I'm Baaaaaaccckkk

I'm back...but unfortunately, with very little battery life on my laptop. So I'm thinking I'll just share a couple photos, and then do a little more updating tomorrow. Really, you just want the pics anyways :-)
You know this kid has been sick a lot when she knows what to do with the bulb syringe...AKA boogie sucker.

Jenna sporting her new shades. Her little pug nose barely holds them up...so cute!

Our little foot girl. Here's Jenna and Pat reading her favorite book, which has different bears in it with different textured fur. She loves to pet the bears with her hands, and of course, her feet.

Poor Pat can't get any homework done with this little crazy baby around. She will crawl into your lap regardless of what you are trying to do. She loves attention!

Happy Valentine's Day

So Valentine's Day has always been a holiday that Pat and I enjoy. Our wedding anniversary is February 11th and so we have sort of combined our celebrations the last few years. Well this year we celebrated our anniversary up at Yosemite, which was great. The weather was beautiful and our hotel was very nice. We stayed for one night and my mom stayed with Jenna. When we got home on Friday, my mom told us that Jenna had a bit of a rough night and was coughing a lot. Friday night was the same, and by Saturday night, she was downright sick. She had a fever, and was coughing so much. We used our usual meds and did a breathing treatment, and decided against the ER, figuring they would likely do the same things we were already doing. This morning we headed to urgent care, and after a three hour wait, Jenna was finally seen. She has an ear infection, and an upper respiratory infection. We were given antibiotics, and told to keep doing motrin, a humidifier, and our nebulizer as needed. The doctor didn't swab her for RSV, but said it's likely that she has it. The treatment for that is the same as what we are already doing so I guess it doesn't matter. Anyways, we headed home and put Jenna down for a much needed nap. She slept for about 2 hours in her crib and then woke up crying. She was miserable. Poor baby was shivering and shaking and kept crying out in pain and grabbing for her ear. She wouldn't eat or drink. So pitiful. Within about 45 minutes, she was asleep on Pat's chest, and she slept for another 2 hours there. Her fever keeps spiking and dropping. We are alternating tylenol and motrin. This poor kid can't catch a break.

Daddy makes a very comfy resting place

Our heart-shaped pizza from Me & Eds. So yummy. Jenna was doing a little better by dinner and actually ate a little and tolerated a bath. She's back in her crib and we are hoping for the best for tonight. Thank goodness it's a 3 day weekend.

Superbowl Sunday

For the last couple years we have enjoyed celebrating the Superbowl with our friends, particularly our friend Abby. Abby grew up in Indianapolis and is thus a die hard Indianapolis Colts fan. Well the Colts made it to the Superbowl this year so it was especially exciting. For Jenna's birthday Abby included an official Payton Manning jersey that she bought in Indiana. So of course, we had to dress Jenna for the occasion.

Seriously...how cute is she??

Daddy and Jenna getting ready for the big game

Mommy, Abby, and Jenna

Jenna thought the crowd was all paying attention to her

The look of defeat....sadly, our team did not win.

And just for fun....can you believe how much she has changed since last year?!

Little Mommy

Jenna got this baby doll for her first birthday. She has recently started taking an interest in her. She is a hard-body doll because you are supposed to take her in the bath tub with you. She's naked because that's how Jenna prefers it. Anyways, if you tell Jenna to go find the baby she will search for this doll. She was super cute with her tonight and was pointing out all her body parts. Then she took her sippy cup of water and offered it to the dolly. How do they know?? So cute if you ask me

She's a Climber

I totally should have seen this coming. Somehow, I was still surprised. This evening I was folding laundry on the couch while Jenna played with her toys in the family room. I walked back to our bedroom to put everything into the drawers, which took maybe 45 seconds. I come back out and Jenna was no longer in the family room. I walk into the kitchen to find her like this...
Of course, being the wonderfully responsible parent that I am, I grab my camera rather than take her off the chair. She then proceeds to stand up.

There's always time for a squinchy face...Now climbing into her friend Jordan's hook-on chair, which she loves

She made it into the chair, and then climbed back into a standing position in the hook-on chair, at which time I set the camera down and grabbed her.

What a little monkey. How long do you think we have before we visit the ER?

Operation Failed

Ok, call me whatever names you want. We are back to bottles. Jenna wants nothing to do with milk in any kind of cup, and I am not comfortable with cutting milk out of her diet. Yes she does eat yogurt and some cheese but not on a daily basis. In fact, Jenna isn't terribly consistent about anything. Some days she eats regular table food pretty well, and other days she hardly eats anything. The one thing I could always count on was her naptime and bedtime bottles. So, as April put it, I am sucking it up and giving in.

Here's what I have learned...

• Jenna is VERY stubborn, and Pat is definitely not, so I'm thinking this may be my fault.
• Don't post things like this on facebook or the blog until the mission is complete. Otherwise, you get to look like a big dummy when it fails.
• There are no clear cut timelines or rules for babies or parenting. Sometimes you just have to do what works for your family. I'm not sure why it has taken me 14 months and 1 day to figure this out.
• She's only going to be little for a short time and as long as I don't send her to kindergarten with a baby bottle or binky, I'm going to slow my roll and let her be.

Thank you all for your advice and opinions...it won't be the last time I solicit them. Now, I can't just do a post with no pictures so I'm posting a few pictures of my Project Life album. These are really bad pictures but I have a dark house and I'm just tired. Anyways, here it is

HELP!!!

Ok...quick update. We decided to start operation bye bye bottles this weekend. Jenna doesn't seem to miss her bottles at all. The problem is she hasn't had any milk since friday. We tried the soft spout sippy cups, the hard spout ones, ones with handles, ones without handles, the straw kind, and tonight I went out and bought the Take and toss ones that April suggested. She absolutely refuses to drink anything except water from any of them. So mommies, I need advice. What should I do?? I looked online and in some of pediatric medical books, and she needs to be drinking 12-16 ounces a day. HELP!

These pictures have nothing to do with this post, just thought they'd liven it up a bit


Jenna smiling enough so that you can see she actually does have top teeth. She's actually cutting her 10th tooth right now!


Jenna sleeping the other night. We've never seen her sleep on her back before. She's bent in an L-shape in the corner, and it just made me smile.