Passport

Olivia got her passport in the mail today...she is ready to go to London :) The only thing is her picture is just absolutely awful! I probably should had the lady retake it, but at the time I just wanted the procedure to be over with. So, for the next five years Olivia (and myself) will have to deal with the scary picture. YIKES!

Update - Royal Empress

Remember the Royal Empress tree? We planted the twig on February 4th and since then we've come to the conclusion that the twig is probably NOT the tree. We believe the tree is this new plant that is sprouting next to the dead twig. We'll continue to keep you updated :)

02.16.09

03.01.09

03.08.09

03.20.09

03.29.09

Bluebonnets

Today we went to take our yearly bluebonnet picture. After a 60 minute drive on back roads that were unlined, barely fit two cars, and made 50 years ago, we turned a corner and a HUGE field of bluebonnets appeared! It was the most amazing sight we have seen in a long time.

Of course, there was a lot of picture taking...but we want to go back later this week to do a couple more shots with the evening sun or an overcast day where the light is easier on Olivia. Speaking of, she loved the bluebonnets...she was mesmerized by the massive blue and white speckled pattern.

Saturday

Today was a fun, productive day. We hung out with good friends Mike and Chris. They helped us transport and set up our new headboard. Mike and Tim spent some time looking at cars, while Chris and I did some shopping. And then we all went out to eat at Ricos.

Olivia really does like this outfit from Grampa Hertel...she just wasn't in the mood to take a picture. Can you tell it's almost bedtime???

Reach and Grasp

Olivia has learned to reach out and grab onto objects. She will bring her toys towards her mouth and bang them against her head *ouch*!

Sleeping

This week I've stayed home and really tried to work on Olivia's sleep schedule. We stopped swaddling, put down completely awake, and really encouraged/prayed Olivia would soothe herself to sleep. It's been challenging but I think we're beginning to see some improvements.

So, last night when I went in to do a night feeding Olivia had completely flipped around...did a 180. I fed her and put her back to bed with her head to the left and on her back. After the feeding I went back in an hour later to check on her and she was on her side!! Then when I woke up at 7am, I looked in on her again and she had done another 180 and was on her side again! At 730 I heard her starting to wake up, so I went to get her and she was on her tummy!!! She was all over the place in the crib.

(FYI: the stick person is where O was put to sleep and this is of how I found her this morning...notice the location of the blue pacifer)

When I put her down for her first nap this morning I decided to stay and watch what she was doing. This is a copy of the email I sent to Tim this morning:

"Hi…I’m hanging out in O’s room to watch her in action. I put her down at 844 and she started really crying at 911, so I went in…and she had done a 180!!!! I swear someone is in our house moving her!!!!!!!!!!!!!

UT OH!!!!!!!!! Pacifier just popped out of her mouth and she’s really crying now…rolled to side in an angry rage. MULTIPLE TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She keeps rolling from her back to her side!!! I SEE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! She is using the planks of the front board to push herself around…goofy girl!!!!!!! SHE IS ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!!!! Wow….a little machine…that’s for sure!!! LOL…

Aaww…once she gets so turned around, she can’t use the planks anymore…and she gets really mad!!

Now she’s doing the one leg scoot around the crib…that’s a dance move I’ve seen people do…what’s it called?!?! She is definitely a little more calmed down now…but she’s practically on her tummy!!"

Birth Announcement

My lazy self never got around to sending out a birth announcement for Olivia. I kept telling myself that no one gives them out anymore, but that's a lie. So I'm announcing on this blog!

We proudly welcome our lovely daughter...

Olivia Marie Hertel

Saturday, December 13, 2008

8:28am

7 lb 6 oz

20 inches

Packages

Olivia has the best Grandmas!!!

Grana Hertel sent a package last week with some adorable dresses


Then this week Grandma Moslener sent a package with some much needed bibs and a couple more cute articles of clothes.

Thank you for helping to keep her closet stocked! :)

Katie & Grady

We had such a wonderful visit with Katie and Grady. They had to leave today and it's always sad to say goodbye. Here are a couple of pictures from their visit. (On a side note: Olivia slept 8 hours straight, from 8pm till 4am, for the first time ever last night! I hope that we start having more of these nights...)

Happy Birthday Grandma M

We hope you have a great day Mom/Grandma!!! Love you lots!

When we first moved to our house 2.5 years ago, we purchased a sewing machine for Tim's mom so she could make our window treatments. Since then, it's only been used when Tim's parents are in town and his mom sews us something... UNTIL TODAY...I got out our sewing machine (with Katie's guidance) and successfully created the beginning of my sewing empire. I made "pretty" burp cloths....whoopwhoop! Thank you Katie!!!

Saint Arnold

Today we went to the Saint Arnold Brewery. It was a great time! Tim, Katie and Grady all bought souvenir cups and had many glasses of beer :) This brewery was very cool because we were able to walk all among the brewing equipment. Olivia was probably the youngest one there but that didn't stop her from having fun too. (FYI: Katie made the gorgeous dress Miss O is wearing! Seriously impressive!)

Swinging into Spring

WOW it's the first day of spring
and lots of great things have happened:

a. Our gardenia finally bloomed. We've had it for over a year and all it's bloom buds just fall off...except for today, it bloomed! A great sign of the upcoming season
b. The weather is absolutely beautiful.

c. We took a couple bluebonnet pictures.
d. Olivia slept really well (she went down at 8:00pm, woke up at 1:30am and back down until 7:30am). Good Girl!

e. OLIVIA got a new swing :) We took her old one back and purchased a swing with a mobile. Why? Olivia did not like her old swing. We could not put her in there awake and she be happy. However, every time I took her to the gym, she would be ssoooo happy in their swing even if she was wide awake...because it had a mobile!! This new swing is like magic. It's really amazing how much more O likes it!

f. I got my first mother's day gift (a lovely scarf) from my sister because in the UK Mother's Day is March 22nd. And in the package there were cute daisy dukes and a bib for Miss O :)

Visitors

WHOOP WHOOP we had lots of visitors today.

Cindy and Diana (two girls that I used to work with) came over to see Miss O. We had a really nice time catching up and they shared school stories that made me miss being there...

Then Katie and Grady made their trip into town today. We are so excited to have them here for the next couple of days. Katie made burp cloths and dresses (yes, I said DRESSES) for Olivia. They are absolutely ADORABLE!!! With the one dress, she also made bloomers to go with it.
T-A-L-E-N-T-E-D!!!!

Legs

She's got legs....and she knows how to use them....

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Olivia has amazing grandmothers and received a St. Patrick's Day outfit from each. So what's a girl to do with two outfits to wear in one day?!?!? HAVE A PARTY!!!

So today we hosted a St. Patrick's Day luncheon with a bunch of good friends. There were a total of 7 mommies and 11 children (ages 5 and younger) and 3 of the mommies have little ones due in a couple of months!!! WOW!!!

Since I knew everyone loves pizza, we just ordered some and served lots of green food (green fruit salad, green veggies, guacamole, green salsa, salad, green drinks, green jellybeans, and lime jello cut like shamrocks). Then for dessert, the children decorated sugar cookies with icing and green sprinkles. Sometime in the middle of all of this, Olivia did her fashion show and proudly displayed both of her green outfits (what a LUCKY little lady she is!!).

It is wonderful to get together with friends and hang out.

More Olivia Pictures

We left clothes at Kris Evans' house when we were there for our pictures. So today Olivia and I went back there to pick them up. While we were visiting, Miss Evans took more Olivia pictures :) :) :) If you get the chance, let me know which are your favorites from the first session and this one.

In this picture that I took today, you can see Olivia is leaning to her left. She does this a lot and I'm wondering if that will be the side she rolls over from her back to her tummy.

Daddy's Girl

My Daughter & I

Activity Center

Happy 3 Month Birthday Miss Olivia! It's crazy to think of all the changes we've experienced since December. It's been an exciting, fun and yes, sometimes overwhelming time in our lives. For O's birthday, we gave her an activity center. It's really important after her feedings that she remains upright to help with digestion and minimize the effects of reflux. However, it gets exhausting to hold her or put her in the front carrier all the time...so the activity center gives us a slight break. She's still too small for it, but it works perfectly for us to stand her in it and enjoy her company face to face :) Olivia likes the sun, although the dragon is a little scary!! (see below)

Dentist

Ugh...I seriously dislike the dentist!! During my pregnancy one of my "preggo-quirks" was that I CONSTANTLY forgot to brush my teeth. I would get to school and be reading in front of the class when I'd realize that I hadn't even chewed a piece of gum!! GRROOOSS!! It happened so many times that I eventually purchased a toothbrush and toothpaste just for school. The students got to see me brush my teeth on more than one occasion.

So, I've been dreading going to the dentist, but I finally convinced myself to call and make an appointment. It had been over a year since I last had a cleaning. Well, much to my surprise the dentist actually used the words "Excellent Hygiene" referring to me!!!!! WHAT!?!!?? I immediately sat up and looked behind me to see if he was really talking to me! YUP...I (according to my dentist) have excellent hygiene :) Hhhuumm...don't know how that happened!

In other VERY EXCITING NEWS, Joy, Paul and Claire are coming to see us on April 22!! I can not wait!!! It will be a very special moment for us to have our daughters together.

(extremely cute overall outfit from London
compliments of Uncle Kevin and Aunt Erin)

Swings

Today Miss Aubrey visited us while Tiffini went to take a test for her teaching certificate. We had a great time together and Aubrey was such a big help. Olivia enjoyed her time at the park -- and even though she's not "technically" big enough for the swings...we had to try them out.