You know your child is big for her age when . . .

I really only have one answer. You know your child is big for her age when . . . she weighs as much or more than her 13 month old cousin. Yes, it's true. Olivia, at almost 6 months, weighs the same as Ellie, at 13 months. O had to go to the doctor, again, last Tuesday and weighed in at 21 1/2 pounds. She was also diagnosed with another ear infection. I just knew something was up when the cough from her latest cold went away but then came back with a vengeance on Monday night. So she is on another round of antibiotics and I don't know if they are really helping that much because her cough doesn't seem to be improving. We have her 6 month check-up on Friday, so we'll see then.

Thanksgiving was very nice. We drove down to Tucson to see Jason, Noel & Ellie, who were visiting Jason's dad. The drive was better than I expected and we had a good time with them. It was just a bonus that I didn't have to cook this year! Normally we spend holidays at home so it was good to do something different. Christmas will be here in sunny Arizona. And we'll probably be wearing shorts like we did last year.

We decorated the house for Christmas this weekend and had some fun with Olivia at the same time. One of my coworkers gave me the headband with the reindeer on them. It didn't bother Olivia at all to have them on. She liked the tree too. Check out the double chin (she's bigger than my brother was at 6 months and he was a load!).
We are getting her 6 month portraits taken on Sunday. It is hard for me to believe that it has been 6 months! She has grown and accomplished so much. According to What to Expect the First Year she is right on track developmentally. She is now "scooting" as her form of transportation. She scoots on her butt in order to get closer to things she wants. It's pretty interesting to watch her bend her legs to push herself places. She can stand up with help and she kind of makes the motions of crawling. I don't know how close she is to that yet. I think she weighs herself down too much. We can't decide if she is going to be blond or redheaded. Her hair and eyelashes change with the light. Her hair is coming in a lot thicker so hopefully we will be able to tell soon. Her eyes have remained very blue and I am becoming more and more hopeful that they are going to stay this color. Yay! She is so happy all the time - unless she is hungry or tired. We tried giving her some sweet potatoes on Saturday and Sunday and that didn't really go over well. She pretty much gagged the entire time. I don't think she swallowed any of it. So tonight I am going to try to mix it in her rice cereal and see what happens. Next up will be carrots and squash.

"Michelin Woman"

Time for an update! Actually, the Dickey household has been pretty quiet since my last post. No, I have not decided what I am going to give people yet. I went and got my hair cut off last week. I put a couple of pictures below. It's hard to really tell what it looks like. If anyone knows the show "Jon & Kate Plus 8" on TLC (I LOVE this show) I would describe my hair as a modified version of Kate's hair. It's a little longer in the back but still spiky, and a bit shorter in the front. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how to style it the way I like. I decided that this haircut really needs highlighted hair. I hate how dark my hair has gotten as I've gotten older.

I got Olivia laughing so hard last night. It was the first time that she really belly-laughed for an extended period of time. She absolutely loves peek-a-boo and if you lean in toward her like you are going to bite her but don't. So I combined the two and got her going for about 5 minutes. John was holding her and cracking up as much as she was. I could have done the game all night. It was so much fun. We had her rollin'! My mom is going to try to come out this weekend so I am going to try to get her going again so we can get it on video.

I had to get a picture of her with her Lynx bib. They sent it to us when I submitted her birth announcement on the alumni website. Very cool. Go Lynxcats!

On Saturday we went to some friends house for a barbecue. There were 3 couples there. The hosts have an 8 month old, we have Olivia at 5 1/2 months, and the third couple is expecting and are at 34 weeks. There was supposed to be a 4th couple there with a 2 week old but unfortunately they were unable to make it. It was so much fun! It was great to talk about the kids and pregnancy. None of us girls were scared to talk about bodily issues when it came to pregnancy and childbirth. They guys were great about all of it and contributed but most of the time probably didn't want to hear about it. I remember sitting there thinking, "I never thought, in a million years, that I would be sitting here talking to other people about baby poop and everything else". The pictures below are what she wore to the party. We ended up taking the headband off because it was too tight, but I am still having her wear them occasionally because she is still being mistaken for a boy. One of my coworkers calls her the "Michelin Woman" because of this picture.

I was going through a cookbook the other night trying to decide on something for dinner and Olivia kept reaching for the book I was looking at, so I pulled out another one and ended up with the following picture. She loves books and I am so glad since both her dad and I are readers.
There are a few more random pictures below. Yes, she weighs more than the cat now. She loves him and tries to grab at his hair, ears, or whiskers any chance she gets.

The hat she is wearing is a Coyotes one. I don't know if you'll be able to tell but she has a rash in this picture. She had a cold that gave her a rash. It didn't bother her, but it didn't look very good. She is a member of Howler's Kids Club (Howler is the Coyotes' mascot) and the hat is one of many goodies that she received when she enrolled. John did manage to get a picture of her with one of his Cowboys hats on her head. There is no way I will put that up for everyone to see. It's awful.

Yes, they are both asleep. 'Nuff said.

Clarification!

Okay, I want to clarify something because a comment was made to me that my last post may make some people feel like I don't want to give gifts and since I have to I want to do it cheap. THAT IS NOT AT ALL WHAT I WAS TRYING TO SAY! I feel terrible that someone would think that. It makes my stomach churn.

I wrote it because I WANT to give gifts. I want to make sure that we give everyone we love something to let them know that we care and the only way we might possibly be able to do that is to give something a bit more inexpensive than we'd like. I love giving gifts and I feel so terrible that I can't give great extravagant gifts every year. I actually got really upset on Monday when I started making our Christmas list and realized that I might not be able to get everyone something. I know everybody understands that but I still feel bad.

That's it. No "thing" today, I'm too upset.

Edited to add: The gift ideas were going to be for extended friends and family. I wasn't really including our immediate family there and I know I didn't specify that, but Kelley, you gave me some great ideas for them too. Thanks!

Christmas ideas

Alright, let me paint you a picture:

1. We live in one of the hardest hit real estate areas in the country (read: we owe more on our house than it is worth).
2. Brand new baby leads to 12 weeks off at only 75% pay and lots of added expenses - day care, clothes, diapers, wipes, toys, and on and on and on.
3. The State of Arizona is in the hole about $2 billion in their annual budget which means that we government employees did not get a raise this year and probably won't get one next year either.
4. The economy is crappy so organizations like the Phoenix Coyotes can't afford to give large raises or bonuses. At least John got a raise.

Okay. With all of that I need some ideas on nice, inexpensive Christmas gifts. I'm talking under $20. Unfortunately we are going to have to mail everything because we don't live near and friends or family so something that is smallish and light would be the best. Anyone have any bright ideas?

My "thing":
*Sometimes I let Olivia fuss and cry for longer than I should because I love to look at the expressions that her face makes. It's so funny. That's terrible, I know.

Happy Birthday!

Today is my cousin, Jason's, birthday. Happy Birthday J! And Cindy O'Halloran's, so Happy B-day to her.

It's also Olivia's 5 month birthday. And she spent it going to the doctor! Again! Ugh. If it's not one thing, it's another. I got a call from the daycare today saying that she had a rash and was extremely fussy and screamed all morning. Apparently she wouldn't take a bottle which is not like her. They were concerned because Roseola and Fifth's Disease had been going around so they wanted me to have her checked out. Long story short, she just had a cold virus that caused the rash. Once the rash shows up the kid is no longer contagious so she wasn't a threat to the other children. I had noticed some bumps on Monday on her stomach near her diaper but I didn't think anything of it. Wednesday though, when I went to pick her up, they were all over the place - belly, arms, legs, feet, neck. They aren't itchy so they don't bother her, which is a blessing. I think I caught whatever she had because my ear started to ache and I have red bumps on my chest and neck. I swear, if we ever get healthy all at the same time it would be a miracle.

John and I are hoping to get tickets to the Carrie Underwood/Little Big Town concert at Jobing.com Arena tomorrow night. My mom is supposed to be coming in to town to watch Olivia for us but I don't know if she's going to make it. We are working on a back-up plan, but if they don't work out does anyone want to baby-sit?

My "thing":
*One of my biggest pet peeves is static on the radio. I can't handle it. And when you schedule a group luncheon and let everyone know about it and tell them how much it is going to cost but not everyone is attending and they don't tell you so you order too much food and have to pay the extra.

Sedona pictures

I wanted to get some pictures of Sedona in here. That place is so pretty. The pictures below are from the Tlaquepaque shopping area. They had great sculptures, flowers and fountains all over the place. I took pictures of a few.These pictures are from a couple of the scenic overlooks that we stopped at. I wish the redness of the rocks really came through, but this is the best I can do. Everyone needs to experience this place for themselves.

My "thing":

*I have a couple of friends that are really into photography and are very talented in that arena. I am not and really wish that I was.

Halloween and Sedona

Olivia enjoyed her first Halloween. She seemed to after we got her into her costume anyway. She wasn't happy when I was putting it on her. She screamed at one point but quickly got over it. She was in her costume for a grand total of about 10 minutes. It was hot here and her costume was pretty thick and heavy to be wearing in 90 degree heat. She was an adorable little bumblebee though. We had a bunch of trick or treaters. One little kid actually tried to come in our door after knocking for about 15 seconds straight. He was so cute. Little Superman. I'm pretty sure it was his first time going door to door because his parents were taking all sorts of pictures. I just know we are going to be the same way when we take Olivia out for the first time. We have a light up Jack-O-Lantern in the house that Olivia just loves. She knocked it off the table it was on but that's pretty typical. One of her favorite games is throwing stuff on the floor to see how many times Mom and Dad will pick it up. On Sunday she was cocking her arm back and actually going through a throwing motion! Left-handed! So we will see. She is already following in her parents footsteps with a strong arm.

On Saturday we took John's mom up to Sedona for lunch. We left around 9ish and drove up to Sedona. We stopped at Tlaquepaque (ta-la-ka-pak-ee), a little shopping center near the "Y" intersection in the center of Sedona. They have great art galleries, shops and restaurants. It's a beautiful area with flowers, fountains and sculptures. I tried to get some good pictures of Olivia and us. We stopped for lunch at the Javelina Cantina and had some pretty decent Mexican food and then it was off for home. We did stop at a couple of scenic spots to take pictures. It is so beautiful up there but the pictures never do it justice. The rocks are so red but you just can't tell through a camera lens.

My "thing":

*I read magazines front to back only. I do not skip around and read them out of order.