O and the stairs.

It’s been a long time since I have written and a lot has happened. Olivia has changed a ton. Her personality is now in full swing and she is so much fun to be with. She is now an avid crawler and sometimes it is hard to keep track of her. She is next to me one minute and out of sight the next. Going up the stairs at the moment is easy but she is having a hard time going down the stairs. Once she gets to the stairs she can’t figure out how to turn around, so when she gets to the edge of the stairs she hangs at the edge and then decides her approach wasn’t good enough. So she turns around and crawls down the hall. I keep working with her and it is clear that she can understands what I am saying, so it’s a matter of time.

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.

Depot Bay with Uncle Bob Day 3

Last night (Sunday Night)was really rough! Olivia woke up at 2:30 and wouldn’t go back to sleep when we wanted so we all didn’t sleep well. Uncle bob made Blueberry pancakes this morning and they were great. We went and saw the big house that Uncle Bob is currently working on. Talk about cool! In the courtyard he is making a privacy wall that is made of broken recycled glass that will be over 8ft high and lit from underneath. Click on this link and you can see the house and my uncle’s site. http://rdharchitecture.com/haineshouse%20in%20progress.html
After looking at the house we went to Depoe Bay to have some lunch at Gracie’s Sea Hag, a local restaurant where the owner plays the funky chicken on liquor bottles. It’s an experience that I think you should all see. Miriam was really hoping to see a whale while we are on the trip so we went on a whale watching boat ride and within 10 minutes we saw a whale feeding right near the inlet. We spent about an hour and a half on the sea and saw 3 whales. It was a great experience but we found out that Miriam isn’t Cruise material. She was sea sick the last 20minutes. It was a bad deal.
The day took a lot out of us so after the boat excursion we went home and all took naps, had a nice dinner and went to bed.

Depot Bay with Uncle Bob Day 2

We woke early this morning with Olivia (5:30am). This early rising ritual just began and we aren’t sure why. Previously she was waking up at 6:30am. Seeing as we were awake already we decided to go for a walk along the coast (uncle bob lives only 100yds from the ocean), talk about beautiful; waves crashing on the rocks, sun coming through the trees, it doesn’t get much better. When we got back to the house we had a wonderful breakfast, made food for lunch later in the day and left for our excursion. Our first stop was the Yaquina point lighthouse, One of the last few lighthouses left in the nation. Then we went to some tide pools where we watched some of the ocean life “struggling to survive” as the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) Information plaque stated. By the time we were done here at the tide pools it was time for lunch, so we took a leisurely drive through Newport on our way to Agate beach for lunch. We picked a nice non windy area behind a sand dune, laid out our things and went to the water for Olivia’s first ocean experience. She was quite excited about the water and her toes in the sand, and didn’t seem to mind how cold the water was. We then had lunch, and relaxed under the umbrella while Olivia played in the sand. After our beach experience we went home, gave Olivia a bath, had dinner and played spades. What a great day!

Depot Bay with Uncle Bob Day 1

Well our much needed and anticipated vacation has finally arrived! We left Saturday morning at 11:30 and after an hour and a half of crawling along the road to Depot bay we arrived at Uncle Bob’s at 4:45 (usually a 3 hour drive and a 2 hr flight). Uncle bob hadn’t met Olivia yet so it was great to introduce him to his grand niece. We had a beautiful walk along the coast and then sat down to a terrific Italian lasagna dinner followed by ice cream and fresh raspberries. We packed in early as it was a long day for us but we are excited about spending time with Uncle Bob.

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.