Shift Change

Grandma DeDe and Grandpa Phil were also feeling bad for Jolie, especially since Jolie's Uncle Michael still does breathing treatments, so they decided to come up and stay with Jolie Friday and Saturday. We had a great lazy weekend and even did a little shopping--shocking, right? :)

I recently got a rice cooker/steamer and have been attempting to get Jolie to try some new foods. Grandma DeDe got us a little food processor that I was super excited to try out, but so far the squash, spaghetti and broccoli I've made have NOT been well received. I also discovered steaming broccoli makes your house smell like a dirty diaper!!! Gross! And then Jolie tried the broccoli she gagged AND cried! Good grief! I think I'll just stick to the simple Gerber foods for now and save my time.

On Sunday, Josh and I (well maybe mostly Josh) started getting things ready for the move. We taken things we no longer use to Goodwill or sold them on Craigslist (I LOVE that site!) and started boxing a few things we don't use on a daily basis. Seriously, where did all this stuff come from?!?!?! Jolie even helped, although she definitely prefers unloading boxes and throwing things everywhere! I finally told Josh to stop her from unfolding all of our clothes, but he said 'but look at how much fun she's having?' Who's in charge in this house!?!?!

Here's a couple pictures my mom took on her phone while we were cruising.
Blowing 'kisses'

Just cruisin'

11 months and the better baby

We went back to see the doctor today and Jolie was doing much better. She's still on the mend but has already improved a lot! She finally slept all night on Tuesday after not sleeping through the night the entire month!

Grandma Lori came down to stay with Jolie Wednesday and Thursday so they got in lots and lots of snuggle time. It was very much appreciated so Jolie could rest and recover and Josh and I had some stuff we needed to do at work. THANK YOU SO MUCH GRANDMA LORI!!! She even brought Jolie super snuggly blankie to make her feel all better--it was greatly appreciated!

She finally took a bottle on Wednesday morning after barely drinking anything Sunday and Monday. Dr. Timboe even called us at home on Tuesday to check on her! We are going to keep doing breathing treatments for awhile yet as she sleeps and drinks much better after one. She's taking her treatments like a champ so they must really make her feel better, which is great!

In the meantime, she turned 11 months old!!!! Due to the craziness this past week, I don't have any pictures but I'll get some soon.

Here's some information:
-Weighs 18 1/2 lbs
-Suddenly grew out of all her 6-9 month clothes last week!
-Wears 9-12 or 6-12 month clothes
-has her two teeth on the bottom and a ONE ON TOP!
-is starting to use her walker and walk with us holding her hands very fast!
-will stand unassisted for up to 20 seconds (and then laugh and laugh)
-chases dad around the island in the kitchen
-started trying to play fetch with Petey, although Petey is a little disappointed with her throwing distances
-gives kisses and hugs (which are the absolute best thing EVER!!!)

Wow--it won't be long now and Jolie will be ONE! Unbelievable!!! I'm already getting all cheesy and cliche just thinking about it! Be advised there may be several cheesy posts up ahead...you've been warned

Mommy MD

I think I've mentioned a few times lately about Jolie's on-going cough and such. It still wasn't getting any better and since she'd had it since the new year, we took her back to the doctor on Friday. They said again that it was just a bad virus and she'd be on the mend for awhile. At this point I was about ready to throw in the towel--now I had taken her to the doctor TWICE and still just a virus! I was convinced it was something more, but then started to doubt myself and think maybe I was overreacting.

While we were in Graettinger, she started getting a very runny nose, very sleepy and not eating or drinking as much. But we toughed it out and she'd have moments where she acted fine so we kept on. When we returned Sunday, I had to head to Wood River for some meetings on Monday so it was just Jolie and dad. He kept me updated and said she was doing well and the drop off at school went well Monday morning.

Soon we got a call from school that Jolie wasn't feeling well. She wasn't eating or drinking at all, had the poos and a fever, and was just plain miserable! Nothing like that guilt while I'm out of town!!!

So Josh picked her up and took her back to the doctor. They were there for 2 1/2 hours and had to do blood work and a chest x-ray (which Josh said was very traumatic for both of them!) And now she has pneumonia! We started an antibiotic and are doing breathing treatments every 4 hours. How fun!!! For the most part though, she's handled it pretty well. Every once in awhile she really fights the breathing treatment, but generally she's pretty content to snuggle with you and just take it in.

We'll head back to the doctor on Thursday at which point I will ask them for my medical degree because I totally diagnosed this two weeks ago!!! hehe--maybe not, but at least I'm reassured that I'm not completely crazy!

The breathing treatments are definitely helping and we can tell she's improving already. She's just a little champ!

Belated Christmas

Josh and I both took Friday off so Jolie could play more in Graettinger. Oh my goodness--Grandma Buechler made an awesome blanket for Jolie that has the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar on it--very cool and Jolie loves to rub her face on it and say 'ooooooh!' She also brought her dinosaur walker and showed Grandma and Grandpa how she's starting to walk and play and snuggle!

On our way back home on Sunday, she was exhausted from all of her showing off and while watching a little Sesame Street on the iPad, she passed out!

Happy 4th Birthday Petey!

Yay! Petey is 4 years old! Happy Birthday to an awesome dog who has been the best 'big brother' we could ever ask for!

We were in Graettinger to visit Grandma and Grandpa Buechler and celebrate a late Christmas and they treated the birthday guy to some very special treats--peanut butter and bacon! Plus all the help he gave us with our meals which even included prime rib. Jolie's also doing her part and tossing him lots of treats as well so I don't think Petey could be any happier!

Down to the wire

Our move is quickly approaching and we are staying plenty busy preparing! I hope you will all bear with me and my long delays in posting. Hopefully once we get moved and settled in, I'll get better about posting again.

So let's see...what has been going on?

Josh worked on Sunday and I had Monday, January 17 off for MLK day so I had TWO days of Jolie-time! Woo hoo! We had lots of fun and she's getting more and more daring. She can now go up the stairs, loves trying to get to Petey's food dishes and getting into our filing bin and 'filing' papers. She even helped me with laundry the other day--while I was folding, she headed to our closet and unfolded a whole shelf of shirts for me--isn't that sweet? She's also starting to stand all be herself for little periods of time, like 15-30 seconds or so, then she giggles about it.

She also recently discovered she can 'walk' with some assistance and she's been taking her dad around for laps in the living room and she totally geeks out! When you grab her arms to start walking she gets all excited and laughing and keeps laughing the entire time she's walking.

If only that excitement continued on through life! Wouldn't that be something if we all just found it hilarious that we were walking! hehe

Family Sick Day

Woah! I can't believe it's been a week since I posted anything! We have all been battling super sore throats (well Jolie can't tell us she has a sore throat, but I'm pretty sure she does). So we've all been kind of miserable, sleeping in chairs and blowing, blowing, blowing our noses! It got so bad that we ALL ended up staying home Thursday for our first ever Family Sick Day! Although it sounds like a good time, it was not. It pretty much consisted of us rotating napping and Josh and I trying every sore throat medicine that HyVee stocks! I think we are slowly on the mend and at least we can talk without wanting to cry!

Jolie also went back for her tube checkup at the ENT and he said her tubes look great! And we can't deny it either! She's had a runny nose and such, but usually if she had that she'd be screaming mad and miserable because it would lead to another ear infection.

We've also started boxing up some of her 6-9 month clothes this week. I guess she's almost 11 months, so it's probably time!

And now the best part--a few random pictures I've taken lately with my phone.

Here's Jolie and dad playing some Sesame Street games on the iPad.

Lately, Jolie has her tongue hanging out all the time! Always to the side like this... She has taken an even greater interest in Petey than usual so maybe he's wearing off on her. hehe

Jolie riding in the cart at Menards. This was her first time sitting in the cart like a big girl and she was PUMPED! She kept swinging her feet and looking around and laughing--it was too cute!

First 'Shower'

While Jolie was taking a bath, we turned on the 'shower' in the sink. You could just see her little mind working and trying to figure it out. It was funny and my mom and I may have 5 minutes of video, but I managed to cut it down a little for all of you! :) I had to drain the sink twice because she was so intrigued. It was definitely her longest bath ever!

Christmas Catch Up

I hope you don't think I forgot all of you--we have just been crazy busy!
Where to begin? Well let's see...

We are officially moving to Kearney, Nebraska in mid-February. Josh got a job at the hospital. So that has made us quite busy--we found someone to rent our house, secured a place to live in Kearney (which was super hard thanks to a certain 6 lb dog!) and have even checked out some schools for Jolie.

We also celebrated a few Christmas celebrations and Jolie had her first slumber party! Since Jolie was in Wood River December 30-January 2 and we realized it would make the most sense for us to come back again January 5 and would be a lot of extra time in the car for Jolie...so at the last minute she decided to stay in Wood River. With Josh and I being a little neurotic about everything Jolie-related, not having much time to freak out about this was actually better for us! So Grandma and Grandpa did a little shuffling with their schedules and Jolie had a great time!

Here's a random group of pictures from the break.

Santa came while we were at Christmas Eve church services. Here's Jolie in her Christmas dress.

An action shot of one of Jolie's favorite activities--running with Dad up and down the hallway really fast!

Petey got a Snoopy bed that he loves and has already spent a lot of time in.

Jolie got an iPad! Ha--just kidding! But mom and dad got an iPad and Jolie does love it!

Jolie smashing her Bacon. Uncle Brett, who is obsessed with everything bacon, found a stuffed bacon that says 'I'm Bacon.' Jolie loves giving it hugs and it may have provided more entertainment for the adults! hehe


We got to see a lot of family which was super fun but unfortunately Jolie was also sprouting some toothers and had a cold so she was a little cranky! My apologies to all those that she wouldn't let hold her--I always feel so bad when she does that but just trust me that it wasn't you, it was those dang toothers! And thank you so much to everyone for all the amazing gifts for Jolie. We can barely see the living room floor!!!!

And she's off...10 months old!

Jolie's growing in leaps and bounds and her mom and dad are left chasing after her! Here is what she's been up to:
-Wears 6-9 or 6-12 month clothes
-Enjoys bathtime in the sink
-Loves to squirm like crazy during diaper changes and sometimes it's a two person job to change her!
-Crawls and doesn't army crawl anymore!
-Pulls herself up on everything
-Has starting 'walking' with her dinosaur walker (pictured below)
-Claps her hands
-Still just has her two bottom teeth, but with how crabby she's been I think more are on the way
-Drinks 5 bottles a day, but they seem to be getting smaller like 4 ounces
-Started eating less tub/Gerber food and more puffs and other regular food
-Really likes feeding herself...and dropping her food on the floor for Petey
-Drinks water from a sippy cup when she's eating...and throws sippy cup on the floor repeatedly
-Says 'ma ma' and every once in awhile 'da da' (at which point Josh will do absolutley anything she wants!)
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