Silly Sunny

I was thinking the other day how crazy it is that my BABY is now in primary. Holy cow, when did this happen.?

Somedays I wish Sunny had a sibling closer in her age. Most of her friends are in school or live too far away, or their mama's work or there are 3-4 kids that might come over too and destroy my house. True story.
I wish Sunny had one little friend, close to her age, that she could play with, like I had when I was her age. It's not the same anymore as when I was a kid her age. In our culdesac,  There were several friends and I was able to play most the day with them, and I was building a pretty healthy lifestyle for myself.

Sunny has come to me daily since she's been better (#nomorecroupe). She says she wants to play with her friends. I have to tell her they are in school or their mama's can't bring them over until weekends because they are working.
  I asked her if I should put an ad in the paper. She got so excited,  yes, yes,  yes!! Then I told her I needed her pictures taken.  I asked her what the ad should say, she said:

"I want a friend to come play with me everyday." I don't take naps so I am always ready for you to play with me."

How innocent and adorable.  If only it were that simple. I wish I could entertain Sunny all day, but with a new baby I have to tend to it's not as easy as before.

Here are some pictures Sunny asked me to
Take for her "pretend" ad. She wanted to show her most playful side so friends would be more eager to want to play with her.

It will get better Sunny. You're only 3.

It has been so fun looking through old pictures of Sunny and comparing her to her baby sister. They both look very different from each other, yet there are subtle similarities. Their noses and shape of head are very different,  as well as their personalities.

Here are a few pictures of Sunny when she was a baby,.starting around two months on. Hard to believe how long ago it seems.

                             3 weeks

                               1 mos.

                                3 mos.

                                4.5 mos.

       

        

Sunny started walking at 9 months. I couldn't believe it. She was so tiny,  yet walking. I remember one day at church, she was walking so fast through the halls and e everyone was in awe at this tiny baby. Someone thought she was 6 months, she was that petite. 

Time has flown! She will be 4 this year. She's talking and saying everything now. Wish time would freeze.

A HUGE Mistake

For a while I have been referring to my baby as just "baby", not using the name, "Olivia."

Here is where this all begins.

While I was pregnant, I changed my mind every two weeks or so on a name.  I didn't want a common name and I wanted something I felt good about saying.

Around 35 weeks, we finally came to two names we loved but couldn't decide. Olivia and Adelaide.
I knew I loved both equally. I knew Olivia was more common and I didn't like that, and I knew Adelaide was not so common and I loved the poetic vive I got from saying it aloud.

One night around 37 weeks pregnant, Rodney and I sat on the couch and decided her name would be Adelaide Avonlea. We wrote it down. Final!
Rodney asked me if I was going to change my mind again and I said, NO!  "I swear Rodney." Ya, right, he exclaimed.

Loving two names drove me nuts. I had no idea how hard it would be. Why couldn't I just love one more then the other.  I would do a coin toss and see which name won the most. Adelaide always won.  However, I still loved Olivia,. I knew one of the names would be a middle.

Rodney was okay with either name, he just wanted to make sure I was content.

While in the hospital, they handed us forms and said it would be easier to give them the paperwork with the name so they could submit it to Vital Records for us. That would save us a trip and I liked that part.

I told Rodney I would need more time, but he really wanted to name her in the hospital and hand off the paperwork. I couldn't blame him.  I studied our baby girl. I believe looking at a baby is important before naming he/she, so I said each name aloud as I watched her. What did she look like more.  She looked like both.  This was infuriating and I finally had Rodney pick.  He chose Olivia and wrote the name down so fast and handed it off to nurse.

Her name would be Olivia Adelaide

For over two months, she was now an Olivia.  I was okay with it, or so I thought.  Each day I found myself having a hard time saying her name. As I got to know her personality and her face, I came to the conclusion that she did NOT look like an Olivia.  I decided I loved the name in theory rather then in execution.

I couldn't even say her name for two months. As my hormones starting coming back to normal and my head became clear, I knew I loved Adelaide a lot more. I knew something serious needed to happen when I told Rodney I wanted to have another future baby girl just so I could name her Adelaide.

How was I going to tell Rodney?

For 2 weeks I couldn't build up the nerve to tell Rodney I made a mistake.  He was happy with either name. He loved Adelaide as much as I did. She had already been blessed with the name Olivia, everyone called her by her name and all seemed well. I was not dealing with it. It was not sitting with me well and kept me up at night.

One night I confessed to Rodney how I was feeling. He was not happy. In fact he didn't want to hear another word.  For a week I continued to tell Rodney that I needed her name changed. We looked up the process online. Here is what we found out.

1. It would cost 360.00 and we would need to appear before a judge.
2. We would need to fill out for a new social security card.
3. An amendment on her birth certificate.

The process was enough to discourage me, so I put it off. I thought about just calling her by her middle name, but as she grew up, it would become an administrative headache.

I decided to look into more research and found that the large fee wasn't unless she was over 6.  I decided to tell Rodney.

 He finally said okay.  I was thrilled.

We finally went down to the Health Dept. and did an amendment on her birth certificate.  It was easy and fast and it was done.  Telling our family was interesting. They didn't understand. I simply told them I made a mistake and everyone makes mistakes, right?  It's better to be happy then sorry and regretful.

We still have to get her name changed with  church records as she was blessed.

Our baby is now officially named:
                 
                    Adelaide Olivia.

Sunny is the most confused. She continues to call her Olivia.  It's fine.

 I am not sure I will ever tell Addie this story. She might end up hating us for changing her name. I hope she loves the name Adelaide as much as I do.

So in all complications, name changing does happen. I read that about 10% of couples do name changes.  The important thing to remember is that as crazy as it may be to change a name after two months, the important thing is that parents are happy and content with the name. That is what ultimately is most important.

Just A Few Favorites

I am continuously changing. My style changes, my eating habits change, my taste in movies changes, etc.

Someday I want to look back and remember what I love this very moment. I think I have come to a permanent fix of what I love.

Hot chocolate.  I LOVE cocoa. I can't go a single day without it. However nursing and chocolate don't mix and I have had the hardest time giving up chocolate.  For Christmas all I wanted was my very own box of Sees Candy.  Rodney did indeed get me a box and I asked him to hide it from me since I might just go overboard on eating them all.

Baby snuggles. Since my baby was born,  I have sat and snuggled her a lot. She loves to be held and I find the snuggles a bit addicting.  Babies smell so good and are so warm.

The Wonder Years. When I feel streamed, I watch these episodes on Netflix. I grew up watching them. They always relax me.

Music. I have a very wired child named Sunny. She gets bored easily and I find I need the TV off because I am a peaceful tranquil kind of person who hates noise, and I need it for my sanity.

Soup. Soup is so comforting and nutritious. I wish I could post more soup recipes on here because I have a ton of favorites.

Parks. I love getting out and enjoying scenery.  Every park has it's own unique attractions.

Horses. Anyone who knows me knows I love horses. They bring me so much peace. There is a sweater coat I have lusted after for years that I bought. It's not juvenile,  but rather classy. I gave my coat away to someone who needed it more then I, just to have an excuse to buy my horse coat, which was 80% off, score!! hehehe.

Woven baskets, Woven Anything. I love woven baskets. I try to avoid places like Target that sell them. They are so chic when using them to decorate.

                            Perfect for toys

Lavender. I love the color and the calming smell. It's hard to find the color out there.

The gym.  I love going to the gym. I feel it's my own little club. Something about going just makes my day better.

So, there are a few favorites of mine that I have probably mentioned before multiple times. Finding what you love best is key to feeling your very best.