8 Things during Madelyn's 8 Weeks

Madelyn Faith 6 Weeks

Madelyn Faith is two months old, and I can hardly believe how exhausting, challenging, and exciting our life has become!  Madelyn is a great little baby and loves to be held and cuddled.  So in honor of her being eight, almost nine weeks this blog entry is dedicated to her top events and favorite things from her first eight weeks!

Madelyn slept away during the rehearsal

Number 8: Aunt Bethany's Wedding Weekend

At four weeks old, my sister Bethany was married at a lovely ceremony at Mountain Branch Golf Course.  I was in the wedding along with Olivia, who was the flower girl.  It was a crazy, busy, weekend, but such a great time!  Olivia successfully wore her dress the entire night, it was touch and go, because she would not wear the dress at home! Madelyn Faith was a darling, sleeping in anyone and everyone arms.  She was able to meet so many cousins, aunts, uncles, and close family friends.  The weekend was pretty chill, so she stayed bundled up in her swaddle blanket most of the time at the wedding.  It was a very memorable weekend and the two girls were so amazing with the chaos and excitement.  We are so happy for Bethany and Bryan!

Number 7: Madelyn's Favorite Place to Sleep

In the rocker sound asleep!

At her one month appointment Madelyn was diagnosed with Acid Reflux.  This explains her crankiness after eating and why she cries when we put her down flat.  Dr. Landcaster recommend she sleep elevated and she has medicine to take three times a day.  As a result, we decided to let her sleep in her rocker full time.  Man oh man does she love that bed!  It was given to us as a gift from my sisters in law after Madleyn was born and it has been the best gift yet!  It seems very comfortable to us, almost like a hammock.  She has been sleeping much better and was in that full time for about a month.  Then I, starting to panic a little about starting daycare, and began to transition her back into the bassinet.  It was a tough week because she would not sleep for longer than 40-minutes to an hour during the day, but one night I just went for it and she slept fine!  She still sleeps in the rocker, which is so convient to carry places, but is in the bassinet full time again.  The medicine seems to be helping a lot, and it is obvious when we have forgotten to give her the medicine.  You can honestly seen the pain on her face when she spits up.  It is very sad.  For now though, we she is feeling great and is all smiles.  Not to mention an amazing sleeper!  The next step is out of our room and in with Olivia...um, we are waiting on that for now! 

Number 6: Bath Time

Splashing with her hands!

We have another water baby for sure.  The first bath was a little touch and go, Madelyn screaming the whole time, but the second bath she relax and loved it.  We give both girls a bath together and Madelyn loves to splash and watch Olivia.  Olivia loves her bath already, and adding Madelyn to the mix is so much fun for her.  She loves to laugh at her and especially "help" with washing her.  We have to remind Olivia to be gentle and not dump water on her head.  We encourage her to get her belly, but she really likes the head.  Madelyn is a great sport and does not seem to mind the water being dumped in her face.  I think it is going to be more exciting when Madelyn can actually sit up and splash back at Olivia.  Oh the times to come...

Number 5:  The Restraint Swaddle and the Pacifier

Olivia wanted to sleep next to Madelyn on the floor.

Both kids simply crave the coziness of the swaddle.  We swaddled Olivia until she was almost six months, and we started doing the same with Madelyn.  One difference though, Madelyn will break out of the swaddle and then wake her self up, hitting her face with her hands, trying to suck her thumb.  So at about 3 weeks of age, I pulled out the big gun swaddle....The Swaddle Blanket, which is complete with a Velcro strap to secure her in.  This has made a huge difference and she sleeps much more soundly.   I feel awfully bad because it seems like we are putting her into a straight jacket, but she is sleeping better and who can complain with that! 

Asleep with pacifier in her mouth. 

The other trait that Madelyn has is a desire to suck and Olivia would never really take the pacifier, but Madelyn loves it.  We had had quite a struggle with keeping the pacifier in her mouth.  Dan and I had a rule with Olivia never to put her down with the pacifier in, but with Madelyn we have not choice.  As soon as that falls out she will wake up.  It can be quite frustrating, and we are constantly playing the game I call, "Pacifier Wars."   The good news is when she is finally in a deep sleep the game ends, but can sometimes last  thirty to four-five minutes.   On the other hand, at night she usually sleeps without needing it replaced.  So we play the game during the day, mostly.  Since she sleeps upstairs, I use the stairs as a work out.  I feel like we need to put a positive spin on it!  She still tries hard to get that hand in her mouth, and recently we have let her fuss a bit more to get that hand in her mouth.  I would rather  deal with the dental bill, and have a good self soother!  I will probably look back on these days in a few years and say why is she still sucking her thumb. 

Number 4: Fall Adventures

Larriland Farm Pumpkin Photo 

Peach and apple picking, vising the pumpkin patch, family walks, Raven games, and Maryland tailgates are all the fall adventures we have enjoyed as a family.  We love Larriland Farms in western Maryland and have gone twice this fall.  It has become quite a tradition to pick apples in the fall and then get our pumpkins.  The farm has hayrides, animals, and a hay maze.  Last year we went with Olivia and she was not quite walking, but this year she tore up the hay maze!  Madelyn was comfy cozy in the Bjorn and was earned much attention.  My favorite fall picture was at Larriland with the girls sitting by the pumpkins.  We also visited another farm, Elioak Farm, which has more things to run and play on and more animals to pet.  We visited this farm twice, once with Courtney and Addie, and once with the Joy family.  Again, Olivia had so much fun this year and really liked feeding the goats.  Madelyn slept most of the time during each visit, but we have pictures to remind her and I can envision next year she will be keeping up with Olivia! 

Before the walk

One of my favorite parts of the fall is the weather and football.  We have had great fall weather and have taken advantage of the days.  One event we did participate in is the BWI Family Fun Run/Walk.  Three years ago, Dan and I ran in the event, but this year we walked with the girls.  We let Olivia out the last half mile, and she was hilarious!  She wold watch the other people walking by and the stare at the planes taking off next to the walk.  My favorite part was at the end of the race.  She reached the finished line and everyone starting clapping.  She stopped and starting jumping up and down!  It was so cute because she caused a traffic jam.  Madelyn spent most of the race sleeping in the stroller, but the end she woke up and grandma has to bring her across the finish line.

Football is our other favorite.  We have been to most of the home Terps game this year and that was possible because my parents willing watch the girls.   The other games we brought them to the game.  Olivia was fascinate by the crowd, the players, and the Turtle.  Madelyn also woke up for the game and was a cuddly little girl. We are certainly a football family and on Sunday spend the day watching the Ravens.  Most of the time the game happens during nap time, or dinner time!  When Olivia wakes up her favorite part of the game is eating cheerios and cheering for the plays that "all fall down and get boo boos."  Then she will say, "they need band-aids." So cute!  Madelyn has also become more observant and is starting to like the colors on the TV.  I cant help but wonder what will happen next year with two mobile kids. 

Number 3: Daily Outings

I like to keep the girls busy and we have had quite a few outings while I have been home.  We frequently visit the library, Storyville, the mall, and have play dates.  Olivia's favorite has been walking in the cemetery behind our house.  She likes that because she can get out and run freely.  Madelyn is such a good little travel and will stay in her car seat or the Bjorn.  Again, I get a lot of looks from other moms, saying, "I am impressed you are out and about."  My reply is, "We get bored at home and need to stay active."  I feel like you need to get out and about to break up the day.  We are usually home by 11:00 for lunch time and nap!  The only issue,  it is really hard to take picture when out by myself, so we have no pictures of our adventures!

Number 2: The Play Mat and Bouncer Seat

Including Madelyn in our puzzle play!

Just like her big sister, Madelyn loves the play mat and the bouncer seat.  What a life saver these have been.  We actually purchased a new mat for Madelyn and it has more bells and whistles than our original one.  It is so much fun to watch her stare and try to hit the various toys hanging from the toy.  She is really getting good at hitting them and if you step back and watch she will just start to smile!  It is great because this toy will entertain her for quite a bit of time. 

She also loves the bouncer seat and will fall asleep in it, one day we played puzzles and Olivia put the pieces onto Madelyn.  Most days though we have to move her upstairs because Olivia will see her sleeping and feel like she needs to be bounced.  So she will walk over to her and really bounce Madelyn.  Of course she wakes up, crying.  So we quickly put an end to the sleeping in the bouncer. Poor thing! 

Number 1: Madelyn Loves Her Family

Playtime with my girls

All smiles for her family.  Madelyn has become quite observant and her face really lights up with a toothless grin whenever we put our face in front of hers.  She really loves to watch Olivia and when she focuses on her she will watch her for quite a few minutes.  My favorite time of day is when Dan comes home.  It is fun to watch him hold Madelyn and when she realizes who is holding her she will smile wide for  him.  I look forward to seeing the interaction between the two girls.  Olivia has been wonderful with her and the way she looks at Olivia I hope they will be close! 

Madelyn has become quite a happy little baby and that smile just lights up my days! 

Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Flooding-Oh My!

Madelyn at one week old, sleeping away!

Where to begin!  It has been quite an eventful three weeks home with Madelyn!  Three weeks ago today, she arrived during quite a lightening storm and continues to survive the natural disasters!

At 5 days old, while all the house was napping, I heard a boom come from Olivia's room.  I think to myself, "why is Olivia awake and how did she get books to drop?"  Suddenly, the dresser begins to rattle and the TV looks like it is going to  fall off the dresser!  Not quite comprehending what is happening I run to the top of the stairs and yell down to Jean, "is this an earthquake?"   I hear a little cry from Olivia's room and Jean is standing over the pack -n- play on the main floor.  There are many thoughts that flash through my mind, but suddenly it is over!  In the aftermath of the 5.8 earthquake on August 23rd, we were fine and had quite a scare.  Olivia woke up from her nap at that time, and Madelyn just slept right through it!  Dan was at school and we connected after a few minutes, but he was fine and Howard County Schools sent everyone home at that point to check the structures of the buildings.  Lee, in Ocean City, did not even realize that an earthquake had just struck!  One natural disaster down and two more to come!

Little bit of floor time!

On Saturday, August 27th, at 8 days of life, Madelyn experienced another major event.  Hurricane Irene, a category three storm, was traveling up the East coast.  Dan and I did not really buy into the hype that the storm brought, and did not worry to much about it.  However, we did need groceries for the week, so one advantage to having an 8 day old is that after the 5:30am feeding, I headed to the store before the frantic crowds hit!   I was in and out of the store by 7:00am and we hunkered down for the day.  The media was hyping up the fact that we may have power outages and downed trees, and I was praying that we would not loose power!  After a visit from Carol, Scott, Bradyen, and Blake, who came to meet Madelyn, the rain started to come down.  Laura come over for a little Hurricane Party/Fantasy Football Draft Party, and the lights only flickered once.  I went to bed still praying we would not loose power!  When I woke up at 4:30 am to feed Madelyn, I looked outside and the entire neighborhood was black, the rain was coming down, and the wind was blowing hard!  However, our side of the street still held onto the power!  We never lost it, but the rest of the neighborhood was out until Thursday!  We felt very grateful for maintaining our electricity.  The rest of the area was a mess.  We had several roads closed around us from downed trees and Dan even had the first day of school off because of lack of electricity!  It was quite a memorable event.

A visit from the cousins! 

Finally, during the past week it literally rained for the past three days! Thanks to the former Hurricane Lee, we had the left overs this week.  I have been going a little stir crazy, and we tried to go out somewhere each day.  The hitch in that plan was that Olivia woke up from her nap on Tuesday with a 102 degree fever!  We visited the doctor on Wednesday and it was another virus.  There was nothing we could do except Advil and fluids. Upon arriving at the doctors the skies unleashed.  It began to rain as hard and as fast as it did with Hurricane Irene.  Yay, two kids to get to the car.  Luckily the nurse offered to keep the girls at the door and I could pull up the car.  I was soaked, but the girls were fairly dry!  Olivia kept staring at me, saying, "Mommy wet!"  Thanks Olivia I did not realize!  Wednesday caused many trees to fall again and flooding on many roads.  There are crazy videos of Old Ellicott City streets looking like a river!

On Thursday we headed to the mall for some dry entertainment.  We met up with Miss Sharon, our day care woman, at the Story time.  Olivia had a great time and we even rode the carousel!  Madelyn was a good little girl and we had a brief stop at the food court to have a bottle and a snack.  I was so excited to have a successful outing with both girls on my own!  It is the little things!

Best of Friends!

Madelyn continues to grow and eat well.  We are struggling to understand how to keep her asleep.  She is very strong, and really likes to use her sucking reflex.  However, the pacifier does not stay in her mouth.  She could be dead asleep and if that thing falls out she wakes up and starts to cry!  I told Dan we are not putting her to sleep with the pacifier because I do not want to play that game all night long.  So far we have won the battle.  Haha!  The other challenge is when we swaddle her, she will slowly get her arms out of the blankets.  This was not a huge deal with Olivia she would continue to sleep with no issue.  On the other hand, Madelyn will then start trying to suck her thumb, fingers, or hand...and wake herself up, crying!  Feeling frustrated, I pulled out a blanket with Velcro called a SwaddleMe.  We never really used it with Olivia, but with Madelyn it is like a straight jacket like contraption!  When she is in it she cannot get her arms out.  This allows her to sleep longer...most of the time.  We often hear her let out grunts and cries trying to get her hands outs.  Once again...one for the parents!

The BIG sister!

Olivia is doing very well.  She loves Madelyn and is very interested in her "feeding."  She will tell me "Madelyn feed other side".  She loves to help change her diaper and see her poopie.   Lately Madelyn has been spitting up and Olivia will say, "see spit up, gross."  We have gotten into a bit of a routine, espcially in the morning.  Madelyn will sleep until 8 or 9 am.  Olivia and I have breakfast and play for a bit.  When Madelyn wakes up to nurse, Olivia will say, "watch Gabba now."  I reply yes and we head to my bed to watch her show "Yo Gabba Gabba" while I quickly feed Madelyn.  It is a nice break for everyone, and the only 25 minutes of TV she watches!

~First bath~

So Miss Madelyn has had quite an adventure filled first three weeks!  She has visited the library, the zoo, and the mall.  She also drank her first bottle and took her first bath!

We gave both girls a bath at the same time and that has been cute.  We had to encourage Olivia to put water on Madelyn's belly not her face!  Madelyn cried the entire first bath, but the second one was much smoother! 

We also fed Madelyn a bottle and that is a huge step for me!  I like the fact that I am not the only one who can feed her now.  It makes us a bit more mobile and I can give Dan a bottle to feed to her and I can sleep a bit more at night!

Life with two girls is going well!  This week will be exciting, and Madelyn will be meeting many new family members because Bethany's wedding is on Friday!  We look forward to Olivia being the flower girl and celebrating with Bethany and Bryan!

Welcome Madelyn Faith

Introducing...Madelyn Faith

Madelyn made quite an entrance into the world!  Before we get to the drama, let me explain her middle name.  As most people know it took us 18 long months to conceive Olivia.  We decided to name her Olivia Grace because by the Grace of God we became pregnant!  Madelyn was a bit easier and we determined she need to have the middle name Faith because we have always kept our Faith that everything would work out the way it is suppose to be!  Keeping that thought in mind we awaited the arrival of our little girl and she lived up to that middle name during labor!  

Such a diva already!

Because this was my second child, my doctor offered to induce me on Thursday, the day after my due date. I was a bit nervous to be induced because my first labor was fairly "easy", and I did not know how my body would react to the procedure.  I agreed, figuring that if a spot was open, then it would be the right choice.  Plus it was a lot easier to have a plan of what to do with Olivia than the unknown!  So on Thursday August 18th we arrived at Howard County General, after dropping Olivia off at my parent's house.  I was checked in and had an IV started before Dr. Esposito checked me out.  When he entered the room I could tell something was not right.  He did an exam and determined I was 2 centimeters dilated and 60% a faced.  Then he said, "we just had about 5 women arrive at Labor and Delivery and there is not enough staff to cover everyone."   He then explained that since my procedure was an elective induction, I was probably going to be sent home.  Honestly, I was fine with that outcome.  I was nervous about this to start with, and I took it as a sign it was not the right time.  Two hours after arriving at the hospital, we left to go home and wait!  

Another thumb sucker?

Talk about everything happening for a reason, when we arrived at my parents house, Olivia felt warm to me and my mom thought so too!  After taking her temperature, I decided to call Dr. Landcaster and  ask her if we could come in for a quick check.  I was worried it was an ear infection and with the possibility of a new baby soon, I wanted her on antibiotics as soon as possible.    That afternoon it was determined she had a virus called Hand, Foot, Mouth, and it would just take time to pass.  PHEW!  At least it was not  an ear infection.  Dan and I decided we have been pretty bad about washing her hands, after we are out in public places, so we will be better about that!  That afternoon, we gave her lots of love and fluids and she seemed to be better.  

Fast forward to 8:30 pm.  We are watching "The Dilemma" downstairs and I start to feeling something. About ten to twelve minutes later I feel it again.  Before alerting Dan, I keep track of the timing and about half an hour later I tell him to start timing.  He determines I am having contractions about ten minutes apart.  At 9:30 pm we call my mom and ask her to come stay the night because this baby is most likely coming soon!  We also called Dan's mom, Jean, and tell her she should probably leave in the morning because she was going to help with Olivia.  We wait out the contractions and about 12:00 am call the doctor to let him know.  I was ready to get to the hospital and get an epidural so we could rest a little bit before the fun begins!  We then discover Dr. Esposito is still on call and he says to come in he will check me out.  

12:30 am we leave for the hospital and at 1:00 they put me in a room to determine if I was going to be checked in to stay or go back home.  As an awful nurse tries to get an IV needle in my arm, poking me about four times before she "gives up," Dr. Esposito checks me out.  He determines I was now four centimeters and 100% a faced.  I would be staying and having this baby!  YAY!   Then as he begins to ask me about pain medicine and I say I would like an epidural, the lights in the entire hospital go out!  An awful lightening storm knocked out the power.  Less than a minute later, the generator begins and we have lights again!  But what a shock!  

Proud Daddy!

The next adventure began when moving rooms.  Since they were unsure if I would be admitted, I was in a small room first.  When it was official, the nurses then had to move me down the hall to an actual Labor and Delivery room.  I had to get up and use the bathroom and while I was in there, two nurses took the bed I was in and started wheeling it down the hallway without me!  So we rushed to keep up,  I holding the back of my gown closed, and Dan carrying three bags!  As we approached the room a contraction started and I had to hold onto the doorway for support all the while a third nurse says, "there goes your ride!"  Thanks lady!  As I think back it was all pretty comical, but in the moment I was not a happy person, who was still missing an IV line!

Cuddling with mommy!

Finally,  I get to the room (minus an IV) around 2:00, and I immediately ask about an epidural.  At this point the contractions are about 2-5 minutes apart and growing with intensity!  My new nurse, who I loved, says I have to have a whole bag of IV fluid first!  She quickly put in my IV and I waited!  UG!  How long will that take?  She did not know for sure, but 30 minutes later and many painful contractions, the epidural is given!  What an instant relief!   I cannot imagine why a woman would choose to have a natural delivery anymore!  Epidruals are magical!  At this point it was about 3:00 am and Dan and I were able to catch a few hours of sleep.  Sorta...

From 3:00 am until 5:00 am, when the Doctor came to check me, the nurse kept coming in to check me and move me because Madelyn's heart rate was getting funny readings.  Nothing to panic about, but she wanted to keep moving my position.  At 5:00 I was about 7-8 centimeters dilated and Dr. Esposito decided to break my water.  Then he said he would be back to check later.  Another half an hour goes by and I am in and out of sleep, and I begin to feel the sensation to push.  Suddenly at 5:30, Dr. Espostio comes in and says, "I don't like the her heart rate.  Let's see where we are now."  At this point I am now fully dilated and he says it is time to push!  YAY!

~7 pounds and 4 ounces~

The pushing begins and Dr. Esposito disappears for a few minutes and we find out later he had to help another doctor because the baby was stuck!  When he reappears, he observes her heart rate and after two more pushes decides it is time to get her out!  He says, "we need to vacuum her out, now.  You are so close I would hate to do a C-Section."  I said, "Yes.  I do not want a C-Section"  Literally a minute later I start pushing on another contraction and suddenly she is out before Dan can count to ten!  It all happened so fast, and they wanted her to get checked out by the NICU first that Dan did not even get to cut the cord!  It was a little chaotic at first, but everything ended well with a healthy 7 pounds 4 ounces, and 20 inches long baby girl, delivered at 5:52 am!  To be honest, over all that was an amazingly easy delivery, which fits her middle name!  We kept faith she would arrive when it was time and she did! 

Puryear Family of Four

It was so strange to have this little girl in our arms by 6:15 in the morning.  Thinking back to Olivia's labor and delivery it was about 14 hours, so I figured it would be the same time frame.  Nope, Madelyn arrived 10 hours later!  We had the entire day to spend with her and she was able to meet most of our immediate family that day!   

The Puryear Sisters

The most special part of the day was when Olivia met Madelyn for the first time!  She immediately wanted to hold her and give her kisses!  It was a precious moment, and it is a memory that will always stay with me!  So our story continues as our family grows!  We are so blessed with love and support of family and friends, and two beautiful girls!  

PS- I am adding pictures of Madelyn below the matching picture of Olivia.  So scroll down the right side and see how the two girls compare at the same ages!

Washing Hurley

Today we caught Olivia giving Hurley a bath!  It was hilarious and I was able to catch a little but on my iPhone! 

"Olivia-isms" at 21 Months

 Kids say the darnedest things! The past few weeks we have really been laughing at the things coming out of Olivia's mouth!  We wanted to write down the ones that really made us laugh and share them with you!  So in no particular order, here are the ten "Olivia-isms" that have made us laugh recently:

Jumping in her crib for approval of her name on the wall!

1. While getting the new room ready for the girls' room, Dan was hanging up their names above the cribs.  He wanted me to be in the room, so I could guide him as to how I wanted them hung.  I pulled in Olivia's little table and we painted with watercolors, while he worked and I supervised!  While hanging the first letter in "Lil Sis's" name he bent the nail and cried out, "Shit."  I said Dan, "Little ears are listening" and he replied by saying, "Shoot."  Olivia, painting on the white paper, looks over at Dan and says,  "Shoot...Daddy Shoot!"  We both started cracking up of course!  For the rest of the afternoon, every nail that he put into the wall, Olivia would say, "Shoot."  Lucky for us this word has not stuck with her.  She has said it a few times, but not like that afternoon!

2. Every time Olivia sneezes we say, "Bless you" to her.  Well recently I sneezed three times and she looked at me with this half smile on her face.  I smiled back and she said, "Bless you."  It was the sweetest thing ever!  Then Dan sneezed the other day and she said it to him too!   

3. Are you kidding me?
Yesterday we went to the zoo and left around 6:30, so we brought her green "night night," which is her blanket.  When we arrived home she pushed night night down onto the seat and I said to her, "are you going to carry night night inside?"  She replied, "no."  I looked at her and said, "Are you kidding me!"  She looked at Dan and with her hands thrown into the air yelled, "are you kidding me?"  Dan and I looked at each other and laughed so hard!  This morning she said it again, when prompted, but it is so cute!

Running after that little alligator

4. At the zoo, the keepers brought out a huge python snake and an alligator.  Olivia was too young to touch the animals, so the keeper put it down on the ground and it started to run away.  The keeper encouraged Olivia to walk with them and she loved it.  Suddenly, as we watch from a close distance, she says, "hug gator."  Dan quickly caught up and made sure she was not approaching the animal!  A few minutes later while watching the python again, she started to run over to the alligator again to hug.  We decided at that point it was time to move along! 

5. Again with a zoo story, we were watching the elephants and the Zoo Keeper was right there, answering questions and feeding the elephant.  Olivia kept calling the elephant a monkey, but that is another story!  About five minutes later, the Zoo Keeper's walkie talkie went off and he announced it was time for him to go eat dinner.  He said good-bye and walked away.  As he was walking across the elephant habitat Olivia asks,  "Where he going?"  Without waiting for an answer she says, "He go potty." 

"There he is!"

6. She constantly wants to know where Dan and I are, or where Hurley is in the house.  She will ask, "Where Mommy go?" or "Where Hurley go?"  When she finds me or the dog, or the object she is looking for she exclaims, "There she is!" Her excitement makes it seem like we went away for hours.  She was also doing that in the store the other day.  It is kind of an ego boost when a person is so happy to see you!

7. We  understand and realize we have a full blown toddler, but seriously the asking questions over and over and, repeating herself is starting to wear us down!  It is funny most of the time.  For example, on our way to the zoo, she told us like seven times in a row where we were going.   "We go zoo, we go zoo, we go zoo..." or she will ask for her milk over and over, "I drink milk...I drink milk..."  It is very cute, but there are just some times when I am like I heard you Olivia!  I am sure this is payback for what I did to my parents!  

8. She has quite a large vocabulary and is picking up new words on a daily basis.  However, when she doesn't know the name of something she just says, "This...this" and points.  Most of the time we will give her the words, but other times it becomes a guessing game.  She has to repeat, "this...this" until we figure out what she is talking about! 

9. "Do again!"  You know Olivia really likes something when she laughs and says, "do again!"  Her recent favorite is smelling her shoes and then saying, "pee-u" she laughs so hard and then says, "do again!"  There are many other examples of course and she is such a happy little girl! 

10. Finally, I made the mistake of telling Olivia her diaper was HUGE and then showing her the inside of the diaper.  Now each diaper change she lays down and says, "I see huge" and I have to show her the inside of the diaper!  When it is a messy diaper, I exclaim, "oh yucky" and of course she replies, "I see yucky."  Needless to say, diaper changes have become interesting! 

Maryland Zoo Picture

There are more sayings of course and as I was writing this entry, more sayings begin to pop up into her vocabulary.  We have really enjoyed this past week with just Olivia.  Life is about to get a little more crazy, but honestly, we would not change it for the world!  Dan and I are having a blast watching Olivia grow and blossom each day! 

Our Little Toddler!

Olivia at 18 months

Once again it has been way too long since our last update, but it is amazing how quickly life happens when there is an active toddler running around. If you notice the date on the blog says July 3rd.  I have been working on this update for a month! :)

Olivia has really come into her own in terms of personality!  She loves the computer, so it makes it difficult to update this blog with her around.  If we turn on the computer she walks over and says, "up please" and when she is on our laps, she will point to the computer and say, "fish!"  We recently showed her some YouTube videos of her new interest, fish, and she loves to watch them...all the time!  In any case we have a lot to update about and I am probably missing so much more!

Helping plant Spring time flowers! Check out that ponytail! 

 There are many physical changes lately in our Livy Loo!  First she is growing much taller, and her feet are getting bigger too!  We recently noticed that her toes are starting to overhang her sandals.  Her feet are size 4 at this point and I think she finally made it into size 5.  The only problem is that the stores are not really stocked with sandals anymore!  So, unfortunately we may have to stick with flip flops for the rest of the summer!
The other big change is her hair!  Dan and I were both bald until we were about 2, so we have been pleasantly surprised lately because her hair has been growing like weeds!  We have to pull it back into a ponytail daily, and our favorite style is two pigtails.  The best part is she usually leaves the rubber bands in her hair, but while riding in the car likes to pull the hair clips out!  That is always fun in the morning when we are running late to school and we have to stop to redo the hair before we go into Miss Sharons!  Oh well!  I am looking forward to braiding her hair!

Our little helper, making the graham cracker pudding dessert

We have quite the  little nosy, but helpful daughter on our hands! She loves to help out with anything, especially with food! She is obsessed with what we are cooking and always wants to help out.  Of course her favorite part is licking the bowl and utensils!  Other favorite helping activities include sweeping, and washing...anything, including her blanket, "night-night."   She has recently begun to challenge the whole cleaning up system, so this can become a battle at times.  Just this morning we were playing with Legos and it was time to clean up.  She bought into my whole "which color can you put in the box" game, when suddenly she picked up the box and dumped them all out, yelling, "Oh no!"  A little frustrated, I said again, "okay time to put in box."  She ran away and started circling the dinning room table, laughing!  A little upset I decided to ignore and read a magazine until Dan came down the stairs and she wanted a hug from him!  UG...we did get them picked up, but it seems that she is becoming Little Miss Independent!

Miss Olivia Grace has really come into her own in terms of language development.  It was just after we got out of school we realized she was speaking in short complete sentences (about 19 months) and this summer has just blossomed as a communicator.  She certainly knows what she wants and how to communicate that to us!  Some of our favorite saying are as follows:

• "Four, five Hurley poops" she likes to count our dog's poops in the backyard and whenever we ask how many she counted out there she replies, "four, five Hurley poop."  My favorite is when she tells Dan to, "get bag, pick up." It is pretty funny!
• Early Spring/beginning of the summer everything was responded with by saying, "kay."  We would ask her to do something and she would reply with, "kay."  Recently she started saying yes and no, but I like the days of "kay" much better! 
• "Hug...fill in the blank."  She loves to hug anything and everything!  She will hug the bugs that land on her outdoor play climber, she hugs the bears in books, her baby, Hurley, and of course family members and friends!  She is a hugger, not a fighter!  
• She counts everything!  Often starts at four, five and gets to ten, but more recently has started at one and can get to ten with help from us!  We often count the steps and other objects.  She will sit in her car seat and count her shoes! 
• "Some...fill in the blank"  again it is hard to sneak a snack anymore.  As soon as she hears a package being opened in kitchen, she darts in and says, "some cracker" or "some cookie"  it is strange she always knows what we want to sneak to eat!  That should help me with my diet in the fall!  
• "Ride Jeep"  her favorite car to ride in is by far the Jeep and she is disappointed when she has to "ride mommy's car."  I think mostly because she can see out of the windows better, but she loves to ride, especially with the doors off and the back rolled up.  There is something about the wind in her hair she is just like her dad!  
• "I go potty."  During Spring Break we bought a little potty to start the introduction of the potty to Olivia.  Well she certainly has the idea and is a little obsessed with it!  If I go into the bathroom she is right there sitting on hers too!  She loves to say "I go potty" and go to sit down.  To be honest, we have had three successful pees and one poo on the potty.  To be even more honest, she is ready to start the process of potty training, but Dan and I are very hesitant to commit this close to the new baby being born.  Hope we can have success in the next few months!
• "Climb" the stairs, the couch, the bed, the dinning room chairs...she is ALL over the place and loves to climb on everything! 

There are so many more, but these are just a few of our favorites! 

Water fun in the sprinkler! 

Many of her favorite things include being outside, playing with any kind of water, including he sprinkler, the pool, and of course the ocean!  She loves this puppy she received as a present that barks, wines, and then sleeps by snoring.  She adores this toy and brings it everywhere!  She still loves her books and her recent favorites include, The Napping House, Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom, Daddy Hugs, and Click Clack Moo.  I think I have all of them memorized!  She still is loving food of any kind, especially "ice cream" and "cookies!"  There are more things she loves, but I forget right now :)

Playing outside on the 4th of July

We constantly have music on in the background of house and always in the car.  The music is in her soul!  She enjoys singing so much!  She will sit in the car and just sing to herself.  She says, "I'm singing"  it is very cute!  In early July we joined Gymboree and she attends class once a week and loves the music element to the class.  She will come home and sing the songs all week.  Her new favorite song is, "The Wheels on the Bus" We have sung every verse I can think of and her favorite is the people go up and down.  She throws her self down on the ground!  Yesterday morning I was getting ready for work and I could hear her in the crib saying, up and down and then jumping down on the mattress! It was pretty funny to hear. 

Our daughter has become quite tech savvy too!  She loves our new iPhones, especially the FaceTime feature and a doodle app.  She loves to "see" the person she is talking too.  Currently, my parents and Aunt Laura are the only ones we FaceTime with and she is so much fun to watch!  She will wave into the phone and have a whole conversation! The crazy part is that she is growing up in a era where seeing people on the phone is possible!  Whoever would have thought it would be a common thing.   She also plays with a doodle app we have on the phone and a Skeeball game too!  We do not often let her play with the phones, but when she gets a hold of it she can navigate through it to the places she wants.  It is pretty crazy to see her playing with the phone! 

Last nap in her "old" room! That smile melts our heart!

To end this long and much needed update, it is important to talk about the other changes in our family.  We are about 15 days away from Lil Sis' due date of August 17th.  We have been busy working this summer on a new room for both girls to share and trying to get Olivia to understand what is about to happen.  We did switch the rooms up and both girls are in our former guest bedroom with two cribs and two dressers.  She will look at the other crib and say, "sisters," but I am not sure how much she really understands that soon a baby will be in that crib too!  She will hug my belly and say, "hi baby" and "hug baby" I think she will adjust well when Lil Sis arrives, but it will certainly be an adjustment period!  We put the pack-n-play up in the living room for naps and changing the baby when Olivia was sleeping the other day.  When she came downstairs she said, "my bed!"  She is noticing the changes in the house and she seems to be doing well.  Time will tell!  For now, we wait and wait and wait!  I know I speak for myself, I am SO OVER this pregnancy.  We are all ready to meet Lil Sis!

I am sure our next Blog update will contain the great news of Lil Sis' arrival!  Until then, keep us in your prayers!  Thanks as always for keeping up with our lil family!

Love to all,
Laura, Dan, Olivia, and Lil Sis

It Has Been Way Too Long!

15 Month Valentine Day Pictures!

 My goodness I can hardly believe how times flies!  Every weekend I say to Dan, "I am going to update the blog this weekend!  We have so much to include about Olivia and our growing family!"  The weekends always seem to get away from us and on Sunday I am upset that I never got to update the blog!

Miss Olivia is 16 months now and has developed quite a personality!  She weighs about 22 pounds and is 30 inches long.  That puts her in the 36% percentile for weight and 36% percentile for height.  What is funny is she has tiny feet, size 4, and it has become difficult finding shoes that fit her that are for a walking/running/climbing toddler.  I am sure there can be worse things than small feet!  I always wished she would have small feet and hands too! She is definitely our little toddler, constantly on the go and a little mimic!  We are having fun with this stage, but to be honest it can be exhausting! 

We decided that the theme of this entry is, "The reason why I have NOT updated the blog!"  Here is the list of reasons in no particular order!

Teething

It is hard to capture her teeth, but if you look closely you can see top ones!

My goodness we never had an issue with teeth and Olivia until the molars started to enter the mouth!  Right night she has four front teeth on the top, two on the bottom with two more breaking through.  In the back of her mouth she has four molars now, and the other day at the doctors, she said there are four more breaking through!  WOW...lots of drool and lots of cranky!  We feel terrible, but there is nothing we can do except offer her the teething rings, wet washcloths, and her tooth brush!  Yes, brushing those new pearly whites is one of her favorite activities!  She will walk into the bathroom three and four times a day point to her teeth and say, "brush."   So there are days when she just wants to cuddle with us and that is fine with us.  It has not affected her sleeping at all...just her waking hours!  Hope this all ends soon.  She does look so much older with a grin full of teeth!

 Talking 

Most of you know me and know that I love to talk!  Well I guess this trait has been passed down to Miss Olivia!  Oh my goodness what a talker!  What amazes Dan and I is how from week to week she adds to her vocabulary and her talking becomes so clear!  There are many times we still have no idea what she is saying, but there are more times now we can understand her.  About a month ago, I counted and she could say over 20 words, but now that number is larger!  Her favorite words are, please, cheese, walk, eee for Hurley, and milk.  Of course she is always shouting for daddy and momma!  My favorite word she says is night night, which apparently she named her blanket that!  We would always say ready for night night Olivia and she would go runing for the stairs.  While changing her into her PJ's we would give her her blanket to cuddle with and suck her thumb.  I guess she understood night night to be her blanket and now it has been dubbed that name! 

Walking

At the playground!

"Walk...Down...Walk" is a constant phrase we here when walking through stores or the parking lots!  Olivia loves to walk and walk and walk!   We will go to the playground and she likes to go down the slide a few times, but she will spend more time walking around the place than on the equipment.  On weekends we take daily walks outside, weather permitting, around the block.  She has certainly mastered this skill and it has only made our life more exhausting.  haha

Eating

Well she loves to eat!  Anything and everything we give her she will gobble down!  She will usually have oatmeal, or yogurt for breakfast with some Cheerios and fruit.  Lunch is a variety of items and we usually try to vary it up with some kind of protein a fruit and a veggie.  Dinner is about the same.  Right now she prefers to eat, cheese, pasta, avocado, blueberries and strawberries and oddly enough her favorite veggie is zucchini!  We are constantly giving and trying new foods and she loves it.  Her most favorite food is off of mommy or daddy's plate!  We often have to say no it is mommy's or no it is daddy's.  Then a fit is usually thrown, but we try to distract!

Waving 

Bye-Bye, to her shadow, dogs, and cars, Olivia loves to wave at anything and anyone!  She has developed this princess like wave.  She holds her arm out in front of her and moves her entire wrist back and forth!  We have no idea where she learned that from because we never waved to her that way, but man oh man I hope this is not a sign of what is to come! haha.  In any case, she is quite the waver and that is  usually accompanied with blowing kisses as well.  One thing is for sure, she is a lover not a fighter!   

Feeding Herself 

Eating her yogurt with her spoon!

Olivia has always wanted to use the spoon herself and often gets upset if we do not let her feed herself, so recently we gave up control a bit and let her go for it on her own.  The task can get messy, but to be honest, she is doing wonderfully!  She can stab most items with a fork, but still needs help with soft things.  Her cereal and yogurt are on the way to being mastered.  It is nice to be able to give her something and walk away or sit down to eat too.  Our little baby is growing up!

Traveling and Other Visitors

The girls

We journeyed to the beach after Christmas to visit with Dan's family.  Olivia is an excellent traveler!  She will usually sleep for about an hour and then be content to look at book after book!  She loves being at the beach house too.  Olivia had a blast keeping up with her cousins!

We had two weekend visitors in February.   My friends from college, Denise, flew down to Maryland and Beth drove up from Virginia.  Olivia hardly napped all weekend because she wanted to play with the girls!  We had a girls night out and left Dan home with the baby!  It was nice to have them here and I look forward to seeing them again soon!

Last weekend my mom, Tyler, Olivia, and myself traveled to Ohio for my cousin Heather's wedding.  The car ride out was fine.  We stopped for dinner and shortly after, she fell asleep. It was a bit chaotic when we arrived at the hotel at 11:30 that night, and both kids were awake for a bit.  She settled down though and took a fairly good nap on Saturday.  Saturday night we pushed the limits and she was up way past her bedtime.  Exhausted, she finally succumbed and fell asleep in her stroller.  Sunday's drive home was long and we ran into snow, but her exhaustion helped the journey!  She did not really want to be walking around anyway!  Tyler turned on a movie and that kept her occupied for quite a while too!  She is our little traveler and we look forward to more road trips this spring!

Favorite Anecdotes  

There are many Olivia stories, but these are the ones that make us smile the most!
Ring Around the Rosey was taught to Olivia by Grandma and Grandpa Hart one night when she spent the night.  It is a cute little game, but for weeks she was obsessed with it!  She would walk up to you and hold out her hand saying, "Ashes, Ashes!"  It was fun and adorable the first few times, but when it went on for hours one day...I had enough.  I taught her how to twirl and I sang the song for her!  She still loves "Ashes" so you are not allowed to say that word unless you want to spend hours spinning in circles!
Itsy Bitsy Spider is another song, Grandpa taught her.  This one is fun to watch her move her two index fingers, trying to move that spider!  We sing it in the car on the way to school and she is getting really good at the other hand movements!  We want more like that Grandma and Grandpa!  haha
The last of our favorite Olivia anecdotes includes Hurley.  A few weeks ago we were eating breakfast in the dining room.  Olivia's high chair was facing into the kitchen.  All of the sudden she says, "EEE (her name for Hurley) No, No!"  We turn around and sure enough he had his head all the way into the garbage can.  Apparently someone did not close the lid and he was having a field day!  We laughed about that one for awhile! 

Olivia's  Favorite Activities

Dont take me inside! 

 One constant favorite in her life is reading books!  I would like to think it is because we have read to her since she was born, but I am sure it is also because both Dan and I love to read too!  We have so many books and she loves to read them in the car, in her room on her favorite chair, and in the living room with the bin of books.  This is the only activity that will keep her attention for a span of time!  Her favorite book at the moment is "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boyton, she often giggles when the last character is wearing the wrong outfit and the book reads "Oops."  She will repeat oops.  She is also into the books that make noise.  We bought two new books with buttons and sound.  When she pushes the button it will say what it is.  Perhaps the favorite new book is the animal noises one.  She pushes the button for kitty and it meows.  She will sit in the car and hit the button for the animal noises the whole ride.  We are constantly saying what animal makes the noise.  Hopefully one day she will know it and say it back to us! 

Her second favorite activity is walking and playing outside.  Whenever the weather is nice she is outside playing both at Mrs. Sharon's, our house, and grandma and grandpa's swing set.  It is very hard to get her back inside.  Often she throws a fit when we come inside, as you can see with the above picture!  Mrs. Sharon was surprised last week when Olivia threw a fit for her when she needed to bring the kids inside.  It was funny to us because Olivia will throw a fit and this is the first time for Mrs. Sharon to see that!

Lastly, all day it is up and down the stairs.  We use to have gates up to block them, but she is so confident going up the stairs and loves to play in her room.  So we gave up on the gates this past month and are teaching her to go down the stairs too.  She has almost mastered going down too, but she likes to play on the stairs and we often have to stop her and say, no playing.  I am thinking though in the fall we will have to gate off the stairs to keep her retained to one floor of our house because...

Baby Puryear #2 is preparing for an August 17th arrival

Yes it took us 18 months to finally get pregnant with Olivia and had to go through IVF, but in December we found out we where expecting again!  It has taken us by surprise, and we feel so blessed!  To be honest, in the past few weeks I have just started to show and it is starting to become reality.  The two kiddos will be 21 months apart and I will stay home with both kids in the Fall!  I think I will be teaching summer school this summer, but it will be great since I will have an extra three months off!  I can handle that!   We have an anatomy sonogram on March 29th and we will find out the sex and if everything else is healthy!  So for now we keep telling Olivia about her baby brother or sister and use the word baby a lot.  We do not think she has any idea what it means, but I am sure she will soon enough!

This blog has been four months coming and I hope we do not go that long again, but running after a toddler takes much more energy than I ever imagined!  We continue to be amazed on a daily basis and some days are more exhausting than others, but overall we would not change a thing!

We will update soon! Until then, enjoy the pictures on the Picasa link and pray for a healthy baby!
Love to all,
Dan, Laura, Olivia, and Baby Puryear #2