Olivia Update And Christmas Photos

I'll love you forever.

 Well, I just cant grasp this whole blog thing. It's been awhile since I've updated again. I feel like I'm always saying that. It's just hard to sit down and find time to type.

Our little arthritis warrior started a new medication in November. We were able to stop the daily shots (WOO!) She's been doing very well on the new medication and hasn't showed any arthritis related symptoms like it isn't working. She has to have blood work done to check all of her levels and to make sure her liver numbers are where they should be. We travel to Gainesville once a month and a nurse in Rheumatology gives her the shot. Dannie could learn how to give it, but the medication has to be mixed ahead of time and believe it or not, before insurance each shot costs $15,000!!! So, that's why we don't want to take the chance and mix it at home and give it ourselves. That's a lot of money and we don't want that responsibility! Our insurance helps us out a lot with it. So thankful for that!

She did flare a few days after her first shot. She fought a fever for a few days and we were unclear the cause. Come to find out it was a horrible ear infection that caused her to flare. Nothing IV antibiotics and steroids couldn't help with though. She got the highest dose of IV steroids she's ever got and in a very short period of time. So, the week following was very rough for us all.

Besides the new medicine, she's just been her normal self. A little bit of sweetness with a whole lot of sass! We have to be careful what we say around her because she copies everything. Apparently, she heard me say "You scared the crap out of me" one day, so, she likes to say that phrase sometimes. Luckily, I didn't say another word though. Her vocabulary is expanding and it's just crazy to me the things she knows. She's acting so big and I can't believe she will be three next month. One day I plan on just writing down everything she says in a day and sharing it because I feel like I miss sharing so much.

It saddens me that she has no friend's or anyone to play with. She has so much love and would love to have friend's. If it's your first time reading, she is immunosuppressed from her medications. We have to be extra careful who she is around during flu season. A few weeks ago we were at Cracker Barrel and her and another girl her age were giggling and making faces at each other from across the room. Times like that make me so sad. We try not to be helicopter parents, but we just can not end up back in the hospital with her. I think it's extra hard on us too because we sometimes feel alone. We have been very fortunate to find a Facebook Group that allows families with SJIA children to interact with one another.

We are very excited for December and to celebrate with family. I was just telling Dannie yesterday that we have so many Christmas decorations in the house and I love it! I hope that Olivia is enjoying it as much as me. It makes the house feel so much more homey and happy. Yesterday, I spent the day cutting out images from my Silhouette so that I could make an advent calendar for Olivia. On the back of each image has a daily activity for us for that day. Today, we got donuts. No complaints from our little Livi Bug on that. Not just any donuts, they have lots of red, green, and sprinkles! Dannie put up lights on almost the whole house this year too. ♡ 

Here are some of Olivia's Christmas photos we had done by the lovely, Pinknsparkles Photography. 

Those red nails. ♡

I love her expression here. It's like she's thinking "Yeah, right!" 

So innocent looking, but she really kept tossing that pinecone out of the truck every few seconds.

Florida snow! 

Please stay little forever!

Prettiest girl I know. 

She says she's one strong little lady! 

Olivia's 2nd Birthday

Well, we ended Olivia's birthday watching Frozen again. I can't tell you how many times we watch that movie. We've also tried to limit the amount of Frozen items that come home with us, but Olivia really loves Anna and Olaf. It's hard to say no sometimes. I hope Olivia enjoyed her birthday. We started the day off playing with balloons. We thought it would be fun to cover our bedroom floor with them and surprise her when she woke up. I saw her peak over the edge of her bed and smile. She got down and started throwing them around and jumping up and down. Eventually she asked me to get down with her and play. After that my plan was to make her some birthday waffles with sprinkles, however, when I added the sprinkles it just turned the batter purple. They still tasted delicious though.

We tried to lay down around 11 for a nap, but someone did not want to sleep. We had already discussed with her that we were going to Target, so of course that's all she wanted to talk about. We picked up a toddler bed there for her and were able to use a $10 off coupon. I spent Friday trying to put it together. Big mistake that was because I ended up putting the headboard on backwards. Dannie helped me turn it around when he got home since I had spent most of my day working on it. We need to make an Ikea trip so we can get a few more things to finish her room. She got a Rapunzel doll from her friend, Brooklyn. She hasn't put her down all weekend.

We had a small birthday get together on Sunday with family and friend's. The theme for her party this year was OLAF! It was a hard choice since she's crazy about so many Disney characters at the moment. I made sure not to go overboard with making decorations this year. It's a lot easier and stress free to purchase it in a store vs. searching for it all online. She had a blast and got to play with her cousin Korben.

We took a picture of Olivia in the same spot as last year and it's crazy how different she looks. Last year she was still on high dose steroids, so she was puffy. She looks so grown up in this years picture. We plan on taking a picture of her each year on her birthday so we can compare them. It'll be nice to be able to give her all of them when she's older.

Pickin Patch 2015

We recently took a trip to the pumpkin patch. The WHOLE family was able to make it!

The weather was p-e-r-f-e-c-t! It could have been about 10 degrees cooler, but other than that it was sunny skies. We took a ton of pictures. People probably thought we were crazy, but I can't wait to show Olivia pictures from our trips when she is older. There was a kid maze made out of hay. Her and Levi made it out before Gibson. We all enjoyed the tunnel made from gords because it was cooler in there. The kids LOVED the slide made from a big mountain of hay. Poor Olivia cried when we pulled her away.

Aren't the best photos candid ones? Olivia appears to be dancing, Gibson was on his way to sit next to her, and Levi was peeking at Granny & G-pa.

Three little munchkins! Haha. Check out Levi's scrunchy face in the bottom left photo. 

Sisters! <3

The sunflowers are always my favorite part, but there weren't too many left when we went. They are only usually bloom the first few weeks the pumpkin patch is open. 

I swear these two cuties have their own language. Olivia was standing next to him just babbling away about a little girl that walked up to her. 

Corn maze fun with my little mini me. How adorable are those boots and pumpkin hair bows? 

Silly girl! Yelling at the people walking by. 

Another family photo with everyone looking AND Gibson showing us his muscles.

My loves! We have a photo like this from last year. I think we will take one every year that we go ;)

This photo will have to be taken each year too so we can see how the babies have grown. The top photo is from last year. <3

Weekly recap

The past few days have flown by for me since we have been pretty busy. I like staying busy, so it doesn't phase me at all. We've actually done so much within the last week that I can't remember what we did on what day. I'll blame the mom brain.

Last week Livi dealt with a flare. I think we took her to the doctor on Tuesday and she was able to get IV steroids. She was feeling better by the time we got home and her rash was gone. Luckily, we didn't have to raise any of her home meds. We are currently waiting for the results of her c-diff test though. It would be awesome if she didn't have to be put back on antibiotics and results are negative. But, we have noticed a few of her previous symptoms that she had before with it.

Olivia and I made a trip to Target last week. I could seriously live there. I'm not sure what it is about that place that is so calming, but it's just a lovely place. I really TRY not to purchase anything either but we all know that's not possible.


We had an ice cream date Friday night. There is a Twistee Treat in town and we LOVE it! Olivia was napping when we got there, but we decided to wake her so we could share our ice cream. I got a banana split and Dannie got his usual, a mint chocolate chip milkshake.

The weather has been a tiny bit cooler in the evenin making bearable to do stuff outside. So, we were able to sit in the back of Dannie's truck and enjoy our ice cream. Olivia enjoyed it and that's all that matters!

Saturday we had a lazy day at home. I cleaned the house up a bit and we played with Livi. We were even able to get a bit of outside play time in. Woo hoo! I painted Olivia's nails and she loved that. If only she would hold still for me to get a picture of them though. She is so fun at this age!

Sunday was grandparents day. We met my parents at Lake Sumter Landing for dinner and to walk around. Dinner was delicious. Our eyes ended up being bigger than our stomachs though. Olivia played in some bubbles and ran around on the docks. The weather was once again awesome and there was a beautiful sunset!

Monday, Olivia had an eye appointment. We rushed out of the house because we needed to run a quick errand before and didn't eat, so we were starving. She hates seeing the eye doctor. She always cries and I have no clue how he sees anything, but he says he does. No inflammation in her eyes. Lunch afterwards which made us sleepy. So, it was nap time once we did got home. Tuesday, we went to visit my mom. Olivia always has fun over there and is exhausted once she gets home.

Last night we decided to load up and take Livi to Barnes and Noble. She yelled "Books and wow" the whole time. She enjoyed the train table and always loves the stuffed animals. There were a few books she was interested in, but she mainly enjoys being able to run around. This morning we were out of the house by 10 and went to the park for a bit. I was able to walk the whole park. I want to try and do that a few days out of the week. Again, nice weather and gorgeous flowers. Olivia spent her time in the stroller watching butterflies and birds. We stopped by Old Navy afterwards and then came home.

Grandparents Day 2015

Wearing her Curious George

Barnes and Noble fun

Yoga fun :)

A morning at the park

Outside fun :)

Fall Fun!

September means it's one month closer to F-A-L-L! Here in Florida it doesn't feel a lot like fall. The leaves don't change here like they do up north and it's still 90 degrees out when we're trying to enjoy our fall fun. Instead of wearing boots and hoodies when we go to the pumpkin patch, we are still rocking shorts and flip-flops.

September - January is pretty busy for our family. There are so many birthdays and holidays to celebrate as well as different things we all enjoy doing together. Usually around the end of September the Pickin Patch opens up in Dunnellon. It's usually only $3 to get in and if you save your wrist band you can go back for free. This has been one of my favorites since I was pregnant. Not only can you get awesome photos out there, it's just a fun adventure for everyone. Sometimes we purchase pumpkins, but they have a corn maze (which we got lost in before), and they have a beautiful sunflower field. The sunflowers might be my favorite part! 

There are two different Arts & Craft festivals we go to every year. I can't remember when we even started going. It was too long ago! One of them is usually the weekend of Halloween in a little town called McIntosh. Not only are there cute little stores and buildings throughout the town, but the trees there are beautiful! I love going and looking at all the local artwork, but we mainly go for the FOOD! Funnel cake, gyro's, lemonade, and corn dogs! Those are just a few of our favorites! The second festival we go to is in another town called Micanopy. This festival lasts two days unlike the McIntosh. Again, adorable town. But, sadly we go for the food.....and family time.

What else do I enjoy during this time? Decorating our house for fall, pumpkin pie, mums, and of course pumpkin spice lattes. I am human like everyone else so I have to enjoy one or two during this season. Eventually, the weather will get cooler. I love driving with my windows down and being able to open our back sliders during this time. 

This year we are looking forward to doing a lot with Olivia. She couldn't walk last year, so she'll be able to do more at the Pumpkin Patch this year. Minnetonka moccasins, pumpkin carving, introducing her to pumpkin pie, Coon Hollo, and maybe some fall family pictures. Also, LOTS of trips to the park! :)

What are your favorite fall things to do? :)

McIntosh festival :)

Our little pumpkin last year. 

Our daily routine

I've been struggling with this blog stuff lately. I have plenty of time (most of the time), but when I convince myself that I'm going to sit down and start typing, I find something else to do. I've been wanting to talk about what our daily routine has been here and what better time to do that than right now.

Olivia is currently sleeping, but she's due to wake up any minute. Anyway, Dannie and I haven't slept past 7:45 since Livi was hospitalized. I'm not complaining because I feel more productive when I get up early. We just wake up more tired. If I have plans during the day I usually try to pack everything and get it together the night before because it's tough getting it all together last minute. Is anyone a good last minute packer? I always forget something. 

We (usually Dannie if it's during the week) take Olivia's injection out of the fridge around 7:45-8:00 am so that it has time to get to room temperature. If it was still cold, it would hurt even worse than it already does for her. She usually watches Doc McStuffin's or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse while we wait. She gets her shot at 8:30. From there we make breakfast and get her other medications ready. Depending on how messy she gets during breakfast will depend on if she gets a morning bath or not. 

She is still taking TWO naps a day! Woo hoo! She's usually a little grump by 10:00-10:30, so we lay back down and she will nap for a bit. This usually gives me time to straighten up the house and shower if I need to. When she wakes up it's lunch time. If we have errands to run we will do that after lunch or before and just pick something up while we're out. 

Her second nap usually happens between 2:00-4:00 pm. If she doesn't get this nap the rest of the evening doesn't run too smoothly. I will usually either nap with her or continue to work on house stuff. I've been planning a weekly menu and have actually followed it this week. If we don't follow the menu we always spend tons of money eating out. Once dinner is over, we spend the rest of the evening playing with Livi and catching up on our shows. Dannie has been going to study at 9:00, so that's when I try to put Olivia to bed. Some nights it takes about 10 minutes and other nights it takes close to an hour. 

We don't do a lot during the week besides visit my mom or run errands. Eventually, I'd like to ask her Rheumatologist if she can take any kind of mommy + me classes. Our local gymnastics place offers a toddler tumbling class. I think she would enjoy that and it would give us something to do one day out of the week. Also, once school starts back here I want to take her to do some other stuff, but it should be less crowded then. We have tried to get Olivia to wear a mask that way we could do more stuff with her, but she is not a fan. We will have to keep working on that as she gets older. 

I'd like to hear what your routine is and what works for you. What do you do if your little one misses a nap? 

Olivia's 7 Month Update

Holy moly! Can't believe she is closer to being a year old. I'm a little late at this post, but at least I'm getting it done.

At her check-up on the 20th of August she weighed 18.8 lbs. and you are 25.5 inches long. She definitely gets her height from her daddy.

Let's see we dropped your swaddle last month. It's so much easier getting her to sleep now that we don't have to worry about securing her in there. Also, one less thing to pack when we go to Granny's house. Not that getting her to sleep is any easier unless she is exhausted. She still enjoys music and sleeping on her belly during the day. At night she has been falling asleep on us lately, so we just take her to her pack & play once she's fully asleep.

Granny got her a high chair last month because I managed to break her booster seat. She loves sitting in it to eat and also to play while I cook dinner or do the dishes. Probably makes her feel like such a big girl such she's up so high.

We are working on helping her to crawl. She STILL hates being on her belly for an extended amount of time. When I lay a blanket down with toys she will scoot backwards off the blanket. If I were to leave her there she would probably scoot all over the living room. She started teething the night before last. It was terrible and I'm sad we have to continue to go through it. I know once she has all her teeth she will be able to eat so many different foods. So far her top left tooth is VERY swollen and red and it appears it will be next. But, this morning her bottom left popped out of the skin. Woo hoo! Also, her "teething necklace" that is supposed to help has done nothing. I haven't noticed a difference since I purchased it. Of course my husband has always called it the "Magic necklace" because it releases "magic." I'm not sure why I put it on her still, I guess just in hopes it'll help.

We purchased a kiddie pool because it is so hot here and we have not been able to soak up the sun any other way. I put her in her float and she loved it. Since it isn't mega deep she was able to touch the bottom and somewhat move herself around.

She has become super attached to her paci and loves teddy bears and dolls. We also purchased her some indestructible books from amazon. Within two hours they looked like we had owned them for a few months. She loves them and it's awesome they don't rip or get all soggy fro her drooling all over them.

She is doing awesome with her baby food. I am still giving her gerber fruits and veggies as well as some oatmeal. I also started her on some meats and she loves them. She eats three times a day and sometimes has a snack before bed. She is getting around 4-5 bottles a day. I am still pumping all the time and I have a HUGE supply frozen.

Current faves: bath time, dancing, sleeping on your belly, your paci (you enjoy pulling it in and out of your mouth), different textures, the roku remote, cell phones, tupperware and kitchen spoons, being naked, and water from your cup.

There isn't much she dislikes. All I can think of is getting her diaper changed. She thinks its funny to pull herself out of it. She is such a happy baby! When we run errands or go to eat somewhere she is always in a good mood.

Story time with daddy.

Our Miami Trip

Last week we drove down to Miami. Dannie had a work conference at the Trump National Hotel. It was about a 5 hour drive for us from Ocala. 10 bags later and Dannie had finally filled his tuck. I had probably over-packed, but I wanted to make sure we didn't forget anything. Plus, we don't have a large luggage bags, just a lot of smaller ones which made packing smaller harder.

Olivia slept most of the way. She woke up about half way there and I fed her. I think we stopped a total of two times. She did get a little fussy once we got closer, but ended up falling asleep again. I guess we were lucky the ride there was smooth sailing.

The traffic definitely changed once we got closer to Miami. I'll admit, Ocala drivers are pretty bad, but MOST of them at least still use their turn signals. Plus it had started raining, so I was just a little stressed in the back seat. But, we made it there safe and that's all that matters.

Olivia was pretty good at dinner that night. It was noisy and she likes noise. Also, when she got fussy no one had to hear her. Woo! We ate out every night, so that was new to us. We haven't really braved eating out here because we weren't too sure how it would go or if we would just have to order to-go once the food arrived. The 3rd night at dinner, she did AMAZING! She sat in the high chair, she ate some carrots, then snacked on some bread. She was such a happy baby!

One of my High School friends, Meghan, visited us one day. She brought a long two adorable little ones that she nanny's for. Olivia loved them! She's definitely a little social bug (she must get it from her daddy). We had lunch and played at the pool for awhile. Awesome to be able to catch up with a friend while we were in the area.

The 4th night we ordered pizza and stayed in the room. I think that was the night we got rained out. We saw a lot of rain while we were there. Just had to make plans around it. Saturday we got up decided to tour around the city. We drove to Kendall so Dannie could show me where he went to school when he lived there and also the apartments he used to live in. The schools he went to look a lot different from the small town schools I'm used to. None of his had windows and ours always did, which is just weird to me. From there we headed to Miami Beach. Since we never have cash or change on us we couldn't park, so we just drove through. It was too busy and hot for us anyway. Family pool time that evening. Olivia loves the pool and just being in any water really. Glad we were able to take some pictures of her there.

Josie & Olivia. 

Family pool trip.

Miami.

View from Conference room at hotel.