Happy Halloween!

What a wonderful but busy last couple of days. Before work, I was spending time with Olivia when Troy decided that he wanted to share mom's lap. That is good and all but I decided to give his tail to Olivia and see what she would do with it :D This girl has a very strong grip! I think she enjoyed his fuzziness. Thankfully the cats do not mind their tails being played with because as soon as she goes mobile, she will be all over them!

Yesterday I ended up taking Olivia with me to work. She is such a good baby with other people! After a couple of hours of being passed around while I worked, she knocked out and I ended up putting her under my desk while I finished off a few things.

After work it was a mad dash to get ready and head up north to the memorial service of my parents dear friend, Jeff Barker. We had not seen them in years, and actually the last time I remember seeing him and his wife Jenny (mom you may need to correct me on the spelling of her name) was when they surprised us and showed up at my high school graduation party with two beautiful baby girls! They had twins! Jeff used to tell the story of how I "autographed" his books. Well, I took a pen to them alright but it was more of scribbles. He was such a wonderful man and I know that he will be missed. Going to memorial services always makes me remember to be thankful for the time that I have with people. At this service, people kept talking about Jeff's yearning for the Lord and how much me loves books. How will I be remembered? What will Olivia have to say when my time comes? It is time to make sure to make everyday count. It makes me thankful that my parents encouraged us to play outside. I remember a time when we did not even own a TV. Oh the decisions that we make. I now understand and appreciate my parents in a way that I never have before. Olivia was nice to use and slept through the whole thing.

Rest in Peace Jeff and know that you are missed and loved dearly.

Afterwards we went over to visit with the Robin family: David, Dollie, Jonathan, James, Bekah; and their daughter Sarah and son-in-law Jay came over. We had a delicious dinner and enjoyed each other's company. It was nice to get out of the house.

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This morning I had a doctors appointment and got birth control. As much as I cannot wait to have more kids, we need a little security in knowing that it will not happen until Goober is out of diapers. We are also continuing to work on getting rid of this thrush. Mine has gotten worse and I got a new prescription today. I am so thankful that Olivia's has not gotten worse but is just lingering. I am also thankful that it is only thrush and not something worse.

Later in the day I spent a good chunk of time running around trying to find Olivia a costume. Mike and I were not going to do anything because he works on Fridays. However, I got a text from my friend Ellie inviting us to go to the mall and then to her mom's house for dinner. And of course we said yes! But that meant that Olivia needed an outfit.... Ugh, people do not make baby outfits for 0-3 months. It could have been that I actually waited until Halloween to do the shopping. I was sending pictures to my siblings, all of them, of the costumes that I found. I am not even sure what the costume is that I got her! HA! I will let you decide on your own: cupcake? Strawberry sundae (there is a strawberry on top)? Strawberry shortcake? Or just a sweet treat? <3 <3 Last minute shopping!

I really cannot get over how cute this little baby girl is!! So here are some other photos that I took today :)

LOOK AT THAT ARM SPAN!! :D HAHA!

BABY MODEL!

After our adventures to the mall, we went over to Heather's house for dinner. And just look at these adorable photos of Ellie's 4 year old son Hunter and Olivia.

So precious! Hunter and Olivia

The other little guy is Bearett.

Tomorrow is the 1st of November. I have seen people in the past post something once a day in the month of November that they are thankful for. I am going to try that this year. One, because I tend to be a pessimist and two because it will help me to make sure that I post everyday :) I am sure there will be days that it is just what I am thankful for and photos of Olivia. But I know there will be no objections. 

Learning to Leave

We were so thankful for the time that we were able to spend with great-grandma Loretta and great-uncle Mark! Thank you both for coming and we cannot wait to see you again! <3 <3

Did I mention that she is in 3 month tops and 6 month bottoms? This girl has long legs and the three month pants seem tight on her waist. She has a doctors appointment on the 11th so we will see how she is growing! I have an appointment on Friday. I have a feeling that we just keep passing this thrush back and forth. Hopefully my doc can help us out!

We went shopping at Carters because great-grandma wanted to buy some stuff for Olivia. She was devastated to learn that they do not carry clothes that refer to great-grandmas. I told her it was probably because most people are waiting until they are older to have kids so most children are not blessed enough to have their great-grandparents around. DO to this finding and that great-grandma was not able to make it to my baby shower, I asked her to make a onsie for Olivia like they made at my baby shower. It simple says "GREAT GRANDMA NUNES LOVES OLIVIA". It looks great! Well, looked great until I went to move it and accidentally flipped the fabric on itself :'(  The writing was fine but I got purple on a few different spots. I am working on getting it out. So if you know how to get puffy paint out of clothes let me know! :)

Too cute!

LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS!! I could sit and kiss them all day XOXO

Yup, mom did this... I was carrying her inside a store and didn't notice that I brushed her up against a wet plant

We found more caterpillars! They can be located at the Dollar Tree... just FYI :D Now we have five of these bright and delightful little fluffers. It did give my friend Taylor the great idea of using her footprint to make a caterpillar and then using both footprints to make a butterfly next to it. I will have to try that. Did I also say that Mike wants to paint her bottom orange and use her butt print to make pumpkins? HAHA! I will probably do that. Man, I feel like all I do is type the same things over and over again. Maybe I should post in the mornings when I am not so sleepy.

Learning to leave... Leave Mike home alone with Olivia that is. It will take time but I know that he will get the hang of all of this. Today he took a walk down to Fred Meyer with her while I went to work. I try to send him videos at work in the hopes that it will put a smile on his face and help him to get through the day. So he has started to send me pictures of Olivia while I am at work <3 and they warm my heart.

Here are a few photos that I took while trying different filters on my phone. I told Mike that he needs to find some Cute Baby Contests to put Pumpkin in. And what is on my Christmas list? A nice new camera! I think that would be wonderful. I mean, my phone is nice but nothing beats a nice camera. We will see :)

I am loving the black and white

What to Title this Blog...

Megan informed me last night that it had been five days since I last posted. My response....

WHAT!?! No, it can't be that long already...

Yup, she was right. My apologies. 

So the title of this blog. I could have put so many things:

Where did the Time Go?
Multitasking? What's that?
And Back to Work I Go
More Family Visitors
Winding Down
She is Growing Too Fast!

And the list goes on and on. I was just talking to Megan and told her that there is so much that I want to share that I know I will forget probably half of it... sorry. Let me start by uploading the photos and go from there.

As I scrolled back up through these photos to start this paragraph to have something to share, all I can think is, "What was I doing with my life before my precious little Goober came along? And why did we wait so long to start our family?"

All I know is that the last week and a half has been busy with family visitors. We have enjoyed spending time with everyone who has come to visit over the past two months. I may have mentioned this before but Olivia has 7 of her eight biological great-grandparents living. We have everyone still with us except for great-grandpa Ken (my dad's dad). We miss him dearly and know that Olivia and him would have fallen in love. I am waiting to see if she will have the gap in her teeth that great-grandpa passed down to all of his granddaughters :D I know that he is looking down on her and will watch her grow. I love and miss you grandpa! XOXO

We are hoping that she will have the opportunity to meet them all.We have three down and four to go! Next up, great-grandma Claudine (my dad's mom)! We are coming to see you in a few weeks! 31 DAYS! Great-aunt Mandy (my dad's sister) we are coming for you too!

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Today was my official first day back at work from maternity leave... and all I can say is that I do not want to be there :( Going back is going to be a lot harder than I thought. Mike and I are working on figuring out our schedules so he knows when he can sleep and I know when I can work. Not only can we not afford a daycare, but I do not like them. I have probably shared this already, but I do not like them (get used to me repeating myself, it happens a lot). The children get no love and affection. I cannot handle that because they need it! And my little Pumpkin deserves the best. 

We will just take it one day at a time.

It is just amazing to see how much she is growing from day today. Whenever I leaver her for a period of time, like the Seahawks game or going to work today, I come back and she doesn't even look like my baby! She changes from hour to hour it seems like. And even just from angle to angel. She is making more noise that you can hear in the video at the end of the blog. Goober almost has those neck muscles figured out. And she has such a strong grip! But what gets me every time is the way that she works those EYEBROWS! HAHA! So expressive with them. She can give "THE LOOK" already. And boy is she getting good at that pouty lip. Well, she has had that one down since day one. I could go on and on for hours. I guess that is what all mothers do though, right? I tell Olivia that no one will ever love her more than I do and the only person that I love more than her is her daddy, because he gave her to me. There are times when I catch myself looking at her and I find myself amazed at how beautiful she is that that she is ours. What a precious little gift from God.    

Someone got a boo boo!

An adorable hat that Jon's girlfriend, Katie, got for Olivia. I love it! Thank you aunt Katie!

Daddy and baby before we take grandma Sheila out to dinner for her birthday

Sporting some hand-painted shoes that grandma Sheila bought

Snuggle time with Norman!

Tawnee is checking her out :)

Giggles with daddy!

I really like these bag nightgowns. I need to find some with the draw string

Uncle Ryan's football game

All bundled up!

So, there is a funny story with the two photos below. It does not happen very often that I leave Mike home with Olivia alone, not yet anyway. But I have to leave them together when I took great-grandma Loretta and great-uncle Mark back to their hotel. I was about 7 blocks from home when Mike called me. He asked when I was going to be home and I could hear Olivia screaming in the background. I hurried as quickly as I could to get there as I know Mike has little patience and was tired. The two pictures below are what I walked into... HAHA! :D Mike gave me his look and said that all she wanted was to sit up. I love it :)

Smiles for grandpa Paul

No words. I love this photo.

Great-uncle Mark, great-grandma Loretta, mom, Olivia, and grandma Mona

Four generations <3

Look at that little peanut nose! Mommy loves you Goober! 

Reading to Olivia and Norman

Great-grandma said, "Aly, I don't think you and Mike could have made a cuter baby!" 
My response, "We will just have to wait and see with number two" ;)

Olivia was not feeling well after lunch as was fussy for great-grandma while I went to work. She continued to be fussy when I got home and we could not figure what was wrong :/ After uncle Ben took them back to their hotel, I was just hanging out with Olivia trying to figure out how to help her. All of a sudden she just started to fart.... over and over again. Right before I had her in her swing, had put a new battery in it, and put the soothing vibrations on. I think that must have helped move the gas bubbles along. Any suggestions on helping a baby when they get gassy?

.... seven weeks. CRAZY!

It is so worth taking tons of blurry photos to get the one perfect shot :) <3 <3

A CALL FOR HELP! 

We cannot remember who bought us the caterpillar. If you got it or know who got it for us, let me know because we need to buy some extra :) Thanks!

..... I cannot go a week without blogging. This is way too long .....

And now for your viewing pleasure: