Can she get any cuter?!

Funny little video and photo

Olivia's bottom two teeth keep showing up more and more as they push their way through her gums. She is constantly running her tongue over them and sometimes it looks like she has chew in her lip! Haha!

Such a fun day!

Even though I haven't worked a full week in quite some time, it sure is great to be the weekend - and a holiday weekend, too! We woke up to a beautiful day and headed out to our favorite nursery to stock up on flowers and get the yard ready. Last year on this same weekend, it was so hot, I had trouble standing outside while Duane picked out our flowers....not the case today; we all needed jackets. This was the first time we set Liv in a cart and she seemed to love it!

Oh yah, her collar is popped!



While Duane and I planted our newly purchased flowers, Liv sat on a blanket in the grass and kept an eye on the neighborhood. She practically breaks her neck every time a car drives by - she's quite nosy!

Tonight she showed off her new skill - using the coffee table to pull herself into an almost-standing position....this makes me so nervous! According to one of her teachers, Liv pulled herself onto her knees on Friday at daycare!

Olivia's health scare

Wow...what a crazy few days we've had! Last Friday morning I headed out of town for work - I had a program in Washington DC. I Skyped with Duane and Liv on Friday night and a couple times on Saturday and all seemed fine - she was having a great time with her Daddy. On Sunday morning, Liv slept much longer than usual and when Duane got her out of her crib, she immediately put her head on his shoulder and didn't pick up her head at all. She fell asleep on him shortly after waking up so he put her back to bed. When she woke up later, she did the same thing, rested her head on his shoulder and didn't budge. When he Skyped with me to show me how she was acting, we both knew something was wrong. Duane didn't mess around and quickly took her into St. John's ER.

Here's where it gets scary....because she was so lethargic, they called for a barrage of tests - CT scan, x-ray, blood/urine tests and a spinal tap. She was not running a temperature, though. Meanwhile, I'm getting updates via phone from Duane while sitting in the airport. Needless to say, I was a wreck! Each test they did came back with negative results, nothing was showing up. By the time I was in my seat on the plane (which was over an hour delayed), Duane called to tell me that Liv was drinking a bottle and smiling up at him. That new piece of information made my flight a little easier.

As soon as I landed, I drove to the hospital, which happened to be the same hospital where Liv was born. She was in her Daddy's arms when I walked into her room. When I saw her in her baby hospital gown, I lost it - it was such a sad sight. I stayed with her Sunday night because I knew I had two things (I'm still nursing her) that could offer some comfort, if needed. Monday morning she woke up with a smile so we knew she was feeling a little better. When the doctor finally made his rounds to us, he didn't really have any solid answers. Basically, they think it was a culmination of her ear infections, pink eye, thrush, and some random virus attacking her little system. We were released and at home by 1pm on Monday. Below are some photos; not the best quality though as they were taken with my iPhone.

Sunday night (according to Duane, this is how he spent all day Sunday)

Monday morning - the white bandage is her IV wrapped up so she wouldn't pull it out

Monday morning - someone's feeling much better!

Today Olivia was in a fantastic mood! She spent most of the morning sitting on the floor playing with her toys while I tried to catch up on emails. The only issue - bad diarrhea from the antibiotics. Yesterday I literally had 3 piles of poo throughout the house. I was laughing so hard I was almost crying! We also had a follow up appointment with her pediatrician and he said her right ear is still infected. So, she's on another antibiotic and we'll go back to see him in a week.

All I can say is - Duane is the best Daddy a little girl could ask for - he took such great care of her!

Messing around with Daddy

While I was in DC this past weekend, Duane did all kinds of things with Liv, including making the poor thing take a picture with a polish sausage! I'm pretty sure she wasn't having fun!

Trying to get Liv ready for crawling

Tutu Tuesday

In Olivia's room at daycare, they've declared it "Tutu Tuesday," so of course she's always decked out in a tutu!

And then there were teeth!!!

On Monday afternoon while Liv was chewing on a toy at daycare, I noticed two white things in her mouth...when I looked further, I realized her bottom two teeth were popping through! I was excited and then quickly realized that things are happening too quickly and I need a pause button. Not only has she started to  clap but now she's helping us undress her when we change her at night (seriously, she pulls her shirt over her head!)....I'm shocked at how quickly she figures these things out!

Olivia's clapping debut

Someone learned to clap and loves it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day! I had such a lovely day - thanks to Duane and Olivia! Yesterday the two of them had a secret mission to take care of my gifts and they did a great job. Duane and Liv went to the St. Paul Farmer's Market in search of fresh cut flowers but there weren't any yet...however, they found an area where kids were painting flower pots so lucky me! Apparently Duane and Liv were a huge hit every where they went - how could they not be, though!?

Duane and Liv painting my flower pot

This morning I had flowers, a painted flower pot, an IOU for a cleaning service (to clean our house!) and cards waiting for me. Duane made me blueberry pancakes and we had our coffee. We ran to the grocery store for our weekly restock and then met some friends for a walk and dinner. It was a perfect, 1st Mother's Day! Oh, and I had to dress Liv in a new outfit for the day - aren't these red sailor pants adorable?!

Lots of things going on in St. Paul

On Friday, April 29, my mom flew in for a visit and to help Duane with Olivia while I was out of town for work. Saturday, April 30 was Duane's 30th birthday and we had a party for him. Food was catered by Famous Dave's and we had cake, too.

Grandma Potter and Olivia - with matching shirts!

The "real fun" started on Sunday, May 1 when I left for San Francisco. That morning Liv woke up with pink eye. As if that wasn't bad enough, the doctor confirmed that she still had her double ear infection! So, Duane and my mom got to deal with that while I was away. When I returned on Wednesday, her eyes still didn't look any better and pink eye is supposed to clear up within 24 hours of starting the drops. When she woke up on Thursday morning, her eyes were so swollen, she almost couldn't open them. Our doctor said we needed to take her to a pediatric eye doctor - which was a little scary to hear. The pediatric doctor confirmed it was pink eye but a strain that was immune to the drops we were currently using. Within a few hours of using the new drops, her eyes were thankfully clearing up. She was pretty pathetic looking - crusty eyes, green stuff coming out of them, etc.

She's feeling much better, though, now! Just this morning she started clapping, which was so awesome to see!

I do need to say thank you to my mom - while I was gone, she watched Liv and took care of every piece of laundry we had! When I walked in my laundry room, there were no piles of dirty clothes - everything had been washed and dried - it was a beautiful sight!!! Thanks for taking care of Liv, too, Mom, she had a lot of fun with you! She loves all of her new toys and clothes, too!