Starting 2012 With....

A double ear infection. Yea. Great fun! For the past two weeks Boogie has slowly gone from a decent sleeper to a screaming all night not wanting to sleep baby. Typically she'd go 3-4 (usually 4) hours between waking, then we had one night where she slept 8 hours, but every night since then she slowly started waking up more frequently. These past several nights have been awful. Waking up screaming, not wanting to be put down, digging in her ears (which isn't abnormal for her... she always messes with her ears when she's very sleepy, but obviously there was more to it this time), only sleeping while being held, not wanting to nurse like usual. It was horrible. I felt like a horrible mother. I felt hopeless... there was nothing I could do to comfort her. Then someone mentioned that she might have an earache. Bingo!

After last night I was desperate for answers. I was up until 1am walking, rocking, holding, nursing, bouncing... doing whatever I could to make her comfortable. I finally got her into her bed after that, but she woke up frequently. Luckily J didn't have to be at work until 9:30am so he got up a few times and helped me out when he could. It was a LONG night for all of us. This morning I made an appointment with the pediatrician... not one we had met yet, but I really wanted to have her ears checked. So, mom picked us up and we headed to the ped's office. She screamed when they took her temperature (in her ear), she didn't know this particular doctor so she freaked out when she touched her, she screamed when she checked her ears... it was NOT fun. But we had our answer. Double ear infection. After an entire year of only having two colds and yucky case of diarrhea.... Boogie decided to start the new year with a bang. Her first ear infections. Anyways... that's how it's going now. We got home around lunchtime and Boogie had taken a short nap in mom's car, so she was in no mood to take another. I finally got her to lay down with me in the recliner at 3:30 and we both took a LONG 2 hour nap. So... it's 8pm right now and J is still rocking her to sleep. She's not crying... just enjoying cuddles with her daddy I guess! If you don't know... Boogie typically falls asleep at 6:30, so it will be interesting to see how this late bedtime will affect the rest of our night! Well... please say a little prayer for our girl as she fights off this double ear infection!

Boogie's First Birthday

Boogie's birthday party went great! We were a little late finishing getting everything set up, but that worked out well because the kids played and my dad had time to get to the party after work! Despite the fact that apparently Boogie has a double ear infection (I'll post about that later) she did SO well! She loved all of the attention, playing with all the kids, and she thoroughly enjoyed her giant cupcake :)

Mom came early to help us set up the decorations... she tried to get a few pictures of Boogie during this but Boogie was constantly on the move!

Eating the letters to her banner.... good thing mom elaminated them!

This is Boogie's timeline banner, mom even elaminated this one and put rings in it afterwards so that Boogie can look through them whenever she wants! And we do.... a LOT.

I made the ribbon banner thing around her chair...

My friend Alecia made Boogie's cake... it was fantastic! I made the small cupcakes and Boogie's giant smash cupcake!

Boogie makes some great faces... and she really enjoyed all the yummy goodies we had at her party and that cupcake...

Happy Birthday Boogie!

And take note... my mom made her shirt :) She rocks!

What A Year It Has Been!

Just to forewarn you, this post may be a little lengthy!

This week has been crazy! We wanted to have Boogie open one gift with us before all of the festivities so one day last week we allowed her to open one of her Christmas gifts... a ball. She did so great tearing the paper off! We started off the weekend on Friday with a family dinner at Justin's grandmother's house with his entire family. Boogie and her new little cousin Andrew are the first great grandchildren for J's nanny so I know she was delighted that both little ones could be there. Boogie was fascinated by Andrew, he's around 2 months old, maybe 3, she just pointed and said "baby!" I think when the time is right she will make a wonderful big sister! She received a little teapot set from Nanny for Christmas. From there we went to J's parents to exchange gifts. Boogie received lots of wonderful things including lots of little cars from Papa Grey, a play vacuum, a toy picnic basket, and lots of other fun goodies!

On Saturday J had to work most of the day, so Boogie and I spent the afternoon with my mom and dad. We helped her get the house ready for my dad's family who were coming over for our annual Christmas Eve festivities. All the children get gifts, so that included Boogie and her 4 cousins of varying ages. She received lots of fun goodies from her great aunts and cousins! After everyone left we exchanged gifts with my parents and brother, and mom really outdid herself! She made Boogie a Raggedy Ann Doll, all of us pj's, two blankets, and even a diaper bag for me! Boogie also received lots of cute owl clothes (even I received lots of owl goodies!) and a few things from her Great Aunt Amy.

On Sunday (Christmas Day) J had to work most of the day again, but luckily he didn't have to go in until 9:30 so we were able to celebrate Christmas that morning. We got Boogie a Noah's Ark play set, a Dino Ball Popper, lots of blocks, puzzles, books, and a few other fun things. She really got into opening presents this past weekend, I was a little worried she'd be disinterested, but she loved it! Nene and Papaw (my parents) came over to spend some time with Boogie and I while J was at work, so that was nice to have a little company. I won't lie though, it was still annoying and depressing that J had to work all day, but Boogie and I had a blast playing with all of her new toys nonetheless!

Monday night I attempted to make cupcakes from scratch for Boogie's 1 year photos... and to practice for her birthday. That didn't work out so well. Let's just say that I will be making cupcakes from a box mix and practicing many many many times next year before her 2nd birthday! Either way... the cupcakes turned out yummy and cute, and on Tuesday morning Boogie had a ball eating that cupcake! Boogie and I spent the rest of the day at my mom's working on birthday decor. We made tissue pom-pom's, a Happy Birthday banner, a timeline banner, and mom is going to make her a "1" shirt for her party on Saturday.

OK, so enough for updating you on the past week. TODAY was Boogie's 1st birthday! Oh, how much my little one has grown, I can't believe it! My little 5lb 13oz girl born a year ago at 9:07pm has grown into a beautiful, smart, and mischievous little girl. She lights up my world and continues to teach me about life, love, and what it means to be a family. She is still trying to figure out this whole walking thing, but really she isn't all that interested. She's too busy crawling, laughing, playing, and nursing to care much about whether she should walk or not! She is going to be a talkative little one, she is constantly learning new words. She is SO smart! She's really into cows right now, and baby dolls... she loves cheese, mommy milk, and I definitely think she will be a girly girl. She loves beads and shiny sparkly ribbons. She is still nursing a lot, both for nourishment and comfort. She eats like a pro, the only thing she isn't a fan of right now is raspberries. Pretty much anything else I put in front of her is fair game.

I just can't believe how quickly this last year has flown by. I miss a lot about the newborn stage, but I must say that this 1 year old stage is so fun! We are looking forward to her birthday party on Saturday, I'm sure it will be a blast with our families and friends. I'll update again with pictures and details from her party sometime this weekend! And then next Tuesday is her 1 year checkup, so I will of course update with her stats as well! Until then... here's a little timeline from this year :)

Brand New

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

1 YEAR!!!!!

1 YEAR OLD!!!!!