Skipped a Beat.... Or Several

Besides today being a holiday for me, it started like any other day when we are both home. Olivia had some rice cereal with her morning milk and then carrots with lunch. We had trouble as usual getting her to go down for a nap. At one point when I went in to see if I could assist her, she was stretching her neck like she does when she is about to role over. I figured that was a bad idea some she was swaddled. But then I realized that Mike and maybe she is too!  So I flipped her like a pancake (not exactly but I feel like it helps worth visualizing) and she was almost instantly asleep! I left the door open and went in frequently to check on her. It didn't last very long but it was interesting to see that she wanted to sleep, and could, on her stomach. 

Not to long later, I was moving laundry and Mike was paying with Olivia in our bed when I heard him call for me and gag. He said that she had blown chunks. It didn't look like much when I went in there but I helped undress her, strip the comforter off, and wipe her down. Poor baby! She didn't look so good. Mike was grossed out and wanted to take a shower immediately. So I took Olivia into the living room and had her in the couch while I vacuumed. I always had my eye on her. At one point she started to not look so well and all the color had wanted it if her face. I glanced down and when I looked back up she was spewing all over the couch! There were about two or the waves of vomit and then when she looked like she was going to go again, I noticed that her face was turning blue and purple. My heart just about stopped. I was already on my way over when I noticed and immediately grabbed her and started hitting on her back. I am CPR certified and was in the process of moving her to my arm but when I first grabbed her she felt like she was going limp so I just started hitting her back and yelling for Mike. after about three hits, she started coughing and breathing again. Nothing else came up. I was shaking pretty bad as Mike came running down the hall....

Not what people think about when becoming parents. I think we always know there is a possibility,  but just assume it is something that happens to other people. Thank God I didn't have her on the floor and went to put her clothes away.who knows what would have happened. And I had thought about running to put clothes away. Olivia is okay now. She hasn't thrown up since. No temperature and still has an appetite. Just very scary and not something I would like to go through again. 

We are going to stop solid food for a couple days and see what happens. And we are definitely going to keep a close eye on her. She has also been pretty gassy the lady couple of days so I wonder if that is also because of the food. We are so thankful that everything is okay.

And now for some happiness, our little Valentine <3 <3

It's the Little Things

This baby girl is such a joy!

This week we have taken the time to appreciate the little things. It was probably 4 a.m. this morning when I climbed back into bed after feeding Olivia and putting her back to sleep. Mike was somewhat awake and we started chatting. We were talking about how adorable it is to walk into her room and see her with her arms flailing around as she wakes herself up :-) It's the little smile that she gives me when she sees me for the first time during the day. So cute! It's the pictures that Mike sends me of my messy baby as she's trying to eat solid food. It's her determination as she tries to stand for as long as she can. It's singing to her through changing diapers in order to make her stop crying. It's watching her learn how to kiss the baby in the mirror. It's amazing watching her discover her own body parts as she sits twisting her hand in front of her face, back and forth back and forth. It's going shopping for Olivia and finding new clothes for her as she keeps growing. It's all about the little things.

I know that Mike had his own list of things that make him smile but I have not talked him in to blogging himself yet.

Let's just slow time down and enjoy it!

Squash and carrots! 

Valentine bear <3

Katie and I went shopping this week for clothes for Olivia at a consignment store and found lots of goodies! Including a five pack of onsies that have never been worn and it was just $5 for all of them!

I feel great about the fact that Olivia had not been in my office at all this week! People were asking where she was today but I'm glad that I did not have to bring her in with me.

Sacrifices and Church

It truly is amazing how much your life is changed after having a child. There is so much that changes and if you do not take a moment to stop not only recognize but acknowledge the change, you will be missing out. I thought that learning to make sacrifices in my marriage was going to take a lot of effort and getting used to. Well, it is even bigger and more precious when you are talking about your child. Here are just a few of the things that I am sacrificing for my beautiful daughter:

1. A decent nights sleep (we do not sleep all that well anyway but to make sure that she does not wake up all the way, there are times that we have to hop up real quick to get her binky in her mouth before she realizes that she is waking up). Also because I get a second wind of energy as soon as she goes to sleep so that I can clean what I was not able to do while she was awake.
2. A spontaneous lifestyle. Mike and I had a "routine" to get things done but really enjoyed doing things last minute and whenever we wanted. I guess that this sacrifice is actually really good for us because we are learning to plan things in advance. This includes spending time with friends.
3. Time with my husband. In order to save money on childcare, Mike and I are rotating taking care of Olivia. It works really well except that we do not see each other very much. Really, the only evening we have that we could possibly do date nights is Saturday. 
4. "Fashion". I put that in quotes because I have never been into the biggest trends with clothes or having to have my hair perfect. However, I find that I wear my fair messy and the same way almost every day. I also find that I am doing the absolute minimum with makeup- foundation, mascara, and blush. If I do not have these, I look really pale and then people are asking me all day if I am sick. It would be nice to get some new clothes as I continue to fight to lose these last few pregnancy pounds. But, Olivia is moving into 6 month clothes. We have a few outfits that we have received as gifts (thank you!) but we will need to go and get some more.
5. Friendships. Not as in I am ending relationships but things are definitely changing. I do not have as much energy as I used to. And unless you have kids, it really is hard to understand. Not saying that those who are nanny or committed babysitters don't get, but they do get to go home at the end of the day and the kids ate someone else's responsibility. Being first time parents is a lonely process if you don't know any other first time parents. Which leads great into the next thing I want to talk about.

I took Olivia to church for the first time yesterday! Mike was not feeling well (I think he caught my cold) so he stayed home to rest. It felt so great to be back in church! I knew there was a high chance that I would have to get up at leave but if I don't take her, she will never learn. Sure enough, about a half hour in, I had to leave my friend Stephanie and walk out with Olivia to try and quiet her. What happened next was.... interesting. As I walked out into the large entrance room and towards some couches, I saw a man sitting on a couch with a baby girl a little older than Olivia; she was crawling. We made eye contact, I smiled, but nothing was said as I walked to another set of couches. As I liked around, I saw a young gal posing with her baby boy on  table not far from the man. There was another parent pacing back and forth with his baby girl in his arms. While trying to give Olivia my attention, I could not help but notice the slow trickle of parents coming out of the sanctuary. They all took a moment to survey the area and then walked their child to the place with the least amount of people. It hit me when I came back inside with Olivia, we had stepped out because she started to scream, and a woman sitting on the floor next to a pillar with her baby boy looked up at Olivia and smiled but said nothing as she wiggly liked back to her son. How is it that there can be so many of us with little ones in the same room and yet no one is talking to each other or encouraging their children to greet the other kids?

Part of the reason that I wanted to go back to church was that we could find some families with little ones that we could make friends with. It was maybe five minutes before the end of the service when I finally found the parents room. I had been looking for a lactation room when I came across it. I knew that the sermon was almost over but I decided to go in anyway. The atmosphere was so different! The first thing I saw was a woman in the floor changing her new babies diaper. When I turned my head to survey the room, there was a woman breastfeeding, a couple of men, a few other mothers, and kids paying with toys and talking to their parents. What a complete change in atmosphere! It seems as though these parents come to this room every week and know each other. Yup,  this is where I will be with my little one. I have social anxiety so it will be a challenge but we really want Olivia to start interacting with other little ones. And it was so awkward to be out in the big room. All of the parents in the parent room where older than me, but that is okay... I have always had a tendency to hang out with people a generation or two older than me anyway.

And just because you want to know, she had some creamy poop! Yay! We gave her squash two days in a row so we are going to wait a couple days and then dive back in. Like I said before,  she keeps more of that down then the rice cereal. I do have Cream of Wheat, maybe I will try it.

5 Months!

It happened. We blinked our eyes and Olivia is already 5 months! She turned 5 months yesterday, but I was having too much fun with her that I forgot to blog. I am definitely enjoying every minute :-) Yesterday was also the first time that Olivia tried some food other than rice cereal. I gave her squash! Yuck! The great thing is that she has never had it so she has no idea what it is and has nothing to compare it to. She did make some interesting places but she also kept most of it down. I have heard other people with young children asking others to not make disgusting faces at food so that their children will try everything that they are given. This is a great idea! I do tend to be on the picky side but Mike will eat just about anything. It will have to be something that we remember in the future.

As I was feeding it to her for the first time, I had a freak out moment. She did not have a complete look of disgust on her face so I figured that she must like it at least a little bit. I freaked out because I had the thought of, 'she is farther along than other babies. Maybe she's just going to gobble this food up and not want to nurse anymore! What am I going to do without that quality time?!' then I realized that she is just 5 months old. She's going to need nursing for quite a while. If anything I will cut her off before she decides that she's done because she keeps biting.

When I took her into the office with me yesterday one of my coworkers asked why she was all dressed up because it's casual Friday! I knew that and I was dressed down but I told her that it was her 5 month birthday and I felt that she needed to dress up a little bit :-)

Today we went on a family date. We wanted to try a new breakfast place called the Cottage Cafe because I've heard that it's great. However when we got there there was a long line of people waiting to get in. So what do we do? We go to IHOP :-) It's significant to Mike and I and we really do enjoy the food so that's where we went. What's ironic is that we ended up sitting in the same booth where back in May, Mike told me we were having a girl :-) It was just the sweetest thing and it looks like the IHOP tradition will continue.

 She really did not want to share the straw with dad! 

It looks like it is going up her nose!

I know that I told myself that I was not going to be looking ahead. But I can't help but think what this little girl is going to learn in the next month. Not only that but what things that she is going to teach Mike and I about ourselves, each other, and this new world of being parents. What an amazing journey! We continue to learn to cherish each moment and to breathe when we are frustrated. No one ever told us that being a parent was going to be easy. we continue to thank God for this opportunity. We are also hoping to get back into church as I know that it's important to us and we want to make sure that Olivia grows up with faith background and foundation. 

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I just want to take a moment to say thank you to all of our friends and family who have been through this journey with us. I have always heard the saying that it takes a village to raise a child. We are so grateful for the help and the support that we've received from so many loved ones. We hope that if you have not had a chance to meet Olivia yet, the that day will come soon. Our precious little girl is so loved and she will definitely know it!

Maybe We Should Have Stayed Home

What a day! We had a great time with my family at a Super Bowl party at Jon's girlfriend's parent's house... I hope you followed that :-) Olivia did a great job but maybe next time we will watch the game at home. There was just so much going on that she hardly slept at all. Poor baby. Talk about some good food though and tutus!

Well, tomorrow is the beginning of a new week. We will continue making a schedule for a Olivia and trying to hold her to it. I have a doctors appointment on Tuesday and hopefully everything will go well. We finally found Mike's blue blanket so hopefully he will be sleeping better this week.

The picture above is how I found Olivia Saturday morning at 4 am when I heard noises. She had wiggled her arms out AND rotated herself in her crib! :D Thankfully she is easy to get back to sleep.

Hello people!