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!!

Take away the pacifier, that is!! I recently decided that the pacifier must go. She has used it for long enough. Besides, since the discovery of those OH SO DELISHY fingers, who needs it? NOT OLIVIA!! I must admit, it was not easy. Even at 3 months they seem to know when something is missing. I started the endeavor Friday. Carl left early that morning for a fishing tournament, with some buddies, in the panhandle. I knew that would be a good time since he wouldn't be around for the crying. THANK GOODNESS FOR THAT!! Crying, crying, and more crying there was!! Honestly, it wasn't until the end of the day, so it wasn't that bad. Friday she went all day without the pacifier until her last nap, and bedtime. Saturday was pretty much the same. Yesterday was much better. She only got it for one nap around 4, and only because she hadn't really had a nap all day, and it was the only way we could get her to take one! No pacifier for bedtime though!! And today... we'll so far so good. I'm hoping that with her not waking up with it will help the day start on a good foot.

Now, for a little bad news. She has been waking up at night! UGH! Well, the bright side is that I did get a good month of Olivia sleeping through the night. For the past (going on) 3 weeks now, she's been waking up at 1:30am and 5:30am like clockwork. It all started with a growth spurt and just hasn't stopped. Whether she goes to bed at 8pm, or 11pm, she's up at 1:30am. I guess I need to be a little more diligent about a set bedtime now. I'm going to work on that now that the "no pacifier" thing is working. I know how much babies crave structure! So structure I will provide!!

I will now leave you with a few overdue POTW's.

2/28: It's just a sweet Nana holding a sweet baby, and a weird daddy holding a weird kitty!




3/7: Yeah, I don't really think this needs words!



3/14: This is how she fell asleep... holding a new present from my mom's aunt! PRECIOUS!!



3/21: How funny is this? We went to a CIRCUS themed birthday party.



3/28: This was Olivia's first trip to the golf course. She'll be a regular there before long!!

Yesterday, Friday, February 20, Olivia went to the pediatrician for her 2 month check up. This also meant she got her first round of shots. I will get into that in a moment. First I'll share her most current stats. She is a healthy 9lbs 2oz!! We think she's 10lbs 2oz. At least that's what we get from our scale. Granted, we improvise by holding her, weighing us, and then weighing ourselves individually. Whatever though! We're not going to cry over 1lb. She is 22in. Which reminds me, just this week I had to go through and clean out all of her NB size clothes. SO SAD! My little baby is growing up. I swear, by the time I find that magic pill that keeps her iddy biddy forever, it'll be too late!!

Now, back to the appointment. At the end of the appointment came the shots! AAGGHH!! I prepared myself for that moment all week. Sure I gave off the appearance of, "Oh they're just shots. It's no big deal" but inside, I was trembling. I was so petrified, for me and for her. And then it happened, just as the poor little Preshy was starting to fall asleep too. The first shot in and then came the ear piercing scream and tears. Then the second, and the third. My eyes were beginning to water, and it was getting hard to hold back the tears. Finally, I could grab her, hold her, and make her feel better. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! And just like that, the crying stopped. Her crying stopped. I was still fighting those tears. I won, but it was a hard fight!! My sweet little Preshy did better than her mommy did getting her first shots. I'm so proud!!

This picture makes me tear up a little, but not as much as watching it happen. Carl was playing with Sweet Baby Olivia and making her laugh, as best as she can at the moment. I was trying to get a picture of her huge smile, but instead caught the two of them locked in on each other. Both smiling with such awe for each other. I had to try to capture the moment, and knew right then that it would be my picture of the week.

Alright, so I watched the first season of American Idol and fell in love with Kelly Clarkson. I still love her. I tried watching season 2 and got bored with it after the initial auditions. Then, last season, season 7, Carl and I, got into it because we had a friendly wager with another couple. We came up with a point system and everything. Whoever won got dinner from the losing couple. Needless to say, Carl and I did not win. Sad, I know. The bad part is that we haven't paid up on our debt either. We are so bad. Anyhow, I will now get to my point. Last season they introduced instruments at the end. Fair enough! I think it could have, maybe even should have, been done sooner. Now, there's this season. I don't get all of this extra crap they added. The round with the room of chairs. There's also the splitting of everyone into 3 groups where the top male, top female, and 1 extra advance. Then there will be 3 wild cards to complete the top 12. Let's not get into the addition of the 4th judge. It has changed so much I am bored with it again. Just wanted to share!!

With everything that poor Olivia has had to endure the past 2 months, we haven't exactly been able to get her pictures taken. Therefore we haven't been able to get announcements done either. Well, this past Friday (Feb. 13), she was finally feeling well enough, that I took her to have them done. We decided to go to Kiddie Kandids simply for the convenience of getting them back that day. They're not the greatest, but we do enjoy them. We hope you'll enjoy them as well.

Well, last week definitely seemed like a long week. Olivia got a cold at the tail end of a growth spurt. Boy! Want to talk about cry-ing! And let's not forget how we moms seem to grow a new appendage, or acquire a parasite when our baby is sick. That poor little baby was not into anything or anyone but me. She wanted to be held every minute she was awake and only by me. I must admit, I did not mind any of it. Hee hee hee!!! It kind of makes you feel powerful, in a way. I could have done without the crying. Regardless, I managed to find a few pictures from last week that I liked. Of those few, I chose my favorite. Take a gander:


What I like about this is how much attitude seems to come across. She is happy as can be when laying on her back, but put her on her tummy for the 5 minutes a day to strengthen her neck and this is the beginning of what you get!! It's as if she's saying, "Get the camera out of my face and roll me back over!!"

So, being the horrible picture taker that I am, I have decided to do something in an effort to take more pictures. And by pictures, I mean of my sweet little Olivia. Maybe it will eventually morph into pictures of other things, but for now, she's my muse, and what a perfect muse she is!! Anyhow, I shall dub this new venture: "PHOTO OF THE WEEK." This will, hopefully, do a few things, get me taking more pictures more often, provide everyone with photo updates, encourage me to update my blog more often, and document her growing up for us. This also helps since I recently purchased a digital scrapbooking program. YAY! I'm doing all of the cheesy "MOM" stuff we all grew to be embarrassed of by our moms, only to later appreciate, and then eventually do ourselves!! I will leave you in suspense no longer, and provide you with the first photo. I intend to do this every Saturday, and include a description. Feel free to provide your own captions!! That should make it fun. Here we go:

On January 29th, Olivia started smiling and laughing in response to our stimuli. Well, her laughing is about as well as a 7 week old can do. It's really just aggressive smiling without sound, but so great none-the-less!! I must say, it brought tears to my eyes the first time she did it. So, with my new, super cool, iPhone, I've been taking pictures every time she smiles and/or laughs. This one is my favorite for this week!

Well, I believe it is safe to say that the root of all of Olivia's gas problem is DAIRY! I have been without any sort of dairy for 2 weeks now, and she is doing so well. We have no inconsolable crying before tooting off her little toosh. Now, she just farts away without a care in the world. It is actually quite a pleasant sound when it is not prefaced with ear piercing cries. Her only crying is heard while she is fighting off the sandman! I will tell you, she does not like to go to sleep. She cries for 15-20 minutes before making it to dream land. It is only interrupted 5 minutes later when she abruptly awakens and realizes (after a few minutes) that she was just asleep. Then the tears come again, accompanied with heavy eye lids that just do not last too long in the open position.

RETURN OF THE LIVING CRAP:
AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHH! The thrush came back. This time it surely is not as bad. We noticed it around Wednesday of last week, and his has not gotten any worse. It has not gotten any better either. We called-in the Nystatin refill we had remaining, Sunday morning, only to get it without a dropper. How in the world are you going to have directions that say "Give 2 dropperfuls 4 times a day" and not give a dropper? Things that make you go HMMMMM! I went back to CVS yesterday and got a dropper. The fight is on now!! We will definitely be far more diligent, this go-round, about cleaning and sterilizing.

TO COLIC OR NOT TO COLIC? THAT IS THE QUESTION:
Ah, the dreaded "C" word. We have come to the decision that she is probably not colicky. We do, however, think that she may have a cow's milk allergy. I have eliminated all dairy from my diet in hopes of solving the gas/digestion problem. Believe me when I say that you do not realize how much dairy you ingest on a daily basis until you have to eliminate it!! Not to mention, I am quite the milk drinker. I, alone, can kill a gallon in 2 days, but no more than 3. I drank it with all of my meals the entire time I was pregnant, unless I was out. But back to Olivia though, so it is not the actual farting that she has the problem with, it is the process beforehand that is the problem. So far everything seems to be going well. It has only been about a week of me and no dairy, and she has been a lot easier to deal with. She had her first inconsolable episode last night, since eliminating the dairy. I have read that it could take up to 2 weeks for your body to process out all of the dairy in your system. FINGERS CROSSED!! Bright side... we have noticed that she seems to have your typical baby fussiness now. She fights sleep almost every time. We have somewhat established a routine every (roughly) 3 hours. She has feeding time (approx. 30 min), wake time (approx. 1-1 1/2 hours), and then sleep time (approx. 1-1 1/2 hours). It is the 15-20 minutes before sleep time that she gets fussy now.

TIME FLIES:
Olivia had one month check-up yesterday. It is so hard to believe that it has been one month already. In some ways it seems longer, but overall it really does not seem that long at all. You people were not lying when you said time would fly. Back to the pediatrician visit... she weighed in at 7lb 8oz, and measured 20 1/2in!! YAY!!! My little preshy is growing well now!! That is so exciting to me mainly because I was worried I was doing something wrong with the breastfeeding since she had only gained 1 oz and grown 1/2 inch from her discharge weight/height at her 2 week check-up. From day one she hasn't done the preferred 15 minutes of feeding on each side. She always stops between 10 and 12 minutes. You might get lucky and she'll go 13 minutes. Every once in a blue moon she will do 20, but that takes some manipulating. Good to know she is doing just fine... and so am I!

MOMMY'S DAY OUT:
So, on Saturday, which was Olivia's one month mark, Carl gave me a day out. My first time, in a month, going out without Olivia (for more than a quick grocery store trip). I ran a few errands, got a manicure and pedicure, as well as a shotty hair cut. No need for explanation there. I just solidified why you DO NOT go to Hair Cuttery, SuperCuts, or any of those other cheap-o, craptastic places, no matter how desperate and time crunched you are, for a hair cut. I am so tempted to go back and ask for my $15 back, but it is just really not worth the hassle. Instead, I will schedule the time at a salon, and get a real cut, courtesy of my mom!! Thank goodness I only asked for a trim, and not some sort of style!! Anyhow, back to my day... it was definitely nice to be out, but I felt so guilty. All I could think about was whether she was crying the whole time, and if Carl was surviving. She is not easily consoled by Carl yet. Consoling comes from her mommy!! In due time though. It was not until the next day that I learned the trick about going out without the baby... YOU TAKE A FRIEND! DUH! How did I not know that? Next time, for sure!

PICTURES:
So, I am definitely not good about pictures. I keep meaning to schedule a photo session, somewhere, for Olivia to have her pictures taken, as well as our first family picture. The thing is that I have so many other things to do, scheduling pictures has made it way to the bottom of the list. I promise you, it seems like every day something else pops up that has to get done, or she has some sort of ailment. What about our camera, you say? Well, there are only so many pictures of a sleeping baby that people can look at. Besides, she has been into screaming her head of here lately when she is not sleeping. On top of that, I find myself sleeping when she is. The screaming/crying is another reason for the procrastination of a family picture. We will get it done, I can assure you of that. It has to be done soon!! Until then, I will leave you all with a picture. We found it to be funny!

He has been shoo'd away many times when he tries to get ON the mat and play with the toys. Now, he just gets under it when she cries and thinks he is hiding! What a silly cat!

Well, after being home with Olivia for a week, I ended up with Strep throat. HOW? You may ask. That's a very good question. We are still scratching our heads trying to figure that one out. No worries though. It is gone now after a quick Monday morning trip to the doctor, throat swab with instant (3min later) results, and the assistance of some antibiotics. Luckily that pesky ailment was only limited to me!! I took my last pill last Friday, but it was just in time to have dealt with Olivia's first bouts of spit up. Still, no worries. We were told that the antibiotics may upset her tummy, and babies spit up. It started Wednesday, and I thought that after I finished the antibiotics the spitting up, for the most part, would be done. At least the spitting up after EVERY feeding. By Sunday it had. But, in exchange for fewer spitting up bouts, we now have a raging case of THRUSH!! AAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH! Called the pediatrician yesterday morning to tell her what was going on. Luckily she just called in the prescription and we did not have to make a trip. I say that like it is a hassle to go down the street. HA!! We are so lucky to have her doctor less than 5 minutes away. Back to the topic at hand. I noticed Sunday that her tongue was now sporting a nice, white, fuzzy coating, all over except the tip. Basically where my nipples rub every every 2 1/2 to 3 hours for 15 minutes each. LOL!! Just a little BF humor. I also noticed that I am starting to get it too. Chalky looking nipples and areolas are so HOT!! Thank goodness we got some Nystatin to nip this in the bud. Meanwhile, all things plastic that enter her mouth (droppers, pacifier, and bottle nipples...explaining later) will receive a vinegar bath after each entry. As well as my boobies and her mouth. We are going to get rid of this without passing it back and forth. OK! So at least that's the intention.

I feel so bad for my poor baby. I have realized that this must be painful for her because as the course of the day progresses, she nurses with a weaker and weaker suck. By 7, it is almost impossible to feed her. She will not even take a pacifier. All she does is cry. It is a combined cry of pain and hunger. So, as today goes by, I'll be pumping between feedings so that we will be able to give her a bottle that she can take at her own pace, rather than using me at her own pace. Ah, the joys of motherhood!!