The Worst Is Over

Thank God!!  After a weekend of constant tears and high fever I was able to get Olivia into the pediatrician where she was diagnosed with double ear infections, sinus infection and bronchiolitis....yowzers, no wonder she was inconsolable!  Three doses of antibiotics later and she is on the mend.  Other than a little remaining ear drainage and a cough she is mostly back to her normal self.  Now to get back to getting ready for Christmas!

Right before Olivia got sick we went to storytime with The Grinch.  Much like the Chick Fil A cow, she was afraid and fascinated all at the same time!

Sickly Woodhouses

What I haven't mentioned in my last few posts is how sick I have been.  It started November 20th with cold symptoms and 3 weeks later has turned into bronchitis, surprise surprise.  Asthmatics rarely just have a cold.  So, Christmas shopping, crafting and card preparing have all been on the back burner.  If I recall I have spent this same period of time sick for several years now which really makes for an unenjoyable and stressful holiday season.  I say this every year but next year I plan to start much earlier.  At any rate I can handle me being sick but my baby, well, that is another thing entirely.  Olivia spiked a temp last evening and has been horribly ill for the last 24 hours.  It is clear now that she has an ear infection since I see pus draining from one ear!  Ick!  Here's my baby girl in her TV watching cocoon and shortly after.  Normally I try to limit TV but when it's the only thing that helps the tears subside I'm a pushover.

New hair

The last few haircuts I've had have gotten shorter and shorter but today's takes the cake!  I don't even have hair on the back of my neck anymore!  This will take some getting used to.  I see alot of scarves in my cold neck's future!

Return of the Bicycle

We bought Olivia a very nice Trek bike earlier this year.  Unfortunately, during the summer she fell while riding it and has been afraid to get back on it.  This weekend we took the bike back to the store and had the training wheels adjusted so the bike is not as wobbly and she has fallen in love with the bike all over again!

Poof!

And just like that, a week ago I disappeared from the universe, I mean Facebook.....gasp!   I could wax eloquent on how I reached this point but I will just share that it took five months of God telling me to do it before I obeyed so it was not a hasty decision.  I plan to return sometime in January but cannot rule out the possibility that this could be a permanent change for me.  Either way, minimally, I should have a seven week period without the distraction (and comfort) of Facebook, ample time to explore how it is impacting me and therefore, my relationships, for good or bad.

The first few days, upon waking, I still turned on my iPad first thing to open the Facebook app only to remember it is no longer there.  This causes me to realize that I consistently put "checking Facebook" first, not God or my family.  I have found myself very lonely without the sense of connection that is provided by regularly scrolling my news feed and I have found myself disheartened that folks have not missed me enough to text or email.  This has caused me to realize how out of touch I am from actual live people.  It is easy to blame this on others but it takes two to maintain a relationship so I am at least 50% responsible for my neglected or failing relationships.  When I have been out in public places where other adults were glued to their phones I have felt sad and frustrated that they appear to be favoring the internet over a live person sitting in front of them.  This causes me to realize that I often take the live person in front of me for granted, not making the most of my time with them.  I still find myself turning to the internet (Pinterest, blogs) when difficult moments arise throughout the day like a preschooler refusing to listen, throwing a tantrum or doing other things that are generally frustrating or annoying.  But those forms of social media definitely do not fill the void the same way as Facebook so I find myself using TV more to pacify my daughter so I can "escape".  This causes me to realize I am shirking my responsibility to discipline and teach my daughter consistently, only dealing with matters when they are totally out of control and can no longer be ignored.  My house is still mostly a mess with dirty toilets and layers of dust, my sewing machine is untouched, Christmas gifts unmade, I haven't been to the gym or planned meals.  This causes me to realize that I am tired and a bit lazy.  Facebook is not to blame for all the things I have not gotten done, I am.  

Olivia's "big girl" room

Back in the summer I started the process of changing over Olivia's gender neutral nursery into more of a girly room.  We moved out the toddler bed and brought in a twin xl bed we already had.  A few months later I found some second hand bedding.  It was a tall order to find something that would match the yellow walls we did not feel like repainting and the expensive Pottery Barn Kids blackout curtains we had not yet gotten our money's worth from but I think this quilt and valance set worked out well. And just this week I finished the accent pieces I wanted to add and new initial canvases to fit the new colors.  Here it is!

Ponytails!

It is rare that Olivia lets me touch her hair let alone ASKS me to touch it so I had to snap a few shots of the ponytails she asked for this morning.  Someday maybe we will get to the point where combing is involved but until then I'll gladly make messy ponytails! (Perhaps someday she will start looking AT the camera again too....a Mom can dream)

Afternoon Craft

I've been faithfully saving Olivia's broken crayons for almost 2 years now, ever since I saw several craft ideas for them on Pinterest.  I stumbled across this Tutorial recently while researching Elf on the Shelf ideas and decided we would try it out.  Olivia has been gifted these recycled crayons before but showed no interest in using them so I was not sure what her reaction would be.

I let her separate them the way she wanted to but then evened them out a little before they went in the oven. They came out great just like the tutorial promised and Olivia totally loved them!  Recently she has done crafts at MOPS and Preschool where they learned to trace their hands to make a turkey so you can see below she is teaching bear how to trace his hand!  She is always in "teacher mode" at home which can be fun and challenging all at the same time.