5 Hours

This is the THIRD time in the past week that Olivia has slept more than five hours during the night. We usually try to go down between 9 and 11 pm and then she is waking up between 2 and 4 am. After that feeding she is up again in three hours...but we are so happy the one stretch is getting longer!

Zippers

For all those out there reading this and expecting their first, my advice would be to buy things with ZIPPERS! Tim and I look forward to putting Olivia in outfits that have zippers. It's so easy and quick. So today when Miss O and I went shopping and we saw the "sleep n play" with a zipper it was an immediate purchase. We also found two Olivia board books :)

Job Title: Mommy

After five and a half years of teaching, I've finally decided to make a big change. As of today, I am taking a break from teaching and excited to devote my days to my lovely daughter. This was a HUGE decision that I struggled with a lot while I was pregnant, but made a lot easier with the arrival of Miss Olivia. Everyone told me that I would want to stay home, but I didn't realize it until I became a Mommy.

Thank you to the wonderful ladies who made teaching such a joy!

Thurgood Marshall Elementary
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JL Lyon Elementary

The Morning

Olivia's mornings are so wonderful. She has great, happy wake time. There are lots of smiles, roll overs, short giggles, and squeals. The rest of her day is not as consistent...but everyday the mornings make up for it!!

GO OLIVIA!

Such proud parents. And yes we're bragging :)
(please ignore Andrea's voice...it's her "baby talk")

Maybe it was just a Manic Monday....

Well today was not the greatest for Miss O. She only slept...at most...8 hours and cried so much and so hard that by the end of the day I actually think she was hoarse :( I don't know if she was extra tired or in pain or bored or what?!?! Even her Bumbo seat, which normally calms her down, was just another place to scream/cry. It's frustrating that she can't explain to me what is going on. The good news is (like I've always said as a teacher) tomorrow is a new day and we can start all over again with a smile in the morning :)

**As you can see in the video, she's also learned how to pout and put on the most pathetic (and yet cute) face EVER...

Hhhmmm....

The doctor recommended that Olivia sleep with her head slightly elevated (to help with the reflux). So at night Olivia starts at the top...and this is how we find her in the morning :) Impressive....

Car Show

Today Olivia experienced her first of many car shows. We sat in many cars and her personal favorite was the VW Bug (convertible...of course).

Here's Miss O sporting her new fleece outfit that Mommy bought from Old Navy. I haven't bought her many clothes...only because there have been so many wonderful people filling her closet. And yes, she also has on one of her smiles :)

O has been doing really well supporting her head so we've been spending more time in her bumbo seat. She really enjoys her bumbo time. Although, whenever she sneezes her head flops forward and it's stuck down. It's pretty cute...

Olivia's Busy Friday

8:00am - Sleeping

10:30 - First long distance trip (we went to downtown Houston)...and I slept the whole way

11:30 - Meet Daddy's co-workers at Horizon Wind

12:00 - Lunch at a little Italian Eatery (...still sleeping)

1:00 - Drive back home

2:00 - Family photo shoot (adorable outfit complements of the Hawks)

3:00 - Nap with Daddy

8:00 - Fun times with friends...Mike & Chris and Justin, Tiffini & the girls come over to play some games

Smiles and a Picnic

Today Olivia OFFICIALLY smiled. She won't do it every time, but this morning, she definitely smiled multiple times. I tried to capture it on the photo...it does not do it justice. Her smile is actually much bigger and happier. If only someone could have taped the whole event. Let me try to explain: Andrea leaning over Olivia with a camera squealing..."where's olivia's smile??" and tears streaming down my face :)

This afternoon Tiffini and her girls came over for a walk around Hertel Pond. We were ready to go when Olivia spit up ALL over herself and me. Needless to say, we had to do a complete wardrobe change before we left. When we came back we had a picnic lunch. Taylor and Aubrey found a nice shady spot on our lawn (Olivia would have joined them, but she was a little sleepy). Jerry decided to take O's spot and waited patiently for the crumbs :)

Party Animal

Aunt Erin, Uncle Kevin and Cousin Dylan got Olivia the cute "party animal" outfit she wore today.

Olivia has been really working on her smile. Sometimes, she gets started on her smile and it turns into a scream/cry. She also is really enjoying looking around at things...especially if they are on our ceiling.

Bath Time

Today was a bath day! Miss O enjoys her bath time. She is usually very calm and relaxed. Notice how she is sucking on her hand?? So cute!

We also went to the doctor today and she said that Olivia is battling some reflux (booooo). She gave us a Rx and some tips to help Olivia. Its not fun to know she's in pain :(

After the doctor we went to story time at Wendy's again. We meet up with Chris, Tiffini, Taylor, and Aubrey. Olivia doesn't really participate in the story time like the other kiddos but she still enjoys it!

Just for you Poppa H

During our visit to Market St we had a flashback to the good ole Annandale days, take a look at this! Hope this doesn't make you too sad Pops...

Market Street

Today was a fun day. Since Tim had the day off work (thank you MLK) we decided to get out of the house and run some errands. We went to the mall, Target, Best Buy and Market Street. At Market Street we had lunch and then I fed Olivia outside by some water fountains. It was a BEAUTIFUL day and we all enjoyed the warm sunshine!

Thank you to our neighbor Jude and her boys for the adorable outfit :)

Party Dress

Tonight we went to Mike and Chris' house to celebrate Chris' birthday. Olivia decided to wear her Party Dress. Notice in the picture that Mike made the AMAZING chocolate cake...impressive! And, Miss O was laying on Tiffini's lap working some bubbles out (you can see the top of her head in the picture). We had such a nice time out celebrating with our friends.

Cute Things

We got photos of Olivia done by Kris Evans and she had all these ADORABLE hats. Here's the link to view some of the cute hats http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5086035. My personal favorite is the one titled "Sweet Baby Portrait" (in pink).

Also in the spirit of cute things...Olivia wore an outfit that Aunt Katie made. So sweet... (thank you!!!)

Today Miss O experienced her first outing to look at cars. She went in the Mazda CX-9. Daddy is looking forward to taking Olivia to the car show in two weeks. Little does she know this is only the beginning...

Sleepy Head

Last night Olivia was being a little fussy and didn't want to go back to sleep. So she came in bed with us.

She's Growing

Today I had a lactation consult and Miss O got weighed. To review, she weighed 7 lb 6 oz at birth. By day 3 she had dropped to 6 lb 15 oz. At day 11 she was back up to her birth weight. TODAY she weighed in at a whopping 8 lb 6 oz! Mommy is SO proud of her great weight gain!!

She is still wearing newborn clothes, but they are getting a little short on her. I think that next week we'll need to break out the 0-3month clothes. I'm ready to have a little more of a selection of clothes...although we have very few warm winter clothes, which means we'll need to do some shopping before our trip to Columbus in February.

A funny story: For the first time I got out Olivia's pink bumbo. Since she does not have complete control of her head yet, she's not supposed to use it, but we had to try it out :) I sat her in it and was supporting her head with one hand and brushing her hair with another. After a couple of minutes I commented to Miss O that she was being very good and that I was impressed how she wasn't crying. I looked down and she was sound asleep!!! Gotta love being a newborn...

Daddy Comes Home

Daddy traveled for his first time since Olivia was born. He was gone for three days in San Diego. We are excited he's home. But on another note, we are sad because Aunt Erin left today for England. We hope that her trip goes well with all her luggage. We love you!

Today we did some cleaning and organizing around the house and then went to Hertel Pond. Daddy ran three miles and I had Olivia in the Baby Bjorn (best thing EVER) and we did one lap. Jerry, of course, ran back and forth between Tim and I the whole time. He probably ran five miles :) Needless to say, he slept the rest of the day.

One Month Old

Tuesday, January 13th --- Today Miss Olivia is one month old. I want to keep a blog for her to go back and read (like a diary of her days). We'll see how well I do. Another reason for this blog, is Aunt Erin is traveling to England for a long time :( and we won't be able to talk everyday like we used to...so this will serve as a way we can communicate :)

Today for lunch we went to a storybook time at our local Wendys with Tiffini, Taylor and Aubrey. Olivia slept through the whole event, but it was nice to get out and socialize. For dinner, we went to Rico's with Leslie and Emma. It was Olivia's first time at our favorite mexican restaurant and a couple of the servers came up to meet her.

We were BUSY GIRLS today! GO US!!