Growing Events

We have had quite the week here at home. Daddy was gone most of the week for work and we missed him terribly!  I'm not sure if I've ever told you, but I am scared to stay home alone and now that I have our baby to protect, it's even more nerve-wrecking! We got through it, though - thanks to the locks on the doors, the booby traps we set and the fact that I was so tired I couldn't even stay awake long enough to hear the scary sounds of the night or think about the robbers I'm always so sure are coming when I'm home alone!

I made sure to tell my husband how very much I appreciate everything he does. I don't think I ever take it for granted, but it sure brings it to light just how much he does with Olivia. He dresses her in the morning, he takes the dogs out, he gets her milk for the day out of the freezer and he tells me it's 6:30 and I need to get going. He really does so much to make the morning go smoothly. He's a great daddy and husband; probably the best there is!

So on with the "growing" events:
On Wednesday Libbs laughed for the first time! And the second time! It was during lunch at daycare and I gave her a rasperry on her belly. It was such an awesome sound to hear - I only wish I could get her to do it again, but it appears she forgot how! I suppose she will figure it out again and be doing plenty of it in no time :)

On Saturday she did what she always does and decided she was going to be upset unless I let her sit at the dinner table with us. So we had an idear - we got the high chair out and she actually sat at the table with us instead of on my lap! It was a big-girl moment...

Olivia has now learned that her hands can go in her mouth, and therefore anything that goes in her hand can go in her mouth! She reaches out and grabs the dangly toys in her gym and chews them, she pulls blankets up to her mouth and chews on them, she grabs our fingers and chews on them...Basically she chews on anything she can get ahold of!!
I think she's gonna cut a tooth here in the near future. The telling signs - she gnaws on everything and she slobbers slobbers slobbers all over herself. She can even blow slobbery bubbles which is very cute :)

And look how much this little girl has changed in the last 3 months. I know she has gotten bigger, but look at her features. She doesn't even look like the same baby...it's amazing how different her little face looks.
My mom sent me some pictures of me when I was a baby and it really amazed me how much she actually resembles me - She doesn't look like me - just resembles. I think it's the nose ! What do you think?

Uncle Tom came by for a visit!

I still love the MIRROR!

Still love it!

Big Girl at the Table

Chillin' with Daddy

See how different I look?



My baby pics



Great Aunt Cindy - I finally fit!

This cute little pink dress is from Great Aunt Cindy....She has finally filled out enough to wear it :) She was the prettiest girl in church today!

Congratulations Katie and Mike!

I just need to post our congrats to Katie and Mike - they are engaged!!!!
We are so excited and happy for you and can't wait for the big day!
Love you guys mucho!

Jealous?

This is what Olivia was doing at 12:15 this afternoon. Do any of you wish that's what you were doing at noon today? I know I am totally Jealous!!

I think this pic is so funny - her legs look like they're only 3 inches long!!! Good old Fuzzi Bunz!

Our little punkin has not been sleeping through the night for the past week and half. Actually it's like she's only a few weeks old again - she is waking every couple of hours to eat.  We are going to start her on Rice Cereal this weekend and I'm so stinkin' excited! I hope she loves it - We will video so you can all see her first bites :)



Self-Sufficiency

Little Miss Olivia has been working hard on mastering this one certain technique to soothe herself. Can you guess what it is?? If you guessed the Thumb Suck you were right!!!

Daycare has been giving her a pacifier so I think she is becoming somewhat dependent on it. Josh and I don't usually indulge in that so this is what she has decided is best for her - at least at home!

Also on this post is a video (theres not a picture) of her talking to herself at 8am this morning...Too cute :)

All of these things are showing us that she is learning about herself and what makes her happy. She is growing so fast.

Our friends Chad and Mirela just had their 3rd baby boy last night - congratulations!! - and when they sent a picture of him to us, I cried. Of course. My little tiny baby is just not so tiny anymore. Don't get me wrong - I absolutely LOVE watching her grow and learn and become more independent. BUT...She's quickly becoming my not-so-little-tiny baby anymore. It just makes me realize how I need to savor each and every moment with her because it goes by so quickly. Man I love her!

All for now - Have a great weekend!!! Love you all!



3 months in and still in LOVE





Well the video won't load - I think it's too big. I will have to try some editing and see if I can make it smaller. Check back later and maybe I'll have it up. Adios for now!

Our Baby's Baptism

I am finally getting to this post! I guess the timing's not too bad - it's only been 4 days :)

Last Sunday was O's big day. She was baptized at St. Mark Lutheran Church in West Des Moines. The baptism was done by both Pastor Foss from our church and Dad, which was really awesome! My dad did the actual baptism and Pastor Foss did the other parts (I'm not sure what to call the other parts!).
It really meant a lot to me to have my dad baptize Olivia. This was her official birth as God's child, and for him to bring her into that life with the Word and the Water was beautiful. You can see the video below...

Libby's dress was better than I imagined. My mom made it and she knew exactly what I wanted and what would be perfect for the day. It was so pretty and I hope it will stay in the family for a long long time!

I am so appreciative of our family - everyone who could be there was there - Our parents, brothers, sisters, and friends. Thank you all for sharing the day with us. To those who couldn't be there - I know you would have if you could have and I know Libbs was in your thoughts and hearts. Olivia is very lucky to have every single one of you in her life!

Josh and I are committed to teaching our little nina who God is and making sure she knows his love. We will do our best to raise her to show His love to others through her words and actions. God has blessed our lives in so many ways and she is the greatest gift He has given us.

We forgot to put our memory card in the camera like a couple of dum-dumbs, so I need to get some pics from other people. This is about all we have from the day. I will post more when I get them!

Precious Baby

Beautifulness

Look how she holds her dress!

Chy and Libbs

The dudes

Banister and Shandra (?)



A growing immune system or just a pain in the arse?

We are feeling terrible for Libby right now. She has been in daycare for what, like 4 or 5 weeks now and she has had the flu, a stuffy nose, and now she has some nasty congestion in her chest. Poor little thing just can't catch a break! And I thought breastfed babies weren't supposed to get sick.
Everyone says it's good for her to get sick now because by kindergarten she will have built up a great immune system. While that may be true, little Punkin has to suffer through all of this.

We had her first appointment with her new doctor - Dr. Sayeed - and it was awesome! He was very thourough and informative and spent about 40 minutes with us answering questions and telling us what to expect in her development between now and her next appointment at 4 months. He said she is in great shape and a very strong girl, which we already knew since she thinks she's a six-month old. I am thinking within the next month or so she's gonna need a doorway Jumper...She loves to stand up and jump up and down so once she can really hold her head and back steady she will be ready to go :)

I think sometimes people don't realize how developed she is. I know she's only 3 months old but she loves to talk and play and have a view of the world at all times. I think because she's still small, people want to cradle-hold her and they don't try to engage her in conversation. Not their fault - they just don't know her as well as we do. I will tell you in case you see her in the near future: Olivia is a chatterbox and full of smiles. She loves to talk back and forth and hear how pretty she is. She loves when you make goofy faces at her and she will almost always give you a big, open-mouthed grin if you give one to her. Sometimes when he wakes her up she will smile a flirty crooked smile and batt her eyes at her daddy. It's pretty darn cute!
So if you see her, entertain her. She will entertain you right back!

We have been using the Moby wrap a lot lately since she doesn't nap near as much as she used to. Just so you get an idea of her strength, her favorite hold is not supposed to be used until she is 5-6 months old. We taught her how to make tator-tot casserole on Friday night. It was so much fun! Hopefully she won't be a terrible cook as I was when Josh and I first got married!

And the final note for the night is that Olivia Grace is going to oficially become a Child of God next Sunday!!! She is being baptised at St. Mark Lutheran Church and we are very excited! My mom surprised me and is making a beautiful gown for her to wear!! I almost cried when I saw it - it's awesome! Most of our family is going to be there and we are thankful that they are going to share the special day with us. More on this after the occasion.



Looking Back on 2010 and Forward to 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Can you believe it's 2011 already? 2010 was a really amazing year for me. Let's recount some of those amazing things. :

January  - I made yet another attemp to quit smoking and FINALLY succeeded!

February 13 - I took yet another pregnancy test and finally saw the words PREGNANT!

March 25 - First Prenatal appt. to confirm pregnancy and see our little Embryo @9 weeks

April - Completed the reconstruction of Olivia's bedroom with paint and carpet

May - Memorial weekend Kitchen renovation...Thanks to a handy husband and great family and friends :)

June 9 - 20 Week Ultrasound and Halfway thru pregnancy - YAY!

June 28 - Katie and Mike were home for a Surprise Baby Shower - Totally unexpected and awesome!!!

July -  Met with  and decided on Dr. Jean (Olivia's Ex-Doctor) and Imagination and Education Station (Olivia's Daycare)

August - We took our Childbirth classes at Methodist - Josh was a really great coach and we learned a ton! October started approaching very slowly at this point. We were ready for our baby to be here.

September - Happy birthday to me, Nic, Katie, Nate, Kelsey, Eric, Ethan....

 October 7 - Happy 4th Anniversary to me and Josh (Happiest 4 years of my life)

October 21 - Olivia Grace finally arrived - Best day of our lives!

November - There was so much going on this month - it was pretty much a blur! Getting to know Olivia, learning to be parents, visits from family and friends., Dad's trip to Isreal...the list goes on :)

December - Happy Birthday to Josh!

First Day back to work after Maternity Leave

Olivia's First Smile

Christmas, Christmas, Christmas!

G-Pa rocking a fussy baby to sleep

Grandma and Grandpa V

Our first Christmas

Me, O and the Bros

Me, O and Aunt Katie

Grammy and G-Pa Hopp

Four Generations....

Four Generations....

So like I said - it was a busy and exciting year for our family. Looking forward to 2011, we will continue to experience many firsts. Olivia is growing so fast and by next Christmas, she will be able to walk and rip open packages and all kinds of fun things. It makes me a little sad to think about her growing up, but she will - cliche, I know - remain my little Punkin forever.

PS - I want to share all of her names so far so we don't forget them...
Olivia, Libby, Punkin,  Punkin Chunkin, Tooter McGavin, Lil' Baby, Daddy's Baby, Liberachi, Libby Lou, Liv....Do you think she will ever figure out her name?? :)