And Then There Was Confirmation...

Last week I wasn't feeling well at all. My lymph nodes in my neck were apparently trying to get into the spirit of Easter because they were the size of eggs-not exaggerating. Anyway, I felt tired and yucky, but didn't have a sore throat, headache or fever, so I limped along the road of life figuring too many late nights had finally caught up with me. Then, the fever started and the icky feeling intensified, so I dragged myself to the Saturday clinic (where I waited for 3 hours-not so fun). The Dr. quizzed me about my symptoms and asked me if I had been kissing my boyfriend lately (ha!). I told him I was married thankyouverymuch with two small children and then he said, "It sounds like you have Mono." Lovely. A test for Epstein-Barr, a steroid shot, three prescriptions and an order to rest and eat three square meals-a-day later, I was on my way out the door with a diagnosis that made me feel like I was in high school.

The nurse called to confirm my diagnosis today after seeing my blood work. Yuck. But I am feeling better than last week and glad to know that I am not totally lazy and out of shape...the fatigue is just part of it. :)

A Berry Sweet Party

We celebrated Olivia's first birthday last Saturday morning with a brunch at our home. The original plan was to host that party at a local park, but the temperatures dropped Friday night, so we moved the festivities indoors. I was a little disappointed at first, but I think it actually turned out better than I had envisioned.

The theme for Olivia's party was strawberries. She was born right around the time the Cabot strawberries were ready last Spring-it's a delicious memory I will always associate with her birth. I LOVE strawberries, so I had a lot of fun incorporating them into her party.

The Invitation

The Brunch Boxes

The Centerpiece

The Table Setting

The Food

Centerpieces with a Sweet Girl in the Background

The Beverages (Berry Thirsty?)

The Dessert Bar

The Gift Table with (per tradition) Birthday Signs and Favors

We had a fun brunch with the family. We ate, watched the birthday girl delight in opening her gifts and exchanged stories of what we were doing one year ago when our girl surprised us a couple days early. I said when she was born that she obviously wanted her own birthday (she was scheduled to arrive on her daddy's birthday) and she has been that way ever since. The girl knows what she wants and proceeds with great determination until she accomplishes her goal. We love you, Olivia Tonette, and had fun celebrating your one year anniversary of joining our family! You are our sunshine and joy!

(Photos taken by Olivia's Uncle Joe)

Happy Birthday, Dee-da!

We love you! I'm sorry your day has been overshadowed by your daughter's, but I know you don't mind a bit. You are the BEST husband and daddy. Thank you for taking care of all of us in the most unselfish ways. We know we can always count on you.

Hugs and kisses,

Katy, Owen and Olivia

Happy 1st Birthday, Olivia!!

We met our sweet girl one year ago today!

We are smitten with our vivacious little lady and have loved watching her grow this year!

We love you, Olivia Tonette!
(Photos courtesy of Uncle Joe)

Early Easter Fun

My friend, Brandi, hosted an Easter party for our Friday morning small group. Everything was so cute and the kids had fun eating, playing, hunting for eggs and being crafty. It was an unseasonably warm, sunny day which felt a little more like summer than spring, but we had fun chasing kids around and admiring Brandi's great attention to detail-she is so creative and had some really sweet decorating ideas.

Olivia and Elsy Kate wore matching outfits (the first of many, I'm sure).
The sun was pretty bright, so you can't really tell-you'll just have to believe me.

Little Miss had a great time climbing on Jace's toys.

Jace was peeking at me-he's pretty cute!

Owen had a good time searching for the eggs with his name on them.
He also helped us find Olivia's eggs, but wasn't so thrilled about putting her eggs in his bucket.
He must know the old saying, Don't put all your eggs in one basket-ha!

At one point, Owen and Carson collided.
Egg hunts are hazardous-what can I say?

Sickness

It's been a "hold-my-baby-all-day-because-she-feels-icky" kind of day. Yesterday, Owen and I stayed home from church because we had been coughing and feeling yucky (which I am blaming on allergies) and today Olivia woke up with a fever. I hate when my kiddos have fever because they are so obviously not themselves as they battle the aches and chills. My rambunctious little girl was only content being held by mama all day and that was kind of nice (minus the sick part). She's getting so big so fast and I CANNOT believe she will be one next week-can't believe it. I am having a grand time planning her birthday shindig and hope we are all feeling well and the weather cooperates as we celebrate surviving one wild year with Olivia (not only because she's a handful, but because we managed to cram a lot of major life changes into her first year of life). Looking forward to feeling well soon...