New Additions to the Blog

I am slowly learning how this WHOLE thing works. Notice some new additions to the right. --->
Yes, that way. --->

You can now follow by email. I believe that you can input your email address and it will send you the blog that I post. I have not tried it so don't take my word for it :) It may just send you a notice? This is probably more of a thing for the grandparents, but if you wish to follow that way, go for it!

Notice that there is also a Poll! Yes, I would LOVE to get some advice/know what you all think on certain things as we go through this journey. Currently, we are trying to figure out what Olivia's Halloween costume should be (she will probably wear a few different outfits throughout the day).

There is also a place where it will display the most popular blogs and a search bar where you can type in key words and it will list blogs that contain those words.

Now if I could only figure out how to get the pictures to post closer together, like side by side, the blogs would not be so long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

great-uncle Skip and Olivia

Carleen, great-grandma, Skip, and Olivia

After great-uncle Skip and great-aunt Carleen took off this morning, Olivia and I spent the day with Grandma at the mall. We started working on Christmas presents because a lady at Macy's told me that

Christmas is only 8 weeks away.

 EEEEKKKK!!! I'm sorry if I just caused some panic attacks or a heart attack. I just about had one in the store. And no, there will not be any pictures of gifts. That would ruin it! :)

We spent the afternoon watching Olivia wiggle and smile while having floor time. I also was messing around and made a few scarves for her. What do you think? They are not the best but it is a start.

Someone found her thumb! And daddy isn't happy.

Norman the caterpillar... I just felt like Norman fit well

I found the caterpillar and gave it to her to try something new. She was grabbing at him and seemed fascinated by the feel and that she could grab him. I love watching her discover new things everyday. I cannot wait until I can teach her things!

It is half the size of her :)

Her legs look skinnier in this picture!

YOU GET TWO VIDEOS TODAY. One of her sucking her thumb and one of her working on her push-ups. Up and down and up and down and up and down :D

Olivia had a rough evening while waiting for my body to process the beer that I drank. Mike wanted to warm up the bottles that I filled and put in the fridge. I had to nicely remind him, for the 15th time, that those are for when I am not home and she is starving. So we gave her a bath, which normally works, but she ended up screaming in the end. It took a little while but I was able to quiet her down long enough to wait the two hours that it takes for the alcohol to pass through. She smiles more and more each day.

Mommy dilemma of the day: If I am struggling to get things done now, how will I be able to do it when I go back to work? How do I get Mike prepared for watching her alone? He has never really been around babies. I know that there are plenty of people in town who are willing to help out and we are thankful for that! But I want Mike to get comfortable with taking care of her also. If at first you do not succeed, try, try again. It took a few tries to figure out what would calm her down. Maybe we should have read more books on what to expect. I love hearing other peoples stories and experiences. Do moms really want to go back to work after maternity leave? I want to quit my job. Well, I would not mind quitting my job. However, it is not realistic at this point.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, tomorrow we say goodbye to great-grandma and hello to grandma Sheila.

Oh, and the winning location for our anniversary next year is...

WASHINGTON D.C.!

We would love suggestions/recommendations as we plan over the next year :)