Life in Denver

Well there hasn't been much to blog about lately because there really isn't a whole lot going on- which is actually a good and a bad thing. We are enjoying the slow pace of life. Denver still does not feel like home. It is hard to mentally accept the fact that this is home right now. Drake and I (I think Olivia too) have been mourning our losses. We are starting to pull out of it though. Trying to establish a life here but it will take a while. I am going to continue to stay home with Olivia, the job situation here is not so great. Not only with these economic times but also- in a big city my bachelors degree doesn't get me much in terms of job choices or pay. Oddly enough daycare is much more expensive here. I had hoped to find a part time job like I had in Asheville but that hasn't happened. Either way it is probably better for me to stay home a while longer as Drake has very stressful days at work.

I do love being with Olivia all day every day. She is really starting to change. The first 2 months here, she was not herself. I was actually researching illnesses on the Internet because she wasn't laughing or smiling much, more ornery and sullen, and extremely difficult. Well after about 5 weeks I finally took her to a doctor. She had no fever but had some runny nose episodes. I was worried but there were no symptoms. Well the doctor looks in her ears and says she has a double ear infection. UNBELIEVABLE. No ear pulling/fever/sleep problems you usually have with ear infections. A few days on the antibiotic and she was a new girl. Since then she has been really changing. She is starting to become a real ham- she loves to make us laugh and she is really getting good at playing on her own too. Although not for too long because she loves an audience. She is really good at puzzles and she is back into her books in a big way. She had sot of gotten out of books for a while but now, she brings books to me all day long. If she had someone to read to her non stop all day she would be in heaven! She is trying to talk a lot. She talks constantly although we can't understand much of it.Her words consist of "ayla" for our dog Hayla, Daddy, Mommy, wow, uh-oh. She can also make a variety of animal sounds. She understands a lot more now too. We can say "eat" "milk" "water" "outside" "shoes" "puzzles" and she knows exactly what we mean. She is amazing and so much fun. She and I have our daily routine. We have a nice breakfast together, we go to the YMCA every morning, then come home have lunch and story/puzzle time. Then it is time for milk then nap. After that we usually go outside, either to the park or just for a walk. She has a scooter she likes to zoom around on. Then we come home and she watches Sesame Street while I get dinner ready. Then Drake comes home. She loves her daddy! Well that's about it. We miss everyone so much!

What would a fowlplay post be without some pics of Olivia- I haven't taken much in the last month but I am getting better.