A Visit From Auntie Kim and Uncle Chris

Let me start by saying that Olivia had a visit to the doctor last Tuesday and we have a HEALTHY baby!

Height: 28.5 in          85 Percentile

Weight: 19.7 lbs        77 Percentile 

Head Circumference: 17 in      28 Percentile              

This last week has been busy! Tuesday night Kim and Chris got into town. A couple of months ago we decided that we were going to go on a camping trip! Well, we went but it did not go exactly as we planned. Mike and I took Friday off and that is when we headed out. We stopped by the mall and picked up Olivia's 9 month photos so let me take a moment to post them because they are too cute not to share!

So, I basically just posted them all. Family, if there is a particular one you would like to have printed, let me know and I will do that! I have the permission on the CD that they gave me.

Back to the camping trip... Let's just say that doing ANYTHING with a baby takes more time. We ended up packing what seemed like half of the house for what was supposed to be a three day camping trip. So much STUFF! Well, we eventually made it to Hayburn State Park near Plummer Idaho (if you are ever looking for a place to camp, it was a really nice location). We did not have reception, which was nice. It took a while to get things set up and Olivia was cranky because we were unsuccessful in getting her to take a nap. To make a long story short, we finally go her to bed around 10pm when the sun finally went down. We are somehow missing the cap to our air mattress so we ended up sleeping on the ground with Olivia in between us. Around 1:30am Mike and I both woke up and Mike decided to sleep in the car because he was really uncomfortable. Olivia woke up several times and I tried my best to keep her quiet as there were a few other camps sites just a few yards away. I was also having frequent coughing fits as I am still trying to get ride of it -_- Almost every time I was awake I could here Kim and Chris awake. 

When Olivia finally woke up for good, when the sun came up, I was still exhausted. I did not know the time because my phone hand died in the middle of the night and Mike had taken his. So, I decided to give her a cracker from a pack that I had in her diaper bag. As she was eating I decided to lay back down. What seemed like a long time later, I found myself waking up and Olivia was right in my face! I sat up and found CRACKERS EVERYWHERE! Yup, I fell asleep and she got into all the crackers. I have no idea how many she ate but there were not as many as I thought I had left. While we were prepping for breakfast, Kim and Chris said that they were freezing all night! They has two blankets instead of sleeping bags so they did not sleep well. Mike and I were talking while we cleaned the breakfast dishes and went to talk to Kim and Chris. We all decided that it was probably better to cut the trip short so that we could all get a good nigh sleep before the work week. Yes, we left after one night! :-) Olivia was truly a champ though! For being 9 months old, she did really well on her first trip. Here are a few photos from out camping adventure:

Waving and talking to auntie Lim!

SLEEPING BAGS!

Such a sweet daddy <3

I really like this one

No the best picture, but I was there too!

FIRE!

We were sad to see them go today but we will see them on the other side!

Oh yeah, if you have not heard the news, we are going to be moving back to the Tacoma-Seattle area! More on that later, Mike is wanting to head to bed :-)

Keeping in Short

Mike came down with a fever today :-( so that makes two of us that are sick. We ate paying really hard that Olivia doesn't catch it. Really, neither of us should go to her doctor's office tomorrow because we are sick. Also I think that she had a little sun burn and she broke out today :/ I think it is a reaction to the grass she was on yesterday.
Poor baby :-(

So yesterday while Mike was gone, I had to shower but had a needy baby with me. So how do you shower when you have a 9 month old who hates to be left alone? Here is how:

It didn't work that well, she cried almost the whole time

We also had some GREAT mommy baby time :-) It was really nice to just relax.

Yesterday we also went to a graduation party for a friend. I was amazed at how quickly Olivia just took off on the grass! I didn't think she liked grass.

Okay, last picture and story for the night, Mike wants me to go to bed. So we went shopping for some stuff for camping (we are camping with K and Chris this coming weekend). Well, we get out to the car and Mike is putting bags in the car and asks me to put Olivia in her seat. I go to grab her but she doesn't come out of the cart! I look down and she got her foot stuck! Freak out moment! I was trying not to panic but could not even tell how she had managed to get it stuck I only thing I could think of was going back inside and finding something to lube up her leg with. We were at Walmart and there was a Subway right inside. I asked the gal for a water cup as I tried to keep Olivia calm. She asked how many I needed. I told her one and explained what happened. The gal got a concerned look on her face and said, "ooo, we have butter back here!" I told her I might be back. Mike met me outside the store after locking the car. He poured the water and her foot slipped out a few moments later, all while she shrieked. Here is a photo of what she did:

Okay, off to get some sleep before my Pumpkin wakes up :-)

Nine Months!

I know you know, but I cannot believe we are at this point already! At this time last year we were getting ready for the gender reveal baby shower. If you remember, we did know in advance and Mike knew well before I did because he had peeked at the ultrasound! STINKER! It's okay, I remember us going out for our 'meet-iversary' (yeah, we celebrate the day that we met) to IHOP, which is where we meet 12 years ago now. It was there that Mike told me that we were having a girl. So many emotions were running through my body! Tears... tears everywhere :-) I remember being kinda disappointed because we had talked about having a boy for so long. But I was excited at the idea of having a sweet little girl who I would raise to be a wonderful young lady. And it has been wonderful so far! Now here we are, a year later and nine months in. 

I have misplaced the sign that I use each month to track her growth against. I will have to take those pictures tomorrow. However, we did go and get her pictures done at JCPenney today! I am excited to share those photos when they come in on the 12th. Until the, I have a picture of a picture that I will share and some other photos of our adventures today.

Here is a sneak-peek!

Fun in the dressing room before pictures!

 What a roller coaster of a week this has been for me! We are ending on a good note as I gave Olivia dinner at 7:30pm and then put her down. She SCARFED down two containers of homemade sweet potato baby food! I also peeled some red grapes and cut them up for her. She loved them! It has been a struggle to get this girl to eat fruit. I have tried fresh fruit, frozen fruit, and canned fruit. She has not liked much of it unless it is blended with veggies. But boy did she like the grapes. I may have to look up some recipes to make them into a blend with, or we can just keep giving them to her. After dinner I topped her off with some milk and she was out! 

Today I was able to go to Target to look for Teething Tablets, and score! I found them :-) I have no idea what they are but people have been telling me to try them. I just had not been able to find them. I gave her two and they seem to be helping so far. If she wakes up in the middle of the night I will give her a couple more (don't worry, I am following the dosage). At Target we also picked up a pool, a reusable swimming diaper, a bathing suit, and sunglasses! 

This girl LOVES the water. It was really close to 90 degrees today and the water that I put in the pool was freezing! If you know me well, you know that I do not like water and do not know how to swim (hence why I am trying to get Mike to take her to swim lessons; I would be a horrible example for all of the kids there. HAHA!). Back to my story: she did not even flinch or cringe at the cold when I placed her toes in the cold water. She loved it! We were not out there super long but it was enough for her to really get into it. I am not sure who gave her the purple bathing suit (I bought a different one in case the purple one did not fit) but thank you! Olivia looks good in purple :-)

Yummy! Fruit before the homemade sweet potato food! These photos are from the last four days or so...

PEEK-A-BOO!

She saw a bunny at dad's work one day when we brought him dinner

Educating herself! :-)

Discovering the magic of magnets!

Her first kitty scratch :( when I sent Mike the picture, he said that he was going to de-claw the cats himself... I told him to calm down. Olivia had been bugging Troy and he was getting away from her when  he accidentally scratched her. I do need to clip his claws :/

Not sure where this little model came from but she sure is adorable! <3 <3

Earlier this week Olivia and I had taken a walk to the park so that she could swing. I took my camera and was able to get some good shots! Here they are:

LOVE!

Dreaming of being a BIG girl! She watched all of the big kids play on the toys

Grabbing mom's glasses!

Olivia dropped her binky and I did not realize it until we were a few blocks away. Seeing as how it was the Seahawks binky..... we HAD to go back for it :-)

I spent some time today moving old photos from my phone to my hard drive. It is amazing to see the growth that has happened in the last 9 months. Loving all of it! Yes, even the hard times. I have come down with a summer cold so I am more tired than normal; if it is not one thing it is another. I was able to get Olivia's room cleaned this week. That felt really good!

I am finding my mind starting to wander and my thoughts that I want to type are not coming together properly. That means it is time to close this blog but know that we are doing well and have a great feeling about this ninth month of little Olivia's life :-)

Rolling Like a Big Kid

Olivia and I decided (well I decided and she just had to roll with it) that we were going to take a walk to Dutch Bros coffee because mom needed some coffee. We had gotten back from the store not long before and she was already frustrated with her car seat and probably needed a nap. So, I decided to figure out how to let her sit up in the stroller like a big girl! Thank you great-grandma Nunes for the stroller/car seat! This thing is so easy to use and comes in handy all the time. It is a whole new way to watch the world as we stroll along. In the car she is facing backwards, in the cart at the grocery store she is facing backwards, when I am able to put her in the Ergo she is facing backwards. Here she is, sitting up like a big girl!

I came home today from worm and found this beautiful sight! Daddy and daughter passed out together. Mike did not even hear me come home this time! Of course when we woke up about 5 minutes later, I took Olivia so that he could get ready for work and she woke up right away. It is so precious to see them snuggling and I wish that she would take naps with me and do that! She will on occasion but not that often.

Here is a video that I took of Olivia the other day. I was trying to give her a bottle and we ended up Skyping with auntie Megan and Olivia decided to goof off. I love it!

She seems to take the bottle fine, even though it takes her a while to finish it. I am hoping to talk to her doctor about the possibility of her weening. I have done a little reading and there are LOTS of reasons as to why she is not really wanting to breastfeed. We will just take it one day at a time. 

I received a call from great-grandma Cole with some ideas and suggestions on how to possibly get baby girl to go to sleep and to stay asleep. I really appreciate the brainstorming! It took a while but I was finally able to get her to lay down. I turned off the TV about an hour before she went to bed, I tried to give her a big dinner (solid food and a bottle), some time in her crib with me standing there quietly trying to get her to lay down, and finally topping her off with a little milk and her giving in to her tiredness. For a while I was taking some stuffed animals and demonstrating laying down the crib and she would do the same. It took a while but I think that it takes less time than I think ti does and I just need to commit to taking the time to get her to fall asleep at least a little bit on her own for now. It is also important to get her to understand that her bed is not a horrible place.