Sick Ali Baby...

Ali has had a cough and runny nose for a couple weeks now, but she's been her happy self and not running a fever, so I didn't think it was a big deal.  I also have been trying not to be the overprotective first-time mom.  Well, this morning I noticed that her cheeks were pink, and she felt warm.  She was fussy and all she wanted to do was sleep.  We took her temperature, and it was 100.2.  It is not considered a fever for infants unless the temperature is over 100.4, but since there have been cases of RSV, Strep and Flu at her school, we went ahead and called the pediatrician's office.  They told us to go ahead and bring her in.  At the doctor's office, Ali had a temperature of 100.7 and she tested positive for RSV.  Fortunately, her oxygen levels were good, her lungs sounded clear, and her ears looked fine.  Apparently, RSV can develop into bronchitis and pneumonia in young babies, but we're hoping that Ali can fight it off.  The last thing I want is for her to be in the hospital!  We gave Ali some infant tylenol, and she immediately seemed to feel better.  All we can do is watch her and make sure her breathing doesn't get worse.  Please send good vibes and prayers this way!

I snapped this picture at the doctor's office this morning.  Check out the pink cheeks!  If she weren't sick, I'd think she was wearing blush.  Poor sweet baby Ali...

Cindy has a New Job!

Although Thanksgiving has come and gone, I find myself once again very thankful for all of the blessings we have in our life.  After only 2 weeks of being unemployed, I have accepted a position with Pegasus Bank, a community bank in Dallas, to start their mortgage lending group.  Although I have little to no mortgage lending experience (limited to my personal experiences with our home), the President of the Bank believes in my skills and believes that I am capable of learning the business and making it a success.  I am excited about this new challenge, and I think it will be awesome to build it from the ground up.  If you or anyone you know has mortgage lending needs, please think of me... but give me a month or two to get it off the ground!

Although, I would have liked to have some more time off to spend with Ali and ride the unemployment gravy train, that just didn't work out.  I sent out an email the Friday after the layoffs and received a lot of positive responses.  When I talked to Pegasus about this opportunity and received the offer from them, I knew I needed to look at as many options as possible in order to make an informed decision.  I spent a week interviewing like a mad woman.  Let me tell you... this looking for a job thing is hard!  I started to think it was easier to work than look for a job, so I was motivated to accept a position soon.  I feel very fortunate that I had a lot of good opportunities to look at, from contract work to small bank jobs to big bank positions.  Our financial planner Kyli Vardeman gave me great advice... she told me to make a list of my values and priorities and rank the jobs accordingly, so I did.  Although I got really excited about the thought of working for a big bank, I knew that at the end of the day, I would have to work my butt off to prove myself and even then, I would still only be one fish in a big pond.  I want to feel like I'm making a difference, and most importantly, I want flexibility with my schedule so that I can spend time with Ali.  After doing this exercise, it was easy to make the decision.  I really appreciate everyone who forwarded my resume and helped me connect with people.  Without all of that help, I would not have had as many opportunities to look at and would not feel as confident about my decision as I do. I truly appreciate it.

Oh and can I say... I am SO happy to be able to have my maid back!  Conservative Todd and I decided to put her services on hold until I found a job.  That was almost motivation enough for me to find a job fast!

And because I know you probably care more about pictures than all of my jibberish, I'll leave you with a picture of Ali.  She can be entertained for about 20 minutes now in this exersaucer.  Not sure why she looks surprised...

Going Private

Recently, I've been thinking about all the wierdos out in the world, so I've decided to go Private with our blog.  I really hope that this doesn't prevent people I care about from continuing to read our blog.  I love being able to share our lives with our friends and family, and I hope you will continue to follow our blog.  But... I want to be able to control who has access to our stories and our pictures.  I don't want creepy people who don't even know us to be able to read about all the personal things going on in our lives and see all of our pictures. 

If you would like an invitation to have access to our blog, please let me know what email address you would like me to use.  You can email me at cindyhu@gmail.com.  I will send you an invitation, and you will need to use a google account or create a google account in order to access the blog.

Thanks so much for understanding!

Am I a Bad Parent?

Some people may think I'm a bad parent...

• Last Friday, I walked into daycare to pick Ali up at 5:30pm, and she was the last kid left in her class!  Seriously?  Don't people work til 5pm anymore?  I'm unemployed, so I don't really have an excuse... except that Todd and I wanted to take Coco on a run before going to get Ali.  I do feel a bit guilty though.
• We let Ali stay up late at night.  She usually doesn't go to sleep until 9pm.  But the kid will sleep until 5:30am.  I'll take that.  We'll move her bedtime up as she gets older. 
• Ali sleeps in her swing at night.  She likes it, and selfishly, we don't want to walk up and down the stairs to her room.  We plan to move her to her crib in her room when she is 4 months old and ready for sleep training.
• We let Coco lick Ali.  Not much.  But Coco definitely gets a kiss or two in once in a while.
• I still have a drink or two even though I'm breastfeeding.  Don't worry, I test the alcohol level with a milkscreen test kit that looks like litmus paper to make sure I'm not giving my child alcoholic milk.  On some days, I know I'm a better mom after I have that glass of wine.
• We take her to daycare (yes, she goes to daycare) even though there are cases of RSV, Strep and Flu at her school.  There are none in her class.  Obviously, I don't want our baby to get really sick, but I'd like to expose her to some germs to help build her immune system.  

Some people may question our parenting decisions, but how can you argue with it when our precious Ali is such a happy baby!

Who's Watching Ali?

I told Coco it was her turn to watch Ali... do you think she's ready to babysit?

Happy 3 Month Birthday Ali!

She's growing up fast!  I can't believe 3 months have passed, although I can't even remember what life was like before Ali arrived.  I tried to weigh Ali on the food scale today, and it said ERROR!  Ha.  I guess she's outgrown that.  I'm not sure what its maximum weight is, but Ali has surpassed it.  Todd step on the scale and then stepped back on it holding Ali, so we could get an idea of how much she weighs.  Our scale only weighs to the half pound, so it's not exact.  We think she weighs approximately 12 pounds.  We don't go back to the doctor for an official measurement until her 4 month checkup.  Currently, Ali is showing lots of personality, talking up a storm, rolling over from tummy to back, and enjoying time in her exersaucer.  We are thrilled that she continues to sleep well at night from around 9pm to 5am.  She has definitely become more fun, and we are enjoying spending time with our baby girl.  Happy Birthday Ali!

  

Click this link for Ali's Watch Me Grow Picasa album to see her age pictures.

Another Eventful Week...

Well, we've had a lot of changes recently at the Levreault Home!  Looks like Todd isn't the only one who's going to be starting a new job soon.  The bank I worked at had its third round of layoffs in less than two years, and unfortunately, I didn't make the cut this time.  It was definitely a blow to my ego when it happened, but after the dust settled down, I realized that this is a blessing in disguise.  I'm a firm believer in "Everything happens for a reason."  I am going to take this opportunity to look at different options and hopefully find the right fit for our family.  Thankfully, we have been very conservative financially and are in a position where I can look for the right job and not have to take the first thing that comes my way just to have a paycheck (not that everyone is knocking on my door!)  In the meantime, I get to spend a little extra time with my sweet baby girl!

In more exciting news, I finally remembered to record Ali rolling over!  Check it out... she even stops to say hi before rolling over.  Our amazing little girl has grown so much recently.  She turned 12 weeks last Wednesday and continues to talk up a storm, is rolling over daily, and is sitting up in her bumbo and the exersaucer. 

Happy New Year!

We hit the ground running in 2011!  I went back to work full-time, Todd accepted a new job, and we took Ali on her first trip to California for my cousin Jennie's wedding.

I've enjoyed being back at work, but I do miss Ali so much during the day.  Our evenings with Ali feel so short, and I feel like she's growing up so fast.  I really look forward to weekends when we can spend more time with her. 

I'm so proud of Todd.  He accepted a positions as Regional Sales Manager for a company called General Cable.  He will be selling wire as opposed to selling components that go into control panels.  The way he explains it is that he's just selling a widget.  Todd has been with his current company Phoenix Contact for almost 6 years, and he really enjoys working for them so this is a bittersweet transition.  However, this job with General Cable will give him the opportunity to grow within the company and manage a team from Dallas.  There was not a lot of room for growth with his job at Phoenix Contact.  Todd is wrapping up his two weeks, and he will start his new position next Monday with training IN Kentucky!  Yikes, I'm nervous about getting ready in the mornings without Todd's help taking care of Ali.  Hopefully, I'll get a routine down soon.

Ali did GREAT on her first plane ride!  I was so afraid that I would be THAT mom with a crying baby, but Ali didn't make that fear come true.  I didn't know that I could be so proud of her so soon and at such a young age!  We fed her when the plane was taking off so her swallows would help her ears equalize, and then she slept for most of the flight.  Then we fed her again on the way down to help her ears.  It worked!  She was an awesome baby both on the way there and the way back.  Of course, our first trip didn't come without its challenges.  My mom planned to fly to Dallas and then be on the same plane with us on the way to Los Angeles.  However, her flight to Dallas was delayed, and she missed the connection.  Then we ended up sitting on the runway for an hour waiting for an issue with cargo.  Fortunately, since we were delayed and my mom was able to get on the next flight, we ended up arriving at LAX around the same time.  Whew!  The wedding was very nice, and it was very nice to see my aunts, uncles and cousins.  Our flight was delayed on the way home due to the snow in Dallas (can't believe we missed the first snow!), and my poor mom missed her connecting flight home to San Angelo! 

Unfortunately, we did not do a great job taking pictures from the weekend.  Here are a few from the plane (Yes, Daddy used Ali as an iPad table!) and from the wedding.

Lovin My Big Girl Chair!

Check out Ali in her Bumbo... She's growing up so fast!