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?? :)

8 WEEKS!

Today is the Fourth Sunday in Advent - The celebration of LOVE. We were asked by the church to be the candle-lighters this week. I had to read a little ditty about how God's Love is the true meaning and the most important gift of Christmas and then we lit the 4th candle on the Advent wreath. It went very well - Josh and Libby stood next to me while I read and then we all lit the candle together. It was nice to be  involved in a service rather than showing up and leaving as we normally do.
Olivia wore a dress (her only dress) from Aunt Katie and was so dang cute in it! The congregation was all smiles as we took the stage. She behaved herself as usual. The girl loves music - she is very happy whenever there is singing going on. And when the music stops, she keeps going....She has become quite a chatty little thing! She was cooing and squeeling a little too loudly today, so we had to get the pacifier out (she never get it unless we are in public and she gets crazy)! She is becoming so much fun to hang out with since she started smiling and talking. It's about the cutest thing ever! We need to get a video camera so we can start recording some of these things!

Christmas is next week - Libby is getting a couple of really great things from Santa and I'm sure she'll be spoiled by our families! We are looking forward to seeing everyone!



Goofy Girl



Do you think she can be a baby model?

Guess it was too bright for her!

Family Time

Love my Baby!

Merry Christmas to all!

Proud Parents

I am sure you are all dying to know how O-Baby's first week at the Imagination and Education Station went, right?!!
She did SO GOOD! She has proven to be just what we thought she was - a happy, adaptable baby:) They all adore her as they should.
Wednesday was her first day. I cried all the way to daycare, the whole time we were there dropping her off (I think it took about 20 minutes) and then half way to work. And then a few times at work. I only called to check on her twice in the 5 hours she was there, so I didn't think that was too bad. The first time I called was at 8:30am and they told me she just finished eating was sitting in the bouncy happy and content as can be. I was really glad she was doing well but at the same time, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed that she wasn't crying for me. But mostly I was happy. When I picked her up at noon, she was really glad to see me! I got all kinds of pretty smiles from her! It was awesome.
She hasn't napped well over there. I assume it's due to the new surroundings and all the noise - there's so much to hear and see and Olivia is definately not one to let herself miss anything just for a little sleep. So when I bring her home each day she takes a really long nap to catch up. Then we play for an hour or so after she wakes and eats. I have been getting out the rattles and books and mirrors . She loves the mirror; she can stare at her beautiful self for like 3 minutes and that's like an hour for a baby! She couldn't be anything like her mommy, could she?

Olivia is getting so big so fast. We are noticing that she is just a couple of inches from taking up the entire changing table! That's length, not width:) Although she is filling out quite nicely in the round way, too. She is also getting too tall for the sleep sacks she often wears to bed and her little nighties, too. She was in the 34th percentile for height shen she was born, which means 66% of babies were taller than her at birth, but I think she has probably flip-flopped that and is more around the 66th percentile. (That's totally talking out of my booty. I honestly have no idea but it seems it has to be true).

I appreciate everyone's kind words and encouragement during our transition this week - thank you! We made it through the first week, and I know it's just going to keep getting better and easier. Until she's two, right? Is that when they get that separation anxiety?? Oh the things we have to look forward to. I love all of it and being a mom is for real the most amazing thing in the world. I love my daughter more every day.

Our Little Boxer

Rolly-Polly with  little smile

How Pretty

Hello? I can't hear you - I don't know how to put it to my ear!

Mommy and Daughter

Big Blue Eyes

Trying to catch her smile. We kinda got it

All Bundled up for Winter

Thursday and Friday were better for me; I only cried little on Thursday and Friday I was just sad and missing her.

STUFF

My husband celebrated his 31st birthday yesterday! Thanks to my friend, Jessica, I got to take him out for dinner at Johnny's Italian Steakhouse. We slow-played dinner, enjoying some fried zucchini fries (YUM!) for the first course, a salad and tasty bread and then we had some delicious steaks - Josh had a Char-Broiled Ribeye and I had a Chubby Sirloin. And let's not forget the dirty stuff! Oh yeah - Dirty Beefeater Gin Martinis....Hello Old Friend:)
Of course, I didn't break the rules - I never do - I only had one.
It was a really nice long dinner and we had a really good time together. Spending time with Josh is my very favorite pastime and thankfully that is the one pastime that will never change because we had a baby. And when I say we had a baby I mean that we had the most beautiful and precious little girl on earth.

We tried to go to church on Saturday night. When we got there, there were no cars in the parking lot and no lights on in the building. Apparently in the past 2 weeks they did away with Saturday night church. That totally stinks! We love Saturday night church! We went this morning instead and things went pretty well. During the music Olivia was alert and quiet - she loves listening to music. But when the music stopped and it was time for the sermon she started getting pretty loud so I had to take her out and feed her in the nursery. After that she was happy and quiet again - but still very awake and alert. Everyone oohed and ahhed over her like always. People can't get enough of babies. I am glad she is able to put a smile on so many people's faces. Hopefully she will continue to do that throughout her life. I can't wait to watch her personality develop and see how she touches the lives of others. I know she has touched mine in ways unimaginable to me until she came into the world. The love I have for her is so different than any other love I've ever experienced.

And that is why Josh woke me up in the middle of the night and my face was completely soaked with tears. I am dreading this coming Wednesday as I have to go back to work and put her precious life into strangers' hands. When I say I am dreading it I mean that every single time I talk about it or think about it and now dream about it, I cry. It's a quiet cry; one where hot tears pour out of my eyes and my heart aches like my best friend is moving across the country or something. It just hurts. Except last night it wasn't a quiet cry - I was pretty much sobbing in my sleep. I dreamt that she cried for me so long and so loud that they hated her. They called our sweet baby a devil child.
It's a weird thing how I understand that she will  survive without me near her every hour of the day, but at the same time I imagine that she will be so sad without me near her every hour of the day. And sometimes I even think that she is going to be angry with me; that she will feel I have abandoned her. I never want her to feel abandoned or unloved and I know that even if her caretakers love her they will never love her the way her daddy and I do. It's just not possible. I pray that she adapts as well as the back of my mind knows she will. I pray that they treat her well and cuddle her often and help her grow into a confident happy little girl. And I pray she never, ever forgets who her mommy is. Ever.

Over the next two days I may not ever put her down!