Amelia's Big Girl Room and the New Nursery

As we begin to prepare for our newest member of the family, it was time to organize the rooming situation.  We have a 3 bedroom house and Martin and I both felt that the baby needed her own room at least until she gets old enough to sleep in a regular bed.  This meant we had to move Amelia's crib and "baby" furniture into the new baby's room and upgrade Amelia's room to "Big Girl" status.  I loved this!  We bought her a new twin bed and some new furniture.  And Martin spent a whole weekend painting her room a beautiful raspberry pink!  Our goal was to make it very special for Amelia so she wouldn't feel as if we were taking something from her to give to the baby.  So we moved Amelia temporarily into the baby's room while we made the upgrades.  Then we did a great unveiling (I'll post to YouTube soon).  She walked in and said "Wow!".  She loved that it is her favorite color and she got a new "big girl" bed.  I'm still in the process of decorating it and putting some finishing touches on the wall, but here is a cute photo of her in her new room.

Super Cheese!

With her Lulu

We're still working on getting her to clean up her toys

Christmas 2011

As expected, Christmas this year did not disappoint.  I really want to enjoy these younger years with Amelia when everything is exciting and awesome.  It's the teenage years I dread when there is disappoint for not getting exactly what you wanted.  But we have some time before that.  Amelia is almost 2 and a half now and she is so incredibly smart and funny.  We didn't go overboard with gifts but we did get her a few things we knew she'd love.  First, we bought her an early Christmas present in November - the trampoline.  A huge hit!  The rest that fit under the tree were dolls, toys, games and fun clothes.  She was most excited about the Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody dolls (Toy Story movie) that Mimi and Papa got for her.  But some of the other big hits included her dress up clothes - a lady bug costume and princess/cowgirl outfit.  And she got some pretty awesome scary plastic bugs from Grandma and Grandpa Turner.  Honestly she loved everything and that was the best part.  Hearing her say "Wow!" with each opening.  We spent the holiday with my family in Houston since I am now unable to travel.  35 weeks pregnant and counting!


Here are some great photos to enjoy!

We got a great Santa photo this year!

Just a funny hair photo!  She woke up looking like Snooky!

With Uncle Ray

The reason I love family - so many people and so much food!

Our little family

Opening some gifts on Christmas Eve

Christmas morning jammies!  Thank you Tia Norma!

Bug the Reindeer

Lovin' some legos she got from Santa

Little Lady Bug.  Notice the bunny slippers:)

Opening her Sheriff Woody and Buzz Lightyear presents

Playing doctor on a very pregnant mommy

My little cowgirl / princess!

The mess that follows a wonderful Christmas!

Yo Gabba Gabba - 2011

We made our 2nd annual trip to see Yo Gabba Gabba live!  This time we had to make a road trip to Houston so we could be with our Brat Pack friends (Jack, Ava, Saoirse, Jude, Gunner & Ruby).  Next year we may have to consider seeing it closer to home but it was still worth the trip.  And as expected Amelia was in awe from start to finish.  She loved seeing all of the characters and hearing the music.  We had a great time and the only draw back was the never ending Gabba songs in my head throughout the night and in my dreams.  It just wouldn't stop!  But, Amelia had fun and that's all we wanted.

Laura & Jack

"Look at my Gabba shirt!"

Gabba crew

Entranced...

The Gilbrides

Ruby, Jude, Gunner, Saoirse & Amelia

(I had to promise a lollipop to Amelia to get her to take this photo)

Heading home

A Turner Thanksgiving

I always get in a little over my head on projects.  This Thanksgiving was no exception.  We decided to invite the Turner family (Martin's parents and sister with her husband and daughter) to stay with us for a week and enjoy Thanksgiving in our new Austin home.  I grew up with tons of people always around, especially at holiday time, so this was not a new situation for me.  It did, however, remind me how small our house really is.  6 adults, 2 toddlers and 2 dogs...  All in all, it went well and everyone got along without any casualties.  And to make it a memorable and special Thanksgiving, I wanted to cook the entire meal.  I've never made a full Thanksgiving dinner by myself so I was excited and eager to give it a shot.  This was my moment to start my own family's yearly traditions and I wanted to make it wonderful.  The menu included: Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, fennel with garlic, green beans with almonds, sweet potatoes, cranberry relish, dinner rolls, pecan pie, pumpkin pie and apple pie.  And I did it all from scratch including my pie crusts!  I did buy my rolls but I think that's acceptable.  The dinner was fantastic!  My turkey was a bit dry but still delicious.  The dishes that got the most compliments included the sweet potatoes, pecan pie, gravy and cranberries.  I have to admit, I was completely impressed with myself.  I love entertaining and this meal put my skills to the test.  Still, I missed my mom's cooking.  Nothing I did can compare to what she can do and I missed my family immensely.  But it was so awesome to have my in laws here and especially to have the little cousins together - Amelia and Tildyn.


Here are some photos from that week.

Cousin T & Amelia having fun!

Taking a walk with Grandma Leelee

Riding the Zilker Zephyr

Hugs!

Horns Thanksgiving

Looks good, right?

Back to normal.... sort of

I am happy to report that we are back at home and trying to get back to some normalcy.  Thank you to everyone for all of your prayers, well wishes and thoughts.  We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family!

The verdict on Amelia's illness: a virus.  Not exactly the most definitive answer but it is better than getting a really bad diagnosis.  All of her labs came back normal with the exception of two that indicated inflammation somewhere in her body but they were "non-specific" so it didn't give us much to go on.  In the end it's just a virus and she's better now.  We will be doing some follow-up with a specialist so we can monitor any other viruses that may occur in the near future.  But for now, we are trying to get back to a normal routine.  Unfortunately, Miss Amelia has taken a strong liking to having our undivided attention and having us bow to her every need.  And to endless amounts of t.v.  She got a rude awakening this week when we told her no more t.v.!  You would have thought the world was coming to an end.  She has been very clingy to mommy and keeps asking to sleep in my bed.  But we run a tight ship around here (not really) and we didn't give in.  She's back to sleeping in her bed which have converted into a daybed from a crib.  Now she can climb in and out as she pleases and she seems to like it a lot.  Today was her first day back to daycare and that didn't go as well as I had hoped.  She didn't want me to leave and I ended up having to pick her up early because they called saying she couldn't be consoled after her nap.  I think it will take some time to get her back to a completely normal routine.  There are some indicators, however that she is back to normal.  She started bossing us around right away and she is very demanding.  Once those traits popped up we knew she was on the mend. 

Remember that I mentioned she watched Toy Story over and over again in the hospital?  Well some of the lines from the movie have stuck with her.  Yesterday, I took her to Chic-fil-a for lunch and she yelled at me in the restaurant "YOU ARE A TOY!!!!!".  The people around us were laughing so hard and I couldn't help but laughing also.  Then last night, she came running out of her room, ran up to me while I was cleaning the kitchen and said "You wanna piece of me?".  It was the funniest thing and Martin and I were dying laughing.  She then kept repeating it me all night.  I think that line is from Toy Story also, but I'm not sure.  I should know the entire script, but I can't be sure. 

And not to leave out our newest Baby Turner that is still in the womb... Our baby girl is doing great!  I am 29 weeks now and feel pretty good.  I'm starting to get a little uncomfortable but no big complaints.  She moves around quite a bit which I love.  Amelia is warming up to the idea of a baby sister and likes to talk about her at school.  And if you ask Amelia, she'll tell you the name of her sister even though we've been trying to keep it a secret.  Goes to show, you can't trust a 2 year old with valuable information!