Big Daddy's 92nd Birthday

Olivia met her paternal great-grandparents this weekend. I think both Me Mommy and Big Daddy really enjoyed getting to see her. Big Daddy kept threatening to take her back home with them. I assured him there's no way that would be happening! Her daddy and I sure would miss her!

Our State Flower

We went today and took pictures in the bluebonnets. I've been trying to keep my eye open for a safe place to take them. I always see them on the side of the Interstate, but figured that is just way too dangerous! I noticed some last week on the church grounds, so that's where we went. I saw on the news where it's a Texas tradition to take your child's picture in bluebonnets each year, and I knew that at least two of my friends had already taken pics of their children in these "weeds", as Jason calls them! Soooo...of course I had to go do it. Would I have been a good mom if I had failed to follow this Texas tradition??!!

Life Long Friends

Scott, Nicole and Hudson came over one evening this past week. It's going to be so much fun watching our kids grow up together (Hudson is only 6 days older). Nicole and I have been friends over 20 years and it still amazes me that we had babies at the same time! I believe this was their 3rd meeting and by far, the most eventful meeting!

Olivia was very interested in Hudson (love her hand placed on Scott).

And Hudson just talked and talked to her! Thanks for sharing your toys with Hud!
Hey Hudson, sit up and play with me! It's not nap time!
Good job kiddos!
Very blury, but they were both smiling
Hud very much dislikes the flash!

And it starts...

We decided to put together Olivia's exersaucer. This was kind of a long process. We thought it would be really fast, but probably 30-40 screws later and 8 AAA batteries, Daddy did it!

Hey mom, I think Daddy forgot to put the toys on here!

"Wow, these are neat"

Tummy to Back!

Olivia rolled over from her tummy to her back this morning. I missed the actual roll itself. We were having tummy time. I got up to go to the kitchen for my water, and when I came back, she wasn't on her tummy anymore! I couldn't tell if she was excited about it or a bit confused! I'm going to have to quit folding her quilt in half on the floor now. As you can see, she was close to rolling off of it. Oh, and she somehow lost a sock in the process!

Naps and Playtime

Now that I've been back to work for a couple of weeks, we have managed to get in a pretty good routine. Most evenings, Olivia eats right when we get home and then usually takes a nap for a little while. We do try to find some time to play and just hang out with each other every evening as well. I already feel like I'm missing out on too much not being with her all day, so I have to try soak it all in each night without overstimulating her too much. I think she enjoys her "wind down" time in the evenings, which means she fits in with us perfectly....we don't mind sitting around and watching TV one bit! :)

SIDE NOTE: We think she may end up with reddish, auburn hair. I don't think you really notice so much in person, but it definitely has red tints in pictures and in the sun.

ONE MORE THING: We are pretty convinced that Olivia has been teething now for a couple of weeks. Many, many things just add up (fever, gnawing at hands/clothes/toys/anything she can find, drooling, little fussy, rubbing cheeks/ears, coughing). She meets about 90% of the teething symptoms. Luckily, she hasn't been too fussy, but definitely not happy 100% of the time like usual. She's growing up TOO FAST!!!

Olivia's First Easter Weekend

We went to dinner Saturday night for Jason's birthday. Olivia got to experience her first night out to a nice steak dinner (we went to Silver Fox). We sat in a room off to the side of the restaurant in case she became fussy...which she did for a minute, but we managed to keep her content most of the time and we were all able to eat a hot meal! All in all, it was a nice evening and Olivia was a pretty good baby girl.






On Sunday, we woke up early and found that the Easter bunny had dropped off a little basket for Olivia. After going through her stuff in our PJ's, we got dressed and went to church and then headed to Mike & Elizabeth's for lunch and our annual Easter egg hunt. The hunt is for the adult kids (Jason, Emily, Deanna, etc.) and is usually fairly profitable! The first year they made me take part. If you know me at all, you know that I was like "Seriously, I'm not hunting eggs...I'm twenty-something years old". Well, they haven't had to talk me into it the last few years....not now that I know how lucrative it can be! :)

Deanna and Jason listening to the rules and getting ready to hunt.

The Weekend

We really didn't do much of anything this weekend other than hang out around the house. Jason worked in the yard a little bit, and we both did interior household chores. On Sunday, we took Olivia to her first day of church (which we plan to start doing on a weekly basis from now on). The church we went to was very contemporary and the music was especially loud. They really liked to rock it, which I enjoyed, but not so sure Jason did! Olivia seemed to enjoy looking around at everyone. At some point during the song service, she fell asleep, but the second the music stopped and the preacher began, she woke up. Luckily, she woke up very happy, but she was wanting to "talk". Every time I would look down at her (I was holding her), she would start cooing, which was adorable, but not the appropriate time! Then she went potty.....and not a quiet potty! It was fairly loud. Jason and I were both pretty embarrassed! After church, we went out for lunch and then headed to the grocery store. Like I said, not a real exciting weekend!

Back to the Real World

I went back to work on Wednesday, and even though it was a short week, it was TOUGH. I tried to stay busy as there was TONS of work for me to do, but not a minute went by that I didn't think of Olivia. I felt incomplete...like a part of me was missing. So at 4:00 each day (and not one minute later) I rushed as fast as I could out of the office for my 30 mile journey back to her daycare. Once we got home every evening, it was time to make dinner, prepare bottles, wash bottles, iron clothes, unpack and repack her bag....and the list goes on and on and on...I feel guilty not being able to just spend every second with her, but there are some things that just HAVE to be done every evening. Deep down I know that me working and her having to be in daycare will not have a huge negative impact on her life and that she'll probably not hold it against me...or that's what I keep telling myself anyway! Millions of kids go to daycare and are not with their moms all day, and most of them turn out just fine. I guess we'll eventually get used to it all and it will get easier, but it's just going to take a while to adjust. In 10 weeks, I never once felt out of place staying at home!

Here are a few updated pics of Olivia at 10 weeks old....and precious, of course!

This was taken one night this week before bed. She didn't seem too amused.

Laying on the big bunny....was impossible to get a good pic on it!
First time in her bumbo, which she is still too small for, but she was quite interested in those feet once she saw them!Tummy Time
Sweet little face
She's got that little bottom lip out with TOTALLY crazy hair. I love this one