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?

Cherish the Time

Little miss is down for the night, and after a little cleaning, I find myself relaxing on the couch for a few moments before it is bedtime for me. 

Yesterday was our three year wedding anniversary. To my amazement, Mike had Wednesday off which meant that he was able to come out yesterday after work. I was supposed to do a college and career fair and was blessed by my friend and did not have to go. With Olivia here, it is hard to get time to ourselves. It is even more difficult right now because the little time we have together, we have to try and split the time between family and just the two of us. Grandma Sheila was willing (thank you!) to take Olivia for the evening so that we could go out for dinner and have some time to ourselves. Three years... Really? Has it been that long? 

I love to watch these two interact

Just for documentation purposes (my memory is not the best) I have to share this special moment Olivia and I had in the shower. She loves joining me but hates when I have to put her down so that I can shower. This time, like usual, she cried and clung to my leg. When I was done I picked her back up and she rested her head on my chest. I turned so that the water was coming down on her back while I slowly swayed back and forth. After a little while, I turned around so that I could get some of the warmth. My head was under the water enough that it was coming down the left side of my face like a small waterfall. For a few moments I thought about how we should get out and was about to do so when she slowly lifted her head. Without talking, she stared at my face with the sweetest look. I didn't want to move. Then, before I knew it she slowly raised her right had and stroked the left side of my face where the water was. My heart melted. <3 She just kept studying my face and the next thing I knew she had both hands up and was stroking both sides of my face. I wanted time to stop so I could get a camera and capture the look on her face. Pure and unconditional love. Cherish the moments.

So precious. All that bad and she sticks to the corner

Pleasantly surprised at how much she ate

Trying to dunk the big ball

Practicing unlocking the car... wrong door swetheart!

Helping mom do laundry!

She no longer has her tongue out :-)

Before we know it, that chapstick will be lipstick!

I am not sure if I have shared this or not, but I am slowly working on weaning Olivia off of her binky for the most part. At times it can be really frustrating when she gets fussy. But it is wonderful because she is starting to try and form words! We are working on dog and cat right now :-) when we were watching Frozen the other day, she saw wolves in a chase scene, pointed and said, "ga!". I was so proud! It helps that grandma and grandpa Niven have a dog here to practice and accociate with. Before we know it, she will have quite the vocabulary.

I know that there is nothing to worry about with her development right now. I was talking to Mike yesterday and was saying that once a child hits school age, I know what to do to help them learn  but I'm stuck at Olivia's age. Age appropriate and developmentally appropriate. There was a gal at the play date yesterday who was handing out flyers for a free parenting class to help parents learn how to get kids kindergarten ready. Free childcare and free toys for Olivia. Sure, why not. I have to check the dates again.

Alright, enough for tonight. Hoping for a Seahawk win tomorrow and looking forward to celebrating grandma Sheila's birthday! 

Being Sick Stinks...

But it won't hold her down! 

Our precious little girl came down with a cold this week :-( it has been sad to listen to her sniffle all day and even worse when she would try to nurse and have to stop frequently in order to gasp for air before trying to latch back on. We have a nasal aspirator, which I call a snot sucker, that I tried to use the other day. Let's just say that she does not like it at sll. Screaming... thrashing... and all dad and I were trying to do was help her breathe. We gave up. However, I made use of the baby monitor at night though. Because she sleeps just on the other side of a door I have not been using the baby monitor. When she got sick I plugged it in because I want to be able to hear her.

This weekend Olivia got to go through a corn maze, carried of course, play with pumpkins, and meet grandpa Randy's horse! Even though she was sick, she had a great time. There were moments when she was more relaxed and snuggly but there were many more where she just wanted to be on the go again. At the corn maze, we were able to witness and celebrate the engagement of our friends Kellie and Tim. What a wonderful moment to be a part of! This corn was way more green than the corn maze we went through last year in Spokane.

The other morning when she woke up, I felt like she grew a couple inches over night! She is looking so tall these days. Facebook has been showing me my posts from a year ago and it truly is amazing how much babies grow in a year. We have a toddler! Let's just slow it down a little please.

Fall is here!

Baby proofing at its finest. Haha!

Poor baby was not feeling well at all the other day. She normally sleeps on her stomach

Looking forward to having these days every day

Trying out the massage feature on Grammy's chair! 

She started to turn into the Hulk after the Seahawks loss

Cuddles with grandma! 

Grandma Sheila found another play place that we tried in Gig Harbor. This one cost a little but for Oliva, adults were free, and it was worth it! Olivia loved it. There was an open play area, a sandbox with Moon Sand, and a very realistic store set up. Here are a couple of pictures. It is not a place we would go to all the time but maybe for a one-on-one play date or a rainy day when we want to get out. At this place es, it also be a use very apparent that Olivia loves to entertain and really likes older boys. I told Mike he better keep a close eye on her! There were these two boys, probably kindergarten aged, who Olivia was yachting at and trying to make laugh. They went along with it and she had a great time.

Look at the determination on that face! Watch out! She is on a mission!

We are looking forward to getting healthy this week, returning to play dates, and seeing daddy tomorrow.

Rejected

Mike and I finally got ourselves put together enough to actually apply for an apartment. I have never been much of an apartment person but this was a two bedroom, two bath, and brand new. I think we got caught up in the idea of living in a brand new apartment. The price was manageable but I had a feeling that we might get rejected because we only have one income right now. Besides finally being together, the whole point of getting a place is so that I can set up a child care and go back to work. Yesterday, I woke up with a bad feeling about the apartment and sure enough Mike called me in the afternoon and informed me that we had been rejected due to income. So we are back to square one! We probably could have done some Beyer planning but decided to half wing everything. It is getting to the point of frustration from being apart still and also of feeling like a burden on everyone. I know that God has a plan and we just need to be patient until the time is right.

~~~~~

Mike's aunt, Carleen, does photography and asked us to come and model for her. Mike's sister Kim was also there to model. I watch too much America's Next Top Model. Ha! :-) I learned some things for when I can afford all the gadgets for my camera and how to pick angles when I the pictures. It was a lot of fun. Here are a few photos, these were taken by Carleen's photography teacher. I cannot wait to get the rest once they are touched up! If anyone else out there needs to practice, I am more than happy to bring Olivia by :-) I can't have enough photos of her!

Olivia and I are slowly making our way down our list of people we have to visit. It has been nice to visit with friends who I haven't seen for far to long.

I took her binky out to take a picture but she had two others ones ready!

Our new morning ritual :-)

With such an active little one, it has been difficult to find time to get myself ready. I used to wake up before her but her sleep schedule has been crazy. Not only that, but the bathroom is right next to where she sleeps. A few times I have showered in the evenings but most days I'm too tired at the end of the day that I just crash instead. We have been watching Frozen every morning for the last couple of weeks. At first , she couldn't care less about what was on the TV. However, the last two days I have gotten her to sit and watch the movie long enough so I can sneak out and take a shower! What a great feeling. I have to sit and watch a little bit with her before I can sneak off. I am grateful for the few moments I have to myself to get ready for the day.

I'm so happy that fall is here!

Just chilling in grandma's papasan chair

Olivia will probably be mad at me at some point in her life for sharing this but I have to do it :-) Auntie Lauren caught her! You have to listen closely but that strange sound is Olivia passing gas :-) Haha!