalie, but she decided to take a super long nap (much needed 3.5 hour nap), so I stayed at my parents while Bobby went to his until she woke up and wanted to make sure she wasn't running a fever. Once she got up, still no fever, so I got her ready to go and we headed over. We didn't want her passed around to tons of people, so it kind of worked out that I brought her at the start of the 'Dirty Santa' gift exchange and toward the end of the party. She was okay for most of the gathering while we were there, but got pretty fussy toward the end, so I headed back home to my parents after about 3 hours there.

On Monday (day after Christmas), we got together with Bobby's immediate family for gifts. Natalie was in much better spirits this day, which I was so thankful for!  She got a ton of goodies...one spoiled little girl. The highlights for her was a Fisher-Price house/door...very interactive and a rocking horse. Bobby got a very large box that contained a floor jack/creeper and I got a floor cleaner. By the looks of all our presents, we thought we may need a UHaul just to get everything back down to Terre Haute. I don't know what we will do next year with 2 kids because our car was packed! Luckily, my parents were headed down to Tennessee, so we were able to get Amanda and Matt's things delivered to Indy, rearrange vehicles to get everything headed to Terre Haute down there as well.

Mommy helping open a present

Spoiled much?!

A new laptop

I guess she wants some summer sausage!

Rough Day

We have been having a rough day in the Andreae household. After getting little sleep last night, Natalie battled a fever off and on all day today. Bobby picked up her Amoxicillin for her and we started it tonight, but it's such a struggle to give her any medication, so this should be fun the next 10 days!  I feel so bad for her because other than holding her and forcing medication down her throat, there isn't much I can do for her. I just really hope she feels better tomorrow since this will be her 1st Christmas and we have such a busy weekend. We may have to modify it a bit if she doesn't start feeling better soon!

First Call to Doctor...in the Middle of the Night

Natalie went to sleep around 11p...easily. However, she woke up at 2am and was burning up!  When we took her temp, it was 104.1. Bobby placed a call into her pediatrician for advise and suggested we give her the Triaminic fever reducer and retake her temp in an hour. If she still has a fever, we are to give her children's Motrin and check her temperature in another hour. If she still has a fever, we are to take her to the ER. The pediatrician also said as long as we can get her to play and smile that she is doing okay. Her pediatrician called us right back...one of the reasons we like her so much!

Daddy made a run to Kroger at 2:30a for the Children's Motrin...what a good Daddy!

So far, she is still eating good and having wet diapers, just can't seem to shake off this fever.

I LOVE how cuddly Natalie is right now, but I definitely do not love that she does not feel well. Hopefully the medicine works and I don't have to post about our first ER visit at 10 months old!

In between 2a and 3a, Natalie became a crazy nut!  You would definitely not know she was running a fever because she was super hyper and playing like crazy.

3am update: Still running a fever of 101.8, but at least it is going down!  Gave her some Children's Motrin (which she did not want to take) and fell asleep. We'll see what 4am holds!

4am update: Natalie would not lay down between 3am and 4am, but allowed me to rock her. When we took her temp it was 98.1...yay!  She ate 3 ounces and is now sleeping, hopefully for awhile now because she definitely needs her sleep after her long day and so do Mommy and Daddy!

Happy Birthday, Mommy!

Today was a full day for sure!

Natalie woke up bright and early this morning...6:30a, when her normal waking time is 8:30/9am. We should have known at that point that something was not right with her. However, she drank some of her bottle, then watched a little bit of cartoons with me and fell back asleep by 7:15/7:30a. When I woke her up to take her to daycare around 8:30 or so, her hair was wet with sweat so the first thing I thought of was possible fever, but when I took her temp, it was only reading 98 degrees. So, off to daycare we went!

I saw my whole 2 out of 3 patients for the day and finished up some of my notes, then relaxed at home for a bit because my thought was I would let Natalie stay in her routine at daycare (especially if she was napping) before I picked her up to head to our ultrasound/doctor appointment. However, around 1:30p, her daycare called me to say she was running at least a 101.7 temp and I needed to come get her. In hindsight, she probably had broken her fever when I woke her up from her morning nap. Daycare said she had been cranky in the morning but after her little nap, she woke up in a good mood and acted like "normal" Natalie, but felt warm. I brought her home and her temp was 101, so I gave her some fever reducing medicine and took her with me to the ultrasound appointment because she was acting just fine.

She was good during the ultrasound while Daddy held her. She got to find out she was going to have a baby SISTER come May. I had told Bobby from the very beginning that we were having a girl, but he had thought all along we were having a boy. Although every guy I'm sure hopes for a boy, we are so very blessed to be having another baby girl and couldn't be more happy. Now is the time we start "debating" about names!

I still had to wait for my doctor appointment after the ultrasound and Bobby needed to take Natalie to her doctor appointment at 4:10p. Plus, we had plans to head to Indy for dinner with some friends and leave our house by 5:30p.

My appointment went fine and the baby looks good and healthy. We are going to have our hands full with 2 little girls.

Natalie's appointment went well. By the time she got there her temp was only 98 and the doctor said everything was good...throat was a little pink and she had some congestion (what else is new), but otherwise ears, heart, etc were good. She weighed in at 17lb 6oz. The doctor said she had something viral and gave Bobby a prescription for an antibiotic only to fill if she was still having a fever by Friday, but to continue the fever reducer as needed. No daycare for tomorrow, so Daddy is working from home to take care of Natalie in the morning/early afternoon until I am done with my 3 patients. She was acting fine, so we kept our plans and headed to Indy with friends for dinner.

Natalie slept the whole way to Indy. When we got to the restaurant, she ate a whole jar of baby food, plus mashed potatoes and some bread. However, afterwards, she got fussy because she didn't feel well, so I gave her more medicine and the poor girl just fell asleep on my lap. So, Daddy went to the car for her carseat so she could sleep, which she did the rest of the way through dinner. She woke up at dessert time and was good the rest of the time. She was a trooper. I feel so bad for her...her first real sickness, and right before Christmas!  Hopefully she will be feeling much better by Friday night!

We at at Fogo de Chao for dinner...it was of course yummy and we enjoyed our company. Bobby and I shared a triple layer chocolate cake mousse dessert...mmmm:) What a great birthday dinner!  Bobby and Natalie gave me a card and a pretty necklace with my birthstone. I also got a Willow Tree angel from Matt and Alison. Natalie even got an early Christmas present that is a singing/dancing Christmas Snoopy that I know she will love!

I was hoping to take a couple pictures, but was a little distracted with a sick little girl!

I had a great birthday with many birthday wishes. I couldn't imagine spending it with anyone else than Bobby and Natalie. What a great year it has been and this coming year will be an even greater adventure. Thank you Bobby and Natalie and our friends for making my birthday so special!

I can't believe how tiny she was! Couldn't imagine this birthday without her!

Long Day...

Overall, Natalie was good all day, but she had some moments. Normally, she takes 2 naps and 1 of her naps is typically 1.5 to 2 hours, but today she would only take 1 nap that was 45 minutes long.

At lunch, tried feeding her pears baby food, but she ate a little then just spit at me every time I tried to get her to eat more. At dinner, tried feeding her a new baby food that was peas and spinach (which she usually likes) and the only way she would eat it without spitting green everywhere was if she ate some of my shredded chicken enchilada that I made for dinner. I'm starting to think she is not enjoying non-textured baby foods anymore.

She ran some errands with me and was good the entire time, but did not sleep in the car. When we got home, I put her in her crib hoping she would play herself to sleep like she usually does, but no, not today. Instead, when I went in to check on her I found a mess!  Her favorite thing lately is to take off her pants and throw them over the crib, which she had done. However, she had pooped and it had gotten out of her diaper and all over her sheet, blankets, and bumper. Talk about a mess! Guess it was time to wash everything. She didn't seem to mind it though because she was just playing the entire time and "talking" to herself.

Tonight, after dinner, Natalie took her first "stumbly" step(s). She was walking along the coffee table, then let go and took a step or 2 before stumbling onto the blanket on the floor. We tried to get her to do it again, but I think she is getting closer! I don't know that I'm really ready for her to be walking yet!

2 more days and we find out if Natalie will have a baby sister or a baby brother...hopefully Baby #2 cooperates!

Happy 10 Months!

Double digits already?!

Happy 10 Months, Natalie!

Since we have had our Christmas tree up with the presents underneath, Natalie very much likes to grab the lights and ornaments within her reach, as well as grabbing the presents underneath the tree. She had sort of a run in with a present this week that she pulled down and the corner of the box scratched her face in between her eyes. She was not very happy when that happened, but it sure didn't prevent her from doing it over and over again. Now, she thinks it's funny when you tell her 'no' and move her hand away...she cracks up laughing.

We still don't have a walker, but I know she's awfully close. I was guessing by Christmas she would be walking, but now I'll just say I won't be surprised one bit if she is walking by her birthday...which is only 2 months away!

Overall, Natalie has been sleeping good, we had one night that she slept from 9p until I woke her up the next morning at 9am, but since that one night, she is still getting up a few hours after she goes to bed (anywhere between 7:30 and 8:30 normally), then drinks a bottle and falls back asleep or occasionally has a "party" by herself in her crib until she falls asleep on her own.

New Natalie Tricks:

She is associating Bobby with saying 'Dada' at times.

She is saying "Hi, Dada" "Bye-Bye"(sometimes).

She still very rarely says "Mama"

She likes to wave hi and bye a lot, but usually won't do it on command.

She is all over the place, getting into anything and everything.

She gets super excited and claps while bouncing on her knees and throwing her hands up in the air while laughing (makes us laugh every time because she is so crazy).

She is on the move...constantly (makes me glad she isn't walking yet).

She has started her spitting again at meals (super annoying). Now, it is more so when she doesn't like something...even things she normally likes, but I've noticed it happen a lot with fruits. Give her corn and she is usually a happy camper. However, she will also spit now when she doesn't want anymore. I thought we outgrew this phase...guess not!

I'm glad Rusty puts up with her!

Laughing because I was telling her "no"

Crazy hair after bath

Tonight, Natalie ate "big girl" food for dinner...cut up pork roast, mashed potatoes, and smashed peas. She ate really well! Maybe her spitting phase is really just telling us she is sick of bland baby food?!

We also drove around Deming Park to look at the Christmas light displays and Natalie stayed awake and looked around the entire time!