Fourth of July 2010

Can I have that toy Grumpa?

Fourth of July weekend was a real bang this year! We hosted a impromptu Happy Hour with my parents, Tyler,  and Laura, the Original. The weather was beautiful and we hung outside in the backyard.  Olivia loved playing with all the guests, especially crawling all over Grumpa! She even ate her dinner in her highchair in the back porch.  Laura hung out for a while and played Rock Band that night.  It is great to be able to hang out even after Livy is in bed.  Dan is excited that even though he has a child he can still play video games! haha

Playing with Monica

On Saturday we had more guests over to celebrate.  Our friends Monica and Rob came over for a cookout/game night.  We roped them into walking up to the Catonsville Parade.  We are usually in Ocean City for the 4th and this year I really wanted to see the yearly parade that runs through our town.  So we walked the mile and a half to the parade route in the sweltering heat, watch the parade for about half an hour, then marched back the mile and a half!  Needless to say we were all hot and ready for a nice cold beverage and appetizers by the time we came home from the adventure!  I was really happy to see the parade and Olivia was wonderful!  She loved watching all the people and did not cry at all when the loud fire trucks drove by, sirens on.  Later that night we played several games and enjoyed the company.  It was great to spend time Monica and Rob before their wedding on July 16th.  As they left for the night we did walk out to the front yard and watch some of the Catonsville fireworks.  We are hoping that next year Olivia will be ready to stay up until ten to see fireworks. 

The cousins in the matching shirts.

The weekend came to an exciting close at my parents house on Sunday, the fourth.  First we had to have a photo shoot because Olivia and Tyler had on thier matching Old Navy shirts.  We had a ton of outtakes, but were able to keep a few good pictures.  I hope that the t-shirt thing will become a tradition, but we were all saying that Tyler will probably not want to match next year.  We had a cookout over there too and two special guests stopped by.  Blair and Gayle joined us for an afternoon play date!  Blair is six weeks older than Livy and the two of them were hilarious to watch. Olivia would be holding a toy and then Blair would reach out to grab it from her.  Blair would hold onto the toy for a few minutes then Olivia would grab it from her hands.  It was adorable.  We love getting together with Gayle and we are hoping to see them again soon. 

It was quite the busy weekend and so much fun with all the family and friends to celebrate. 

Playground Visit

Slowing, slowing, going down the slide

Climbing the rock wall

Olivia is a very observant child and loves daycare because she can watch all the kids play and Miss Sharon takes her outside and on trips daily.  Knowing she is an active child, we try to take her out of the house daily for some kind of activity.  Last week we took walks at parks, when it was over a hundred degrees we went to the mall, and the other day we visited the Meadowbrooke playground for her first trip to a playground.  I thought there would be swings, but there were not any so we made do with what they had!  So we started by walking the path around the playground and then we tried to play as much as we could.  I honestly think she had more fun watching all the kids running around!  She tired several slides, the rock climbing wall, the bridges, and her favorite the mirrored wall.  We set her down in front of it and she laughed and laughed at herself!  It was quite adorable!  Here are some of the hightlights:

oh yes, a mirror to check myself out in!

How can I do this myself?

After the playground we decided to grab something for dinner quickly and Red Robin was the perfect place.  This was our first dinner outing in several months and Olivia was wonderful.  She sat in the highchair and was fascinated by everything around her!   The Red Robin bird was visiting that night and she watch him walk all around the restaurant.  It was quite funny!

It was a fun little day and while I LOVE this stage, I do look forward to when she can run around the playground!

First Ear Infection and Pink Eye--Oh My!

What a beginning to the summer! The first week was great!  We basically hung out at home, going for walks, "swimming" the kiddie pool, and playing with all the Olivia's toys!  It was a nice relaxing start.  Finally on Sunday though we were ready to get out of the house, so Dan and I decided to head to see a movie with our friends Courtney and Kris.  Aunt Bethany was available to babysit and that was a huge help.

When we returned from the movie Miss Olivia was all happy and smiles, but we noticed greenish goop coming out from her eyes.  This happened before around Christmas time and the doctor explained it was probably because of her blocked tear duct she had at birth.  We did not think much of it and had a nice afternoon hanging out with Bethany, Courtney, and Kris.  About 4:00 she became fussy and nothing really made her happy unless she was being held.  We figured she was tired and missing her cat nap she usually takes in the car on the way home from school.  Well the little fussiness became full blown cries about 5:00 and we figured she was exhausted.   Usually when she is tired she can be consoled and cuddled, but this was different she was crying continuously.    We put her to bed around 6:00, assuming she would wake up.  She did not wake up and was a happy little girl in the morning and the green goop disappeared.  I called the doctor anyway in the morning. The office recommended I bring her in to get checked out.  As soon as Dr. Landcaster saw her she said, "Usually pink eye comes from an ear infection."  Sure enough she had an ear infection in her left ear and pink eye in her left eye.  So to the pharmacy we went to pick up her antibiotics.

Dan and I were laughing because she was in day care with other kids for months and the same week she is home with us she had her first illness.  I was glad she lasted almost eight moths!  I think it is all that milk I am feeding her, filled with antibodies!  haha

She is doing well now and is taking the medicine with out much of a fight! 

The Top Ten List of Months Six and Seven

Wow What a couple of months it has been!  We are finally done with the school year after a very extended length of time, and now it is time to kick back, relax, and enjoy our time with each other!  We have very few plans for the summer.  A couple weeks at the beach and some tutoring dates sum it up.  We look forward to many more updates this summer with our free time!

So much has happened in the life of Olivia Grace! I thought making a Top Ten List would help sum of the changes, firsts, and growth that has happened in the past six weeks! Here we go:

1. Olivia is rolling over officially!

She is starting to become our little mover.  She loves to sleep on her stomach now and is starting the army crawl in a 360 motion!  

2. She is eating solid foods three times a day!

We have only found a few foods she dislikes and that includes peas and any mixed veggies.  Her favorites include carrots, green beans, pears, and peaches! I tried to make my own food, but she did not like my carrots.  Then we became so busy I put it on hold until this summer.  So look out Olivia I am starting to make it again!

3. Olivia spend three days with Gram Puryear while mommy and daddy were at Outdoor Ed!

It was the first time away from Olivia, but she was in good hands.  Jean came and stayed with Olivia and what adventures they had!  "Olivia" created a whole journal of the time we were apart. They went out to lunch and a trip to the store topped the list.  Gram and Olivia left early on Friday and Dan and I met them at the beach that afternoon.  We missed her terribly and was so happy to see that smiling face again.  It was great though that Olivia could spend time with Gram, I know Gram had a blast with her granddaughter. 

4. Olivia had her first trip to the beach and loved the sand and water! 
Did we have any doubt since she is our child, but she visited the beach on Memorial Day weekend and she loved it! She sat in the sand and ran it though her fingers for a while.  Then figured out she could put it in her mouth.  We moved her to the center of a blanket at that point!  She loved the water too, especially knocking over the buckets we would bring to her.  The nap was not successful, but we will try again.  We have all summer to figure out how to get her to sleep under the pop up tent!

5. Another weekend she spend a whole weekend with Daddy alone while mommy was away!
The weekend of June 18th, I had a bridal shower/bachlorette party for my friend Shannon. So I headed out for NY early Saturday morning and Dan had Olivia all to himself for a day and a half!  Dan and Olivia played in the pool, read books, played with Hurley and hung out with Aunt Laura. 
I was sent text message updates and missed her so much.  I had a blast in NY though and it was nice to see the Keuka Soccer girls again. Dan is such an amazing father and it is fabulous that he spends time with her!

6. Now she holds her own bottle! 
Well the other day I tried to nurse Olivia before she went to bed, but she was having nothing of nursing! So we heated up a bottle for her and sure enough she laid on the bed and sucked the bottle down, holding it herself the entire time!  When she was with Dan he also made the comment that she likes to hold it for herself and on Saturday night she would only drink it on the changing table.  So our baby is becoming so independent.   It is very adorable to see her lay there feeding herself.  

7. She can sit up all by herself!
Shortly after she turned six and a half months, she was sitting by herself.  It was a Monday and usually we set her down on the floor to play, propped up with something.  For several weeks she was sitting by her self for a few seconds.  On this Monday in May,  I was sitting behind her and I realized she was sitting by herself for more than a few seconds!  The seconds became minutes and we realized she reached the sitting milestone! Since then she prefers sitting up to play, and watch what is going on around her.  There have been an occasional bumps and knocks by Hurley, but she rebalanced herself and stays upright.  The few times she has fallen over she clap and shout "yeah!"

8. Is always babbling, screaming, and laughing.

"DADADADA"  "BABABABAB"  "ABABABAB" and various others can be heard thought the house and car! Just this morning it sounded like she did say "MAMA," but we will see.  She is so loud though.  (I have no idea where she gets that from!) Just laughing, screaming, and babbling.  It is so much fun to listen to her talk! 

9. She attended several parties! 
The Spring time and especially the end of the year brings many parties!  Olivia attended several this spring, including Monica's Bridal Shower that was at our house, Kate's graduation party, two retirement parties, and the end of the year annual happy hour!  She was an angel at all and let anyone hold her.  She smiled at everyone and loved every second of the new faces.  We feel so lucky because we can take her places and she does not have the stranger anxiety.  She is also a good little adjuster too  She will roll with the new places, eat her food, and fall asleep easily on the way home.  We just have to hold her for a few minutes when we get home and put her in the crib.  Dan and I had the whole party system down cold.  We knew exactly when it was time to leave!  I know you are surprised we have a child that loves to hang out and party!

10. Finally, cut  two bottom teeth break through!  
 After many months of drool and endless items in her mouth, Olivia cut her two bottom teeth!  The left arrived first around June 14th and the right bottom arrived a few days later.  She was a trooper!  She was not sleeping as well, but stayed a happy baby.  I was waiting every night for her to cry out in pain, but it never happened.  We lucked out with the bottom.  She is very protective though and will not let us near those new teeth!  We can tell now that the top are making there way next.  The toothless grin is soon to be no more!

Well this pretty much sums up the events of the past six weeks!  It was an extremely busy months of May and June.  There are over a hundred pictures on the Picasa Web Album, including the beach trip and out pool time!  Please feel free to link to those on the right column.  

We promise to update sooner!  

Love to you all

Six Months Old

We can hardly believe that Olivia has been in our lives for half a year already!  The time has flown by and we continue to treasure each moment!  We had a doctors appointment on Tuesday and after a very LONG wait we discovered Olivia has grown an inch and a half to 26.5 inches long and has gained almost three pounds!  She now weighs 15 pounds and 9 ounces! Her height puts her in the 77th percentile and 43rd percentile for weight.  The doctor said she is growing well and should start trying real food.  Our plan is to make our own food and then freeze it for the week.  To be honest, I have bought some Gerber green beans so we will see how this goes!  Dr. Landcaster said that now her food is just to experiment with and learn to eat different textures.  Most of her nutrients will still come from milk.  We are excited to try out some new foods. 

On her six month birthday, May 1st, we had quite an eventful day.   At Noon, we scheduled a photo shoot at Target for her milestone pictures.  She was wonderful and charming, and the Target staff worked patiently and efficiently!  The pictures turned out beautifully and we will be able to pick them up next weekend!  Our next stop, to pick up Tyler and Aunt Laura and head to the Maryland Zoo! 
 
We arrived at the Zoo around 2:45 and the zoo closed at 4:00, so we knew we had to hurry through the park.  We started in the Children section, which was adorable and Tyler had a blast!  This trip was much more eventful than our first trip.  The crowd was minimal, and the animals were out and playing!  Of course I forgot to grab the camera so we missed out on great photo opportunities...oh well I am sure that will not be the first time.  The animals we saw included, the cutest otter doing back flips off a rock, snakes slithering, bats flying, penguins swimming, a camel giving rides, polar bears,  giant tortoises eating grass, lazy cheetahs, and ravens.  The most exciting part of the day was when a monkey went a little crazy!  We were standing by the outdoor monkey area and one of the monkeys came over to place we were standing, turned towards us and sat down.  It was cute, but suddenly he freaked out!  He picked up a huge water container, dumped it out, and threw it at the plastic viewing area.  Then he jumped up and kicked the plastic area.  The four of us jumped back, surprised and a little scared.  I have never seen a monkey act that way and it was pretty intense.  Tyler claimed that he had anger issues!  It was quite an eventful day at the zoo and we love that we only need to use the pass one more time and we have paid off the pass!  I am certain we will return soon.

On Sunday of her six month birthday weekend,  it was my mom's birthday.  The entire family drove out to Harper's Ferry in western Maryland to hike and walk around the historic town.  While we were getting ready, Tyler kept Olivia occupied by playing and reading to her.  We had some very cute pictures of the two of them!  The day was enjoyable and felt like the summer with the temperatures in the 90s!  Olivia was a great little girl, sleeping for about 45 minutes on the way to Harpers Ferry.  She ate when we arrived and then sat in her stroller for most of the time.  She was such a great baby.  By 12:30 she was growing tired and we were all hungry.  So we headed back to the car and across the street for a picnic lunch.  I put Livy in her car seat and she was asleep in a matter of five minutes!  While we ate lunch we kept her in the car with the windows rolled down and ate lunch about 100 yards away.    After the bugs ran us out of the area, we headed back to Mom and Dad's for presents and dinner.   The day was fabulous and I know my mom had a great birthday! 

She had quite a busy weekend, but she continued to sleep well at Ms. Sharon's house.  It was a very summer like week, so they headed to the park most mornings.  Olivia slept in the stroller while the other kids ran around.  She watches those kids so closely and cannot wait to run around with them.  Next fall I am sure she will be close to giving them a run for their money! 

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I am excited to celebrate my first official day! 
Love to all~

Baptism

"A child is a precious gift from God

And baptism is God's gift wrapping"

Olivia's Baptism was a weekend event, starting on Friday night by prepping food at our house, and continued on Saturday with more food prep at my parents house! Since their house is bigger and closer to church we decided to have the brunch at my parent's house on Sunday.  I am not sure if Olivia was aware of what was happening, but she did wake up at 5:30 am on Sunday morning.  This was not in the plan.  Although, as we are finding out with kids it is important to roll with what happens...so we rolled!

In recent weeks Livy has become quite the little church girl, sitting quietly on our laps, playing with toys.  We were all excited thinking that she would be awake and alert for her baptism.  Well, since she woke up at 5:30, she was ready for her nap right as church started!  The service progressed and Olivia's eye lids become heavier and heavier.  Surrounded by family and close friends, she fell asleep in my arms!

As Pastor Andy called us forward for the baptism, she slept on.  As the two other little girls babbled on next to her, she slept on.  As the congregation announced their support for the three girls, she slept on.  And finally, it was her turn to be baptized.   Pastor Andy looked her, looked at me, and said, "She she really sleeping?"  I nodded.  He asked, "do you want to just hold her."  I replied, happily, "yes!"  With her in my arms, fast asleep, she was baptized with water poured on her head three times, in the name of the father, in the name of the son, and in the name of the holy spirit.  She slept on!  With tears in my eyes, we stepped back away to the rest of the group and the baptism ceremony came to a close.  It was a proud moment as a parent.  A journey that was so challenging for us was now gift wrapped as she become baptized! 

Then it was time to celebrate with our family and friends! Lynda and Jeremy Celmer, Lauren and Kevin Bauer, and Kelly Rogers were a huge help by leaving church early to start the coffee and put the egg dishes in the oven to warm up.  When we returned home the food was ready to eat!   The brunch menu included egg dishes, french toast casserole, bagels and muffins, egg salad and tuna sandwiches, fruit salad, and caesar salad.  Our theme was flowers and my sister Bethany did an outstanding job creating the centerpieces for the celebration!  The food was delicious and the company was even better!  Olivia was a little angel and even posed with each family to take pictures.  We then opened presents and then ate the fabulous cake.   

We wrapped up the party about 1:00pm and Olivia, exhausted, went down for a nap. She looked adorable in her little dress and had quite a model shoot before church.  The entire day was memorable and we felt so blessed to have an amazing family and close friends help us celebrate her baptism! For more pictures check out the online album!

We love you little Livy Loo!

Spring Break Ohio Trip

This year was a different kind of Spring Break!  Last year during Spring Break I was 8 weeks pregnant and we were down in Orlando, Florida.  The whole trip Olivia was the size of a kumquat, so we called her our little kumquat all week!    

Present day, we have the joy of that little kumquat and we had a blast with her!  On Wednesday early morning, 1:30 am, we left for Cincinnati, Ohio.  Olivia was the perfect little traveler and when I picked her up and put her in her car seat she smiled at me, took her pacifier, and fell back to sleep!  We did not hear from her in the back seat until 6:00 am.  We the stopped for breakfast at 7:30 and gave her a bottle!  She was happy and smiling at everyone during breakfast!  We had about 2.5 hours to go, so I sat in the backseat with her, reading books and playing her toys!  About 9:00 am she became fussy.  I moved back to the front and she feel asleep, taking her morning nap!  It was delightful trip and driving through the night was not that bad!  Dan slept while I drove and I passed out when he took over the driving at 4:00am! 

More importantly though, we arrived at Jill and Steve's house around 10:30 and were greeted by Jill,  Miss Emma and our new niece Ava!  Steve was away on business, so we were ready to give Jill a helping hand!  It was a very warm day, so we hung around the house and played with Emma and Ava!  Olivia loved watching Emma run around and play.  After a bit of a home improvement conflict, we cooked dinner for the Wittmans and enjoy some wine!  We had a relaxing evening and went to bed on the early side!

The next day, Thursday, Steve arrived home from his trip around noon.  So we hung out that morning and then Jill made a delicious pizza for lunch!  When Steve arrived home we sat around and chatted for a while and decided to walk around Hyde Park.   It was about this time that Jill and Steve revealed to us they are making a Surf and Turf dinner to celebrate my 30th birthday! After the kids were down in bed, the adults had time to play!  We had a fabulous dinner and a memorable evening!  Poor Jill was a trooper and stayed up with us.  I remember clearly the night feedings and not having a full nights sleep!  However, Jill was great and we were so happy to hang out with her! Later in the evening decided to watch Lost, but Jill fell asleep, holding hands with Ava.  It was adorable! 

Our final day in Cincy, was Ava's 1 month check up. So we hung around in the morning and in the afternoon had a picnic and hiking trip.  We picked up yummy Dewy's Pizza and the hiked about a mile in a local park.   We all enjoyed being outside and Emma was the best little walker on the hike!  Dan and I decided to leave Ohio around Olivia's bed time because it was be easy to get home and put her in her crib.  So we sadly said good bye after Olivia ate dinner and headed back to Maryland.  Again, Olivia was a great little traveler and when we got home around 2:30 am I took her out of the car seat, swaddled her up and put her in her crib.  She fell right back to sleep and we heard from her about 7 am. 

We had a great visit in Ohio and I look forward to Olivia being able to run around with Emma and Ava! She is so lucky to have cousins close to her age!


There are more pictures on online album of all three girls!
Thanks for having us, Jill, Steve, Emma, and Ava...we had so much fun!