17 Months

My little baby has been sick so much this winter! I feel like she never catches a break. Last Sunday morning Andrew changed her diaper and noticed what we thought was blood in her diaper. I called the doctor, and they wanted me to bring her in, so off we went to Shoals Peds for our weekly trip. ;) My totally super awesome mom volunteered to go with me because weekends at the doctor can be a huge headache. Since Andrew is the worship leader at church, it is not so easy for him to not show up so last minute like that. They had to get a urine sample from Audrey which involved putting a bag over her "tu-tu" so she would tee-tee in it. We did everything we could to get her to drink her sippy cup so she would tee-tee. The nurse even went and got us a Pedialyte drink mix to put in her sippy cup full of water so she might like the taste better. That didn't work so we put her in the sink with running water to try and get her to go to the bathroom. No success. My mom finally had the brilliant idea to let her walk around the exam room naked and maybe then she would go. If you let her loose naked at home, she will likely tee-tee in the floor. So we put shoes on her and let her go. It was so funny! But within a minute, she went to the bathroom. Thank goodness! Otherwise, they were going to have to cath her. Not fun.

We saw the doctor after that, and he said her culture was questionable. He wasn't sure yet if she had a bladder infection or not. We would have to wait until Monday to find out. In the meantime, he looked her over and found that she had tonsillitis. Who knew? We go in for one thing, and realize she had something else. Bless her little bones. He showed me her throat and I could see all the white puss sitting in the back of her throat. She had gotten up 3 times the night before crying, which is really really unusual for her. I guess her throat was hurting. So we got an antibiotic and headed to the pharmacy. (Also, no bladder infection.)

Wednesday evening Audrey started acting very lethargic and just not her usual perky self. I took her temperature and it was 102.3. :( Called the doctor the next morning and they said to bring her in before the weekend so she could be checked out. Since she was already on an antibiotic, they said I could wait until Friday - which is my off day. Mom was able to go with me again Friday morning. They did blood work and a flu test. Everything looked great. Doctor said she has bronchitis. (Also since Wednesday she had developed a really bad cough.) She has had fever on and off since Wednesday evening, but thankfully she has been fever free for 24 hours as off tonight. Yay! Before we left the doctor's office they made us do a breathing treatment on Audrey. Wow, traumatic! Audrey did not like that. She was so scared of it. I definitely could not have done all that by myself! That night (Friday) she had fever again - I think 101.?. I found her laying down on the hardwood floor watching tv. She never lays down unless she is asleep. I feel so bad for her. She is such a little trooper.

I asked her doctor if this was normal for her to be sick so much. Audrey stays home most days. We go on 1-2 errands a week probably, and she hasn't been in the church nursery in a month. He said this was very normal - that it is her age. He said we would probably come to the doctor a little less next year and probably not much at all the next. That is encouraging. We are ready for spring time!!!!!!!!

New things Audrey is doing...
When you ask Audrey, "Where are your eyes?", she will blink at you.
"Where is your nose?", she will scrunch up her nose and blow in and out really fast. SOOO funny!
"Where is your belly button?", she will pull up her shirt and point to her belly button. She will also show you where your belly button is if you ask her.
"Where are your socks/shoes?", she will show you - or she will try to put her socks on herself. She will be one happy girl when she can finally put her socks on herself.
"Where is the moon?", she will point up. Andrew likes to show her the moon at night.
"Are you hungry?", she will usually run to the refrigerator. I also know when she does that she is usually hungry or thirsty.
"Blow me a kiss", she will put both her hands to her mouth and say "Mmmm-ahhh" - with her hands still at her mouth. So cute!


The other day I could not find my phone. I knew Audrey had been playing with it and I figured she had left it hiding somewhere. I asked her where Mommy's phone was. I left my bedroom and walked down the hall only to find her walking toward me with the phone in her hand. She had the phone in her hand stretched out towards me like, "Here it is!". She is one smart little booger!

She is not really saying any words right now. Every now and then she will say "Hi" or "Bye", but that is about all. She speaks in her own little language. Her favorite "words" are "Uhhhh!" and "Gah!". Sometimes she will say "Dah!" and I think she is referring to Andrew. But I will never forget the three precious moments I had with her pointing at me and saying "Mama". Um, did she forget??? She did that three times within a couple of weeks. And Andrew was there one of the times, so I promise I am not making it up. ;) Jealous? heehee.

It has been three weeks now since I have started back to work. I am actually really enjoying it. I don't like being away from Audrey - would still much prefer to be home with her all the time - but the work itself has been enjoyable. I am learning so much. I am so thankful for a wonderful boss and co-worker. It is such a blessing to work in a positive, uplifting atmosphere. I will only be working tax season unless my boss needs me to stay longer, but for now the work is for tax season only.

I forgot about my birthday! I turned 25 since my last blog post. ;) It was a really fun day. Thankfully I was off work that day and got to spend it with Audrey. Andrew also only went to school a half day, so we had a nice family day at home. That night me and Andrew went to eat at my most favorite restaurant - Wing Shack - and then went to see War Horse. (Good movie, but I wouldn't just rave about it. I'm not a horse person.) Also, Wing Shack is the best place to eat ever so I was really excited.

Me and my baby on my birthday. :)

One of Audrey's new favorite things is peanut butter.

This past week, I let Audrey play in my make up one morning before work. She often gets fussy and begs for my attention as I am trying to finish getting ready for work. I decided to let her play in my makeup so I could have another 5-10 min to finish. Oh me, she had a BLAST! She lovesssss my makeup. :) Can you tell??

What a little sweetie. I love her so much! Praying she gets to feeling better soon. I hate to see her sick.

Night night, Chicken. Mommy loves you. Always.