The End of a Great Year

I feel so fortunate to have shared this year with my sister in law Erica and my little niece Taylor. We had the opportunity to experience the highs and lows of new motherhood together and more importantly we have been able to share the everyday moments. I will look back on our year together and cherish the long telephone conversations, the swimming lessons, play dates and the shopping trips. Erica was my first call whenever I was stressed, excited or trying to come up with a solution to a problem. Erica is an amazing mother, very nurturing and tuned into Taylor's needs. I have learned a lot about what it means to be a good mom from her and for that I am most grateful.

These are pics from our last visit to Busy Bees before Erica headed back to work. It was a bitter sweet day for all of us, the end of some really great times and the beginning of some new ones.

Life with Sick Georgie

Georgia was unfortunately sick with a cold for three consecutive months, with a few good days in between. I am not going to go into to much detail because no one wants to hear about all of the all-nighters we pulled, snotty noses, sick mommies or a whole lotta crying (by everyone!). This picture says it all....

P.S. at the time of this posting Georgia has been "sick-free" for three weeks!

Baden Outlook's newest model

To celebrate Georgie's birthday we posted an ad in the Baden Outlook, our local paper. For all of my readers out of town (which I think is all but one of you...) here is the link
http://www.badenoutlook.com/issues/jan09.pdf - Georgia is on the last page.

Talking Georgia

Grandpa Doug was nice enough to put this together for the blog.

A little bit of mommy in there...

Ever since Georgia has been born we have all commented on how much Georgia is just like her dad. It was not just that she looked like him, but she also demonstrated a very laid back personality just like her dad. She was quite content to just go with the flow, as long as you let her jump in her jumperoo for a few hours a day, she was content to let me trot her around to every mall in the tri-cities area and all of my friends houses.

But, just these past few months I am starting to realize there is also a whole lot of mommy in her too. While she is still a very content baby, she also has a dramatic streak in her too. She loves to play for an audience and will often mimic whatever noises she is hearing. She is very outgoing with other adults and children and talks non-stop. She has even started to show a little bit of my temper lately too. If she wants something, she isn't as patient as she used to be. She wants it NOW! I love this about her, she isn't going to wait for life to come to her - my girl is going to go out and get it!

It is so hard to believe that in a few short weeks she will be 1 year old! Where has the time gone?"

One Scary Night

Last night I experienced my scariest moment as a parent. After celebrating the Holiday season with a sick-free baby (this is a blessing in itself as Georgia has been sick for the past few months) we went away for a few days only to return home to a sick baby again. Throughout the past week she has steadily gotten worse with a cough, congestion, runny nose and fever. Last night around 11 pm Georgia woke up screaming, obviously feeling terrible. We tried to comfort her to no avail and finally decided that we would take her to bed with us. After a few minutes it became apparent that we had a much bigger problem on our hands. She began to tremble, then shake. Her colouring was off, her lips turning blue and her face a shallow grey colour. Then she started to babble incoherently. As Georgia worsened, Trevor and I in a mad panic rushed her to the car, grabbing whatever items we could on the way to keep her warm and comfortable.

We got into the car, Georgia and I in the back seat. As we were pulling out of the driveway I was frantically trying to get Georgie into her car seat while comforting her screaming, shivering body. The drive the hospital is somewhat of a blur, I remember telling Trev to go as fast as he safely could and to go through every light that we passed. As I looked at Georgia she continued to worsen and the trembling was now non-stop. As Trevor pulled into emerg, I quickly got Georgie out of her seat and rushed her into the triage area. Within 10 minutes of getting there we were quickly seen and ushered into emergency. By this time Georgia was getting better by the minute. We were informed that her fever had spiked to 104 and that she had likely had a febrile seizure. A febrile seizure is a seizure that is often brought on by a high fever. It can come in two forms simple and complex. The majority are simple and do not last long or have any particular lasting effects. The other are complex or prolonged seizures which last for anywhere from 10-20 minutes and carry a variety of associated risks. It is our belief that Georgia had a simple febrile seziure.

Over several hours poor Georgia had chest ex rays, a catheter and constant temperature checks. With each hour that passed we became more confident that the worst was behind us. Her seizure is something that is fairly common and often runs in families. There will be no long term effects, she is healthy and will be fine. A relief to say the least. At 5:30 am we finally left the hospital, with a prescription and plan to manage her fever in hand.

Throughout this experience I realized a lot about myself and Trevor as parents. I had a lot of time to think in the waiting room and analyze the past year and how we have all changed since welcoming Georgie into our lives. It was last night when I realized that our pre Georgie and post Georgie personalities have changed dramatically. This little 3 ft girl has changed our lives dramatically, so much so that I would consider myself an entirely different person now. A year ago the biggest part of us would have been our careers, our marriage and our aspirations. Now the biggest and best part of Trevor and I is being Mommy and Daddy. All of those other things are still important, but what makes our life meaningful, what makes us proud and fulfilled is simply being Georgias mommy and daddy. Last night was a wake-up call for us, and I am proud that in a very stressful situation we were able to be a very capable mommy and daddy.

Georgia's First Christmas

Cousin Brooke, Taylor and Georgia in their new hockey hats (no icing was made in the making of these hats...)

Mommy, Aunt Erica, Taylor and Georgie

Grandpa opening Christmas gift from all of the kids (old and young!)

Grannie and Taylor

Georgie and her caggage patch kid Helena

Georgie, Grammie and uncle mama on Xmas morning

Shoe's from Daddy for Christmas, we trained him well!

Georgia and Jackson on Christmas morning opening Elmo Live

Georgia the "elf" on Christmas morning

Great Nana and Papa, and Denby at our house on Christmas Eve

Unfortunately it wouldn't be Christmas without bad weather!

Georgia and Great Grandpa Cinkant, here from Ottawa to spend the holidays with his "girls"

Everyone around the table on Christmas Eve

Georgia and mommy on Christmas Eve

My tree! Always an accomplishment :)

Georgia and Taylor in matching outfits (one of many...)

Table set for Christmas Eve dinner at our house. We each had a box at our place setting to share some Christmas best wishes with family around the table.

Georgia opening her gift from GM and GF, Mike and Tristyn

Georgia and Great Grannie Wheeler during visit with Jen Wheeler

Georgia and Daddy getting ready for Gran's annual open house party

Georgia's first Christmas was a very exciting time. As we made the rounds from one Christmas party to another, she was spoiled with love and gifts from her many doting aunts, uncles, great aunts and uncles, grandparents, great grandparents, friends and other family members. Here are some of the highlights.