Let's see if I can remember how to do this. I'm not even sure I remember how to type when it's not being done on my iPhone. YIKES! So far so good! I'm typing at a standard pace. I'm no stenographer, but HEY! They type shorthand anyhow.

Updates updates! To start with, I don't need to say that we've been SUPER busy. OK, just me! Well, I guess Olivia and me make a WE!! Last month had a plenty of momentous milestones for Sweet Baby Olivia. She held a bottle all by her little self. I'm sure it would have happened sooner if she was given a bottle more often. No worries!! She also had her first dip in a pool. It wasn't the greatest experience for her, but she still enjoyed it. I think she prefers the bath tub so much more. Her biggest accomplishments were crawling, and transitioning from crawl to sit. She first started crawling around the beginning of the month (the 8th... I save all the days). However, it wasn't a full on crawl. She would mostly do the baby version of an Army crawl. Every once in a while she'd get up on all fours, but didn't cover much ground that way. She was quite quick with her Army crawl and always used that mode of transportation. Then, on the 26th, that all changed. She just started crawling on all fours and has been ever since. Just a few days before all that, she pulled herself up. I was sitting on the couch, about to send Carl a text, she crawled over, and up she went!!! It was amazing. It was only a matter of time before pulling herself up morphed into scaling the furniture. Which brings us to NOW!!! This past Monday she became a little more mobile by scaling the furniture. We are now into nail-biting territory as she likes to pull herself up and move all around whatever she pulled herself up on. Sometimes it's from the recliner to the couch, or couch to recliner. She can't always make the gap, but bless her heart, she tries. Now so those momentous "FIRST STEPS" are only right around the corner.
I will leave you with this picture to brighten your day:


I will also make more of an effort to keep you updated. It just seems like I get caught up on one thing only to fall behind on 2 others. It doesn't help when Olivia changes her naps without any warning. We went from 3 naps to 2 this month. YES, that gives me more time to spend with her, and a better opportunity to get errands run without having to plan around naps. However, I am left without a naptime that I used to get stuff done around the house. Now that we've adjusted and gotten as caught up as I can, I think I'll be able to make time to "BLOG."

WOWSERS! It's been over a month since my last post. I really am sorry. I figured today was as good as any to give everyone an update. Sweet Baby Olivia (SBO) went for her 6mo check-up this morning. With that comes another round of shots!! First, her stats. She now weighs 13.2lbs, and is 25in. She has gained 2lb and 2in. The doctor said she's doing great!! She also informed us that SBO IS teething. HALLELUJAH! A lot of things now make sense.... she all of a sudden started waking up in the middle of the night again the past few nights, and she's been out-of-the-norm fussy. We've seen the "buds" from the front of her gums for a little while now, but haven't felt anything. The doctor told us they're definitely coming now. Oh, she's been sleeping through the night for almost 2 weeks now (including the past couple nights)!! She started it all on her own! I'M SO PROUD! Ironically, Carl and I had just been talking about how we were going to begin encouraging it, but we didn't need to. A few nights later she did it all on her own, and has been doing it since. AMAZING! Granted, the past couple nights she did wake, but I didn't bother her. She just cried and whined for a little bit (no longer than about 12 minutes) and back to sleep she went.
Now, the shots!! Ah, shots! Who likes them anyhow? Let me just tell you, I really don't think that SBO has much of a problem with them. The nurse that gave the shots had the band-aid ready to go. She peeled off the paper backing from one side of the band-aid and placed it on her thumb knuckle. She gave the shot, wiped the injection site, it registered to Olivia, she frowned, whimpered, the nurse started putting the band-aid on, and Olivia was over it by the time the band-aid was on all the way!!! She cried an actual cry when the baby scale made a loud sound. Imagine that!

This is from Olivia's baptism this past weekend. She is now officially a Catholic. Pretty soon she'll be starting school!! But first, she's getting her ears pierced!!

You always hear that the most rewarding job is being a mom. It's true! A child is a reflection of how well you do that job. Having a happy, healthy baby, like Sweet Baby Olivia, is just a simple reminder, to me, that I'm doing something right. It's a reward I cherish every single day. Every time she laughs it brings a tear to my eye because I know I'm meeting all of her emotional needs. Every ounce she gains, and inch she grows, is a testament to my ability to nourish her properly. Knowing that she flourishes because of me is the most amazing feeling in the world.

After celebrating my first Mother's Day, I now realize how great the day is. I realize how important my own mother is, as well as her mother, and all of the other mothers out there. I thought about how great they were at providing a positive role model for me, and I can only hope to be as great as them.

For my first every Mother's Day gift, Carl gave me a gift certificate for a half day of pampering at a spa that I cannot wait to use!! He also did all the chores that I normally do during the day. Then Sweet Baby Olivia and I went to mass. After all, being a good mom starts with leading by example, and what better time than Mother's Day to introduce her to church. She did wonderfully, by the way! Soon she'll be getting baptized as well. Then we came home and took naps!! I spent the rest of the day doing nothing, really. I enjoyed it too.

At the end of the day, I was thinking about how great it has been being a mom. I thought about all great examples in my life. I came to the conclusion that I am rewarded every day, but it is nice to have a day dedicated for myself, and all of the other mothers out there. It almost makes me wonder if I should give gifts to Carl and Olivia each year on Mother's Day. After all, I wouldn't have this day if it wasn't for them!!

Well it's been one hot minute since I've blogged anything. Mostly because when I get any free time, I don't spend it in front of the computer. Although I should. It wouldn't hurt me to spend a few minutes of a day, or two, each week, to update friends and family. You will all just have to deal with getting it when I get around to it. HA HA!! Just kidding. But seriously, now that things are becoming more structured and routine, it should definitely be a lot easier to start blogging regularly.

Speaking of structure and routine, we have all of that now. It is definitely a beautiful thing. I read one place that "A happy baby is a well rested baby." How true I have found that to be. We still work on a feed/wake-play/sleep routine, but the times of day that each cycle occurs is basically up to her, but mostly contingent on what time she wakes up. She still eats every 3 hours, so if she wakes up at 5am, she eats again around 8. After she eats, she "plays" for a little while (usually about 1 1/2hrs),then (more often than not) an hour before she eats again, she takes a nap. She has gotten quite great at sleeping for almost an hour on the dot! I'm amazed. This has been going on for about 2 weeks now. Before that, she would have to be put in the crib about 30min before I needed/wanted her asleep. Now, she just rolls over on her tummy, sticks a couple of her chubby little fingers in her mouth, and lays there staring at whatever. That's my cue! So I pick her up and whisk her away to the crib where she's welcomed to nap blissfully. Here recently, her first nap after waking up, has been 2 hours. Then each one after that is an hour. At 5:30/6pm when Carl and I eat dinner, she's put in her high chair, and eats with us. It's mostly a social thing. She gets about 2-3tsps of her mommy's homemade brown rice cereal and eats with us. She loves it! Monday I started adding bananas to it (once a day). At 7 she gets a bath. Let me just tell you how she loves her baths now. I do believe we have a little fish on our hands. But, when 7:30pm rolls around, she is READY for bed for the night.

She is sleeping pretty well these days. Or should I say, "Nights!" She still wakes at least once during the night to eat. Lately, it's been around 12:30/1. I'm fine with that. Then she goes right back to sleep and she's up again any time from 5a to 6a. I guess it just depends on how tired she is. She still won't sleep past 7a though. I did have a bad habit of not changing her diaper during the night. It was only because I didn't want to wake her. Now, I change it at the 12a feeding. I've found she sleeps better and longer.

Speaking of diapers. We've been using cloth diapers for a few weeks now. It's so nice. She does still wear disposables at night though. But, a max of 2 disposables a day, I can deal with that. A $10 pack of diapers (which is about 52 diapers) can last us about a month now. NICEY NICE!!! We also use them when we run errands, if we're going to be out for a while. I'm sure that will change soon. I just finished 2 AIO's (all-in-one's... they have a waterproof liner inside!!), and have 2 more to make. I'm sure they'll get used when we're out and about, as well as for bed time. I love saving money.

This picture is just too cute for words, as far as I'm concerned. I can't get enough of it. I've even made it my desktop wallpaper!!


This one I like because that's how she likes to be... cheek to cheek!!!

Last weekend we started feeding Olivia cereal. Why is it called cereal when it's really rice? HMMM? Who cares. All I know is that I made it myself and she likes it. A little bit of brown rice (which we already had), thrown in the coffee grinder until it's a nice powder, a little time on the stove, and she eats for a week (twice a day). Talk about saving money and staying healthy!!!

This past Friday I decided that the pacifier was to no longer be a part of Sweet Baby Olivia's repertoire. I snatched it from her slobbery, fat fingers just as soon as I had the chance. I took the opportunity while Carl was gone to do this. I knew that the first few days would be the hardest, and with him gone, she could cry all she wanted. It is now almost a week later and SUCCESS!! There were a few bad days, and we're still dealing with some moments now as well, but over all, the pacifier is gone. We had a few nights that were rough at bedtime, but we prevailed. There were even a few nights she woke me up trying to suck through my shirt. And silly me thought she was hungry, but she just wanted something to suck on. Much to Carl's dismay, she has now found her thumb! YIPPY! I woke up a few times last night to her sucking the business out of that tiny, stumpy, little thumb.

We are now in the process of working out a structured day for her, hoping that will resume the night time sleeping. I know that it will take up to a week, or even two, to get a fluent routine going with her, but I can do it. The better her days are scheduled, the easier my days will go, and the easier it will be for me to plan. Not to mention, the easier things will be in the future!!!

Man, I'm starting to really feel like a Mommy!!