Better Mom

Yesterday Addy and I spent the day at the Urgent Care.  Not the best time I ever had, but a day I will never forget.  Tim and I have been very lucky that Addy has been a healthy child.  In her short life she really has not been sick.  A few sniffles here and there but no real sickness until vomiting this week.  Even when she has been throwing up, it has not been projectile.  And no, I have not taken this healthy child for granted.  I know I am super lucky.

Back to yesterday.  On Thursday night I was up with Addy all night.  After 48+ hours of vomiting she could not hold anything down and she became less responsive when I talked to her.  When we got to Urgent Care, Addy was dehydrated, her blood sugar and electrolytes were very low, so they started Addy an IV.  Sounds pretty easy right???  Think again.  We had a nurse who was obviously not used to working with children, much less a child who was only 2.  No bedside manner.  And she was horrible at finding Addy's already small and then dehydrated veins.  Think Addy was okay with being poked?  Nope...and she even pulled one of the IVs out and I got splattered with some blood.  Yup, fun times.

Once the IV was in and nurse left, Addy & I were left alone and I could not help but pray that my baby girl would be okay.  I am sure I am not the first mom to make such requests and it probably won't even be my last time praying for such things, but it was something new for me.  I just felt helpless that I could not do anything to make my baby girl feel better.  It was a horrible feeling...but it made me a better mom.  It reminded me that I am just Addy's mom and I am not going to be able to make everything better all of the time. Sometimes I will have to rely on doctors, other times I am going to have to let Addy figure things out for herself.  Hard lesson for me to learn, and in a heart wrenching way, but definitely a necessary lesson.  Just surprising that it took me two years to figure it out.

Tomorrow we are onto bigger and happier things...like celebrating Addy's 2nd birthday!

New Lens

For Christmas my mom gave me a Visa gift card for my big present....a gift card to buy whatever I wanted... and trust me there were a lot of ideas floating through my head.  Clothes. The iPhone 4S.  A massage. Some champagne. Then it came to me.  I should buy the camera lens that had been on my wish list for a long time.  The 50 mm 1.8ff. After a little discussion with Tim, I decided it was a good decision and that I should also buy the lens hood and filter. 
Addy happened to get the stomach flu today, which shortened my work day and brought me home with my baby girl.  Lucky for me we got home before the rain started and I saved my Amazon box from the torrential downpour that would happen about an hour and a half later.  And since Addy was feeling under the weather, I was able to play with my new lens and take pictures without much fuss.  Here are a few of the pictures I was able to get of Addy.  So far, I am loving the clarity of the pictures and the ability to lower my aperture.  What do you think of the pictures??

When we first got home...no nap and not much food all day.  

 Feeling a little better.  Trying some crackers out to see if they will stay down.

 I like this one because she is looking at me, but not as clear as the others.

 Such a goofy girl, even when not a 100%.

 Silly again...

Going to the chapel....

and you're gonna get married...

My sister, Alison, and her fiance, Brad, are going to be married on April 7th.  Very exciting time for all of us and how much fun, a wedding!!  Tim, Addy, and I are all in the wedding so we are definitely in the thick of things.  My role: matron of honor.  While it is truly an honor to be next to my sister when she takes this next big step in her life, it also comes with some responsibilities.  Lucky for me, some of them were taken care in just one day last weekend.

First up: Alison's Wedding Shower

My mom graciously let us use her house (again!) for the shower.  Maybe someday I will live in a house big enough to hold such events, but for now my mom's house is perfect.  Huge room, lots of light, and she has all sorts of party supplies just waiting to be used (such as bags of pens for games, containers for the silverware, punch bowls, etc).

The shower was a success, thanks to Megan who did the food, Shelly who did the drinks, and Mandy who did the games.

 

A wedding shower is no fun if you have a boring group of women.  No problem here!  We had a great group of women (with a couple of young men). Alison (& I) are so lucky to be surrounded with such great people.

 Mandy & Caitlin

 

Judy, Shelly, Anna (w/Ryan), and Julie

 

Aunt Sandy, Kathy, & Sarah

 

Lisa & Mom

 

Lindsay & Aunt Carol

 

Aunt Pam, Cyndy, & Renee

 Devon, Sue, DC (w/Jameson) & Megan

Alison & her bridesmaids

  Erica, Alison, & Kristen

Overall, I think everyone had a great time.  Yay, success!! 

Next event: Alison's Bachelorette Party
Alison did not want anything "crazy" for her bachelorette, so we decided wine tasting in Temecula would have all of the necessary elements (girls, drinking, food) of a bachelorette without the "crazy". We went to three wineries and had dinner afterwards.

Renee had a great idea to take pictures using a mirror.  I just don't think I executed it correctly.

 Red wine & dark chocolate...the best!

Cousins!  We have the best cousins.

 A picture with our favorite bartender (?), Casey @ Keyways

 

 Sisters!

 Whole group photo

 Beautiful end to wine tasting...on to dinner!

 Jordyn even came down from LA (where she was working) to surprise Alison

Again, another success!!  The wine was good, the food was good, and the company even better!  

Now on to the big day when we are all back together!  Congratulations Alison!  Love you!!

Life has changed....

Addy's second birthday is in just over a week and this morning I was thinking about how much my life has changed over the last two years.  Some things have changed gradually, others in a more drastic way, but overall my life is better because I am Addy's mom. 

I never thought this would happen, but I have stopped buying clothes for myself.  No worries, I still buy lots of clothes, they are just not for me, they are for Addy.  My clothes obsession has switched from buying clothes for myself to buying clothes for my daughter.  Shoot, I cannot seem to even remember to buy myself black socks.  This means I resort to wearing Halloween socks, even when it is not Halloween season.

Getting ready to leave also takes a lot longer.  I used to think this was because I had to get Addy ready too, but I have decided it takes me longer to get ready.  Wonder why?  That is because I often have a little girl in the bathroom with me...competing for counter and mirror space.  Or she is playing in the cabinet beneath me and I am trying to figure out how to maneuver so I do not hurt her.

And shower time is no longer all about me.  If I am in the shower, there is usually a little person in the shower with me.  She is pretty cute too.

However my life has changed, it has been a great ride.  Addy has taught me so much about myself, love, and life.  She has forced me to figure out what is important and how to prioritize.  And know what?  I would not trade it for the world. 

Thank you Adelyn Kay for choosing me to be your mommy!  I am so lucky to have you in my life!

Busy...

I know it is a cliche to say it, but life has been busy around here.  Birthday parties, wedding showers, bachelorette parties, putting our townhome up for sale (yup, can you believe it??), Tim's days off switching, and just life in general.  Things seem to move so much faster with toddler in tow.  Maybe it is because she is faster? 
Despite life being busy, I decided (with they help of a Living Social deal) to take an online photography course.  I have wanted to work on my photography for awhile and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.  Even better, the class I am taking is focused on parents who want to photograph their children.  It is called Photosanity and is all about keeping your sanity while taking pictures of your kids.  Perfect, right?
Our first assignment was to start a photograph a day project (aka 365 Project).  Thankfully our instructor already had a program lined up to keep our pictures organized and told us it was absolutely okay to use our iPhones for photos.  If you would like to see how I have done up to today, you can see my calendar here: My Photo Calendar.
This week I need to take a couple of photos of Addy displaying emotion.  While it is not always hard to get emotion out of Addy, it is hard to have my camera handy all of the time.  Especially when I need to be practicing with my good camera.  So, I took Addy to the park today to see what I could get.  Here are a couple of samples.  Do you think any of them display emotion??

I think some of them work for the assignment, but I am going to keep working while the week keeps going. :-)