Peace & Productivity

I woke up at 3:15 a.m. this morning. Usually I would go right back to sleep, but I decided to get up and start my day.  I made coffee, cleaned up the kitchen, showered, packed Olivia's lunch, did laundry, picked out Olivia's outfit, picked out my outfit, and now I blog.  It is only 4:55a.m.  I'm toying with the idea of getting back in bed and cuddling with Olivia's warm, snuggly little body, but soon I will have to throw the Mexican Lasagna in the oven that Dave prepared last night for my office Halloween/Bosses Day party today.

There is something so peaceful about being the only one up and moving in the early hours of the morning.

Proud Mommy & Daddy

Whoa.  Last year at this time I was pregnant; pretty darn pregnant.  And now, we have a baby, almost more like a toddler, walking around our home like she owns the place.  Which she does.  All that we do, and have done is for her.  It blows my mind how much our baby girl has grown in the past 18 months since she was just a glimmer in our eyes.

Olivia is walking and it couldn't make Dave and I any prouder.  Each new milestone brings new feelings of pride and butterflies to our bellies.  I can't imagine how we will feel when she becomes a rocket scientist! (Yes, Dave, I know she can be whatever it is that she wants to be.)

We are having a lot of fun as always, and I'm really starting to get excited about the holidays.  This will be our first real holiday season as a family.  Last year, Olivia was 2 weeks old on Christmas and even though we did all of the Jimenez/Contreras/Copeland family Christmas hoopla, I don't remember a single thing.  I was still healing, nursing 24/7, and barely awake during that time.  This year will be so very different.  We will have a one year old to dress up for Halloween, eating Thanksgiving dinner with us, and opening her own Christmas presents on Christmas morning. 

In addition to being just the cutest little darling, Olivia has started to display some other personality traits.  She is slightly stubborn and has a temper.  Olivia gets easily frustrated about the slightest things and will throw herself back in a fit of baby rage.  I use the term fit-throwing very loosely right now because I know they aren’t real 2-year-old-throw-myself-on-the-floor-type fit, yet, but they are more like a preview.  It has been a good introduction to another side of parenthood, because it has opened the door for discussion on how we will handle future full blown fits.  Right now we just manage them, and give her what she needs if we can figure it out, if we can’t, we just ensure that she remains safe. 

Aside from walking, Olivia’s fine motor skills are also improving.  She enjoys feeding herself and has gotten much better at it.  She even practices with a spoon, which is fun to watch. Olivia loves trying to feed Thor from her spoon!   She has ¼ of a tooth on the bottom but very strong gums and does a good job chewing whatever we are eating for dinner.

I’ve gotten a little braver in the baby making food department.  For the most part Olivia is eating whatever we are eating, but I still send her breakfast, lunch, snack and milk to daycare.   She does okay with most breakfast fruit mixes, yogurt and the lunch/dinner veggie mixes, but I’ve noticed that she really likes things with flavor and seasoning.  I made a very tasty pork chop, sweet potato and applesauce dish in the slow cooker over the weekend and it has been a huge hit.  I also made a really yummy homemade whole wheat super mac-and-cheese .  It is “super” because there is half of a can of pumpkin in the recipe that really delivers the good stuff.   I have a couple of more recipes to try, including a Mexican fiesta stew type dish, which I know our little Mexican will love.  She has been a fan of the frijoles and tortillas since day one.  Smart girl.

At Olivia’s 9 month doctor’s appointment she weighed 16lbs and 2 ounces, and she was 25.25 inches long.  Her growth seemed to slow down a little, which seemed natural because of how active she had become since her 6 month doctor’s appointment.  We go to the doctor again on Friday for the 2^nd half of her flu shot, and I’m anxious to see if there has been any growth in the last month. 

DIY Co-Sleeper

Sunday night was the first night with this new arrangement.

So far so good.  Although she was still mostly snuggled between the two of us, the fear of her rolling off was not there.  We all slept like babies.

Dave is working out of town for a couple of nights, and we figured it would be a good idea to finally set the crib up in our room.

I love it, I love it.  I get more space, but I still get to be close to the ones that I love while I sleep.  Dave thinks it's a step in the right direction to eventually transitioning Olivia to her own bed.  I agree.  She should be in her own bed by time she goes to college at this rate.

I added these pictures that I took last night.  I moved the crib back so that it's against the wall, I think this is an even safer option.

Having faith

Me: Wow, Olivia is almost nine and a half months old.

Dave: Yup.

Me: That means that she is almost 1 year old.

Dave: Yup.

Me:  I cannot believe that I'm actually going to make it to 1 year of successful breastfeeding, pumping and working full-time. I had my doubts, but now I know we are going to make it.  I'm pretty proud of myself, it's been kinda hard at times.

Dave:  Yup.

Me:  Seriously?  That's it? Not even a pat on the back???  I deserve something big. Huge.

Dave:  Due to recent budget cuts "we" will no longer be giving out pats on the back.  Plus, I never once doubted that you would make it.

Wordless Wednesday - New Orleans

I miss getting to blog

I started a new job and life has just been very busy for our little family as we try to settle in to our new normal.  I miss blogging, I miss sharing fun stories about my baby, and I miss uploading fun pictures.   Instead of blogging I'm trying to spend some really good time with Olivia in the evenings and on the weekends and it hasn't left me much time to write and upload pictures.

I promise to get back into the swing of some regular blogging.  I feel like I have a lot to share and my baby girl is doing new things everyday.

Life is very very very good to us right now and I'm trying to take the time and enjoy it.

8 months

Oh, what to say about this little girl full of personality. Sometimes I try and describe her personality and I feel like words do not do her justice. I am constantly amazed when I watch Olivia in motion. I see her thinking and processing and make calculated movements, and it's absolutely awesome.

Hours old and after her first bath.

I'm blown away by how quickly Olivia has developed and grown in these past 8 months. She is crawling very quickly and able to get anywhere she wants to go. Olivia is pulling up on objects with ease. Her balance is getting better each and every day, and a couple of times she has even taken a few steps while holding on to the wall or furniture.

While we saw Olivia progress from rolling to sitting to crawling to standing all so very quickly, in about a 4-6 week time span, she has become more cautious lately.  Thank goodness! I was so worried about her lack of caution. I would hover over her protecting her pretty little face from getting bumped and bruised. Olivia now works hard to steady herself while gripping whatever she is holding herself up on and seems to somewhat understand the concept of falling. Babies are so smart.

Olivia's very first car seat experience.

Olivia currently has a very strong dislike towards the car seat.  She hates being placed in the car seat and will fight it like crazy.  So much so that she has earned the nickname of Emily Rose in our household when it comes time to put her in the car seat.  It doesn't take her long to settle down, but the act of getting her buckled in can be pretty darn dramatic. 

 My sad, pathetic attempt of trying to get a nakey baby picture under our little tree.  (3 weeks old.)

Olivia is communicating with us more and more. "Da-da" was a favorite of hers, and in the past month she has finally started to babble "ma-ma" and "ba-ba." She also makes a funny sound back at you when you tell her "boo!" Olivia claps, she waves, and she nods when we say, "yes, yes, yes"! She understands who Thor is, and the minute we get home she squeals with delight at the sight of him. She also whips her head and body around to be able to see him wherever he is at in the house when we say, "Where's Thor?" He's a wonderful big brother to her.

Olivia is still only kind of sort of eating solids. Some meals are better than others. Overall, she just is not a very big eater, whether it is at the breast, bottle or spoon. I've slightly given up worrying about it so long as she is drinking enough milk throughout the school day, and nursing well for me at home.

Yesterday, I took a picture of Olivia during lunch and sent it to Dave. It was just a cute picture of Olivia being busy at play. Dave wrote back, "Nice picture. I seriously cannot wait till she starts talking." And believe it or not that was enough to make me cry! While her growing and becoming the most precious little girl is amazing, it also makes me teary-eyed. I know babies grow up, and I know there isn't anything I can do to slow down this process, but I am certainly working VERY hard to remember each little thing along the way.