On the Move

So I know its been forever since I've updated, but that's because we are moving this weekend and I have been SUPER busy getting everything ready and packed and finding a house, etc. I still don't have much time, but wanted to add a few cute pics. Will update more later after we get settled into the new house!

Watching TV in her jumper

Playing in the laundry

Big girl in her Bumbo seatOh yeah, I should probably let you know that O is eating solid foods now, well, as solid as pureed fruits and veggies are. So far she likes: bananas, apples, pears and her favorite is sweet potatoes! She does NOT like: avocado, peas or banana squash, however I am gonna keep working on those.

She also started sitting up on her own for about a half a min to a min at a time. She does the tripod thing and uses her hands for balance and she falls over quite frequently, but she is growing up so fast! It's incredible!

I just love her more than I know how to say. She is the best thing that I have ever done.

Its been awhile

Sorry its been so long, I just feel like I have a million other things to do each day so I tend to neglect this. But I have been saving up some fun pics and vids.

On Sunday, O had her second photo shoot with the wonderful Danielle Daigle. For anyone who is looking for a photographer, I highly recommend her. We did lots of fun pics, some of her in a giant teacup, bathtime, with mommy and daddy, with grandma mary and we had lots of wardrobe changes. My little model was a real trooper. It will take a few weeks to get the photos back, but here are a few I shot on my camera while we were waiting - she has really chunked up lately. Look at those boobies!

I also made her hair bow, along with a few extras. I never realized I had a crafty bone in my body.

Today, was her 4 month checkup at the pediatrician. She is doing perfectly. Her new stats are: 14 lbs 2 oz, 24 3/4 inches long and 41 3/4 cm head circumference. That puts her aat bout 70%, 70% and 50% respectively among babies her age. She had to get FOUR shots, two in each leg and a liquid oral vaccine. Poor thing. She cried and cried and calmed down with her bink (pacifier) but had a fussy afternoon. She wanted nothing to do with me all day but cheered up the minute daddy walked in the door and just started smiling and cooing at him. Figures, daddy's girl already.

She also started eating rice cereal this week. I have some fun photos and video of that. Its organic brown rice cereal mixed with breast milk.

Ready for cereal mommy!

That's right - her mommy rocks

Watch how she bites down on that spoon!

And for giggles, here is O in her jumper today

So Advanced

Since the last update, we have had a doctor's visit (on mommy's birthday), sleeping through the night and her first bath with a friend (a boy!!!!)

On Friday it was my birthday - yay! Although honestly, its just not the same with a baby. O must have forgotten it was my bday because she woke up bright and early and didn't let me sleep in. Then she decided to give me an extra special birthday present and delivered the Day of the Scary Poo. NOTE: If you are squeamish, I suggest you stop reading this paragraph and skip to the next one. She pooped all morning and then around noon actually pooped something that caused me to call the doc, and I never do that. It was pretty gross actually, like snot with blood. I saved it, and they asked us to come in. The doc looked at her and the diaper - ew - and decided that she couldn't really tell what was wrong with O. She wasn't running a fever, wasn't acting sick and had no other symptoms. So we left knowing nothing but being told to keep an eye on her. However, we did get some super exciting news, well, at least its exciting to mommy.

Her doc said that O was acting more like a 5 or 6 month old than her actual age of just under 4 months. She said she should not be rolling over like she was already (she was attempting to roll off the table in there) and that she was very social and talkative for her age (she got it from her mama). So in other words, she is "SO advanced". I like to think that it comes from mine and Chris's awesome genes and my staying home with her to interact and play with her rather than leaving her in a daycare crib all day. O was so excited about the great news of her development that she peed ALL over the doc's table - wasn't that nice? In better news, there has been no recurrence of Day of the Scary Poo since Friday and I'm hoping it stays that way.

On Saturday and Sunday night, O slept from 7 until 4:30 or 5 am!!!! Its a new record, and amazing and makes me VERY happy. Let's knock on lotsa wood and hope that I haven't jinxed myself.

Today, O got a visit from her little boyfriend Anthony. She was in a bad mood until she saw him, then her face lit up and she gave him a very flirtatious smile. I think she's already figured out how to get men to give her what she wants - she's got daddy wrapped around her finger. Anthony gave her an impromptu puppet show which elicited full-scale laughter from O. Please see video evidence below:

O wanted to show Anthony her awesome new jumper. She's still a little small in it, but she likes to push on the toys and make them light up and every once in a while she pushes herself off the ground, although I don't think she has any idea what she is doing. While O was in the jumper, Ant decided that her do' was in need of some styling. His work is very secretive though and he does not like to be filmed.

After giggle-fest 2009 and salon-de-Anthony, we jumped in the pool because it is about 5 million degrees here in AZ. O wasn't a fan today, but I think its because she needed a nap. However, she did love her bath with Anthony that she got afterwards to clean off the sunscreen and chlorine. I have blackmail pictures for when they are teens yall:

And just because she is SO cute, here is a vid of her naked on the changing table, talking to me after her bath

She's a talker

Just for fun, I caught some vids of O "talking" today. She's still going at it now - I think she takes after her mom :) Whaddya think?

She's also gotten quite good at grabbing her toys

Fun in the Sun

So, for 4th of July, we were invited to go to Lake Pleasant for the morning and go on a pontoon boat. Being that it was free, we had no other plans, and it sounded like a whole lotta fun, we said yes! So O got her very first trip on a boat and her very first outing in water other than a bath or pool.

We went out at 9 am, but it was already HOT! So, rather than making O wear her bathing suit, I just let her go nakey with a diaper - she likes going topless :) We brought her bouncer seat so she would have somewhere to sit, and it worked out pretty good.

On our way to the lake - all dressed up in her festive best!

Lounging on the lake with a cold one

I'm always the photographer - so there's finally a picture of me and O!
Aunt Davina and O's future boyfriend Anthony (he already kisses her feet - literally!)

Look at all that curly hair! (not daddy's chest hair folks!) :)

We finished up around 12:30, because the kiddos probably couldn't handle much more than that, and finished celebrating at our house in the pool. No fireworks for us this year, O is an early pumpkin and goes to bed at 6:30-7, plus the noise probably would have scared her.

Today we went to our non-walker playdate, which is just SO fun! She got dressed up in her new dress, and I got to put a ponytail on top of her head. I cannot believe that my 3 1/2 month old daughter has enough hair for a ponytail. I didn't leave it in because I was afraid it would hurt her, but got a few cute pics of it.

Before we left, I left O on her Baby Einstein play mat because she now likes to play with the toys that hang above her. She was on her back playing, I left the room for a few minutes to finish packing her diaper bag, and when I got back, she was on her tummy, in a different area of the mat! She rolled over from back to tummy (the much harder rollover) and I missed it! She has also figured out how to spin her little body around as if she were positioned on a clock dial, she lays there and her legs can go from 12-o-clock to 6-o-clock in a matter of minutes. She is getting SO big!

When we got to the playdate, O got to see her friend Elliott who just spent the last 2 weeks in St. Martin (lucky girl). They were so excited to see each other that they held hands - ok, maybe we positioned them like that but its still super cute!

Best friends!

O is only 2 weeks older than Elliott - look at the chub difference! My kid has some rolls :)

Then she practiced holding her bottle - mommy can't wait for this one to be accomplished.

From SAHM to WAHM

Just a really quick update to let everyone know that I passed the test for the WAH (work-at-home) position that I was working on last week and now have a job that I can do at home, on my own time when O is sleeping or otherwise occupied. Its only about 10-20 hours per week for now, but every little bit of money will help. If I were to work 20 hours/week for a month, I would make just about as much money as I would have made working full time at my old job after putting O in daycare, so this seems like a pretty good gig to me! I can't release any other info because I signed a NDA, but if there are any other SAH mommies that want the company info, let me know and I will send it to you.

Oh, and just because its funny. Here is a video of O taking a bath with daddy last night. I wanted to film her splashing because its to cute, and then she pops right out of the little part and into the big girl part that she's just not quite ready for. Good thing daddy was there to catch her!

Born in the USA

It's been awhile since I've updated - sorry, we have been a little busy.
On Saturday we went down to Tucson so that I could visit my dear friend Amber who was in town. O decided that she did NOT like traveling, and was fussy and crying pretty much the whole 2 days we were down there. On Sunday, I peeked in her mouth and discovered that she has her 2 bottom teeth coming in!

They are still under the skin, but I can see them which means that we are probably in for at least a few more weeks of fussy baby. As soon as we arrived back in Scottsdale, I ran to CVS to arm us with ammunition to fight the fussy teething baby: baby tylenol, teething tablets, 2 different teethers...
She slept better last night and has been catching up on her zzz's since then. Guess she just really loves her crib!

Today we went to an early 4th of July BBQ with one of my mommies groups. All of the babies dressed up in their patriotic best. O looked especially festive in her Nantucket dress from Grandma Marianna and her special bows from Yaya (my mom). Everyone thought she was adorable and she decided to show everyone how fussy she could be.

Here are some pictures of her cuteness. Tomorrow we are having family pool day with her new baby float! Will update with more pics then!

Olivia and her friend Garrett

Babies and Mommies

Look how cute I am!

Too much partying

Little Laughs

I don't have much time today, because I am busy studying for a work at home position, but I wanted to post these adorable pics and video of our girl. We went to a fun pool party on Thursday, and O wants to show off her cute bathing suit!

In addition to Father's Day, we got a follow-up to last week's laugh this weekend. And this one was a big huge laugh. Of course, it wasn't directed at me - it was directed at her YaYa (my mom) and I have to tell you, I am just a little jealous. Although its so adorable I really don't care who she directs it at, as long as I get to hear it. I missed the first part of it, and was only able to catch the last part on video, but here she is taking a bath on Father's Day. She also discovered on this same day that it is fun to kick her legs in the bath.

Rollin, Rollin, Rollin....Keep them Doggies Rollin'

So much has happened since my last update:
1.) We've been to a playdate, a pool party playdate and a Father's Day craft playdate
2.) O started sleeping in her crib
3.) She did her first 8 hour sleeping stretch and...
4.) She rolled over for the first time!

What a big week for our girl - I am just so proud of her I don't even know where to begin.

I decided that this was the week that I would transition her into her crib, I think it was much harder on me than on her. That first night I had a hard time sleeping, she has been right next to me since she was born. I think mommy had separation anxiety. But she did great, only waking up once. I've got the monitor in the room so I can hear every little noise she makes and that makes me feel quite a bit better. The best part of us sleeping apart is in the morning when she wakes up and I go into her room to get her and she gives me the BIGGEST smile like she is SO excited to see me, it just makes me melt everytime.

I've also begun to understand her schedule. I decided rather than determine a schedule for her, I would let her determine what worked for her and so far it has been great! She normally wakes between 5 and 6, stays awake for about an hour and then takes a 2-3 hour nap in the morning. This is great because mommy gets a bit more sleep and I get to make myself breakfast although that usually only consists of a bowl of cereal.

She then takes an afternoon nap, around noon and an evening nap around 4, but these naps are much shorter. For the past week and a half, she has been going to bed between 6 and 7...I know, so early! I think she takes after her dad, she just loves sleeping. You can tell she's ready for sleep because she gets fussy and wants a binky. All I have to do is lay her in her crib and she will go to sleep - no tears! Its amazing!

On Monday, we went to a playdate with Davina and Anthony, O was much smaller than the other kids, but it was nice for mommy to get out. We had a BBQ and hung out in a nice shady backyard (the weather here in AZ has been amazing this week!)

Monday night Aunt Kel came to visit and we went to dinner. O decided to show Aunt Kel how charming she is with a few special smiles in the morning.

On Tuesday we went to a playdate at a neighbor's down the street. She gave O a new triangle top bikini and sun bonnet and that girl was styling. I'm pretty sure there were a few boys checking her out - watch out daddy!

Today we went to a mommies group where we made a special Father's Day gift for Daddy - a t-shirt with her feet print on it. I tried doing hand prints in the shape of a heart, but she just ended up squishing the paint in her hand and getting it all over me, Davina and herself. If I wasn't afraid my camera would have gotten painted I would have taken some pics.

This afternoon we were practicing tummy time when she figured out how to get out of the dreaded tummy time position - roll over! I happened to catch it on video (I've really been lucky with catching these things so far) so for your viewing enjoyment I present, O's first rollover:

(Please excuse my child's Alfalfa-like cowlick in the back of her head. I literally cannot do anything with her hair these days, it is too thick and long and at a weird stage. I'm hoping this will grow out)

She is so proud of herself with that flirty smile at the end.

And just to be sure it wasn't a fluke, she did it again, take 2:

Precious Cargo

Chris is leaving to go to Great Falls, MT for work and as he was packing, we found a stowaway (is that how it's spelled?) It seems that O really wanted to go with Daddy, but unfortunately, she got caught. Better luck next time O, I know that you'll miss Daddy but he will be back on Friday. We love you Chris, have a safe trip.

Sneaky Girl

You Caught Me!

Please Daddy can I come????

My baby is Einstein

This morning O and I are going to baby storytime and I need to get ready, so which tool do I pull from my mommy toolbag to allow me 20 minutes of uninterrupted "me" time? Baby Einstein of course!!

For those that don't know what Baby Einstein is, it's pretty much baby crack (only much healthier, duh). O is addicted to it. She will sit in her bouncer chair and stare at that screen, kicking her legs and getting excited. Its just classical music with video of toys on the screen - but she loves it! Seriously, the lady who invented this is a genius, why can't I invent some baby-related item? That's my new goal, (well that and getting rid of baby belly, ok, ok and hips and thighs) because that's where the money is folks.

And for those who would like to see how to mesmorize an 11 week old baby, I present "O watching Baby Einstein, 6/12/09"

Well, we're off to the library to sing songs and play with bubbles and parachutes - will update later!

It was a long day

So, O slept pretty good last night, a total of 13 hours in fact. We were up from 4:30 - 5:30, and she did go to sleep at 6:30 pm, but it was a good night. I had my interview this morning, it went well, and I am supposed to hear back from them next week. If the pay is right I think that it might be a good fit.

We also went to our first mommies group meeting with a new group we joined. All of the mommies were so nice, O had fun staring at all of the other babies and playing with the toys, and then as she was sitting in my lap, it happened. Yes, a major, massive poop blowout. All over my lap and my shirt. Of course that would happen. So, I had to leave after that as I didn't want to spend the rest of the afternoon smelling like a Diaper Pail. She didn't really nap while we were there, and has been a little fussy the rest of the afternoon, but I guess that is to be expected.

Tomorrow morning we are going to a baby storytime at the library, it is supposed to be lots of fun with parachutes and bubbles, plus after that, Daddy comes home!!

So, I will leave you with more pictures of O -

In her jogging stroller, getting ready to go out with daddy last weekend

Bye Mommy!

Shining, happy baby in her swing

Practicing sitting up in the Boppy this week

And now she's over it

O thanks all of her fans for checking in on her - she loves you all!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS!!!!

On June 11th, 34 years ago, my future husband was born.

I know that its a day early, but I wanted to make sure you saw this. I wish we could be with you on your birthday, but we appreciate all of the hard work you do to take care of us. We love you so much!!

My First Blog

Well, I have been considering doing this for quite some time, and it seems like there is no time like the present. I have a few reasons for creating a blog, and only one of those is a little selfish:

1.) I want to document Olivia's life in a way that will allow her to see it one day
2.) I want to keep family and friends up-to-date on her life through pictures and video

3.) I want to show off my absolutely beautiful and amazing daughter to anyone that will look

4.) I want Chris to be able to see his baby girl regularly since he has to be away from us so much

So, check back often because I will try to update at least two days a week. The operative word here is "try" because with a newborn in the house, I can't always guarantee that will be an option.

Now, for the fun stuff - pictures and video of Olive. This first post will be a bit picture and video heavy since I waited until she was 11 weeks old to do this.

Today we layed around the house pretty much all day, I was tired, and O wanted to be held pretty much all day. We had some good bonding time, she got in some decent tummy time and before I knew it the day was over.

Happy Baby During Tummy Time

Then she took a bath

O was born with copius amounts of hair on her head that hasn't fallen out like they said it would. In fact, it has grown even longer. It's at a very weird stage where it sticks up everywhere and I can't do much with it. But after the bath it gets SO curly and it is just adorable, I had to include a picture.

And the biggest event of the day - I caught O's first little giggle on camera! Amazing! And because I know that all of you will love it as much as me, I will include it here.

This is a video of O having a very serious conversation with Mr. Giraffe. But Mr. Giraffe can be very charming, and right about 55 seconds in, he just makes her giggle. I know it might not be a full-blown belly laugh, but I've been waiting for this laugh to happen, and for me, this is heaven.

I truly cannot believe I have lived my life all of these years without knowing this beautiful little person. She is the most amazing thing that has every happened to me, and every day I tell her how loved she is.

One of the other new things she has begun doing is "playing" with her toys. Now, she doesn't grab them and hold them, but she can swing her hands at things and hit them, and I have to say, she has gotten pretty good at it. We might have a future volleyball player. This is a video of her playing with her elephant friend that travels everywhere with her - she just loves her elephant.

I had big plans of putting a lot more up here today, but, I'm tired and she's in bed so I'm going to have some mommy time before bed. I quit my full time job and am looking for a part time job and have a job interview tomorrow morning so wish me luck!