Mom's Golden Birthday, a New Gadget, and Weighing In

The other day I turned 27 on the 27th. Let's hope that this year is PRODUCTIVE! :)

My husband, siblings, and parents all chipped in to get me a nice camera for my birthday. It is a Canon EOS Rebel SL1. I have always wanted to explore photography and how I have the opportunity to do so! Here are a couple of my favorites so far:

This girl has so many expressions! Definitely has to get them from her dad. Auntie Lauren is in town this week for Spring Break and we are so excited to have her here! She is learning that Olivia really is a handful and not quite as sweet as people think. Here are some of the other photos that I have had time to take:

There is not much going on except that I do not think I posted her measurements from her appointment last week so here they are:

Height: 27 and 3/4 inches            Percentile: 98th
Weight: 18 lbs                               Percentile: 80th
Head Circumference: 17 inches    Percentile: 75th

We have one healthy girl! Her doctor said that she definitely went through a growth spurt. We are still waiting for a tooth to pop through so that we have something to blame her grouchiness on. Time sure is flying by and we continue to soak it up :) I have been really tired lately so this is about all that I can share right now. I will try to have Lauren push me to blog while she is here.

The Best Part

So when I blogged on Saturday, I forgot the best part! Olivia woke up really sweaty on Saturday so I wanted to give her a bath before we got going to see grandpa and grandma. I had Mike strip her down while I filled the bath. I went and grabbed her, walked to the bathroom, and let her stands on the counter so she could see herself. She has always enjoyed looking at herself but almost chuckles when she sees herself naked :-) We had been there for MAYBE two minutes when I figured we should get moving. It was at that point that I realized I forgot a towel to put in the bath so she can't rub her feet. So I told Mike to hold her hands so I could grab one. As I went to put it in the bath, all I heard was, "Ahhhh, ewwww, no, No, NO! Ewwww! I can't believe you! Aly!" I could feel the look he was giving me.As I turned around, Olivia was peeing on the counter and on Mike's foot! Hahaha! It was hilarious! He flips out about her slobber getting in his hand or shirt. So this was PERFECT to get him to realize that it can be worse :) When she stopped, I quickly put her in the bath and as I was washing her, Mike had his foot in the sink and was scrubbing it. Oh how I love the stores :)

Yesterday we went to church with grandpa and grandma and then out to eat. In the parent room, Olivia was able to interact with the other kids better. The "binky stealer", I learned,  is going to be a year old in a couple of days. Olivia is the same size as her if not a little bigger. There was a 5 month old boy laying next to us and that is all they he did. I don't think he is even sitting up yet but his mom said that he is at the point where he is getting frustrated with not being mobile. It really does show you that the kids do grow and advance at their own pace. And whatever that means, it is good for the kid. 

My friend Stephanie recommended a restaurant called Molly's in downtown Spokane. We could not make up our minds so that is where we went. Know, I always assumed it was a run down business on its last leg. BOY WAS I WRONG! The place was packed and the food was great.

Back tracking even more, on Saturday we took grandpa and grandma to the Bowl and Pitcher  at Riverside State Park. It was Olivia's first time there also. This park is a place my family used to go when I was young and it is also where Mike proposed. So you can say that it means a lot to me and my family.

I'm blaming her attitude today on the weather.

Thanks auntie Kim for the onsie! "I just boldly went!" And yes she did :) 

She was fighting with the cats for their toy. She is pretty quick!

Yup. She pulled my earring out, screamed in my face when I took my marker back, and started ripping at my work papers. So I set her on the floor.

Cruising Along!

We continue to try and get over this round of sickness. Olivia has had to sleep in an upright position and continues to invade and take over our bed at night. The nice weather has given us some motivation to get out of bed in the morning. We are having some family visitors this weekend so that is also some motivation :)

The other day I rolled my ankle at work... all I was doing was walking to the trash -_- so that has added to the dynamics. One day at a time!

We finally got her photos back from JCP! Here they are:

Oh my goodness do I LOVE these photos <3 <3 It really is amazing how much little ones grow in just a few months. She did really well at the photos. They has us in the back room and it was SO HOT! I think that next time we will try the Valley JCP studios to see if they do a better job. They did take more photos this time. We ended up paying about $35 for $200 worth of photos. Thankfully the CD with all the photos was on sale.

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I started this blog a couple of days ago. Yesterday, Mike's parents got into town. We had a great time visiting and playing with Olivia. then our little one decided that she was just going to start cruising! I cannot believe that she is crawling at six and a half months old! What a proud moment for a parent but also a very scary one. We know that life will never be the same from this point forward. However, I feel like that can be said for a lot of different milestones that people had along their life. My money is on her walking by 8 months. She may be whining when it is just the two of us at home but she is very determined :)

These are from after breakfast with grandpa Ed and grandma Marietta this morning. Mike is off to an audition for the TV show Z Nation again :) and I brought Olivia home to nap. She slept for about 45 minutes... MAYBE and hour. 

As I was trying to move my pictures from my phone to the computer so that they will be easier to upload, Olivia decided to reach too far and slid off my lap. Her chin scraped along the edge of Mike's desk :( Poor baby has a boo boo now on her chin. Surprisingly, she did not really cry at all. I was expecting screaming but she was okay.

(I just have a bunch of random stories today)

I want to say it was Thursday; I wanted to get out of the house so I decided to do some grocery shopping. Instead of going to Fred Meyer, I decided to go to Winco. Olivia has been sitting up so well that I decided to have her sit up in the cart instead of bringing in her car seat. TA DA! I was one proud mama! As I was trying to get her to look at the camera, a gentleman walked by with a grin and giggled. As he passed he turned and asked, "first time shopping?" I replied with, "Yes! While sitting up!" I returned the smile and we went our separate ways. Yes, I get that it may be seen as a ridiculous milestone but I am realizing that I want to catch ALL THE FIRST! I even wrote about it on this app that I downloaded for moms to connect, Smile Mom. It is nice to have a place to go where I know that everyone just wants to talk about their kids and no one gets sick of it :) I also want to capture all of the firsts because family lives so far away.

This is how we started...

This is how we ended... :D

While I was walking around the store, I had a gal come up to me and start talking about Olivia. We chatted for a few minutes and she ended up giving me her number. She has a son who is a little bit older than Olivia. I MADE MY FIRST MOM FRIEND! :D (Okay, I have friends who are moms but we were friends before and most of them have children who are years older than Olivia and those who have kids closer to her age live too far away to get together). I was very excited and hope that there may be some friendships in the near future.

She is passed out in the photo

Here are some of the onsies that people made for Olivia at the baby shower!

CPR! CPR!

Yup... these are 9 month pajamas

Happy to have a clean room!

We already have a big tub full of clothes that she no longer fits. Almost every week I am going through her clothes to see what else she is close to fitting into so that I can pull it out and wash it. I also think that she is just about ready to go up a size in diapers, to size 3!

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We are continuing to give her solid foods and are exploring what flavors she likes. She really seems to like peas and green beans. Strangely, she does not like fruit very much... seriously. The other day Mike was giving her a blueberry apple mix and he said that after the first bite she gave him a questionable look. Then he gave her a second bite and this time the look was more of that of disgust. She immediately picked up her binky and put it in her mouth. And that was the end of that... HAHAHA! I did end up giving her the rest of it the day but she was not all that impressed. We have given her a few other fruit mixes and I even gave her an actual piece of watermelon and she did not like it.

She found the camera!

Alright, the grandparents are on their way back so I better wrap this up. Until next time!