Meeting Cousins

I know it has been a very long time since either Andy or I have written, so we will see if we can jump back on the horse to keep our site a little more up to date. Since we have last written Andy and I have met both of our new nieces. In Oct we went to MN for Andy to be the best man in Steve’s wedding and also to meet Sophia. She was born to my brother and his wife the end of Sept. Then in November we had the pleasure of hosting my sister and her husband in addition to Alexandria, born Aug 9. After my mom met all of these girls she commented on how they each have their own personalities and this is most definitely true. When my sister’s family left after their short visit I was strongly reminded about how important family is to me and how much I miss having them close by. I really hope that as all three of these girls grow up we can find a way to help them develop close relationships with each other. Right after my sisters family flew out, Andy left the very next day for a trade store in Las Vegas. So Olivia and I are a little bit lonely at home. Luckily I have numerous things planned this week so the time until Andy returns on Friday should go fairly quickly. It is hard to explain to Olivia where Daddy is though. This morning she woke up and looked for Andy and was very upset when he was no where to be found.

Olivia’s Haircut

I have been talking about cutting Olivia’s hair for a long time, so that she will no longer be the mullet baby and I finally did it. Here is the before, middle and after pictures. August 28, 2007.

The Haircut!

From the title and the fact that almost all of our posts are about Olivia you are probably thinking this is about Olivia getting her haircut. Well it is actually about Andy! Over a year ago we went out and purchased supplies so I could cut Andy’s hair. I have never been trained professionally to do this, but I was shown once by a friend and thought I could give it a shot. After purchasing these supplies about $120 worth, I did give Andy his next probably about 5 haircuts. They were always just ok, would take about 1 hour, and we were argue a bit before they were completed. Once I became pregnant my hormones were a little too wild and our communication broke down to a point where Andy left in the middle of the haircut to go and have someone finish the job. I was very frustrated but went along to get a couple more pointers from the professional. Since that haircut I have been too scared to try again. Well last night I jumped back on the saddle to try again. With the tip from the professional I gave Andy one of the best haircuts I think he has ever had, well at least that is my opinion:). It also only took about 30 mins and we didn’t even argue during it. Andy hasn’t commented too much on it, so I guess the real test will be if he lets me do it again next month when he needs one. On a side note I would like to give Olivia a little haircut to trim things up, but Andy thinks it is not time yet for that.

Olivia Sleeps!

So our normal routine of putting Olivia to sleep takes about 1.5 hours. Pretty crazy huh? It consisted of nursing, Olivia falling to sleep, attempting to put her down while she is still asleep, she would sleep for 30 minutes and then wake up to start the whole thing over again. It was quite long and hard on us all. So when my mom came to visit we decided after a long debate that we would work on the sleep training. This involves doing a short bedtime routine and then putting her in bed while she is still awake. The first night we did this she cried for 2 hours. And when I say cried it should really be cried at the top of her lungs. I had to go outside so that I couldn’t hear it as well. The second night it was only 1 hour, which was soooo much better. It improved from there on out and now she only cries for maybe 5 mins tops if at all. It is so amazing to have our evenings back. Now it take us only 30 minutes to do our routine and then she is out!

Granny and Olivia at the pool

While my mom was here Olivia also rolled over for the first time, began sucking her thumb, started eating rice cereal and had her first swim at a public pool!

Olivia’s Stats

So we went to the Dr. for Olivia this week for her 4-month check up. She is really about 4.5 months old, but they still call it the 4-month check. She received 4 shots compared to 5 last time and she may not have cried quite as much as last time. She is now 15 lbs 3oz and 26 1/4 inches long. I was thinking she is a little chubby but the Dr. said that for her length she is not too heavy at all. Now we just have to decided if we are going to do the sleep training thing or not. My mom is here visiting and she definitely thinks it is a good idea, but the crying is really hard on me so we will see. I think Andy is in favor of it too, so most likely we will give it a shot. The Dr. said that by 6 months she should be able to go to sleep without help (which we now give her lots of help). It is too bad my mom can’t come back closer to 6 months as she has no problem hearing the crying. Decisions, decisions.

Olivia attended her first rodeo last night and was quite the trooper even though we did not get home until close to midnight.

Little Milestones

Olivia with her fingers in her mouth.

Each day we marvel at how Olivia is growing up. This week has been a time of exploration for her (every day is but this week especially). We think she is beginning to teeth. She constantly has something in her mouth and has quite the bite. Just this morning she found her feet and now grabs at them constantly. She is about 3/4 able to roll over, so we think it won’t be long. We were visiting with some friends tonight and one of them commented on how we will be cheering her on for the rest of her life and it made me happy to think we will be her rock for her whole life.

My Time

Some people have asked what I am doing with my time so I thought I would share. Life has completely changed that is for sure. When I was working 40 hours a week outside of home I would almost always get off work before Andy and would sometimes complain about being bored. Wow that is never the case any longer. Now I feel like I am constantly running! I am doing all of the typically baby care items in addition to continuing to work for Valley Mental Health on a part time basis, doing some sales work for Andy’s boss, and babysitting once a week for 2 children. Every Tuesday is when I work for VMH and Olivia gets to come with me. I don’t always feel super productive, but it is really nice to get out of the house for the day and everyone loves seeing Olivia! I had to take a break from choir for a bit after Olivia was born in order to be able to feel her and put her to bed and now that I have starting going again it is just time for our summer break. I will miss that too but maybe by the time it starts back up again Olivia will be more patterned and maybe taking a bottle so that I can stay for the entire rehearsal. Andy and I are going to have our first date since mid March this weekend. We were thinking about going to a movie and dinner, but I think we will just go to the movie without Olivia and then take her with us to dinner. I am not sure I am ready to be away from her for more then a few hours, although she would probably do just fine without me. On a side note I do add new pictures under the photo section every couple of weeks, with the new photos at the bottom of the page:).

A Great Day

As each day passes we cherish the time with Olivia more and more. Every day she does something new. Whether it’s smiling at us or batting at things, she is learning every day. We bought a macbook about a month ago and slowly I have been proving it’s worth to Miriam and I think she is liking it more and more. We used it today to take this family photo of us and we couldn’t be happier. I would highly recommend a mac for any who are in the market for a new computer. (then we can video conference together:) )

Happiness

I love to watch Olivia as she goes through her different stages of life. The first weeks were mostly sleeping and eating, then on to being more awake and noticing her surroundings more, now she can see and loves to smile when Miriam and I laugh. I love it when I look down at her and she smiles a huge smile (I love you daddy).

Time flies

So I think that our original idea was that we would write at least once a week, but we are clearly way behind. So where do I begin when we are so far behind? Things with Olivia are going well and getting better all the time. We have had two nights this week of her sleeping for 10 hours straight! I can’t say that I slept that entire time as I was awake waiting for her to wake up. I also had my first week alone with Olivia this week, as Andy was in North Carolina for work. I SURVIVED!! No really it was not nearly as bad as I was expecting. He left on Tuesday morning and is now on his way home (Friday night). Tuesday I was occupied all day at my office (with Olivia too) and then babysitting. Wednesday night a friend from church came over to share in the baby time, Thursday night I went to choir practice and today I was just on my own at home. Before having Olivia I would have been very bored passing the hours away at home, but now they just fly by. But for anyone who is local if you ever want some baby time we have plenty to share so please come on over:). Now for the info on Olivia is she smiling a ton and interacting a lot. She loves to be sang to especially at choir practice. She just starred at the director the whole time happy as can be, but when the singing stopped she screamed for the world to hear that she was mad about it ending, she was probably a little on the tired side as well. I also wonder if it didn’t feel familiar to her as she would also move lot during choir practice when I was pregnant. I still look at her and can barely believe that she is mine or even that she is here. New life is such a miracle. FYI if you haven’t checked in awhile there are new pictures under the month folder.