Pneumonia

I have had absolutely no experience with pneumonia at all. I have never known anyone to get it and the worst sickness I ever had as a child was the chicken pox.
Then my baby gets pneumonia! What the heck?!
She has had a cough for a couple of weeks (like a month and a half) and when we took her to the pediatrician they told us it wasn't anything to worry about and was probably just allergies because she did not have any other symptoms. I really don't blame them (Dan does lol) except that then on Sunday... Tori woke up from her nap with a 101.3 degree fever and her cough still going strong.. I call the after hours doctor who told me just to give her Tylenol and wait to bring her into the doctors office on Monday. I am really glad Dan and I ended up trusting our intuition (her breathing seemed heavy) and we went forward with heading to a patient first.
She had to get chest x-rays, a shot, weighed, they listened to her lungs.. poor thing, that is a list of pretty much everything she hates. Hates sitting. Hates the doctor. Hates the doctor touching her. Hates them listening to her chest. Hates shots.
They said it was pneumonia and if we wanted we could take her to the ER. The doctor there said he wouldn't take her there if it was his child as he didn't think they would do anything for her that he didn't already do and she seemed to react well to the shot (no reaction or anything) so to move her into our bedroom for the night and monitor her breathing overnight and if at any time it seemed worse, head to the ER immediately.
Waking up every 1-2 hours is not fun but very luckily, Tori was breathing fine and it did make Dan and I feel better to have her in our room.
Come Monday Tori was a completely different child. She was eating, playing, running, laughing.. being her normal, silly little self again. The shot and her 10 day antibiotic seem to be working. Today she seems good too and doesn't have a fever. We are heading to a new pediatrician office today to do a follow up/make sure the pneumonia is clearing up. We have been in the house since Sunday (and probably will until tomorrow)... the dr said she should be better within 5-7 days and her meds are to be taken daily for 10 days.
I am excited to hopefully get good news today and be able to get my baby some fresh air tomorrow.
Life seems to freeze when your child is sick. It was very hard seeing her like that. Thank you to everyone who has prayed, texted, called, etc. We appreciate it!

Daniel Tiger

So the past 3 weeks we have been introduced to a new love in Tori's life: Daniel Tiger. I don't know how it happened. I cannot remember what specifically would have made me turn it on, but I did.. and Tori liked it. A lot.
Dan and I had been trying our best to not introduce Tori to the world of TV and then we got an intense reality check when Tori turned 18 months old and it was game on as far as her getting into everything she could get her little hands on.
Mommy answer emails? No. Mommy make lunch? No. Mommy vacuum? No.
What on earth am I going to do if I literally cant take my eyes off of her for one second?
Ill tell you what I am going to do, I am going to turn on Daniel Tiger.
Tori will have an hour a day where she watches Daniel Tiger while mommy writes in her blog, replies to work emails, washes the dishes loads the dishwasher, does laundry or shocker, does her hair and makeup. And you know what? I am not going to feel bad about it.
For this next portion of the blog... I will prove why "Im not going to feel bad about it" while explaining my thought process and totally justifying myself. Ok, so maybe I do feel bad about it?
-Daniel Tiger has a great message. Different episodes have featured a different feeling or situation and it tries to explain to kids while its ok to have certain feelings(jealousy, sadness, etc) but how to control their emotions and feel better about them. As for situations, there's an episode featuring being sick, getting left out of a game, etc.
-Cutest songs ever. Seriously, Daniel Tigers voice is just adorable so it doesn't totally drive me nuts while its on.
-Tori sits completely still and watches. She will pick her little spot on the couch and not move until the show is over.
-She will point to the tv and ask "please"... so I mean, shes practicing manners, right?
-She gets SO excited when she sees Netflix is coming on because that means Daniel Tiger will be on. It is SO cute. She giggles and bounces and points.

Anything to make my girl happy... and for mommy to keep a little sanity. 

 

Why I love fall

I like to make lists. This list: why I love fall. I woke up this morning and was feeling as happy as ever as I looked downstairs and the house was nice and bright from the sun, made me feel more energized and excited about starting my day. So here it is friends...

-The brightness in the morning. Since our dining area and living room are connected with no walls between, the sun shines into the windows and the whole first floor looks beautiful and bright. It makes starting the morning so much better.
-Annual apple picking. The people I love most in the world are my family. Spending the day with my daughter, niece, SIL, mom (and anyone else that can join us) is just the best.
-Pumpkins. They say a couple of things to me: they say my favorite flavor anything (coffee creamer, pumpkin rolls, pumpkin chili, etc). They say fall. They say Halloween.
-The colors. Red, orange and yellow. If there is something I need to use color for and it cant just be gray (lol) then it is one of the above mentioned colors. I love how bright they are. I love how they also come in gorgeous shades of dark. I love that the backyard trees are painted in these colors.
-Cool mornings. I LOVE walking out of the front door and the rush of cool air hitting you. The air is the most fresh in the fall!
-Pumpkin patches. I love doing things with my girl. "Having experiences" as I like to say.
-Warm pajamas. My Tori in a warm pair of jammies... OMG. Sooo cozy and I just cant stop cuddling and kissing her and holding her. Much to her dismay Im sure.
-Sweatpants and hoodies....just because.
-Halloween. I LOVE themes so being able to have Halloween parties and dress up is so fun. Decorating, dressing up, drinks with my friends.. love.
-Trick or Treating. Last year other than being told that "your little boy is so cute" the night was so fun. I dressed as a cat which Isabella loved and got to put my little baby pumpkin in her carrier and walk around with her. So cute. This year she will be walking around all by herself which I am so excited for. She is either dressing as a witch or possibly Minnie Mouse, the neighbor still had her daughters Halloween costume from this age so I am going to see which head piece she is the most likely to keep on.
-Bon Fires. Smores. Closeness. Warmness.
-Fairs. Waffle ice cream sandwiches. Funnel cake. Corn dogs. People watching.
-Fall hair colors- the deep browns, purples, reds... gorg!
-The Walking Dead.
-Rum and apple cider. If you haven't done it, do it. Warm the cider on the stove for awhile... add your room temperate rum to your mug... top off with hot cider. Enjoy.
-Nissley's Spicy Red wine- Again, warm on stove, pour in mug, enjoy.
-Leggings. Yes, I love leggings enough to specifically point them out. Comfy, stretchy, you can dress them up or down. They're cheap.
-All other fall wardrobe items: sweaters, scarves, boots, etc.
-Football: Mostly for the football parties. Go Eagles!

What are some of your favorite things about fall?

2nd Annual Apple picking

One of my favorite days of the Fall season is apple picking with my family. This year it was me, Tori, Summer, Iz and my mom. They drove up to my place around 8am and we had breakfast together which was so fun. Tori was very surprised and excited to see her Nonna, Aunt Sum and Izzy show up at her front door bright and early. The girl loves visitors. The excitement that comes with hearing a knock on the door is hilarious. So we had eggs, donuts and coffee... the girls played, we got them ready and then off we went on the 18 minute road trip to the orchards.
We went to Cherry Hill Orchards (like we did last year) and of course did not have an apple picking plan (just like last year). Let me rephrase that: I knew I wanted Gala apples for baking, I just didn't know what I wanted to bake and I did not have a Plan B when the old timer working told me that they were just about out of those.
So we just went HAM on any apples we found. If it was low enough for Izzy and Victoria to pick, we picked it. If it was laying on the floor, rotten and smashed, my child picked it. That Victoria does not discriminate or leave any apple behind. Then my girl found a ladder. She LOVES to climb right now, she is a monkey. Climb on chairs, climb up the steps... and now: a ladder. Coolest thing to climb on ever. Then it was a fight to get her down and redirect her attention back to our original plan which was apples.
Christine and the kiddos ended up joining which was nice and also went as you would expect: kids pick apples for a few minutes.. kids get bored of picking apples.. grown ups distract kids so grown ups can talk and spend time with each other... kids win and we move onto the Cherry Orchard store which ended (very quickly as tantrums arose) with a pumpkin, cherry cider (so good) and chocolate covered coffee beans (just because).
All in all it was a fun day, I love spending time with my girls and I hope this is something we all do every year until our kids finally get sick of us wanting to do it.

The York Fair when you are born and raised in York

I don't always admit it to people I meet. There is a certain stigma that comes with saying you were born and raised "over the bridge". At least in Lancaster there is.
But for those who know... and who were born there themselves.. you know what I mean when I say there are certain York traditions that everyone knows about and grew up doing and one of those major things in every York County kid's life is the York Fair.
I don't know if I have ever missed it in my 27 years of life and I am not kidding. My mom is a York county girl born and raised so she always went too which is why I know I have been going since I was a baby.
However, my earliest memory of the York Fair surprisingly was not from that long ago. I don't know if I blocked out a lot of the memories because of the carnies... or because of the eating so much that I gained 5lbs in a day... or from the scars of thinking about how much I cared about what I wore to the fair but either way, I blocked it out and I can only clearly remember from the age of 14 on.
When you are in high school in York and its York fair week, its the best week ever. There is a half day at school on student day and EVERYONE goes to the fair on student day. You actually ride the bus home with your best friend... eat lunch at their house and start getting ready. You will change your outfit. You will do your hair. Freshen up the makeup. And then you will all put your AIM away message up to say "At the fair with ______! Hit us up!" hahahaha. Omg AIM away messages. How old is that?!
So, this is what I remember: Im 14.. I go home on the bus with my bff (at the time. We will call her Buffy because that's what I used to call her, she knows who she is but I am not sure everyone will think of her). We walk in the front door and her mom is sitting on the couch, watching the news and crying. She starts telling us that there was a plane that hit the world trade centers and a lot of people died... she was really upset and we were 14. So to us, this pretty much went through our head as a "well that sucks" ... and now lets start getting ready for the fair. Ugh to be 14 and your biggest worry be your outfit. Those selfish, selfish days. I don't remember anything else about the fair that day except for occasionally looking in the air for airplanes because I am paranoid and if terrorists were hitting the world trade centers in new York then obviously the York fair was going to be their next stop. I am sure I ate a lot of crap. I am sure Buffy and I saw some girls we didn't like... and followed around some guys that we did.
Even if you don't like fair food (which I have yet to meet a person who doesn't)... you would still go to the York fair a couple of times if you are from York. You get to people watch all the weirdos that come(the fair attracts them)... you get to bump into people that you wouldn't.. oh wait, nevermind you are still in high school and you will see those people tomorrow.. ok, point being: you will always go to the fair.

My choice food for the fair:
-A waffle and ice cream sandwich -A corndog -Funnel cake -Fried vegetables -Orangeade

I LOVE fair food. I love people watching. I love walking. I love to have a reason to change out of workout clothes.

I took Tori yesterday (her technically third time being there if we count while she was doing back flips in my belly)... she went last year but was 6 months old so other than being fed by her uncle Travy and looking REALLY cute in a pair of sunglasses she didn't do anything. This year however was MUCH better. She LOVES animals so she had a lot of fun getting to look at the cows, goats, sheep, etc. She is seriously not even sort of phased by their size or smell. If I would have let her she would have gone right up and played with them. Ducks and chickens on the other hand, she was not a fan. They made noises that freaked her out and she kept saying "noo" whenever they made a noise and would cling onto me for dear life lol. She went down a huge slide with her Nonna which I think she was indifferent to at 18 months old. She ate lots of junk and was scared of the noise the roller coaster made. All in all, it was a great day with my mom and Tori. Tori fell asleep on the car ride home and was in bed by 7:15 haha.

 2012: Fair with the family. I was about 10-12 weeks pregnant. No rides with my Izzy that year.

 

 

York Fair 2013 with Aunt Mer and Uncle Travy:

 

 

York Fair 2014: Mommy, Tori and Nonna:

 

 

 

18 months

My baby girl is 18 months old. A year and a half. My toddler. AHHHHH.

At 18 months:

-Says a ton of words... "uh oh" "mommy" "daddy" "nonna" "no" "all done" "snack" "more" "help" "hot" "please" "hi" "bye"... she is even putting two words together... "bye dad" "more please"
-She is a monkey. CLIMBS on anything and everything.
-She does things she is not supposed to do... ON PURPOSE. Like looks right at you and waits for your reaction sort of thing.
-She only regularly gets one bottle right now. Her nap bottle (bedtime bottle is super occasional)
-Has a TON of teeth. The poor girl only had two by her first birthday and now they are coming in like crazy.. even 2 premolars. So I think total that are in are 6... and then there are 4 others that have just popped through but are not completely out yet. I will miss her gummy smile.
-She loves to brush her teeth
-She is obsessed with water. Dukes Lagoon at Dutch wonderland = her favorite place ever. She LOVES bath time... when I tell her its time for a bath she runs right to the stairs and points up the steps for the bathroom.
-She loves to be outside. Out back is always the go-to when we need help turning her attitude around lol
-She is a great sleeper. Sleeps from 8pm-7am every day and naps from about 11-1:30.
-She is really into giving hugs and kisses right now which I love more than anything in the world. They are awesome hugs where her little arms are wrapped the whole way around your neck and she squeezes. She especially loves to hug mommy and her cousins (Izzy and Sami).

There is a ton more about Tori at this age I could write but I know I would still miss a ton anyways. I am loving this age. We are having so much fun with her and somehow I fall more and more in love with her everyday. She is so beautiful, so sweet and so funny.