Hello again fever.

Delaney's nasty fever made a reappearance on Monday. I thought she felt warm during the night Sunday night, but I took her temp when she woke up on Monday and it was perfectly normal. I dropped her off at daycare and within 2 hours they called to let me know that she had a fever of 103. I called the doctor and they wanted to see her in the early evening. Poor little thing was pretty miserable once I got her home and shivered all through lunch. I was just hoping that the doctor would find something to explain this fever. Unlike last time when it could have been the shots, her cold, her ear infection, this time there were no other symptoms. She had been really fussy on Sunday, but that was it. We went to the doctor and he gave her a good look and said, "Well, I see one thing that could definitely explain this". Thank you! The verdict was: viral tonsellitis. He said it was the fourth case he had seen that afternoon. Tylenol is the only treatment to help with the fever and sore throat. She is back to her old self as of last night after a double helping of chicken and corn and is back at school today. Poor little thing has had a rough ride lately, but hopefully we can see a stretch of healthy here for a bit. I doubt it though with her starting a new daycare next week.
Oh, and the doctor also said her four top teeth are all pushing down right now, so her gums are probably very sore. Maybe one day one of them will actually pop through. We can only dream...

Delaney and her phone

Delaney has a little car with a phone that rings if you push it. One day when I pushed it to make it ring, she picked up the phone, put it to her ear, and said "Hello". She figured this out all by herself. Must be all those times I hold up the phone to her ear when her Grandma's call. Everytime I tried to get a picture of it or videotape it, she of course wanted nothing to do with it. She and I were having a really good playtime tonight and she was on a roll with the phone. So here it is.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We hope everyone had a fun St. Patrick's Day! Delaney and I made sure to wear our green. Here are a few pictures of our Irish lass!

Standing on her own, eating a snack and making a face at the same time. Not an easy task.

Sitting in her big girl chair.

Trying to sneak some food out of the fridge...

And realizing she got caught...

Having fun at bathtime.

Little sicky again...

I haven't posted in a while and it is mostly because Delaney was sick and is just now getting back to herself. Right after her birthday, we took her in for her 1 year checkup. She got three shots and the next day woke up with a 104.5 fever. She has always gotten a fever from shots, but never this bad. I couldn't get it to come down, so the doctor wanted to see her right away. Of course, the fever dropped some by the time we got there, but she just was not herself at all. She was starting to get an ear infection so we were on antibiotics for a week for that. She also had a little bit of a cold, so between the shots, beginning of an ear infection and a cold, her fever was just out of control. They said if it didn't break in 48 hours to bring her back in. It broke about 46 hours later. Even though she got over the fever, she still hasn't been herself the last two weeks at all. I finally took her back in yesterday because of her irritability and she had been picking at one of her ears, but all was clear. They said it is probably just due to teething (which she is going through also). She has a really rough time with teething and one tooth was about to pop through last week, but it receded back up in there a little bit. It is like groundhog's day, I don't see a tooth, two more weeks of teething. Ugh.
But, we finally got our little D back last night. She finally perked back up and today she had her first good day at daycare since she went back after being sick. Anyway, to make a long post short, we are hopefully on the road to recovery and she can focus on those first steps which are coming quickly.

Trying to get our little fever monster to eat something. Applesauce, bananas, and formula was all we could get down her the first two days.

Our miserable little one.

We could get a few smiles out of her, but this is what she wanted to do all day long. Just sit and cuddle in the chair. Now, for anyone that knows Delaney, usually I can't get this kid to sit still for 2 seconds let alone cuddle. This was a big sign for us that she really was feeling pretty bad.

And here is one of our little girl finally feeling better last night.

1st birthday party

Saturday we celebrated Delaney's birthday with a small family party. She had a great time (and so did we). She wore a birthday shirt, a birthday hat, ate good food, opened presents, played outside, ate cake and smeared it everywhere. All the makings of a great first birthday. I took a ton of pictures and here are a few of my favorites.

The birthday girl enjoying some good food.

Admiring her new bathing suit from Great Grandma Bell. You can also see her other birthday shirt in this pic.

Having fun opening presents.

I love this picture of the three Bell girls.

Delaney had such a fun time outside on the swing. Auntie Maddie kept her company on the swings and Delaney loved every minute of it.

All of the partygoers. Grandma and Grandpa Bell, Grandma Charlene, Great Grandpa Brown, Grandma McGuire, Great Grandma Bell and Auntie Maddisen. We missed those you couldn't make it, but you were there in spirit.

And one with Dan.

Just starting in on the cake. She enjoyed it, but I think she did wind up with a tummyache later on in the evening. She isn't used to that many sweets in two days. Between her birthday cake and the cookies that she took to daycare, she had more sugar than she has had all year.

Enjoying her cake.

This is what she looked like after cake. Poor little thing rubbed it into her eyes and they were a little swollen for the rest of the day. I was still wiping bits of it out of her eyes that night.

Playing on one of her new toys.

Happy 1st Birthday!

One year ago today, our lives changed forever. We welcomed Delaney into the world and it has been an adventure. She has brought joy that we had never known. We have spent the last year watching her grow and develop and have been busy teaching her things. Little did we know how much she would teach us. Here are a few lessons from Delaney: Labor is worth every second once you see that little baby.

Never take off one diaper without having another one right there ready to go because that will be the time they go.

Snuggles are few and far between, so enjoy those moments in the morning whey they snuggle tight.

Every book you can read will never prepare you. Oh, and babies don't read those books, so they don't know that they should be sleeping through the night and eating every two hours.

No-spill sippy cups can still spill when slammed hard enough onto the highchair or the floor.

Hugs and giggles are what make everything worthwhile.

Being quiet is not a good thing when they are playing. I need to find you and see what you are doing that you know is wrong when you are quiet. Usually it means you are trying to eat the cat food.

Toys are fun. Boxes and paper are more fun.

I never knew I could love anything so much in so little time. The love you have for your spouse is different than the love you have for your child, but both are what make everything so special.

You can never take too many pictures.

Finally, cherish every little moment because they pass by in a flash. One day you are a little newborn in my arms and the next you are getting around everywhere and don't want to be held.

Those are just a few of the MANY things Delaney has taught us. I'm sure she has millions of more lessons waiting for us over the next several years. Happy 1st Birthday Delaney!

p.s.- Happy Birthday to our niece Harper too! (She and Delaney share the same birthday).

Here are some pictures of the birthday girl and how she spent her day today.

Having a good time getting ready for the day!

This is the special birthday shirt she got from Aunt Karry, Uncle Mike, and cousins Harper and Ronan. She wore it all day today.

This is the birthday card that Delaney's teachers made her. I love the teacher crouching behind it! We brought in a special treat for Delaney to share. She had a good day at school.

Delaney and her friends at school enjoying the birthday cookies. Aren't they adorable?

Meow meow was waiting for her in the car which made her very happy.

Enjoying a good dinner at Joeseppi's. Delaney loves the pasta there, so Grandma Charlene and I took her there for dinner.

Playing with her new Elmo

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. We had a mellow day and relaxed and did some errands. Everyone is FINALLY feeling better again. After the last post, Dan came down with a horrible episode of throwing up for 24 hours. We thought that maybe he had caught Delaney's bug, but now we think it was food poisoning. We are all finally feeling good again, although Delaney has started teething again. She was teething for weeks and weeks before the her last teeth came in, so we will see how long it takes for these ones. Other than that, we are doing great. I absolutely cannot believe she is a year old on Friday. Where has the time gone??? Here is a picture of our beautiful little girl in her heart shirt on Valentine's Day.

Delaney has a new love in her life. No, not Daniel. It is her stuffed kitty, Meow Meow. It sings a personalized song with her name in it and she got it for Christmas from Great Grandpa Brown. It now goes everywhere with us. If you even mention Meow Meow she will go find it and lay her head on it or pick it up and give it a hug. It is adorable.

Loving meow meow.

This is what I discovered after I went looking because someone was being a liitle too quiet in the kitchen.