My Watermelon is 8 Months Old!!

   October 21st marked Olivia's 8 month birthday!! We celebrated by taking her to Hope's Fall Fun Fest at church. She may still be a little young for the games and moon bounces but she had a blast watching everyone.... she even entered a costume contest!! The contest must have been rigged because she did not win.... oh well.... I think she was the cutest one there:) She stays quite active these days and loves to babble.... it is absolutely amazing how much she changes each day. A few weeks ago she was weighing in at 17lbs 5 oz at the pediatrician's office when she got her flu shot... which she was a big girl for.... just a little whimper and she was done.

  New tricks:

• crawling on all fours
• can sit herself up when she wants to now
• screaming at top of lungs just for the heck of it
• getting into the dog's food dishes
• can pull up on me with help

   While feeding her this morning I found a hint of two bottom teeth trying to come in... she usually doesn't let me look in her mouth but today I got a glimpse. Speaking of eating... she has loved everything we have given her so far.... which is a wide variety of things from fruits and veggies to meat and potatoes... and loves her snacks too. Such a good eater.. hopefully she will stay that way.... we shall see!

  Olivia is such a happy baby.... we are very blessed. This morning the ladies at church were fighting over whose room she went to. She is generally all smiles so when she does cry.... it's usually for a good reason. As long as she gets a catnap in the morning she can usually make it to anywhere between 1pm and 3pm for a long nap. However.... I laid her down in her crib for a nap about 30 minutes ago and I am sitting here watching her play in her crib on the video monitor. She keeps laying down and then popping up.... I guess she's afraid she will miss something:)

    Grandpa Bill came over all by himself last night to keep Olivia. The two of them had a great time... and Olivia was well fed and asleep when we got home, so grandpa passed:)  We took advantage of our time by going out and buying a new car!! My lease was up on my Altima and I wanted something a little bigger.... so we got a new Nissan Rogue..... which I love so far! I plan on driving this car until it dies.... so I better love it:)

  All in all things are going great and Ben and I could not be happier with our sweet little girl... I thank God each and everyday for our precious gift.



  




  



Fall is in the Air

  Even though it's still warm outside most days... it is cooling off and I have really enjoyed wearing jeans again! Next up is sweater weather...yay! I had to go buy Olivia some more clothes... she is now in 9months clothes... can fit into some 12month sizes... but when it got cooler I realized she didn't have much of a fall or winter wardrobe. No need to worry about that anymore... between me, Aunt Chris and Grandma.... she is all set! Spoiled little thing that she is doesn't hurt for a thing:)

  She is now 7 months old... still no teeth... but I love that toothless smile... it just melts my heart!! Most things have now been moved because Olivia is an expert army crawler and is excellent at doing the down dog yoga pose... which Ben called the upper dog today... made me laugh! She is a determined little thing... keeps her eye on what she is going after while she grunts her way across the floor. I'm not sure how much she is weighing these days... but I can tell you she's growing... my guess is around 17lbs maybe?? I am very excited for next month... she is going to be a watermelon for Halloween.... it is THE cutest costume! Last month I mentioned that she may have to be a pirate for Halloween because the pediatrician said her eyes were not following equally.... but we went to the eye doctor and she said she looks great... thank God:) A few weeks ago we started the First Time Mom's group at church which has been wonderful. Other first time moms and their babies get together for fellowship and a bible study and it is so sweet to watch Olivia play with other babies.

Olivia and her friends

  A few weeks ago we had pictures made of Olivia... April Hurdle... did an awesome job!! Now I have to figure out which pictures I am going to buy... I look through them everyday and I'm still trying to decide.... I told someone I could easily have a shrine dedicated to Olivia... but I will hold back:) It is hard to pick though.

  I take a picture of my own every month on the 21st to mark her "monthly birthdays." She is such a squirmy girl these days I had such a hard time this month... I was laughing so hard because she was looking at me like I was ruining her life by trying to make her sit still for a picture... this girl has places to go!!

As you can see... she's not impressed this time:)



August... What a busy month!!

  Well... this month has been so busy and has flown by! Ben and Chris had an awesome birthday party for me... I celebrated the 10th anniversary of my 21st Birthday.. hehe. They rented a gigantic water slide... at first I was thinking "what in the world??" but it was sooooo fun!! We are all just big kids at heart.

    My growing girl turned 6 months old on the 21st... which I still cant believe... half a year has gone by! Olivia is weighing in at 16lbs 1 oz and is 26 inches long... no teeth yet but everything goes straight to her mouth of course:) She is starting to get up on her hands and knees.. I'm sure she will soon figure out what to do next... we MUST baby proof the house soon. She is also sitting up by herself now... but sometimes falls over... she doesn't get upset when she falls over... just keeps playing.

 She is soooo happy and laid back all the time... takes after daddy in that aspect. We went to the pediatrician the other day: she got more shots:( and he said she is doing great... except he says her eyes don't follow objects equally so he is sending her to a pediatric opthamologist... kinda scary for me but I am praying everything is fine. From what I have heard and read on the internet she may have to wear a patch over one eye to strengthen the muscle. So maybe she can be a pirate for Halloween.. hehe. Uncle Eric will love that... he has some what of a pirate addiction:) We will just have to wait and see what the expert says.

  Yesterday.. August 25th, Ben and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary! We both had the day off together which does not happen often and we just hung out with Olivia together... all in all a nice quiet day. We went to breakfast with Ben's dad and step mom and went to dinner with my dad and Deb... awesome, relaxing day. Each year we take a picture of ourselves on our anniversary so we can watch how we change over the years. Here is this year's pic!



  I must say the last four years have flown by and time just keeping passing faster each day. I am loving married life and love being a mommy.. so in love with my little family.

Really... 5 Months??

   Yup, really... it has been five months since my sweet girl arrived. We are trucking along nicely I must say. She is such a happy girl and is such a joy to be with. I am proud to say I am her mommy and while I cant wait to see what she looks like and how she acts when she's walking and talking I want time to SLOW down!! I see newborns at work daily and I look at them and think "wow, Olivia was that small." Funny how quickly you forget. We started feeding her baby food this last month. So far I have been making her food which I don't mind at all... ironic since I don't like cooking huh. She has had rice cereal, oatmeal, carrots, winter squash, bananas and mashed potatoes. Everything has been a hit except the bananas... she's not too sure about those. Next to try is avocado, apple, green beans, peas, zucchini and summer squash.

First Bite of Food



Four Months and Growing!!

  Well at four months old Olivia is weighing in at 14lbs 3oz and is 25 inches long.... 75th percentile!! We just got back from seeing the pediatrician and she got her shots.... she is not a fan of those... but who can blame her. In the last month she has become so much more interactive and playful and such a joy to be around... she's such a happy girl. I could just eat her up!!!

  Miss Olivia has reached several new milestones in the last month!

• rolling over (loves her tummy now)
• laughing and cooing
• grabs at her toys (and sticks them in her mouth)
• she loves her new excersaucer
• not sure of the official word for this but she makes "raspberry noises".. at least that's what the internet calls it:)
• found her feet and loves to grab them
• sucks her thumb when she is really tired
• went swimming for the first time.... and several more since it's soooo hot here!
• went to her first birthday party
• got to meet Aunt Beth!!!

  On June 5th we had Olivia Baptized at Hope Presbyterian... such an awesome event and I was so glad my family was there to see it! The only thing I was upset about was that I had Olivia facing away from the camera so no one could see her face but I guess what is truly important is that Ben and I saw her sweet expression!

 Ben enjoyed his first Father's Day too! I made him breakfast, we went to church and then he had to go to work.. boo. But, I did get him tickets to see Stomp which we went and saw a few days ago. The show was awesome!! My dad, Deb, Chris and Eric also went with us so we had a great night out, eating on Beale Street, watching the show and enjoying some "adult" time after.

  Next up... Olivia gets started on food! Going to start the cereal this week... let's see how messy our life gets now!!



Life as We Know It

   Can you believe my baby is 3 months old! I treasure each and every moment with her... even when she is crying and fussy... I thank God for her! Olivia is the best blessing I have ever been given... I love being her mommy. I rarely get things done around the house because I would much rather watch her play and giggle... which is THE most adorable thing she does:) That's ok... my house can stay dirty... it's still going to be there when I get around to it. I had a wonderful first Mother's Day... I got a gift certificate for a massage (which I still need to get) and spent the day relaxing with my girl. I am upset that my brain quit on me that day and I did not get a picture of the two of us that day... oh well.

   Over the last month she has started laughing and is much more interactive now... she loves to be outside (just like me) and she loves to be sitting upright. If you lay her flat she does crunches... she just doesn't understand that she cant sit all the way up yet... and it frustrates her! I'm pretty sure she is going to have a six pack of abs soon...nosey little girl wants to see the world... not the ceiling or her play gym! She is meeting lots of new friends between the gym, church and the babysitter... always in a good mood and happy to see other people.

Getting some exercise and working those abs!

She loves bath time too! Love those prayer hands:)

Maybe she's praying for a good night sleep?

   Speaking of the babysitter... I love the sweet couple who watch her. They love on her all the time and it makes me feel better to know that while I'm working she is getting all the love she would at home. Work has been good... it is very hard to be away from her though. Since I work 12 hour shifts I really don't get to see her on the days I work... I usually get home in time to feed her a bedtime bottle and I love on her then. On the days Ben has her I make him send me pictures of her by text message... it gets me through the day.

   Ben is doing well too. His sling is off... but he still has limited use of his arm... he cant lift anything heavier than a pen!! He goes to physical therapy 3 times a week and his range of motion is improving every day.  Sooo... that means he really cant keep Olivia all day by himself.... but thankfully we have wonderful family who help out. Ben's mom and my sister are lifesavers!! He goes back to the doctor on June 9th and hopefully he will be able to lift more than a pen.... at least I'm praying he can. It has been hard on him to have such limitations and he is very frustrated! He has mastered using one arm though! He does his best to help as much as he can with Olivia... he's a great daddy!!!

                Next month my goal is to get more pictures of all of us!!

Loving Life

      My sweet Olivia is now two months old... time is flying by! Our little family of three is doing great and we are settling into a routine. I've even been back at the gym which I never thought I would be excited about but I am. Over the last 9 weeks I have become VERY used to being off and I am not excited about going back to work May 2nd...but bills have to be paid so Hi Ho Hi Ho off to work I go. Ben has been doing good too... he's excited about getting his sling off this week so he can hold and take care of the baby... good thing because he is going to be watching her the days I work!

    Olivia had her two month check up last week; she got her shots and I cried right along with her... she weighed 10lbs 15oz... growing perfect:) She loves to be held and she is smiling and cooing all the time now and it just melts my heart... such a sweetheart! I am very thankful and very lucky she sleeps great at night now, she usually goes to bed about 8-8:30 and will sleep to anywhere between 4-7am! I took her to see the Easter bunny on Good Friday and we had a nice Easter dinner at my dad's house.


                                                      
                                                                      Good Friday
          



     Other than that things are pretty quiet here... just becoming good friends with Dave Brown, the local weather man, as he tells us where the daily tornado warning is. I think we need to decorate our hall closet so we have something interesting to look at... but thankfully we have stayed safe! I'm looking forward to all the May flowers these April showers should bring:)