Niva

Life Lately

Hello and Happy Friday!

Fun breakfast for toddler with fruit arranged in a smile

Who is ready for the weekend? I sure am! We had a crazy week over here. Jimmy has been working a ton lately, which I know is stressful for him. Us girls miss him while he puts in extra hours, but at the same time I am so thankful he has work! It was almost a year ago that he was laid off due to COVID, so we never take busyness for granted. 

Niva randomly bit Sadie yesterday. Guys, yesterday was a year and a day since Mavis bit Sadie. I can’t make this stuff up. I cried and cried. I still don’t know what happened. I was in the other room and Sadie and Niva were in the living room and suddenly Sadie was sobbing and clutching her arm and sure enough, she had a bite mark.

I’m not sure if she was bothering Niva or if they were just playing, but ugh. I just feel so bad all around. Thankfully the bite wasn’t bad, but Sadie was really upset afterwards (and so was I 😢). 

Toddler making a mess

Sadie was back to making messes within a few hours!

After having her bloodwork done recently, the results showed that things are a bit off with Sadie. Her doctor referred us to a gastroenterologist at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. We had an appointment and the doctor did an exam and without going into too much detail, something is up so she needs to have an upper and lower scope done, plus more testing. 

I don’t even want to think about little Sader Tot under anesthesia. I know she will be fine and we’ll get to the bottom of this, but it’s just sad thinking of more testing and procedures. I am so thankful for healthcare and amazing doctors. 

Toddler playing Melissa and Doug fishing game

We’ll get our silly little Sadie back to feeling normal again! She has been loving this adorable fishing game lately. Also, the random flashcard in the background was for homeschool that day. We learned about nurses!

Okay, enough of me being a Debby downer over here! We had our monthly family night last night and it was lovely! We decided to do a family gift exchange and split up to shop for little gifts for each other. Sadie and I bought for Jimmy and the pets and he bought for us girls. 

Daddy definitely delivered… Sadie got a Paw Patrol toy and she has not stopped playing with it since she opened it. In fact, we (stupidly) let her keep it in her room overnight and she woke up at 5:30 this morning to play with it, LOL.

My sister and I were talking about Paw Patrol recently and she said she thinks it’s a cult. Neither of our daughters really watch the show (we don’t have cable) but are somehow totally obsessed with all things Paw Patrol?! 

Toddler with Paw Patrol Drawing

We did homeschool today and I drew Skye for art class and Sadie’s mind was blown. She wanted me to draw every. single. character. 😂

Other stuff of note:

  • Obsessed with this peanut butter.
  • We found out my brother and sister-in-law are having a baby girl in May!
  • Still reading Ruth in the Bible and loving studying it. 
  • Excited to watch Battle Bots tonight with Jimmy 🤓
  • Our lil picky eater loves these, but only the chocolate ones 😂

That’s pretty much life lately at the Zottola Zoo. Some hard stuff, mixed with blessings, along with great stuff. God is good!

Tell me about your life lately!

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Friday Thoughts

1. Baking. Yesterday I made oatmeal cookies from one of my favorite cookbooks and whipped up a batch of challot (challah knots) earlier this week. I’ve been having the hardest time finding yeast in stores. Has anyone else had that problem lately? I used up the last of my yeast supply on the challot but they were so worth it!

Challot Challah knots

2. Fall Decorating. We’ve been having some rainy weather here in Pittsburgh the past couple of days and it’s making me feel like fall is slowly ushering its way in. Do you decorate for fall? I have in the past, but I don’t know if I will this year.

In a spurt of minimalism, I got rid of a lot of outdated fall decorations in 2018 and now I have just a wreath and one wall hanging. I enjoy decorating, but I don’t know if it’s worth the money end effort for fall. I like the idea of Sadie having warm memories of the house decorated for different seasons, though. Hmmm. What’s your opinion?!

3. Vlogging. I’ve been having so much fun vlogging lately. There’s just something about looking back on what our days looked like a week, month, or year ago that is so special. Our latest vlog is here and includes gardening, cooking, baking, cleaning, and a trip to Sam’s Club!

Mom and toddler daughter smiling

4. Reading. I think I’ll always want to talk about reading. I just finished up this book by Beverly Lewis and added it to my growing list of Amish-based books I’ve read and enjoyed. 

5. Niva. Niva has been doing so well since being spayed! She somehow got her cone off all by herself so we decided to give her some freedom and see if she would bite at her stitches and she hasn’t so far. She goes for her followup appointment on Monday and I’m so thankful this has been a good experience and that her days of going into heat are behind us 🙂

Fall decorating: yay or nay?

What’s the last thing you baked?