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!