Here I Am!

Wow - the past 6 weeks have completely flown by. We've made a trip to Ohio, made a trip to Boston, had family visit for 7 days, made a trip to Ohio via Indiana...and now we're finally back home settling into a routine again. We've been blessed to have safe travels, although we had two canceled flights, an unscheduled layover and a delay...we still made it to and from all of our destinations safely.

Olivia even spent the weekend away from Mom and Dad for the first time...and we all did great! :) The worst part (and this had nothing to do with being away from us) was that she got sick when we saw her again and spent several days unable to keep any food or milk down. It was sad to see her to lethargic and sick, but it only lasted a few days and now she has all of her energy back.

She'll be 8 months old on Sunday - my how time flies! In fact, just yesterday, I noticed her first tooth start to pop through the gums. It's on the bottom, and so cute...I keep looking at it! :)

She sits up by herself and is trying real hard to lean over and crawl, but just can't quite get a handle on it and always falls over. She eats lots of fruits and vegetables now, along with cereal and has started to hold both her sippy cup and her bottle by herself. She loves waving at people and makes mouth noises while Chris and I are eating. It's such a blessing to have her in our lives! I'll post some pictures so you can see her throughout the past six weeks.

Fun with Prunes

This is Olivia enjoying prunes. She does this after every bite of food now and we're not too sure what it means....

Adventures in Eating

Olivia has mastered applesauce and prunes. She usually has one for breakfast and one for dinner, which seems to make her happy. Of course she gets a lot of it on her face, as most babies do...and her favorite thing to do during a meal is talk with her mouth full. The video below is of Chris feeding her applesauce at church this past Sunday. Needless to say, his good suit needed dry cleaned after the meal was over.

6 Months Already?

Have 6 months really gone by since Olivia was born? It's hard to believe that she will be 6 months old on Thursday. These past several months have been a bit challenging for Chris and me, but they have definitely been full of blessings.

We went to get her 6 months pictures taken this past weekend, and the pictures are pretty cute. She just woke up from a nap right before the session, so her smiles aren't the biggest...but she's still cute!

She's doing well with eating cereal and after her doctor's visit this Friday, we'll probably start adding fruit to her diet as well. She loves to watch us eat and often smacks her lips together and sticks out her tongue while we're eating.

She's started waving bye bye and hello, even though her hand is not always out in front of her. It's pretty cute to watch and it's nice to see her recognize you when you walk into the room - not only does she smile, but now she waves too.

We're headed to Ohio for a visit next week and we are all very excited. Family hasn't seen Olivia since Christmas/New Year's, so it will be good for them to spend some time with Olivia in person instead of through pictures and videos online.

We had another Open House for our apartment but not too many people came by to see it. The weather wasn't that great, so we're attributing the low visitation to that. We have several people who have said they are interested, but their finances don't quite fit with type of buyer we need.

Chris started his position on the Planning Board this evening. He is enjoying being part of the community and it is a great experience for him to be involved with.

I'm constantly looking for things to do, whether it's going to the library for Mother Goose Time, taking walks when I catch a glimpse of nice weather, or even running an errand just to get out of the house. I love staying home with Olivia, but it's definitely bothersome at times because I have no one to talk to except her. Baby conversations are great and I always find myself telling her exactly what I'm doing just so I can talk to someone. But it's not he same as living by close friends or family, having people to go to lunch with, or even going over to someone else's house for an afternoon. I'm definitely struggling right now and yearn so much to move back closer to friends and family. We're being patient and waiting for God to open the door for us and show us when the time is right...but being patient is not always easy. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to follow the path He has laid for us.

Next week will be busy as we prepare for our trip to Ohio. This will be Olivia's first time in an airplane, which means going through security at the airport gets a little more interesting for us! I'll try to post again before we leave. Until then, God Bless!

An update on the three of us

Olivia's Latest Accomplishments

She sits up with support all the time and loves to be in the upright position. She prefers to sit up on the couch and play with toys rather than lay on her stomach or back. She can sit up for a tiny bit on her own without any support, but quickly falls forward and ends up sucking on her toes.

Speaking of toes, she loves to grab them now and often puts them in her mouth. I especially like to dress her in outfits that have cute things on the feet, that way she has something to look at when she's interacting with her toes.

She has also been talking a lot more lately. She has started using a very quiet voice when talking to her toys, but continues to use a louder voice when talking to me or Chris.

Olivia constantly chews on her index fingers. She usually has one or the other in the side of her mouth and chomps down on it until her heart is content. When she pulls her hand away from her face, her finger is bright red, but she's as happy as can be. She's also been sucking on the backside of her hand lately, and yesterday I actually caught her sucking her thumb!

She seems to like the cereal we've been giving her. She's had it three times now and is getting better at swallowing while sitting up. She likes to stick her hand in her mouth with the spoon though, which leaves a nice sticky hand to be smeared over everything it touches during the feeding. She also tries to talk while the spoon is going in, so she blows bubbles in the cereal and it flies everywhere. Sunday evening she blew it all over Chris' face!

She still doesn't have any teeth and we can't see that any are ready to come through - so we'll just wait patiently.

She's rolling over from time to time, but isn't that interested in the process.

Michelle's Dilemma

I went to the place I used to work this week just to visit and say hello to everyone. Low and behold, there is a social work position available and it seems as if everyone wants me to return. While I completely loved the work I did and enjoyed going to work each day, I also love being at home with Olivia. I enjoy watching her grow and develop each day, I like being able to do things for Chris while he's at work during the day, and I like the quality time that I get to spend with my daughter. God has blessed us greatly with allowing me to stay home. However, it does get lonely and I yearn for adult interactions on a daily basis. I know my colleagues enjoyed having me at work, as did the administration...and I enjoyed being there. But the thought of having to find (and pay for) day care out here seems daunting. We don't really have any family friends who she could stay with all day, so that's not an option either. Plus, we're still hoping to move in June (if we sell our apartment by then) so if I did go back to work, it would only be for four months - and that's not very fair to the agency or the kids I would be working with. I keep going back and forth between my options...and I just seems to confuse myself even more. I'm praying about it so that God can grant me the wisdom to see His plan for me, but if you could pray for me too, that would be great.

Chris' Achievement

Chris and I have been attending town meetings where we live to discuss parking arrangements in front of our apartment building. Chris (my over-achiever husband) drew sketches of the streets, buildings and parking spaces to show the village committees his thoughts and possible solutions to the problem. Well, in doing this, the Mayor took a liking to him and personally asked him to the join the Village Planning Board. This is a Board of professionals in several different fields who get together and make decisions about Village projects and proposals. These board members are appointed by the Mayor and chosen specifically because of their talents and expertise in the areas in which they work. I'm very proud of him for getting a personal invitation from the Mayor to do this!

Two Weeks Full of Photos

This will be another photo update, along with brief explanations to let you know what the three of us have been up to.

This is Olivia trying to sit up on her own. She loves to try but hasn't completely mastered it yet.

Having some tummy time - trying to get those arms nice and strong.

Happy Girl I'm usually the one taking pictures, so I don't have many pictures of Mommy and Baby.
She's reaching out to touch our faces a lot lately. She likes Daddy's fuzzy face.
21 Weeks Old - 1.20.09

She loves sitting by herself and playing with toys.

She can now reach her feet and likes to lick her toes!

Just a cute picture.

Headed outside in her snowsuit - bundle up tight!
Trying cereal for the first time...
Cereal all over her face!

A video of Olivia eating cereal

More fun with tummy time and a colorful outfit - Five Months Old Today!
Watching Mommy eat a pear

Stay tuned for more.......

A Huge Update

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated the blog. The time between Thanksgiving and Christmas seemed to fly by quickly with shopping, making gifts, and packing. Then all of December flew by with family situations, the possibility of having a buyer for our apartment, and being away from home for two weeks. Now we're finally back and getting settled into our routines again. Here are some picture updates for those who are interested to see how Olivia is growing...

1st time in a booster seat

The Family at Rockefeller Center (Olivia's 1st time on a train and her first trip to Manhattan)

Olivia's 1st Christmas Tree

Olivia's 1st time lying in the snow Opening presents on Christmas Morning Hanging out in her cousin's rocking chair

Ready for church on Sunday morning after

Hanging out with Daddy in her Christmas dress

Watching UC play in the Orange Bowl on tv

Happy girl after just rolling over for the first time Sporting her camouflage dress - ready to go hunting with her cousins

Kissing Great Grandpa Marion's reindeer
Eating Chicken Legs

Playing with all of her toys

Twenty Weeks Old - 1.13.09