Well, it has been over a month since I have posted and we are almost to New Years!!
We are still in PA and having a wonderful Christmas with Austin, Tiff and Colin (don't forget Jack and Nero, too!!). Been very busy, but very fun!!
Here are some snaps of Fiona over the last week or so here in PA - don't have my photo editing software here, so I haven't perfected them, but hey most of you were there :) LOL!!
Have a wonderful New Year!!
Nancy and Fiona
Hi everyone, it has been a while since I had posted our adventures. We have been super busy with our MOMS club, strollercising, craft days, etc.
We spent Thanksgiving with our friends Melissa (Mom) and Ellie (Fiona's little friend). Let me tell you, she went all out. Handmade everything we ate - creamed corn, cornbread and sausage stuffing, sweet potatoes, blueberry cream pie, pumpkin pie (she made it from real pumpkins not the canned stuff), coconut cream pie, banana cream pudding, home made cranberrys - the works!! It was sooooo good I stuffed myself absolutely silly. Her family is so nice and we really had such a great time.
NO shopping this year for us on black Friday - no way was I going to attempt it with Fiona - people are down right mean and rude those days. Besides we are going to do most of our shopping when we get home so we aren't lugging it from one coast to the other.
Well she is up from a nap, so I am going to get her. Missed everyone over Thanksgiving and we will see you in 23 days!!
Big news today folks, Fiona had her first feeding of solid foods!! I was the good Mommy and got pics and video - only to realize the video is mostly of my hand, LOL!! I will retry the video again tomorrow from a different angle, but enjoy what I did get... You can see how much she loved her rice cereal.
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Some pictures too for the scrapbook:
Hi all,
Fiona and I are beginning to count the days until we come home for Christmas!! Yay!!
Things here are going very well. Keeping busy - it is amazing how quickly the time goes when you have a baby to take care of.
So I just wanted to share a little something with you all - it is kinda silly but what the heck?? With all the talk on the news about global warming and such, and when I was cleaning out the pantry, I found that I have a gazillion plastic bags. Now I have always been very good about reusing them when going to a friends for a potluck or using them for cleaning out the litter box, but I still have a ton of them. And I do recycle them after I accumulate too many. But it got me to thinking, what a waste!! So yesterday I picked up some reusable grocery bags from my local grocery store. and I felt so good putting in all my groceries, and when I got home I just put the bags back in the car for the next time I go shopping. I know it is just a small thing, but I thought, hey it all starts with one person, and every little bit helps.
So I wanted to encourage you all to do the same. The bags are usually very resonable - about a $1. Make the investment and buy 5. They are quite roomy, I was surprised how much I could fit into my bag. They are also very sturdy and I could put heavier things and more of them in the bags and use less bags overall. That is a definite plus especially with the baby - less trips back and forth to the car to unload. And bring them into every store you go to...not just the grocery store. You may still need more bags, but again every little bit help.
Also, did you know that these plastic shopping bags are petroleum based?? With the price of oil going through the roof, this is one way to bring down our usage as well as help to keep the costs of our goods lower. In theory, if the merchants don't have to pay to provide bags for consumers that is one less cost they have to pass on to us.
So maybe the rest of you do this already - I know my friend, Lia, does because San Francisco has already banned the plastic shopping bag - and I may be a little behind the times, but I thought I would share my experience with you!!
Hi everyone,
Can you believe it is November already?? Thanksgiving is just around the corner and Christmas is not far behind. Fiona will be 6 months old on the 13th, can you believe it?? Time is flying which is good and bad. Good because Mike will be home with us before we know it. But bad because Fiona is getting too big too fast, and Mike misses it.
Speaking of Mike, I have talked to him a couple times this weekend. He is doing great. Keeping busy there helps him pass the time quickly. It sounds like he is enjoying the job there, too. Its hard to get feedback on him - he, of course, always wants to know what is up with Fiona.
Fiona got her second tooth last week, and I think some more are coming in...she has been a total crank today and not sleeping well. Paired with the constant chewing and sucking her bottom lip, I think it all points to more teeth. She really sits up quite well these days. It is amazing how quickly they learn to do things. She is just so adorable!! One of her fav things to do now is to grab your cheeks and bring you in for some slobbery lovin'!! She has this little growly voice that she is pretty into as well - got to catch it on video for you all.
I did manage to get out from behind the camera and take a picture of Fiona and I to share with everyone.Ok so we are a day late, but what fun would it be to say Happy Halloween without any video or pictures. Fiona and I had a great Halloween. We went to a friend's house in our neighborhood and went trick or treating with her son Xavier for about and hour. Fiona was not impressed, LOL!! She sat in her stroller and sucked her thumb and it took everything she had to stay awake. Xavier loved to go to the door and ring the doorbell, but never stuck around long enough for them to answer the door. I guess that was our trick!! It was fun for Fiona to experience her first Halloween. At our house though, we only had 4 trick or treaters - technically 2 groups of 2. Big bummer and I have a ton of candy left over!!!
But here is a quick slide show of Fiona in her Halloween costume and of her doing some trick or treating.
Finally calm is setting in, so it seems. The excitement of the MOMs club Harvest Party is over. Riley is at peace - no more trips back and forth to the vets office any more. Fiona and I are still busy, but not at the hectic pace we have been running for the last two weeks.
We did have some fun yesterday and go to the Scrapbook Expo in Ontario, CA with our friend Laurie, who I have managed to suck into the hobby, and she is as addicted as I am :) We had a ton of fun shopping and seeing lots of cool ideas and products. Today is the day we unpack all of our goodies and get scrapping tonight with all the cool new stuff!!
I did update the recent picture slide show with some more pictures of Fiona. That girl is just the cutest thing - I can't tell you how hard it is to narrow down the pictures!! If I didn't you be looking at thousands!!!
Her second bottom front tooth is almost out now. I can't believe how quickly they are coming in. Fiona's newest things are just opening her mouth wide - no sound just as wide as she can get it (you can see some of this in a couple of the pictures) and second is the buttlerfly swim kick she does when she is happy and excited. Check out the video below:
That's about all we have to report today. We have some Halloween activities planned this week and I want to do a Halloween costume photo shoot this week too.
We are getting really excited for the holidays, and can't wait to get home to see everyone!!
It is with a very sad, heavy and broken heart that I tell you we had Riley put to sleep this morning. Riley just wasn't bouncing back. She still hadn't eaten for over a week and couldn't even keep fluids down. We brought her home last night to see if that would help get her to eat and relax. But no such luck. She was still in a lot of pain, and by 7 this morning, I knew what we had to do.
I know now she won't be in any more pain and she is in a better place. But it still doesn't fill the empty place left in my heart for her.
Thank you to everyone for all the prayers and good thoughts, they kept her here with us a little longer and gave us our chance to say goodbye. She was such a good dog and she was so loved, and she will live on forever in our hearts.
Today was recovery day for Fiona and I. We needed it.
First things first though, we went to visit Riley this morning. She is doing ok - had a bit of a fever yesterday, but her fever was down as of this morning. But the biggest concern is that fact that she still hasn't eaten yet. The last time she ate was about a week ago, and that is not a good sign. Riley was pretty mopey and looked so sad. She has one of those crazy cone collars to keep her from chewing at her IV and drain. I was talking to one of the techs there and asked if they left the collar on when they fed her. They were, and I suggested they take it off when they fed her. The last time she had one on for her surgery she wouldn't eat, so maybe it is as simple as removing the collar to get her to eat. Lets pray for that.
We then went to church - we had lots of thankful prayers to say.
Came home after that and just chilled. The wind was crazy today - gusts over 50mph. So it was definitely an inside day. Not much else to report...
Tuesday, my friend Jana and her fiance, Tom, are coming to visit for the day. Can't wait to see them!!
But we'll be visiting Riley again tomorrow, and I try and post another update.
OH - the other big news - cousin Colleen had a baby girl, Mairin - love that name!!! and I got some pictures and she is just sooooo cute! Congrats to the O'Connor clan! So that is 4 girls in 5 months! Girls rule this year!!
Well, today was sooo much fun - a little chaotic, but a lot of fun. We ended up with about 70 people total coming to the Harvest Party today for our Moms Club. What a blast to see all the kids painting pumpkins, making spiders and otherwise just having a great time running around in the backyard!! I am totaly pooped, and thank goodness, Fiona is already in bed. I am not far behind.
And the other great thing...Fiona has her first tooth!!! I was trying to get her down for a nap and as usual she was chompin' on my fingers and I noticed something kind of sharp...I thought oh no what does she have in her mouth??? But when I looked it was her first little tooth just starting to creep up out of her gums. It is on her lower right side front tooth.
I can't believe how big she is getting. She now "worms" (as I like to call it) around the floor now. Since she hates to be on her stomach she lays on her back, then arches it up and then pushes with her feet. She is getting pretty quick with it too - the other day I laid her down on her little play mat, and started emptying the dishwasher, I peek over and couldn't see her. Here she wormed her way off the mat to in front of the entertainment center and was watching the TV all arched up and looking at the TV upside down - where is my camera for these moments??? Thats like halfway across the room.
Well off to grab a quick bite and little R&R in the bath tub and then to bed!!
Have a good night all!!
Riley seems a thousand time better than when we took her in yesterday and if she could smile I am sure she would be. Fiona and I stopped in to give her some love and to see how she was doing. All the nurses and techs there were tripping over themselves to tell us what a miracle Riley is. All of them said that it was amazing that she is doing so well, and that they have never seen a dog with that kind of damage make it through surgery let alone be up and about with no fever and seemingly healthy.
She is by no means out of the woods yet but she is one tough cookie, and I think she is going to do it. The doc was able to save some of her pancreas, but they are not sure how functional it will be or not. Again it is a wait and see type of thing. She is on IV fluids, and she really seems so much more like herself. And I could tell she just wanted to come home. Poor thing, she has been through a lot.
Please keep praying for her - what ever you all are doing is working.
As for our human baby, Fiona, she is just the sweetest thing. She is starting to laugh, just these little "Ha's" right now, but she is the smiliest thing you have ever seen. She makes friends where ever she goes. And while I was sobbing my eyes out yesterday, she was the cutest - smiling at me and rubbing my face all to make me feel better. What a good girl!!!
I feel like the luckiest girl in the world!!
I just got off the phone with the vet to check on Riley this morning. And the vet said "its a miracle" but she is doing remarkably well. No promises, but it looks like she is going to make it and probably be ok. The vet said he still couldn't believe that she even made it through the surgery, and this morning she had no fever and is up and walking around. She has a drain in now to help drain out the infection and it is possible that there might be some function left to her pancreas but we have to wait and see.
I am going to go and visit her today and see how she is doing, but I can't tell you how happy I am right now to even be able to see her. I'll keep you all posted as things progress.
Keep up the prayers, and thank you!!!
Hi all, things are sort of settling down here. Riley is home, but is very mopey and isn't eating or taking her meds, so I may have yet another trip to the vet in my future.
Talked to Mike yesterday. He is doing great and liking the job there. It sounds as if the time is passing fairly quickly for him. all he wanted was some music and his MP3 player - he is so easy to please!!
You may have noticed that I changed the background of our page here - I thought it was more Autumnal :)
Fiona and I are getting ready for the big Harvest Party this weekend here at the house. It is going to be a biggie - almost 50 people and kids so far. It is going to be a blast!!! Well, I better get back to the craft prep - lots of pumpkin and bat masks to cut :)
Hi everyone, I just had the craziest three days!!! Our dog, Riley, started acting really wierd on Saturday (hindsight tells me she may have even started on Friday night). Now, she is a pretty hyper dog, and she was just laying there crying and when she got up she was really shaky and I could tell something was hurting her pretty badly. So I called my vet (well, since we just moved here, we realy don't have one, but there is one where I go to get her food - she is already on a special diet another long story) and they say the earliest they can get her in is on Sunday at 9:30, but just to keep an eye on the dog and have her rest.
Fiona and I had plans to go to the Fall festival, I figured we'd still go, that way Riley can rest in a quiet house. We went for about 2 hours and I come home and Riley is doing way worse, she is crying harder and really cannot get up or go up and down the stairs. So I take her to the ER Vet. Mind you Fiona is now napping because I have drug her around with me and she really needs the nap. So I call a friend and have her come stay with Fiona while I take Riley to the vet. Now, I have NEVER left Fiona with anyone, so of course I am doing the first time Mommy freak out - especially because I am on a time table because I still am nursing her and of course I have no bottles to leave with my friend. But I was thinking I have 2 hours before I need to feed her again, no way will it take that long.
Well, I don't even get into see the vet until after a 1.5 hour wait, then there are the xrays - now I am really freaking cuz I should have left 10 minutes ago... So I leave Riley there with them, drive home, feed Fiona, then drive back for them to tell me Riley needs surgery because she somehow swallowed a sewing pin. So I sign off on an estimate for the surgery and head home and leave Riley there.
Now I am sick to my stomach for the poor dog - I am such a bad mommy for missing a pin on the floor after I was sewing, and because this is a huge expenditure and I didn't even get the chance to talk it over with Mike first. But what are you going to do?
So at 12:45am (I think - my eyes were a bit bleary) the vet calls and says that he needed to do a lot more because apparently the pin wasn't in the intestine, but floating around in her body cavity somewhere and he can't find it. More xrays were done, and bottom line its still in there and we have to take a wait and see approach. Apparently we are looking in the proverbial haystack - the dogs body -for a needle....
So I go yesterday with Fiona to pop in and say hi to Riley and talk with the vet further about what we need to do. We talk, everything is good, etc. Riley will be released Monday (today) morning at 7:30 and they close at 8 am, and if you are late picking the dog up it is $22/hour. Great, Fiona gets up at 7:30. Somehow the fates are on my side this morning (or so I thought) and Fiona wakes up at 6:45. I feed her and go straight to the vet to pickup Riley. At which point, I am informed that the previous quote has now nearly tripled because of all the extra work - which no one has told me prior to this morning. I am talking huge cha-ching here and no Mike to talk it overwith. I was livid!!! Had to do some crazy scrambling to pay them so I could get the dog and bring her home.
We are all home now, safe and a little sore - especialy the dog and my pocketbook. Riley is still in a little pain and still has the pin inside her, but she is doing much better. And I talked to Mike and in Mike fashion, he was the coolest, and told me no worries, he would have done the same thing. But please keep little Riley in your prayers, she may have another surgery coming up. Poor puppy!!
Well today was pumpkin patch day. We had a blast with a bunch of the Moms and kiddos from the MOMs Club. We looked at horses, donkeys, ostriches, llamas, sheep, ducks, geese, chickens, and bunnies. We took a great walk through a sunflower field. And took a train ride through the cornfield. And of course we saw loads and loads of pumpkins. I got a ton of great pics - very hard to narrow down. The last few with the little guy is George from the Moms club - he was born the day after Fiona so I love getting pics of those two cuties together!!
Enjoy!!
Hi everyone!! It was a crazy busy week, but we had a blast. We did hear from Mike on Tuesday and he is doing great. Getting all settled in at the new job there and so far so good. It is much lower key than the last few times that he went, but he is still pretty busy which helps the time to go by faster.
Fiona and I had a whirlwind of a week, but got to do a lot of fun stuff and see lots of friends. We had a Halloween themed Moms club meeting and Fiona dressed up as a lady bug. She was so adorable!! We have plenty of opportunities besides Halloween this year to wear it. We are going to have a Harvest Party for the Moms club next weekend and then we go to the senior center later that week and then Halloween.
This week is going to be a bunch of fun, too!! Today we are heading to a friend's to scrapbook again - and her little buddies, Matthew and Breanna, are going to be there. Then we are going to the pumpkin patch and a park day today and this weekend is the Palmdale Fall Festival, and we are going to go to that, too. I updated the slide show with some more recent pictures.
Below are two quick videos. One is of her in her little pumpkin hat and sleeper and the other is of Fiona talking away... Yesterday, she learned a new combo of sounds - it really sounds like she is talking, and sometimes "Mama" can sorta be heard - maybe its wishful hearing, but I am sticking to it :) Beware, she hits a shrill that scrambles the sound a few times...
Time to start signing "I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me..." LOL!!(Dad that means Laught Out Loud)
Just made our reservations and we'll be home for Christmas from the 18th through the 3rd. We are so excited to get there!!! Maybe I need to start another count down for when we get home :) Hmmmmm not a bad idea!!
Hi everyone!!
Fiona and I are doing great, have a very busy week this week. Something to do everyday. We are waiting for Daddy to call today - very exciting for us :)
Fiona is so excited for Saturday, we are going to her BFF (Best Friend Forever, for those of you not in the know), Breanna's house so the mommies can scrapbook.
Another cool thing is that I am now on the board of our local Moms Club as an Asisstant VP. I am really excited to be part of this club and help other Moms in the area find us and join in.
Keeping busy really helps the time to fly by, and before we know it Mike will be home.
Well, I am off for another busy day - hopefully I will be back on later to post some more video clips :)
On Saturday, Fiona and I did the 2 hour drive to Lake Elsinore to meet her newest cousin, Kaitlyn. We had a blast!! Zeida's family is soo nice and there were 5 kiddos there under the age of 2 - it was crazy fun!!
Kaitlyn is just beautiful and such a sweet good baby. Paully is just like his Daddy, never sits still. The kids all had so much fun together!! Between naps and feedings we weren't really able to get them all together at once, but we got lots of pics - watch the slide show below!! Enjoy!! (There are captions, just roll your mouse over the pictures to see them.)
No you are not seeing double, it is Nancy and Fiona in matching outfits.
I had picked up the pants, for myself, a week or so before I went shopping with Angela and when we were at the baby Gap, we cracked up when we found the exact same pantsin Fiona's size. Now, I realize I may have gone to far, but I thought this was too fun to pass up with us having matching outfits.
Ok, last set of pics - poor Fiona, I was camera happy today :)
Pop-pop went a little crazy at the Eagles fan club store and sent Fiona some cute Eagles stuff!! The dino is for kids 3 and up...leave it to a grandpa to think his grandchildren are that advanced :)
Riley and Fiona were having a blast!!
And here is another of her just playing - sorta - I think she is tired of me and the camera today :)
Hi everyone,
Frist off, just got a quick email from Mike that he made it in country safe and sound. Still working on some permanent coms...I'll keep you posted.
Meanwhile, Fiona and I, with Wendy and Summer from the Mom's Club, went to Descanso Gardens, a botanical garden outside of Pasadena. It was gorgeous and a beautiful day. Got some great pics.
Fiona and Mommy
Fiona in the Rose Garden
Mike emailed again and he should be off to Iraq tomorrow a seat came open already. That's good news so that he can get started.
Nothing else really going on with Fiona and me. Just enjoying our fall weather. It is supposed to heat up again later this week, so we will have fall and summer in the same week :)
Oh, and I meant to post a Congratulations to all the new babies in the family that were born. My niece Kaitlyn Victoria and my cousin Tim and his wife Mary welcomed little Katherine (Katie) Eagan to the world in the last couple weeks. We are anxiously waiting to hear from cousin Colleen - will it be the year of girls??? First Fiona, then Kaitlyn, then Katie, then ????
There are finally the most up to date pictures in the slide show, I am trying to figure out how to reverse the order so the newest ones are first and the older ones are last so you don't have to watch the whole thing to see the newest pics... bear with me, I am still learning.
I am glad that we are getting such good feedback from everyone that this is much easier - that was the plan and it seems to be working....
Mike just emailed me that he made as far as Kuwait and is a little stuck until he can get a ride to the base in Iraq. He may be there for up to a week or so. But he sounds in good spirits. He is going to try and email me again before he heads out with more details if he has them.
Otherwise, Fiona and I are doing great. Been cold here lately feels a bit like winter but it should be warming up this week. But I realized that I had no winter clothes :) Since I was pregnant last winter and we were in Hawaii for three years before that. So Fiona and I did a little shopping to beef up our winter wardrobes.
Zeida, Paully, and Kaitlyn are here in CA and we are going to try and get together and get all the kids together. I promise to take lots of pictures this time. It is going to be so cute with all three of them together.
Well, Fiona is napping so I better grab a shower and get some housework done!!
Here is a little clip of Fiona. My camera does 1 minute clips so it is nice for some quick viewing for those of you who want to see her in action. It is not the best of quality, and the clicking noises are the camera, but hey better than nothing right??
Enjoy!!
Hi everyone,
Since Mike has left and I wanted a place to post videos, the Yahoo! website wasn't able to handle the videos so I thought I would jump into the world of blogging. Plus I know many people were having a hard time navigating the Yahoo! website or even joining.
Mike as we speak should be on his way to Iraq, now is the waiting game until he gets there and gets set up and figures out what his coms will be. (For all you non-military folks that means email, phone, etc.) This could take a couple weeks, but I will let you all know as soon as I hear from him. The last time I spoke to him, he was ready to go and start counting down til he could come home again. He was also looking forward to this assignment because it is different from what he normally does.
Fiona and I have been doing really great. We joined the local MOMS Club and it really has been a blessing. We have met some really great Moms and kids and it gets us out of the house a few times a week. Plus it is great because they know all the places to go and things to do, which is really helpful to me since we're new here and don't know what is available...
We went on a crazy shopping trip with Angela and had a blast!! Fiona just loves her - Angela was the one who could get her to stop crying, Mom was old hat.
That is pretty much it for us. I am going to post some video and also get some pictures up too. Feel free to leave us some comments!!
