Thankful: Day 10

November 10th: Today I am thankful for silence and stillness.

Today I was able to spend some time jist being quiet. It is amazing the things that you are able to put meaningful thought into if you take the time to be silent and still. When Olivia was awake, I ended up playing some piano music. That is another thing I am thankful for, music. And Pandora. Have to have Pandora to play music from.

We went to play group today (where I discovered that she has 3 molars!) and spent the rest of the day hanging out with ourselves trying to soak in the stillness. Although with a 14 month old, you have to throw in some silliness! We ended the day giggling as the kitties chased the laser around the tile. Her laugh is infectious! It is the cutest. 

That some time this week, or even the next day, to be still. I am going to go do some more of that and maybe I'll have more to write tomorrow.

Thankful: Day 9

November 9th: Today I am thankful for when schedules fall into place.

Megan and I have been trying to get together for a long time to talk about her wedding and to get some planning done. Today was finally the day! We had a few obstacles in the day but we made it happen :-) On Friday we are headed to Spokane and will have LOTS of time to talk about the wedding but it was nice to be isolated away for a while. I remember how stressful it was to plan a wedding and want to make sure to be helpful. I was reminded though that I have to write a speech! Ahh! I guess my last job prepared me for this... I did give presentations to while senior classes.

Aunty Megan met us at Fred Meyer in Gig Harbor and then treated us to lunch. Yum! We goofed around a little bit and then headed back home to talk wedding stuff.

Yes, it is water. Not soda like daddy thought :-) 

Baby Lynch on the loose!

Olivia took another late nap which was really frustrating for me. I thought we had gotten into a nice rhythm but lately she has not wanted to go down. It is probably a mix of things but I do not think she is burning her energy the way she should/could be. Time to get on the internet to find ways to do that while indoors.

Aunty and Olivia getting those wedding ready bodies on the treadmill!

Grandma let Olivia play with her new stethoscope. She had a blast! Grandma even gave Olivia her old one to play with... she had started to put the new one in her mouth.. we cant have that because we cant afford to replace it!

Another nurse in the family?

Thankful: Day 8

November 8th: Today I thankful that tomorrow is a new day and I have the ability to not let today effect tomorrow.

I must have woke up on the wrong side of the bed today. I have not felt in the mood to keep up with my duties as a mother. I have not cherished my time with my baby girl. Today has been frustrating. When my baby is sick I should be cuddling and comforting her... instead I find myself getting frustrated and fed up with her fussiness. She did not want to cuddle, instead she wanted to throw fits, not eat, not take her nap, and squirm no matter what position we sat in. She was demanding milk. 'Well sweetheart, mom doesn't really have any milk left and you refuse to drink any other kind of milk. Let's save what little bit is there for bed time and the middle of the night so we can both get a little sleep'. I may have been more inclined to nurse if she did not pull off every 20 seconds.

Yay for bath time! 

The day is ending on a better note. Grandma was able to get her to eat a good amount for dinner. We did some goofing off upstairs before putting Olivia down. As I was nursing her I found myself praying to God to help me rid my mind of all these negative thoughts and to be grateful for what I have.

Our good water drinker 

Everyday I have to drain out Olivia's saliva out of my phone case

I am thankful that Jesus us my Lord and Savior and will always be with me. I am thankful that my in laws are letting us stay at their house. I am thankful for a healthy baby girl who has the best smile. I am thankful for my husband who goes to work everyday. I am thankful for my health. I am thankful for the opportunity to stay home with our daughter. I am thankful for my kitties who enjoy to cuddle. I am thankful for a loving family.

Thankful: Day 7

November 7th: Today I am thankful for technology and modern medicine.

It has been hard for me with this move as I have not had a ton of friend time/me time away from Olivia. It is wonderful that I can Skype with some of my friends who are still in Spokane. Gone are the days when I had to write letters (yes, I remember those days. I did have the ability to use the phone but I did not like using it when I was younger). Gone are the days when I had to wait for an email reply. Olivia really enjoys when we Skype with people. This girl is going to know how to use my phone better than I do soon! We were able to talk to our friend Saralyn and her son Nate. They used to watch Olivia for me quite a bit and I'm pretty sure Olivia has a crush on Nate. She was absolutely mezmorized when Nate came up on the screen.

I am not sure if Olivia is coming down sick again or if she is just uncomfortable from teething, still. I have misplaced the baby Tylenol but I was able to give her some baby ibuprofen. What a difference it makes! Maybe it is because I spend all day with her but I could tell when it finally started to help, there was a definite shift.

Early this afternoon we went with daddy to visit grandma at the Civic Center, where play group is, for a Winter Bazaar. When we got there Olivia wanted to cling to grandma. I would have let her but grandma had to judge a chili contest. 

It was difficult to walk away from all the cute crafts. I could not say no to a couple cute bows though! I know, I can hear everyone say, "more bows!? Doesn't she have enough? And she doesn't even keep them on anymore!" I had to... look at them! It made it easier to say yes when I saw that the gal who made them was one of the moms from a group.

We walked around for a while but it was obvious when Olivia was ready for a nap. I had tried to get her to nap before we left but she refused. On our way home she passed out. I turned around and this is how I found her! My guess is that she took off her shoe and was going for her sock when she could not keep her eyes open any longer.

Sometimes I feel like I missed my window on setting an appropriate schedule for Olivia. I also feel like I do things backwards. Because of when she wakes up and then three hours later she is ready for a nap (usually), I give her lunch after her nap. I can only imagine the strange looks I would get from sharing this info at play group. It seems to work okay except for the days when she decides that she does not want to nap. There are so many factors and recommendations when it comes to schedules for children.

Of course as soon as I got her home she didn't want to sleep anymore. No one tells you how challenging it can be to get children to take naps. I tried several things that had worked in the past but nothing was doing the trick. She did not end up falling asleep until 4pm. I knew that meant that she would be stating up a little later, but she needed to nap for a little bit. An hour later she was up and fussy. She felt warm and was not happy about anything. It took a little work but I was finally able to get her to eat a little bit for dinner after the ibuprofen kicked in. She was not sure how she felt about it at first but she ate grilled cheese! Her daddy was proud :-)

Taking her medicine!

Success!

I have been working on getting her to stop throwing her food on the floor. This week I just got fed up. Now, whenever she drops food on the floor she comes out of her seat, I make/help her pick up the food, put it in mommy's hand, a swat, and then back in her seat to finish her meal. Today she handed me a few pieces that she did not want of the grilled cheese and even took the time to hand me this little piece of.... cheese?

I was so proud of her! And I cannot believe how coordinated she is to be able to pinch her fingers together to pick that up. I am amazed that it only took her three tries to get it.

Thankful: Day 6

November 6th: Today I am thankful to have the ability to have dance parties with my little family!

If I could post the video on here I would, but it is a minute long and I can only post videos that are 30 seconds long. I will just have to make sure that it is saved somewhere special. Frozen had just ended and Let it Go was playing while the credits scrolled. Olivia started dancing (she was doing squats) and had her daddy join her. It was adorable to watch! This was not our only dance party. We had another one after breakfast in the kitchen. I cannot remember what was playing but it was a great time. 

It had only been in the last couple of weeks that she has figures out how to dance. She has the bounce and the spin down. Next will come actual jumping! She is growing so fast before our eyes. I know that I am looking forward to more rediculous dance parties. If you know me, you know how difficult it is for me to let loose and act rediculous to get a laugh. I find myself doing it everday.

One year ago today...

Today!

After nap time today, daddy was still tired so Olivia and I ventured out to Costco and Target. Since we tired the park a few times but we're unsuccessful due to the cold, I figured we could walk around a couple stores. I was getting a little cabin fever and needed to get out for a bit. We had a good time, just the two of us. At Target I had to buy a few snacks that I could keep in the car for emergencies.

Yum! Mom gave mini Oreos!

There is no evidence, no evidence at all :-)

Here are some other photos that I took from grandma Marietta from our dinner last night:

I completely forgot that at dinner we gave Olivia some of chips while we waited for dinner. Well, that was not enough for her. She wanted the chip dipped in the salsa. We thought she wouldn't like it because it was slightly spicy. Boy were we wrong! She loved it! No fear of testing it out. 

Thankful: Day 5

November 5th: Today I am thankful that we live in a place where we can visit all six of our parents/Olivia's grandparents in one day if we want.

I slept right through my alarm this morning... Definitely not what I had planned. We made it to play group at a reasonable time though. Olivia is getting more comfortable with the other children and will approach them to try and talk. It was so sad to watch her try to engage with them just to have the other children walk, and in one case run, away from her. "She is just trying to say hi!" That is all I wanted to tell these other kids. Olivia is one of the younger children there but she tries her best to socialize. I thankful that play group does its job of tiring her out. She took a nap for about two a s a half hours today!

Daddy came out today! And he had a surprise for us... he has Saturday off too! Yay! We love it when we get extended time with him but we know that means it will make it longer before we get to see him again since he has two days off in a row :-( Not to long ago, Mike and I were hanging out watching TV when he started sharing goofy YouTube videos with me. For some reason, I felt the need to remind him that he is a dad and that there are better, more educational things he could watching.

This afternoon I had the opportunity to take a few engagement photos for my sister and her fiance. We met them in Home, WA at a park that I take Olivia to on occasion. Mike was in charge of keeping Olivia busy but as it turned out, he ended up with the camera and I had Olivia. His response is, "I see how it is!" I had to remind him that I'm the one with her on a daily basis so that is why she comes to me for comforting. That made him feel bad... not my intentions at all! I just want him to understand that she sees me everyday. And even though I get to be the comforter, I have to deal with colds, melt downs, diaper blowouts, and everything else. I am sure he is feeling the same way but living apart is really starting to get difficult. Olivia is growing so fast and it would be beneficial to have her daddy here.

After pictures, we met up with grandma and grandpa Atwater for dinner! It had been too long since we last saw them. It was nice to get to see them again. When we first arrived, Olivia had a blowout and we had to go straight to the bathroom. Grandma gave us a gift bag that had a gift from great-grandma Atwater. It is a beautiful red sweater that she made. It is big enough that Olivia will be able to wear it for a while! Although, with Olivia having a fairly early bedtime, she started to get antsie at the end of dinner. I suggested going and walking around Albertsons for a little bit so that we could have more time. It was a short but good visit. We did find some rediculously large, furry friends at the store! The bear was $99!! Um, what? No thank you.

Thankful: Day 4

November 4th: Today I am thankful for a working car so that I can take Olivia to the park.

Sure, we can find things to do at home... but after a while, cabin fever starts to set in. After Olivia's nap we headed out to the park. Unfortunately we were only there for about 15 miserable minutes. She clung to me and was fussy the whole time. At least we were up and moving! It could be every easy for me at this point to stay in my pajamas all day. 

Olivia has discovered that when she runs around in her underwear that if she stops for a few moments, she can pull her diaper off! Oh no. There will be none of that! Not since she has already peed on the bathroom floor twice... -_- It was really funny when I changed her diaper, she ran off, and came back naked carrying my head phones. It cracked me up!

Long distance hug for Papa who is in Cali for work for almost 3 weeks :-(

She always finds Mama's watch!

Olivia has also discovered that she can spin in circles. I have no idea where she picked it up from but she enjoys doing it. Today when she was doing it, she made herself dizzy and couldn't walk straight. I had heard somewhere a little while ago that babies are just little drunk people. Well, she definitely looked like it tonight! Goofy girl.

We are so excited to see daddy tomorrow! And not only day, but grandma and grandpa Atwater. And don't forget about play date! Yeah, tomorrow is going to be a busy but a good day for Olivia.

Thankful: Day 3

November 3rd: Today I am thankful for visits with friends. 

Today, Olivia and I were able to visit with not one, but two of our friends! We were able to see Kellie and then had dinner with Anna, who is in town from Spokane. Talk about making the trip across the bridge worth it!

Also today, we went back to our play date for the first time in over a week. Olivia was very excited to be back. She really is a very social girl. I could not believe how many children were there today. Several times Olivia walked up to another kid, squatted just a little bit, tilted her head, and said, " da da da da, da da". It was adorable! Of course, the other just looked at her with confused looks and just walked away :-)

This was us wasting time at the mall in between visits. 

We had dinner at Red Robin for dinner and of course we had to get a balloon! And what do they have? Seahawk balloons! She wouldn't let go of it so that she could sleep. A few times she would fall asleep, drop it, and wake up in order to find it again. 

We had one more stop to make after dinner before heading home, we stopped at my parents' house. Papa is headed to Cali until the 23rd for work. Even though we saw him on Sunday, we wanted to say goodbye again. I had to do a little convincing that he should download Skype so that he can see baby girl. The weeks is a long time! And yet, just on the other side of it is Thanksgiving. It is going to fly by! It is just a shirt thanks today :-)

Thankful: Day 1 and 2

Yesterday was November 1st, and although I am already a day behind I am going to try to do the 30 days of Thanks.

November 1st: For yesterday,  I am thankful that Olivia and I were able to sleep in our own beds again.

Olivia and I spent last week at Grammy's house while great aunt Mandy was on vacation. It was a wonderful but challenging week. Since we have moved over here, I had seen Grammy only twice and neither time was for very long. It was nice to be able to spend a whole week with her and to have Olivia there. One reason it was challenging was because the pack n play that I brought was not very comfortable for Olivia. I think that the middle bar is breaking as it appears to dip in the middle. The other reason is that Olivia was teething. She cut a molar through! There is no way that I won't be able to get a picture of it, the only reason that I saw it was because I had her hanging upside down while I was tickling her. Her gums still appear to be swollen and I am expecting at least a couple more teeth to cut through soon. This evening, my gum started to hurt and it feels like one of my wisdom teeth is trying to come in. It is definitely not what Olivia is feeling but I have more sympathy for her.

Early on in the week, I was nursing Olivia and trying to put her down for a nap when I started crying from laughing so hard. The room we were staying in was not as dark as it is in her room at Grandma Sheila house. Because of this, I had my eyes closed and I was trying to not make eye contact with her. Olivia usually has her binky in her hand and waves it around while she nurses. She was doing this and then found her way to my face as if she was trying to put her pinky and my mouth. I was trying not to giggle when all of a sudden I felt a little finger slide up my nostril! It took so much strength to not laugh as she kept wiggling her finger. I pulled her hand away but before I knew it the singer was back up my nose. Forget it! I could not hold in the laughter and it all came out; I would laugh, then she would laugh, and we went back and forth for a little while.

Baby girl had so much energy this week but it was very difficult to keep up with her. After this week it was really nice to be able to sleep in our own beds again and for me, to be able to cuddle with my kitties.

Taking Grammys came for a walk

Olivia found a new friend to sit and talk with :-)

Licking things to claim them as your own... Olivia wins! She licked great aunt Mandy's car

On Tuesday Grandma and I were sitting in the living room watching TV when I noticed how quiet it got. I immediately started to listen for Olivia and when I leaned forward to get up, I turned my head and saw her. She was standing in front of a tall body mirror hanging onto a door. She stood there for almost 15 minutes staring at herself and checking out her little naked body that just had a diaper on! It was the cutest thing :-)

Taking a nap with aunty Megan

She caged herself!

Testing out the massager with Daddy

Look at how much she ate!

One of my favorites <3

Chatting with Grammy and Kona

Grammy took Olivia for a ride

She is only 14 months but she looks do old in this next photo! I don't want her yo grow up so fast. It makes me want to have another baby though.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Even though we didn't do anything, I bought her a costume anyway.I really wanted to make her a peacock costume but it will have to wait until next year. She was/is the sweetest little strawberry! When I called Mike to give him the costume options, he said, "let's stick with the good theme... Go with the strawberry". So I did :-)

A view from Grammy's front porch

November 2nd: I am thankful for a child that goes to bed easily.

There are probably several times that I should put her to bed earlier than I do but I feel that she dies down at a time that allows her to get plenty of sleep. I hear stories all the time of the struggles that parents have getting their children to sleep. Usually I only have to nurse her for a few minutes, give her two kisses (one from mom and one from dad), and lay her down. We are still working on getting her stay asleep through the night.

This past week I have been thinking a lot about the difference between playing and destroying for Olivia and when to discipline versus understanding that she is just 14 months old and very active. At Grammy's house she was getting into EVERYTHING. The last two days I have just spent time observing her and her behaviors and her attention span. She has a habit of dropping food that she no longer wants on the floor while she is in her high chair. Today, I had enough... We had pizza for dinner and she was doing a great job of eating it when I walked away to green something.when I came back her tray was empty. I knew they she did not eat it all that quickly. As I turned the corner and looked down, I saw the good on the floor. Grandma and grandpa have a dog who knows that Olivia drops her food so I have to put her outside when Olivia eats. It is really frustrating to watch Olivia drop her food even when we are staring at each other and I tell her no. So this time when I saw the food on the floor, I was fed up. I told her that she was going to pick up every piece of food and give it to mom. I then took her out of the high chair, sat on the floor, hand while she was bawling her eyes out helped her bend over and pick up each piece of food to put in my hand. She cried and screamed the whole time. When we were done, I took her downstairs  put her in bed. My plan is to do this every time she drops her food on the floor and hopefully she will start to learn to leave it on the tray. At least if she leaves it on the tray I can eat it if there are leftovers. It makes me mad that so much food gets wasted or fed to the dog. She knows what she is doing. I Neff to find something rewarding enough they she will want to leave the food on the tray. I have tried not giving her do much at one time but she is old enough that I should not have to give her things one at a time anymore.

Brushing the hair of her first Barbie!

Can you tell how much they missed each other?