5/15/10 - A Busy Saturday...

Today was a busy day!! Olivia seems to be sleeping a little bit later, which is really nice. Any little extra helps! Once we got up, we ate some breakfast and got right to cleaning up. Meal time has been stressful lately. With all of the teething going on, Olivia just isn't into eating much. On top of that, she now 95% of the time insists on feeding herself. Not only does this double/triple meal time, but it also makes about 10 times the mess as well. But, we push through it :)

The house is in need of a deep clean....but of course there's no time for that. Today we just picked up toys and miscellaneous "stuff" that's been sitting around, gathering dust. Did the dishes and cleaned up the kitchen. The basics. Olivia has been taking nice, LONG naps lately, which really helps in getting stuff done. I even got a catch to catch up on a couple of shows and start going through her clothes while she napped!

Turns out, we have pretty much NO newborn clothing, and, just as I suspected, ALL of her 0-3 month outfits are pants and long sleeves! So, we will definitely be doing some clothes shopping here soon. Luckily we are set on onesies and PJ's, so that was some good news! While we're at it, we'll be getting Olivia some summer clothes. She still comfortably fits in her 12-18 months stuff, but we didn't buy any summer clothes for her because we didn't know if we should just wait until she needs 18-24 months stuff, especially since last summer she was still in pants and long sleeves in July. BUT, it appears we will indeed be having a summer this year, and early, so we she'll need some stuff.

Once Olivia was up, Christian and his friend were off to the store to pick up some grilling stuff and then we all played outside for a while, grilled and ate some dinner. Before long, it was bedtime for the little one. Once down, I finished going through the clothes and relaxed. It was a long day!

We did get a cute little dress/overall outfit from somebody, and it was finally warm enough for her to wear it, and she seems to love the freedom of it. She was so cute, and looked like such a big girl!

5/14/10 - Finally Friday

Well, this has been a LONG week. Between the normal work crazy and home crazy, thinking about my Grandparents has added to everything. Of course thinking about them only makes me think about my other Grandparents, who, hard to believe, have been gone for 7 and 9 years now! I just can't believe that...

It was a pretty low key night at home tonight. I pulled out all of Olivia's clothes so I could start seeing what will work for baby, but then I just wasn't in the mood to do it. So, I have totes and "space saver" bags thrown about the basement right now. Instead, we just made some dinner, hung out for a while, and spaced out watching TV before bed. Nothing too interesting. We're in for a pretty packed weekend again, so I'm glad we got a chance to just kick back.

Again, the camera did not make it's way into my hands tonight, so I'm cheating with another flashback. This week, a year ago, Olivia was really starting to get the strength to stand up. Obviously at 4 months old she wasn't doing this alone, but she could support herself so amazingly!

5/13/10 - Update

Today I left work a little bit early to go visit my Grandpa. I finally got a chance to talk to my dad this afternoon and get an update on everything from him. It sounds like my Grandma is doing much better, which is good. My aunts and step mom have been switching off staying with her, and it sounds like she's been much more calm about everything the past few nights. It sounds like as long as she keeps her schedule she can handle it.

My Grandpa has been in very good spirits, but we did get some pretty scary news today. They finally did an Angiogram and met with the cardiologist to discuss everything. It looks like he will be going in for open heart surgery to replace two valves and do a bypass. It's very scary, but they are very optimistic about everything. They cannot do the surgery until Tuesday because they have to let his blood thinner work it's way out of his system first. So, Tuesday morning he'll be heading into surgery, then spend some time in the ICU afterwards, then he'll be staying for 5-6 days following the surgery to recover. They are going to check him out a few days after the surgery and if it doesn't look like he's recovering as anticipated, they are going to install a pacemaker.

In the meantime, the hospital has hospice type apartments that they are trying to get my Grandma set up in. That way she can be closer to Grandpa, and have somebody to help her out and watch over her.

It was a lot to take in. I left work a little early, picked up Olivia, and brought her for a visit. She was her usually goofy self and definitely put a few smiles on Grandma and Grandpa's faces. Grandpa was very upbeat and seemed ready to go with the surgery. His attitude and spirit toward the whole thing really make me feel better...that's such a huge part of recovery and I think that's only going to help.

Taking pictures wasn't really on my mind today, so I'll do a little flashback tonight! I don't know why, but this picture really cracks me up, so I thought it was fitting!

5/12/10 - 29 Weeks!

Yup, today marks 29 Weeks!

Not much new to update. I've been feeling OK. I'm getting to that point where I have that constant "full" feeling, so that's helped with the appetite! I'm so happy with my weight/gain right now, I could dance! *ahem, knock on wood* Baby's activity is much more tolerable these days, which is really nice. I think because the baby is getting so big, the movements are more controlled and not so constant. It's really helped with my nausea and all that. The last week or two my Braxton Hicks contractions have become much more powerful...much more than they ever were with Olivia too. I could feel them with Olivia from about 15/16 weeks on, and they just got more frequent and uncomfortable closer to the end. I just started feeling them with this one maybe 2/3 weeks ago, and when they hit, they are REALLY uncomfortable, already! You can actually see my whole belly tighten up, it's crazy! They are still more than manageable at this point, but I'm hoping they don't get much worse!

Next week is my next check-up with Ann, so until then, there isn't too much interesting going on to share! Just growing and moving right along! Can you believe it, only ~11 weeks to go! WOW!

5/11/10 - Is It Friday Yet??

That is the question...and the daily wish..."Is it Friday yet?". But, no, no it's not. Work has been VERY crazy lately. The days have just been flying by. Being so short staffed right now, most of us have taken on quite a bit more than usual. Most days it's great...I stay busy, it's time to go home before I know it, YAY. But, some days it's just a little more than I can handle. The constant e-mails, constant ringing phone, new stuff popping up in my inbox...how can you keep up?!? My opinion...you don't answer the phone! Really, I never answer my phone at work...I know it's bad, but to me it's so unproductive...sitting on the phone. I'd rather get an e-mail, prepare the best response possible, and move on. So, don't call me at work :)

Other than that, it was just another day. The rain finally let up this evening, so that was nice! Olivia was in great spirits, until around dinner time. She did not want to eat and you could tell her teeth are just killing her. Ugh, have I mentioned I'm so over teething??? I got a peek inside her mouth tonight...she's working on 6 teeth right now, and her 2 top molars are THISCLOSE to being all the way out. Then, it's just those dang canines that are taking FOREVER. I hear from most people those seemed to be the worst, so....YAY for that :(

But, she's still happy as can be in the morning...she's MUCH more of a morning person than I am, that's for sure....

5/10/10 - Still Celebrating...

Today we were still celebrating Mother's Day...I didn't get a chance to stop over this weekend to visit with my stepmom, so I headed over after work for a while. I hadn't seen her, or my dad, for a few weeks now, so it was nice to catch up. Olivia had TONS of fun running around, taking over the house. Climbing on all kinds of new stuff, showing grandma and grandpa everything she can do. It was pretty entertaining. And, I'm still just amazed by how much she adores my dad...I keep thinking she's going to start being scared of him, but she isn't. He got home after I'd gotten over there, and she ran over to greet him, so excited. I just can't believe it!

After some playing, dinner and catching up, Olivia and I were on our way home. It was another VERY rainy day here...again, all day and night, so the drive was a little slow..but at least I missed rush hour! Christian's sister gave him their surround sound system when they moved last month, so he had been working on hooking that up while we were gone. He's been driving me nuts about that, so I'm glad that's done! Olivia spent the evening reading...she's really been getting into her books lately. She reads to herself, brings us books to read, she just loves it. But, she keeps bringing me the Spanish books..she just doesn't get it :)

It sounds like my grandpa is holding up pretty well, considering. He's still in the hospital waiting to meet with the surgeon so they can figure out the best route to take. It sounds like he's in good spirits though. He's still on oxygen to keep his blood flowing and get that fluid out of his lungs, and he's still not really up to walking around and all that, but it doesn't sound like he's getting worse, which is great! My grandma is having a really hard time though. Her heart attack around Christmas really took it out of her...she hasn't been herself since, and from what my dad tells me, her dementia is really bad with my grandpa being away. It's been a rough couple of months for the family...all we can do is pray for them both and hope everything comes together and they start feeling better...soon!

5/9/10 - Happy Mother's Day!!

Today is the day...it's Mother's Day!!! Just over 2 years ago we found out that we were expecting little miss Olivia, now I'm celebrating my 2nd Mother's Day! It's such an amazing feeling...there really is no feeling in this world like being a mother!

Christian and I made a mutual decision not to make a huge deal of Mother's Day/Father's Day, as far as gifts go. We don't want our kids feeling pressured to give us something "super special" as they get older, or feel pressured to spend the money on such over commercialized "holiday's"...I know, bahumbug right?! We feel it's so much more important to just be together, spend time together, and have our kids just SHOW us their love and appreciation. So, Christian presented me with a couple cards right away this morning, one from him and one from Olivia. Then made us a big yummy breakfast. He willingly cleaned the house...vacuumed, picked up, the whole nine yards...completely unprovoked. That was great! While Olivia napped, I showered and got ready and he mowed the lawn. Once she was up, we got her ready and he took me to and early dinner. Somehow he tricked me into going to Menard's with him after dinner...NOT my idea of a good time, but whatever. After we got home, we spent the rest of the evening hanging out together, just the "4" of us. It was overall a great day!

I did however wake up to some not so good news. I had a voicemail from my dad when I woke up, letting me know that my grandpa was in the hospital. Apparently he was having trouble breathing during the night, so they took him in. I don't really have ALL the details, but it turns out he has fluid building up around his lungs, which they later determined he does have pneumonia. My grandpa has had some heart problems over the last few years, and apparently there is something wrong with his heart again that they will need to do surgery on. I guess they knew about this last month, but were hoping to hold off on it...and it now looks like they will be moving forward with the surgery. I'll be talking to my dad more tomorrow, so I'm hoping to get some more information. Any extra thoughts or prayers my lovely readers could send our way would be greatly appreciated!

Here are some Mother's Day photos of me and my girls :) And one, of Olivia, looking REALLY upset about something...she's kind of a drama queen though...