First Fever

Lyla had her first fever last night. I wouldn't have known she was even sick if she hadn't been acting funny. When I picked her up from our Aunt and Uncle's house she was sleepy but not acting out of the ordinary. Then we ran a few errands still fine (a little fussy but tired fussy). When we got home she took a big nap. When she woke up I expected to see a smiling face but instead it was almost blank. I tried everything to make her smile. All my usual tricks did nothing. She'd manage a little grin but nothing like normal. I felt her head and it was warm. Now she is usually pretty warm so I wasn't really concerned about that but I knew it couldn't hurt to take her temperature and I am glad I did. The thermometer read 102! Of course I went into new mommy panic mode. I instantly called the doctor, called my mom, called Danny. My internal alarms went crazy. Everyone assured me that it was probably just a cold and that to keep her hydrated and comfortable. Of course with all the horror stories you hear lately I didn't let her out of my sight for the rest of the night. She slept with us and I pretty much woke up every hour to make sure she was still breathing.  A little extreme I know but could not be help. Thankfully this morning we woke to find the fever broken and all back to normal (well close...she wasn't quite 100%). But because it hadn't been 24hours with out fever her daycare didn't want her around the other kids. Totally understandable especially right before the holidays. Needless to say we are home today and I am making sure she gets as much rest as possible. If only mommy's had super powers and could just fix these types of things. No one wants to see their child sick, hurt or unhappy. 

I can do it myself

When Lyla really wants something she has definitely figured out how to do it herself. Well most things anyway. For now it is holding her bottle herself. Of course holding a 4 oz bottle is much easier then the 8 oz one but baby steps. She has also figured out how to get herself from point A to point B. The other day I left the room for 2 minutes and when I came back she had managed to get herself into the diaper basket and pull everything out. There were diapers everywhere. Thankfully they were clean ones. On to babies r us I go to get locks for all our cupboards.

Pre-Thanksgiving Dinner

There is something about hosting a dinner that gets me both excited and crazy (as my husband would probably tell you). I love entertaining but I can't help but go a little overboard. I want the food to be perfect... the house to be perfect... everything to be perfect. Thankfully Danny takes me in strides. This isn't our first year having everyone over before the holidays. Everything worked out lovely. I did have to compromise on a few things. Not cooking or baking everything that I wanted but I think the family had a good time. At least I hope so. Here are a few pictures of our table setting. After everyone came I had a hard time getting to the camera. Would have loved to get a few snaps of everyone actually at the table.

A fall afternoon walk

Lyla and I put on our warm cloths this afternoon and went for a walk around the neighborhood. Because of the looming clouds we decided not to go to far and good thing we didn't it got pretty storming not too long in. We did happen to make it down 6th ave to check out Annette B.'s new location. It was super cute, a great space for them and of course we couldn't help but pick up a couple fabulous new finds while we were there. All in all a fun afternoon.

Another Great Cause

Yesterday I attended the 2nd annual "Surviving with Style" Fashion Show & Luncheon to benefit Gilda's Club. I felt honored to be sitting at Jill Kenly's table. For those of you who don't know Jill she is an amazing woman who volunteers so much of her time to so many different organizations. When she says you need to be some where you should listen. And when she told me I needed to be at this event I listened and I am glad I did. Gilda's Club provides meeting places for men, women and children living with cancer as well as for their families and friends. They offer support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and are completely free of charge. It is a great organization and the people that shared their stories with us yesterday were amazing. It was very inspiring especially as we go into the holiday season and start really thinking about what we are thankful for. If you have any extra fund this year think about giving to Gilda's Club. They are working very hard to open a location in Tacoma. Currently the closest one is in Seattle. Pictured (top) Jordan and I - we were each others dates (below that) Jill, Marnie and Jordan. (very bottom) Overall shot of the event.

Strawberries...a new found love

Strawberries are Lyla's new found love. This little mesh feeder is ours. We put frozen Strawberries straight from the freezer into it (sometimes even just ice chips) and Lyla is amused for the next hour (or as long as it takes to eat all the strawberries). The best part about these things is Lyla is safe from choking because there is so way anything is going to get through and what really amazes me is how by the end the strawberry is completely gone. Who would have thought.

Bouncing

Lyla's new favorite thing is bouncing. Even when she is standing alone (with out the jumper) she is trying to get her body to bounce up in down. Her little legs are always kicking.

Back to a Normal Week

It is strange saying so but I am happy to go back to a normal week. Last week was so full of... work functions, charity events, babysitter disasters, photo shoots... that it is nice to get back to the normal "get up, go to work, come home" bit. There of course are still going to be a few curves this week. Wednesday Lyla's daycare is closed for the holiday and we are on deadline with the magazine but it should go fairly smooth. This is of course is when I knock on wood. Anyway...here are few snaps I took of Lyla while we were playing this afternoon (we are both in our pjs already but can you really have it any other way after a Monday). I couldn't get a good grin shot showing her two little teeth but I am working on it.

Celebrity Waiters Luncheon

This is my third year being involved with Celebrity Waiters, a charity event (Luncheon) for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. I hosted a table with Jordan Snyder and Jennifer Robbins. It was a huge success. Of course being a little bias I think our table was the best. The overall theme for the event was the "Silver Screen" co-insiding with the silver anniversary for the event. We choose the movie Gentleman Prefer Blondes as our theme so of course many blonde wigs had to be scouted if we were going to pull off being Marilyn (Three Marilyns actually). It was a lot of fun. Lots of pink, glitter and jewels. And I think our guests had a great time. There were many fun themes through out the place; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Animal House, and Caddy Shack to name a few. We are still waiting for the final amount raised but I think it was more then they expected. Thank you to everyone for attending...maybe next year I'll be adventureous enough to host my own table...yikes...we'll see...I so love being a part of this table.

Supporting Those That Support You

The company I work for had a party last night in appreciation of all our Freelancers that work on South Sound magazine and 425 magazine for us. Some new, some old but all sooooooo important to us. It turned out to be a huge success and it was great to see so many faces there. Our food was catered by Varsity Grill of Tacoma and we had cupcakes brought in from Trophy Cupcakes of Bellevue. Everything was amazing! In publishing you often read and write more emails then anything so it is good to finally have a face to go with the names. We had contributors from all over....from Vancouver B.C. to Snoqualmie to Grays Harbor to Bellevue to right next door in Tacoma. Several the photographers I work with daily came to support us. Rodrigo DeMederios, Tom Owen, Dane Gregory Meyer, Tracey Ayton, and Kerra Tibeau. Along with a few of our design friends Adam Welch of Hemisphere design and a past employee (who worked while I was on maternity leave) Brittany Staten. Love to see them to. It was great to see everyone! Pictures by Tierney Patterson, Daughter of our Editor in chief Lisa.