Roseola & A Nako Binky Party? Sure! Why Not!!!

This morning I fed Ayla some sweet potato pancakes and she loved them. I have made them for her before, but I used a different recipe this time.  This one called for a whole egg - you're not supposed to use egg whites in recipes for babies until they are at least 1 year of age.  I did it anyway because I'm a serious rebel - and then I noticed a rash on her chest, back and neck.  So I gave her a bath and some Benadryl in hopes that it would stop the reaction.  She slept for 2 1/2 hours and then the rash was still there.  She acted fine, but I didn't really know what was going on.  After church, my parents came over for dinner and I showed my mom the rash.  She said that it looked like Roseola.  I had no clue what that was or what it looked like, so we looked it up on the Internet and it's exactly what she has!  It starts with a very sudden, high fever (which is exactly what happened on Christmas Eve) and the fever lasts for 2-8 days.  Hers lasted 2 days.  After the fever goes away a rash appears on the trunk of the body and sometimes goes up to the neck and down the arms.  Her rash was on her neck, but not on her arms.  The rash lasts for 1-2 days, it's not itchy, and then it goes away.  While a baby has Roseola they can appear tired and irritable.  She has been that ever since Christmas Eve.  It's a virus so you can't do anything about it, and it goes away on its own after the rash.  So she should be done with the rash at least by tomorrow!  Thank goodness my mom knew what she had.  She said that my brothers and I all got it when we were babies, and Teri said that Blair and Lesley had it too.  Supposedly after you get it once, you'll never get it again.  So at least that's a positive! 

After her bath I let her run around nako for a minute.  She went over to her binky cup and pulled out all her binkies.  She would put one in her mouth and then trade out for another.  She looked so hilarious in her mustache binky that I brought her downstairs for Grand Dude and Blair to see.  She laughed and ran around (yes she is almost run walking now) showing off her birthday suit.  She'll kill me for taking these pictures someday, but how could I resist?!  Love this girl!

Her "Snooze Button" binky

I Mustache You a Question!

Squats with a mustache?  Sure!

Cutie Booty!

Ayla Goes to The Zoo

For Christmas, Santa got Ayla a Zoo Membership.  We were so excited to take her to The Zoo for the first time.  They are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays right now, and it was going to be 50 degrees out on Saturday, so Blair, Ayla, and I went together as a family.  It was really fun to see her look at the sea creatures in the aquarium area.  The only other place we visited for the day was The Plains. She got to see the lions, baboons, zebras, cheetahs,  elephants, wart hogs, and rhinos.  She looked at them pretty quickly and then was ready to move on.  By the time we had gone to both places she had been awake for almost 2 hours and she was definitely ready to go home.  She crashed in the car and we went to the 4:30 church service.  It was a really fun Saturday spent together as a family.  And I can't wait to take her back!  She will love this gift as she keeps growing!

 

Daddy and Ayla looking at the sting rays.  I couldn't quite figure out how to get a good picture down there without using the flash.

You could reach in and touch the dog sharks if you wanted to!  So crazy!

This is as close as we would let our little puddin' get for right now.  :-)

She really enjoyed looking at the penguins.

Love this picture!  Good job Dad!

The Sea Lions would swim right up to her at the glass

The baboons kept jumping up on the rocks and she would point to them.

Ayla by the elephants

 

Family Photo with our Little Monkey

Ayla Visits with Baby Will

We had Andrew, Laura, and Baby Will over for dinner the other night.  We had never made them dinner when Will was born, so we used this as an excuse to get to see him!  We ate lasagna, drank wine, and caught up on what it's like to be a new parent.  Will slept the whole time, but Ayla had fun looking at him for a while.  Then we put her to bed, talked for a bit longer, and by 10:30 we were all ready for bed. (We are so old now)  Andrew and Laura left, and Blair couldn't wait to climb into the covers for the evening.  He said, "I can't believe I'm so excited to be asleep by 10:30 on a Friday night!"  Yep - This is our new life...and I love it!  :-)

Waiting for Baby Will to get here

Andrew is such a good daddy!

Christmas at Fancy & Grand Dude's

The day after Christmas we celebrated with Chad, Angie, Tyler, Fancy, and Grand Dude.  We had the delicious traditional Christmas Rolls (a tradition since I can remember as a child) and then took over 5 hours opening presents, laughing, and talking.  I love the feeling of not having to rush!  And it’s a good thing we had the whole day because Ayla woke up with a fever again the night before.  I’m sure she’s got to be just cutting her 3^rd tooth, but it’s pretty scary how warm she gets!  In the morning, I took her temperature.  I had it under her arm for less than 5 seconds and the thing started beeping like crazy!  She was at 102.2 when I yanked it out of her arm to read it.  I gave her Motrin immediately and nursed her back to sleep.  She slept another hour, but it ended up putting us behind schedule and her fever wasn’t totally gone by the time we showed up.  My poor baby!  Definitely didn’t foresee this happening as her first Christmas.  For my big present this year I got my very first Coach purse.  The only other Coach item I own is Abe’s diaper bag.  I love the purse!  Angie got one just like it, but in a different color.  Blair got a new leaf/grass blower, and Abe got a Vera Bradley travel bag and a Zoo Pass!  I can’t wait to take her to the zoo over Winter Break.  Surely we can go see something there right now!  Among some of the amazing gifts that we got today, were the infamous joke gifts.  Blair got a “My Neighbor is ‘Born Ready’” T-Shirt.  It’s hilarious of Lance Stevenson riding on a skateboard.  Ayla got her own first ski mask – dinosaur style – thanks a lot mom, and I got a Breast Pump song made up to the tune of “Oompa Loompa”.  I had no idea I’ve made such an impact on my family this year with breastfeeding!  haha  I look forward to our quirky traditions every year and appreciate the memories we make.  I have to say that this year’s Christmas was a successful holiday season!

Climbing over a mountain of presents

Little Ass Kicker shirt from Uncle X

It felt so good to have them home in Indy for a little while!  I never realize how much I miss them until they are here.

Fancy is ready to get the show on the road with the present opening!

Love my baby ty-ty

She caught me taking a natural photo, so she put on a quick smile hehe

Snoopy Blair found his "Super Dad" joke gift from me under the tree.

He had to open it early!

We might have a slight obsession with The Walking Dead

Angie got a hilarious joke gift this year!

Grand Dude sketched Fancy a photo of her and Ayla for Christmas.  It's the best gift she could have ever received.  She loved it soooo much!

Fancy opened her silly joke gift from us - a picture of her sleeping.  It read "Being the #1 Fancy of the World Can be Pretty Tiring!"  She wasn't happy. 

And of course Ayla had to get her own joke gift from my parents this year.  Her own ski mask just like the first joke gift I ever received from them!

Here's the joke gift I got this year - apparently my breastfeeding was a pretty big deal to the whole family hehe (Grand Dude is so musical)

Playing in her new slippers from Auntie MooMoo and Fat Uncle Chad