Flights!

Alright now that I'm back in action I thought i'd better blog our trip in small doses!

For the last 3 months Ottavia almost everyday spoke of her soon to be airplane ride. We played airplane ride, pretended to buckle our seat belts, she noticed every plane in the sky, we really made a point of getting her excited!

Airplane Ride day arrived. We were off to a very early start. Evening though we arrived at the airport 2 hours ahead of flight, we were still rushed. Customs and security line up's were super busy. We pre-boarded and i Cavi wiped everything down and got settled in.

Long story short, my worst flying experience ever, a 3 hours flight turned into 6 hours with a re route landing due to weather.....worst, thought we were going down for sure turbulence...turned into a very positive experience with Ottavia. She LOVED it :) we had one issue where she didn't want to wear her seatbelt and she was super pissed for about 5 minutes but that ended quickly. It was all about chips and ipad and juice but whatever. She loved it. Thank god through rough part she slept through it. I looked over at Tino he was green. I thought for sure he would puke but he didn't, I was more scared for my life emailing my mother!

On a side note...if you youtube a crosswind landing...well we basically landed sideways then starting moving forward...

We arrived in florida at 1030 pm instead of 3pm so needless to say we were tired and hungry and ready to settle in.

As for the flights home, no problems, everything was on schedule, and Ottavia slept 2 of the 3 hour flight. when we landed she sat up and said home now :) Here are a few pictures!

Reflection

I've taken a giant vacation from everything.....blogging, cleaning, wearing make up, blow drying my hair, wearing socks or a coat....I could go on forever. Tomorrow we make the long trek home, and looking forward getting back in the groove before Tino leaves to Russia. I just let the cat outta the bag but ill get more Into that later....

So long Florida, We will miss the friendly Ya'll southern peeps!! eating breakfast watching the dolphins feed, miller lite for lunch, great shopping, non stop sunshine and heat!

Ottavia become's a Child of the LORD!!

I'm laughing to myself at the title of my blog...am I super religious?? No...do I believe in god and was I raised Catholic?? Yes....do we rush out of bed on a sunday to sit in mass?? No...but did I want my daughter baptised because thats just what we feel was best?? Yes!

Ottavia got baptized in Regina with her 2 other cousins. I was a little concerned about the whole situation....she's a little older so getting water/oil poured on the head was probably not the greatest idea. Also we had to sit in a LONG Easter sunday service, then 9 kids were to be baptized after...UGH..i was dreading this, it was going to go right into nap time, no lunch..it was just a disaster in the making.

That morning Tino and I explained to her what was going to happen. When church started she was VERY interested in "GUY" (priest) who was on the alter. We said that "guys" is going to pour water on your head etc. The end of mass arrived and nobody was leaving..probably because 3/4 of the church was full of families of all the kids being baptized. We had about 10 mins of madness where...Her ponies got ripped out..asking to go night night etc but it soon passed and she just sat there until it was our turn. We made our way to the front of the church...she tipped her head back, he did his thing and she smiled and says..ohhh Wa wa! It was cute. After the priest then came over and poured and ENTIRE handfull of oil on her hair and rubbed it in.......needless to say, her hair stills smells like it!

Baptism success!!

Easter!

This year we made the  VERY long trek to Regina for Easter! It had been a year since we were there so we were definitly due for a visit. I was concerned for this trip as Ottavia was still not eating and feeling good and its hard being sick when your not home. All that aside Regina was good. It was very busy with lots of cousins and such. Ottavia loved playing and having everyone around. By the end she was comfortable with greeting grandma and grandpa at the door by name, it was cute! We also got to meet new cousin Zana who is such a little sweetheart!

Ottavia did great on the drive, 8 hours, one 20 minutes stop and not a peep. Thank god for iPad with Kai lan and Dora! I have no worries for our long flight this week.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

Bike season!!

We've contemplated getting Ottavia a new bike. She has a tricycle but we felt she's past that stage so we were going to buy a strider bike. One morning we made a stop at sport check and saw this little bike, just like a strider! We bought it and she Love's it. This picture is right before the helmet of course! She's getting so good at it, hopefully we can skip the training wheel stage and go right to a real bike next year! As big as she's getting, her short little legs just touch the sidewalk! 

Only in Calgary do you see a toque, a bike, and rubber boots all in one picture!!

Are we done yet???

We've had a rough 2 weeks, and just when I thought we were in the clear.. BAM..I'm hit with strep throat and a chest infection. Mommy's arn't aloud to get sick, we are like the unstoppable transformers that lead house...No??

Last weekend I came home from work to a sick kid with a really high fever. Couldn't figure out what was going on and She wouldn't eat, wouldn't sleep, was totally dead on the couch. Tuesday came around and just when we thought we she was better, we noticed her face started swelling and fever was creeping up again. We went straight to the children's hospital and they took us in right away. Ottavia's glands were so swollen that they were worried about her airway..so scary. After some medication, 2 licks of a popsicle, a urine sample and tired grumpy girl, we got released that evening with a high dose of medication. She only started eating on sunday. Its so stressfull when you kid doesn't eat, I get so angry and frustrated it makes me crazy but all in all she had fun in Regina with the cousins..thats another blog...

Here is my sweet girl with her sou sou (so bad but she was sick)

So Just when we thought things were better, on our drive home I said to Tino, its freezing in this Van can you turn up the heat?? he's like..its 27 degrees in here. I had no appetite, and my throat started to hurt. By 8pm I had a full blown fever, my hair hurt, I felt like CRAP. Thank god Ottavia went to the day home, I went to the dr. and slept the entire day away. Last night was rough as well, if I wasn't medicated fever would come and back and I could harldy swallow..its moved to my chest now, and I'll I've done is slept...Now I know why My kid didn't eat for so long. I'm hoping tomorrow is better. Its a good thing this happened now before we left for holidays, but I have so much to including work that I don't have time for this...I thought wonder women didn't get sick!!

Partay!

It was Tino's 36th birthday yesterday so we had a few of his close friends over. Ottavia has been talking about this party for over a month. She wanted daddy to have a Dora party soooo bad but Tino said he would settle for a Diego (go go party as O calls it) party instead. Party day finally  came and went and I can't say she overly enjoyed it! There was only 2 other kids there and she was SOO mad that these boys were touching her toys. An hour in, she finally warmed up just in time for the kids to leave! Our good long lost friends John and Tammy stayed after everyone left, which lead to more drinks and laughs. It was a ton of fun, which also made for a giant headache today!

The picture's are blurry but it will give you and idea of the Diego party!!

Here is Dora..oops I mean Tino at the end of the night. The Dora mask came out right before we stumbled up to bed!

a real mother's words, and the truth be told...

If you are a mom, or you need a good belly laugh, I promise this is the blog to read tonight. I have to think back now to wednesday which seems like forever ago.....but that is when the conversation took place.

Lets be honest, a lack of sleep, a teething toddler, a snoring husband, you work full time, your house is a mess, there is a light at the end of the tunnel...but its a long tunnel, therefore you vent to other momma's out there because we are all the same. We all think the same things, and have the same thoughts even though we don't always vocalize them... here goes nothing

On Wednesday night I called my friend, she answered in a yelling whipser short of a panting breath " your going to wake up simon"...I said the phone wakes up your kid?? what's the matter with him?? She replied..I don't know what the hell is going on but he's not sleeping, I'm so tired I honestly don't know what to do, he is night waking, he's crying, his naps are screwed up blah blah blah....I replied and said maybe he's getting his molars ( same story different day at our house right now) she said I don't know what it is but Milk, rocking him, medicine doesn't help..nothing.....

and then it all came out of the woodwork...she then said this..her exact words coming right from the horses mouth.......

" Deena, I finally did the unthinkable.... ( oh my god I can't hardly contain my laugher right now) I looked at the clock it said 1am, I went in his room, I grabbed the stool to his rocker..it was going back and forth, I put my leg over the crib, straddled it and climbed right in his crib. I layed on my side in fetal position, it was so comfortable but simon slapped my face....his eye's looked like black sockets in the dark and he shook his head back and forth like he was possessed....it was the last straw I didn't know what else to do...and it still didn't help"

At this point i had tears running down my face with laughter, it was the silent laugh, she didn't even realize I was busting a gut, she was so sincere and just  vomited all her feelings and the truth was told. When she realized how funny it was, we giggled together. At least she can count on me to not be judgmental, or put any blame on her..I was just there to listen in a time of crisis. I've been there...last night actually. Its like you've almost hung yourself and then all of a sudden its morning, you crawl downstairs with 1 eye open, hair dazzled, and freezing cold to find the strongest coffee in the freezer, and turn Dora on, on repeat and sit staring like a sleeping zombie.

I just thought I'd share that with you! Happy weekend!

So Proud

Ottavia had her last gymnastics class today! This was a great activity and we both really enjoyed it. Its something we did together and something we looked forward too. We are taking a break but will definitly be back for the fall session. Ottavia met some great friends, as did I, and she loved the coaches. The best part was at the end when she went up to get her metal and her award she shouted at the top of her lungs............. " TA DA" She was SOO proud and so was I! Its amazing how strong she became, and how much she grew. Even the coach said last class...WOW Ottavia you have gotten so big :) I said to my mom and sister today, and I've said it before...I wish I could bottle this age up, and keep her 2 forever!....and now my eye's are welling up hahahaha

my chicken...and her chicken's!

Sorry for the lack of posts. I haven't seen my husband in the light for it seems like weeks, poor guy, he's been working 18 hour days to try and wrap things up, I've been working a lot and my house is in shambles, but I just keep pushing everything thing aside, breath deep, and count the days till vacation.

Ottavia went to the dayhome today, so did a bunch of running around, birthday party shopping, and easter shopping. In the midst of it I found these chickens, a momma and little box of babies. When Ottavia came home she nearly flipped her lid she was so excited! It was the cutest thing to watch, as much as i just wanted to eat her up and get involved, I stood back and snapped a few photo's.

They kept her very busy, she counted them, kissed them, organized them, it went on and on and on.

After she put them all back in the little box, she told me they were tired and needed to go night night. I was telling her that baby chicks are from an egg. She kept telling me "no my baby eggie chick". Then she pack them up, found her eggs and started putting each baby in an egg. SO CLEVER!!

After each baby was in a different egg....then they all went into the purse and she carried them all downstairs to show daddy!

and then that was it...she hid them behind the chair so I wouldn't clean them up or move them, so that is where they will stay until she come's to find them in the morning!!

Thank goodness tomorrow is the first day of spring, just in time for it to snow more on thursday...this crazy city, I'm so ready for spring!

Cuties!

Look at these two cutie pies! This morning we ventured out to Costco, Best time to go its dead and the shelves are full and we finished our shopping with lunch! We are in the headband stage!! I bought a whole bunch of new clothes for the little one, and I saw the headband and couldn't resist and she loves it.

We also did the Walmart thing and I managed to finish Ottavia's  easter basket shopping off while I was there. I'm also getting a few things here and there for our trip. This picture is crappy but Tino bought Ottavia some headphone's for kids, She's crazy about them. Right before her nap the house was silent and we heard her giggling...she was laughing at Toopy! It was so funny, Tino and I just looked at eachother and laughed. If you look closley you'll see she is eating almonds :) We found little packs of peanut free almonds. Since most nuts are processed in a peanut factory she can't have them. She was crazy over them, and its a great snack :)

 

I'm in the middle of my 7 shifts, the next month is out of control, i'm working more then fulltime to get some shifts in before we leave on holidays, plus we are heading Regina for a quick trip. Life is good!

Peanut Allergy

Ottavia has a peanut allergy..if you are a parent with a child who has a food allergy, you will be nodding your head during this whole post!! :)

Ottavia's allergy is our issue, nobody else's, but that being said, we stay away from dangerous or risky situations, for ex. playdates with peanut butter cookies, or birthday parties that will have any nuts etc. Some people are very respectfull of this and other's are so not. Its interesting to see the reactions we get, and the question's we get asked! Some people think I'm over reacting, but they also don't understand what would happen or what will happen if Ottavia gets a teeny amount of peanut oil on a mucus membrane being her eye's, nose or mouth.

The reason this come's up is because are flying American Airways to florida and they serve peanuts..mmmhmmmm..americans are ass backwards and its crazy that people still serve nuts but non the less we are very prepared and this momma will pre board and wipe our area Friedel Clean!

People who love us the most do respect the situation. We are going to Regina for Easter so I asked everyone to only do peanut free chocolate..its only fair..Ottavia is 2, she doesn't know the difference..plus..she is only 2..does a 2 year old really need chocolate??

Here are some questions and comments people ask and things people have said to us!!

Is it severe??

I don't know why people ask this question, because there is no severe or non severe. You are either allergic or not. I once had a lady say to me, oh my son is allergic to apples so when we have apple pie we just scoop them out...Really???

A little bit won't hurt right? it can't be that bad...

ummmm....okay mother of the 70's, you also put your baby in a crib with a bottle of milk...a little bit can KILL HER...she could DIE.....yes DIE....

Another thing someone said to me at christmas time was...." there is only a 1/2 cup of peanut butter in those cookies so her reaction won't be that bad......hahahah...that just makes me laugh.

Here is a picture of her epipen. Thank god we haven't needed to use this. Infact we just got 6 new one's so we were able to practise with an orange and it was a good thing because it took Tino 2 tries to get it right :)

We don't live our life in fear, but we are definilty aware and careful of the situation and we quickly remove ourselves from any risk. I just wish people would get it..its not like a peanut allergy is something new, its so commen and its actually an easy one to control.

So if you are a non allergy believer...just think, its a life threatening condition that is controlable! And if you have ever witnessed anaphlaxis..its so scary. I've seen 2 in my time. Working the CT scanner we inject contrast and people can be allergic. In the 2 anaphlastic reactions i've seen, 1 patient died, and the other went to ICU on life support..so take that!! Its serious!

Past Week's highlights

I know I've said this before but, My little girl continue's to amaze me with how fast she learns and grow's. Here are a few highlights from our week, I don't have many picture's but I'll try my best!

Watching Ottavia in action. When she plays she says things like "no baby, bad baby" or c'mon mommy and act's them out with her doll house

Painting and doing easter crafts

Watching Ottavia copy what I do

Dancing in the living room

Doing our nails

Baking and cooking together

Showing sad aunty affection after losing her Mother in law

Listening to Ottavia say "good morning" to all her teddy's in her crib.

Watching her interact with Baba and Papa on FaceTime

Hearing all sorts of numbers and letter's coming from the easel

Listening to her read books to her baby

Taking a shower and watching her try to wash her own hair

Asking her to do something and watching her follow through, for ex. go put your boots and coat on!

Here are a few picture's!

Of course there is more, I could go on and on but everyday instead of being on the computer or the iPhone I take in every moment and watch and listen to this little person I created turn from a baby to a toddler into a little girl! I'm Savouring it all!

Molars

Another parent FAIL....Ottavia has had a runny nose and not eating for almost a week. No fever, and happy but I know something is up. On top of it, she's been only napping for an hour...(wtf, her naps are minimal 2 hours and this momma needs afternoon naptime when i'm working) and she's been early waking at like 6:30 which I also know that the time change is coming so that could be a part of it....anyways finally today while brushing teeth....I see the little cusps of white molar coming through...UGH...then she says momma teeth ouie....mmmhmmmmm Had i known about this I'm all about drugs so from here on it she will be more comfortable!

Thats my little rant. Other then that this week has gone to shit...i'm so freakin tired from the weekend i haven't had a chance to recover....Looking forward to some R&R in a few days!

GP

Its tuesday and I'm still recovering from the my weekend getaway. It was so fun to say the least. It was so nice to have a schedule, or to have to be somewhere or eat dinner at a certain, we could do anything we wanted.

On the Friday evening we did a little shopping and went for a late dinner and drinks, then headed back to Rae Ann's and rehashed the old days and called it a night at midnight.

On saturday we did some more shopping and got ready for our evening. Saturday night was the most fun night I've had in a LONG TIME....talking to people we all agreed that now, its unfortunate circumstances that will bring us all together again. It was so nice to give Mandy a big hug in person, and to see so many old friends, 2-step like the old days, and just have the surroundings of good old friends around. It was just awsome. Its funny how so much change's but yet life still stays the same, in the sense that, just because we haven't seen eachother in years, its like we just began right where we left off.... anyways it was such a heartfelt night...with WAYYY to many drinks :)

I can't believe march is right around the corner. Our life is extremely busy this month, I'm working A LOT because of lots of holidays in the future. We are so excited for our trip to florida, its coming up so quick. Ottavia is very excited too. She brings it up often! We have alot of things to look forward too!

proud moment!!

I just returned from GP and I have a lot to talk about in regards to the weekend but instead it gets bumped by my proud mommy moment!

This picture doesn't signify the moment at all. Yesterday I was sitting on the couch and Ottavia sat on her Couch crossed her legs, and pointed to where my mom was sitting the last time Ottavia saw her and said baba, legs, cross....It was so cute I had to take a picture, and how does she even remember that?? It was at christmas time that baba was teaching her to cross her legs and it came out again yesterday..too cute.

So the proud moment was this afternoon. She woke up from her nap, I brought her downstairs and sat her on the couch. I was in the kitchen making my lunch for work and getting her a snack, when all of a sudden I hear the sound of chalk on the chalk board side of her easel, and the sweetest little voice ever.....THAT COUNTED TO 11.....Clear as day... My eyes welled up, I dropped everything and ran over there....she had little ticks on her board...and said mamma...11......ugh...my baby is growing TO FAST..its moments like this I wish the days would stand still....but its also moments like this that I'm so thankful I can be home with my baby during the day and not miss these small special moments!

Grande Prairie....

You can take me out of Grande Prairie, but you can't take the Grande Prairie out of me :)

Its been an Odd week, we've had several bumps in the road, but I think we are back on track, just in time for me to ditch town, hop on a plane to my good ol' stompin grounds!

I've been really looking forward to this weekend for a while...I'm heading to Grande Prairie all by my lonesome, no baby, no husband..just me, my purse and my giant suitcase! I haven't gone out of town myself since I was pregnant. Its a long time waiting and it is arriving early tomorrow morning!

There is a reason behind my visit, it all come's down to support a good friend and her family who's daughter, 3 years old was diagnosed with a brain tumour and had surgery around christmas time. There is a giant auction and dinner being held so I'm excited that I can be a part of it!

Its a sad reason why I'm heading to GP but it will also bring me and alot of my old besties' from highschool together, a nice little reunion to say the least. I'm super excited to see everyone and to laugh and talk about old time's, as well as support Ava.

My parents are in florida so I'm staying with my friend Rae Ann in her new house...the plan is no plan :) we are looking forward to drinking coffee (wine) and enjoying eachother's company!

anyways..i feel like this blog has had no flow because i have so much to say but so much to do as i pack and get ready!

Family day 2013

We had the best weekend, even though I got called into work for hooker wage last night, we still had a really great weekend! For Family day today we were going to take Ottavia to her first movie, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, but we found out last night it only played on saturday so we had no plans for today. I did a whole bunch of laundry and few more things! I mentioned this before but it was so nice to stay home this weekend, no company, no parties, no plans just anything we wanted!




We read lots of stories!

We played dress up and did puzzles

I made homeade pasta today today!

I made 2 giant pots of Paleo friendly pasta sauce which is basically just the real thing that Tino's Nonna taught me how to cook.

My husband made dinner and did the dishes!

We drank lots of wine!

We did pedicure's!

And we manage to must make ourselves comfortable eventhough the entire couch is empty....instead I'll just sit on your face :)....

This little girl just brings us so much JOY.....best age ever, we are just enjoying every single 10th of a second with her!

I made some terrible eating choice's this weekend but back at it tomorrow! I hope everyone had a great long weekend!