Just catching up with Life

Well life certainly seems to ebb and flow. Itseems it was only a few weeks ago that I wrote about how slow and quiet life is.... then it got very crazy for a little while (hence-no blogging). First we had my Dad visit us at the end of March which was so awesome. It let me get a few things done, Drake and I get out alone and most of all brought some much needed company for me.It really boosted my mood to have you here Dad. Unfortunately I don't have very many pics of Olivia and my Dad together. WE had so much fun, I often just didn't think to pull out the camera. These are a few shots that I got though, as this was how Dad spent most of his time here: reading to Olivia!





While my Dad was here I interviewed for a job with Namaste Hospice here in Denver. It was for a night time on call Social work position. Perfect for me to continue to stay at home with Liv but also to make some much needed income (its a tough economy right now-covering some of the mortgage in Asheville and paying high rent in Denver). Anyway- I GOT THE JOB!!! So exciting. Only it meant that I had to attend 2 weeks of orientation and training during the day. I got a taste of working full time and being a Mom in the last few weeks and it was HECTIC! I like working outside the home a little bit but with botyh of us working full time it lef just flew past us. I am so grateful we make the necessary sacrifices so one of us can always stay home most of the time with Olivia. We were fortunate to find some awesome ladies who do nannying to come to the house to watch Olivia in the mornings and Drake came home in the afternoons to watch Liv. We did have a big snow storm last week and Liv and I went out in the winter weather. She was not too sure of being outside with the snow falling so hard.







To top off the crazy time Olivia got pretty sick over Easter weekend and we ended up in the urgent care on easter sunday finding out she had pneumonia-poor little sweetie. Needless to say Easter was not so great. We did have an easter basket for her with some bath toys, a bubble maker and Grandma and Grandpa Hayes got her some easter gifts too. She also had an easter egg hunt in the house- each egg had a raisinette or an M&M in it. She had fun collecting the eggs in her basket and eating the candy. Most of the day was pretty crummy though. It ended with Drake and I trying to eat our roast dinner with some quiet- so we did what any bad parent would do- we put her in front of the TV with a few pieces of the chocolate bunny Grandma and Grandpa Hayes got her for easter. For 10 minutes we all enjoyed our easter...


Not feeling so good on easter morning

Mmmmmmm

On Saturday night Drake and I got to go out for a night on the town while my Dad watched Livie. We made the most of it! We left at 5 and didn't come home until 1 in the morning. We went downtown to get some enjoyment out of living in a big city. With a child we don;t get to do that too much. Anyway, we spent a couple of hours wandering around in stores and along Denver's 16th street mall, which is an awesome place. We went to dinner at this amazing italian resaurant. We spent more than we should have but it was worth it. We seldom eat out (i think twice since we have lived here)but when we have dinner is quick and sometimes a little stressful with a toddler. So we took our time (2.5 hours to be exact). After we went to a movie downtown and then headed home. It was such a great time. The next day we brought out our leftovers for lunch and gave Olivia some of the leftover shrimp linguiine(minus the shrimp because we already ate those) in white whine and butter sauce with tomatoes. This was probably the most expensive meal she has ever had and she enjoyed it, spending most of her time going "mmmmmmm".She had a lot of fun eating it as you can see....

fffisshhhhh!

We have yet another "word." Actually we have several more "words" that Olivia is mastering. But the other day we went to the Denver Aquarium and Olivia started saying ffisshhh, when she saw tank after tank of fish! She was in Heaven. We thought she might enjoy it as she really liked the aquarium portion of the zoo. We were right! My Dad is visiting right now and so we thought it would be a fun day to visit. Unlike the zoo, Olivia was out of her stroller the entire time going from one tank to the next, ooohhhhing and aaahhhing at everything. They even had a little section where you could touch little starfish and some other creatures. Olivia was a little young for that as she was interested in splashing the water and she wasn't interested in merely petting the creatures, she wanted to pick them up, which is a little frowned upon.

It didn't take as much time to get through as we thought it might but that ended up being a good thing because she was exhausted by the end. She fell asleep before we even got home and we only live about 5 minutes from the aquarium! It was a fun time. Olivia really makes life so much more full and beautiful. It is priceless to see her learning, growing and exploring. You see things in a completely different way and it is so rewarding as a parent to give her new experiences and opportunites. Life is so much more fun with Olivia in it.

After the Snow

The interesting thing about the weather around here is that you can get several feet of snow but in days it is nearly gone. The sun is so bright and the weather warms so quickly that for days afterward you have mini streams running down the street, off the top of your house and through your yard. We got so much snow that by Sunday we had all sorts of fun puddles and water dripping off the house. On our way back from the park, Olivia stopped at every puddle and pile of snow. It was warm enough that we didn't even need coats but here she was picking up snow! It is a pretty neat way to enjoy the snow. When we got back to the house she was playing with this puddle below a gutter and there was water pouring in a stream from the house. She loved it. I put aside my anxiety about her getting dirty and wet. She splashed in puddles, stood under the stream (briefly) and generally got soaking wet and dirty. She was one happy girl. In the house we stripped her clothes gave her a bath, lunch and dry clothing and she was asleep before we layed her in her crib for her nap.

SNOW!!!!

Well after being in Denver for almost 3 full months (can you believe it?)we haven't really had too much snow. In fact it is one of their least snowiest winters on record. The past two weeks it has been in the 60's and 70's with the beautiful Denver sun. While we have had some snow here and there, we haven't had any blizzards... until Thursday. It started in the morning and it wasn't even sticking to the road. You know how North Carolinians are.... the slightest mention of snow and everyone runs to the store and stocks up on Milk and bread. Well that must have come out in me because at 11:30 in the morning I had to make a run to the store. The snow was coming down but still the roads were just wet. 20 minutes later I leave and you can barely see in front of you it is falling so hard and the snow and ice is piling up on the road. I make it home and then an hour later Drake comes home on the train and it is an all out BLIZZARD. Drake went out to get the first bit shoveled and so we could let Olivia experience it. We put her in her warm stuff and in her boots that her Nana and Papa Fowler got her. She really liked it. She kept saying Ooooh and Wow and babbled non stop. She only lasted about 5-10 minutes, but that is pretty good for how cold it was. She did better than me- Most of the pictures were taken from the front door because I didn't want to venture out in the cold. I did end up going out briefly, mostly because she was so unbelievably cute with this first blizzard.







After we came in, Drake had some work to do from home, so he was on his phone and on the computer. Olivia climbed on her stool and used my phone to copy her Daddy. It was so cute. She kept babbling on the phone and imitating Drake.

The Zoo!

Yesterday we took Olivia to the Denver Zoo again. We went when we first moved here and we had been wanting to go again. We decided to go because it was a beautiful sunny, 75 degrees. I guess the rest of Denver decided to go to because it was crowded. We got annual passes so we can go anytime and so we could just do parts of it each time.It is such a huge place it is too much in one day for a 17 month old to handle. Olivia is really into animals right now. She can make the sound of a Lion, a Monkey and a Duck. She loves looking at any animal and really enjoys the nature shows on TV.

Anyway, she enjoyed the zoo just as much as last time, if not more. One of the highlights was the gorilla exhibit. We found this little niche separate from the bigger viewing areas that had hardly anybody in it and it happened to be right where the gorillas were. We got there in time for their feeding time which was right in front of our viewing window. Olivia was right in front for the whole thing and she loved it! She was babbling like crazy, although we had no idea what she was saying. She was pointing and staring. It was quite a thrill for her. She also really liked the underwater polar bear viewing. She was pretty enthralled not only with the Polar Bears but also with just looking at the water. The sun was shining causing all this cool rippling light and she kept saying "ooohhhh" and "wow." Even where there were no polar bears swimming. She spent most of the time on Drakes shoulders or in her stroller and at the end we let her loose to walk a bit, which she loved and then became much more interested in trying to climb into other peoples wagons that they were towing their kids in. She then preceded to stop and stare at a family, like they were an animal exhibit, as they ate their lunch on a bench. I assured them that she had actually eaten lunch herself just a few minutes earlier :) As much as she loves animals, she is a people person and is always so interested in observing other people. All in all it was a fun day and I am already planning to take Olivia there during the week sometime.

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.