Adventures at the Newport Aquarium

Ivy had been talking about going to see the fish for two weeks. We were so excited and couldn't wait to get there. We actually arrived at Newport 15 minutes before it even opened. Ivy loved looking out at the "boats"/floating restaurants while we waited on the fish!!!




Once we got in~ it was full excitement and curiosity. Ivy was on the go non-stop until she crashed back into the stroller after 2 hours.

*Unc and Ivy took a picture to compare themselves with the shark!

*We saw the penguin parade... that I was so excited for~ Turns out it was ONE penguin in a wagon! Good thing Ivy was satisfied because Mommy knew better than to call that a parade. :)

*Esie and Ivy took a picture in front of the whale. We were all talking about how Jonah must have felt inside of the whale's belly! It was decided that the Bible left out how disgusting that would be.

*Mommy and Daddy loved the painting in the frog area. I wanted to take a matching picture in front of the orange flowers!

*Daddy and Ivy loved the sharks flying over their heads. Chelsea and I were amazed that they weren't eating all the littler fish in the tank.

* I wished I could have had my 1st graders at the penguin exhibit. We just studied all about penguins in January.
They are so cute- the way they hopped in and out of the water was my favorite!

*Unc was brave enough to pet a shark.... We all were amazed that he would participate in such risk taking behavior! But he didn't actually stick his hand in the tank until after interrogating the poor boy working the shark pool in good old fashioned Anthony style!

* Ivy was sure to point out the bugs on the wall... her current obsession. (*Take note I look a tad preggers in that picture.... I hope it is the stripes/arched back combo.... but I am certainly not expecting another little bit!!*)


* We did have one paci-needing incident when a little boy attempted to fight Ivy for the blue frog :) It was funny to see someone give her a run for her money! A little paci fix along with Daddy's cuddles cured the problem all together and she waited her turn with the infamous blue frog.

Same Picture Different Kid

We are home from our mini-trip to "Natti" as Ivy called it! We had a great time hanging out with Unc and Esie, eating great food, and going to the aquarium. I will be blogging about our adventures tomorrow... but I had to leave you with this to show you that time flies!!

Last March we went to visit Unc and Esie and they took this family photo!

This weekend they took another identical family photo~ but LOOK at our baby.... she is now a toddler through and through. I can't believe how fast time flies- before long they will be taking this picture and Ivy will be a kindergartner!

*STAY TUNED FOR OUR ADVENTURES AT THE NEWPORT AQUARIUM*

Kentucky Girl

You know Ivy is a good 'ol Kentucky Girl when.........

She is thinking she might like a lil sip of Ale 8.

And she decided she wanted a try....

And the story ends with a brand new Ale 81 LOVER, who is a little too young to have her own but Daddy is willing to share!!!!

PS- You may notice Ivy has a crazy 80's style pony tail in the past 2 posts! This is her new look that she fully embraces by bringing you the "pony" each morning (still clad in her nommies). Then she rocks the side pony all day long, loving her hair out of her face! Lastly, she enjoys taking it out in the evening and enjoying good head rub before bath time. Hopefully soon it will morph into a cute little pony instead of giving off the chic punk rocker vibe!

A Message

until you see this face.....

Picnic At the Park

It is absolutely gorgeous outside!! I am pretty sure that if it was my day to work I would be playing hookie~ good thing it's not my Wednesday! Ivy is now sound asleep after a fun morning at the park. We met Lindsey and Rantz at the park and then ran into Kendra, John Hunter, and some of their friends. Ivy was excited to see so many people she knew in one place! It was an even better surprise when Daddy popped over for a picnic lunch. We are enjoying this spring like weather and really want it to stay :) We are ready to play outside, wear summer clothes, and relax!

Friday Fun

On Friday evening we had a great time with the Beckett's and the Fraley's. We were excited to all get together.... it had been way too long! Brayden had gotten so big and was having fun crawling all over the place. He didn't enjoy some of Ivy's girly toys but he liked Elmo- A LOT! He also like banging the tea set dishes to make lots of noise. Ivy was enthralled with Baby Brayden. She followed him around and was very gentle. I was sort of nervous about her being too rough but she did GREAT! I think her week of aggressive behavior paired with the same week we kept our paci in the bed- she was angry and taking it out on everyone! Since that week, she has done much better at using her soft hands :) THANKFULLY! Ivy was so excited to see Nick. She talks about Nick all the time... I think she has a crush on him. Any time my phone rings she thinks it is Ayla or Nick (which is funny- because Nick and I don't talk on the phone)!! Here are some pics of our evening:

Brayden talking with Elmo!

Ivy and her buddy, Nick, doing the fist bump! Anytime we talk about Nick she holds out her fist... too funny!

Video Day At the Smorstad's

Ivy has not understood the sudden weather change.... so we decided to pretend it was still warm by enjoying a popsicle (Thank you, Meemaw for the juice catcher!) inside instead of feeling like one outside! She is leaving the dream~ watching her favorite show and eating a summer treat. We will keep dreaming the spring weather will return soon!

PS~ Dear Unc and Esie, we can't wait to see you and go to the aquarium!! It will be so soon! Love~ Ivy

I really didn't get a good video of what I was wanting... can you guess??(I only said~ can you spell your name- 100 times!) Haha.... she is spelling her name everytime that she scribbles with a pen! You got to hear the I... V.... but she was too busy to give you the Y. Ivy is a pretty easy name to spell so I am certain she will have that down pat by the time kindergarten comes around! She is learning so much~ so fast!! Colors, numbers, letters, galore.... they are such little sponges at this age and it is so much fun to teach her. :)

Zoom Zoom

The past two days Ivy and I have lived outside in the evenings. It has been gorgeous! Yesterday we played at the park and today we just hunted for rocks, pine cones, and bugs in the yard. Ivy was in for such a treat when we caught daddy coming home from work. We made our way to the garage before the "zoom zoom" was parked. Ivy demanded "a ride, a ride" over and over (this is the same lingo she uses for a ride on our backs, in the laundry basket, or in the wagon). We sat her up on the bike with Daddy and she was so excited. She wanted to get her hands all over everything and felt so "cool" (a new word mommy is NOT happy about)! In about 15 years she can go on a real ride~ only with Daddy and Pawpaw... no boyfriends, please~

Feeling Better....

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and concerns for Ivy's well being. With that said, she is feeling much much better! We went back to the doctor on Friday afternoon because they were concerned that she still had no cough. The pneumonia has to break up and without a productive cough this can't happen. Anyways, after listening to her breathing, Dr. Hood said she could hear it breaking up!! YAY~ and I will say today the cough has arrived. She is back to her normal, testy yet very LOVING :) self. Even though she is feeling better.... I am dreading tomorrow. I have to go back to work and it is a 3 day week for me. It will be hard to be away from Ivy as we have been attached at the hip.... or maybe heart for the past 7 days. It is also going to be hard to get in the groove of things~ I missed some last week and it is just getting to that part of the year- where there is a lot to be done.

So you are asking? What is the 30 for???
I ONLY HAVE 30 DAYS LEFT OF WORK!!!

AND FOR THIS REASON I PROMISE TO CHOOSE JOY FOR THOSE 30 DAYS :)

This is so exciting for Greg, Ivy, and I. God has been so faithful to give me the opportunity to work part time and allowing me to be home more often. God has been so faithful for providing excellent internships and a job for Greg. God has been ever so faithful to bless us with excellent care-takers for Ivy. I am so excited to see what God has planned for us in this next year with Greg graduating. I am so ready to put my career on hold and be a mommy and wife for the upcoming years.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Sick with Side Dish of Spoiled :)

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers with our sick girl. Tuesday and Wednesday were pretty terrible. Ivy was pretty lifeless and ran a temperature between 102 and at it's highest was 104.8. We are talking scary high! Today seemed to turn around a little bit- our fever steadily got down to 99 by 10am and stayed there for the majority of the day. We were able to take a walk/ride in the stroller to enjoy the spring weather. This evening it spiked again to 102 but the Tylenol seems to be controlling it pretty well. Grandma and Grandpa (Ivy has officially named them Meemaw and Pawpaw) came and brought dinner. It was great to visit with them and they were quite entertaining for Ivy. Of course, this helped her to feel better!

One thing a bit different today was that Ivy had enough energy to test me and actually cry when she didn't get her way..... so her way it was!! They said at the doctor not to make her upset because it takes too much oxygen to cry. That is pretty difficult with a 19 month old- but it explains the 2 suckers we had in a 1 hour trip to doctor, the fact that she had pizza and ice cream for breakfast this morning, and that her request to stand on the kitchen table was granted!!!

She is mainly sick and a little bit spoiled but we sure do love her! :)

We are hoping for no fever tomorrow... if it goes above 100 I think we will have to pay another visit to Dr. Hood.

Sick Girl- UPDATE

Ivy girl has pneumonia!!! We are all a little shocked since she barely has a cough. I went to pick her up from Kendra's where she had been pretty lifeless all day long. She just wanted to sleep. She ran a fever all day~ and Kendra helped keep her comfortable with Tylenol and the paci. (Thank you, Kendra!!! That is exactly what I would have done~) Then when I got home her fever was up to 103.2. It still wasn't time for more meds and the dr. appt was not until 5:20. I was assuming it was something simple- like an ear infection, this it the only ailment we really know about!! We saw Dr. Hood- ears looked great, throat looked great, so what was the trouble? It was obvious Ivy was not herself. (She had yet to even talk to me since picking her up.) So after blood work and 3 chest x-rays later.... yes, I was freaking out a little... they diagnosed our girl with pneumonia. She got an antibiotic in the form of a big, horrible shot and they sent us on our way. However, the didn't forget to tell me all the dangers that could take place. So I came home, was nervous all night, but we survived!! We are just resting today and going back for more x-rays and blood work this afternoon. Please say a little prayer for Ivy Girl. We want her to feel better soon!

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We went back to the doctor this afternoon. I didn't think anything could be more traumatic that yesterday.... I was wrong. Dr. Hood was not impressed with her improvement or lack thereof. She was concerned that Ivy was panting. Dr's orders- more blood work, checking oxygen levels, and then a breathing treatment. Sticking her poor finger was worse than yesterday because she knew it was coming, her oxygen levels were good- YAY, and the breathing treatment was treacherous. Seriously! I had to hold her still for 12 minutes with a mask on her face. She was scared and I felt terrible for her. I sang my heart out to comfort her... I am pretty sure it brought pain to the ears of the poor receptionist. haha! :) Her white blood count was getting closer to normal so they decided to do the same antibiotic shot that they had done yesterday. Horrible- again. We start oral meds tomorrow and hopefully will start to improve. If not, we have to go back on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. This is what we are praying for~ we want the meds to work, we want her temperature to be normal without Tylenol around the clock, and we don't want to go back to the doctor. Thanks for your prayers and support!

Family Dinner Date

Ivy and I spend a lot of time during the week with Diana, Vada, and Stella. We love to go to storytime at the library, have lunch dates, and play with lots of toys. However, the daddy's are usually pretty busy and don't get to join the fun! This weekend we decided it was long overdue to get everyone together. I believe the last time we got the families together was this summer (we enjoyed yummy Kona!). So the Bower's came over, we ate lasagna, and played until Ivy crashed for bed time. It was so much fun! Tom and Greg got to catch up and the mommies got to talk while Ivy was entertained by Stella and Vada. These girls are going to have a great time growing up together! (Diana, our hypothetical sons will be best friends too!!) I am so thankful for this friendship. We always enjoy time spent with the Bower clan!

The girls being silly with lots of hair bows!! Vada definitely knows how to do the all natural "cheese".... Stella and Ivy still overdue it just a bit! haha

We were exhausted and decided to take a "nap" in Ivy's bed!

Overall, it was a great time and Diana and I are promising to plan these Family Dates more often!

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On a side note, Ivy wanted to say "thank you" to Emily for this pretty red dress. Since Mommy can't post pictures on facebook, Emily has to visit the blog to see this pretty picture!