3/5/10 - TGIF!!

This is definitely a TGIF moment! The weekend comes, and although still busy, you get some time to breathe!! Today was a pretty busy day at work...it was one of those days where every e-mail you received, every phone call that came in and everything you touched in general had some kind of problem. I don't like problem solving days! After work, we headed home to get ready for dinner! My dad is lonely these days because my step-mom is out of town for a few weeks (apparently retirement agrees with her!), so he offered to come out and take us to dinner. So, we all went to Buffalo Wild Wings (YUM) and then back to the house to hang out for a while. Now, I mentioned before, my dad is a big guy and kids are usually scared to death of him...but nope, not Olivia. She was literally his shadow the whole time he was over. She kept asking him to hold her, following him around and sharing all her stuff with him. I think he was pretty shocked...he's definitely not used to that reaction from kids. And here's the best part...Olivia's room has always been the coldest room in the house...for the life of us we couldn't figure out why...we tried everything. Well, we mentioned it to my dad, and he went in there, took the vent off, reached in and discovered a secret lever to turn the vent on and off. You could instantly feel the difference...we wanted to cry we were so excited (I'm sure Olivia is more excited!). So yes, dad's really do know everything!

Here is a picture from dinner!! As soon as we walked in the door she spotted the balloons, and HAD to have one, which she abruptly lost in the ceiling. They gave her another one, which we tied very tight. Every time she saw the staff give another kid a balloon, she would look at us with a "what the hell" look on her face, like they were stealing it from her. Then if a kid walked by with one, she'd reach out like they were bringing it to her...ummmm, maybe sharing is going to be more of a problem than I thought....
















Until tomorrow!!!

3/4/10 - Just Another Thursday

My theme...just another Thursday! Like usual, nothing interesting happened today. Christian has been getting over a cold (I swear, there is always something wrong with him!), which he seems to have passed onto Olivia. She was fine this morning, but throughout the day she started with the runny nose, crabby, looking super-sad-sick...so, we're hoping we're not in for a horrible night. By the end of the night, she just looked miserable. We're thinking she has the head cold because she grabs her head like it's just killing her. Poor thing, I just hate seeing her like that...I wish I could take it all away from her! She went down pretty well, with a little Tylenol to cut the edge and some Baby Vicks to help her breathe, so hopefully she'll be feeling a little better in the morning! Before the badness kicked in, she spent the evening playing with my clothes...yes folks, I think we have a girly girl on our hands...already trying on mommy's clothes :) Of course it was a maternity shirt on top of it, so basically, a dress on her, but too cute not to snap a shot!













Until tomorrow!!!

3/3/10 - 19 Weeks

Today is 19 Weeks! If this baby follows suit to Olivia, I can call myself "halfway there" since she came at 38 weeks. My spirits are still high, and I'm still feeling pretty good. I'm still holding onto the little bit of energy I have, but that seems to be dwindling! I still get headaches pretty frequently, but "knock on wood" no migraines for a while. The worst now is that pregnancy insomnia is in full effect already! I wake just about every hour, on the hour...for no reason. Just wake, then struggle to fall back asleep...repeat until my alarm goes off (well, until I finish hitting the snooze button 3 or 4 times of course). I don't know what it is...I suppose I'm getting more uncomfortable, plus the VIVID dreams you have during pregnancy can take a toll on you. I don't remember much of my dreams by the time I get up in the morning, but I know that they are very real. Not necessarily bad, or scary, just real. You wake up wondering "did that really happen, or was it really just a dream". And, you have multiple very real dreams, every night. It can be very overwhelming if you think about it...constantly trying to decipher real from dream. It's interesting though. I'm guessing this is going to last for a while, so I'll just have to get used to it!

Now, for today's pregnancy rant...today I'm, bothered by a few things I've encountered in both pregnancies...name judgement and the big 20 week ultrasound.

First, name judgement. It seems like everybody pretty much falls on one side or the other..."I love traditional, common names" or "I need something unique and 'special' for my child". I definitely fall on the traditional, common side of the coin. I mean, come on, I'm Ashley, married to Christian...you don't get much more traditional and common than that. When we picked Olivia, I had no idea how popular it is. I've never met an Olivia, never known of one in real life, and had never heard it before. Come to find out, it was #4 on lasts years name list, and I hear it everywhere now! In the end, it doesn't bother me. I love having a common name...it's never for a day bothered me. In the end, I don't care what others name their children, as I shouldn't. What bothers me is, for some reason, people who prefer the more "unique" names seem to really look down on the traditionalists of the world. Like we are doing something horrible to our child giving them a "common" name. That bothers me...why should anybody care? In the end, I think as long as everybody realizes how important a name really is, really puts some thought into naming their child (including thinking about their adult life), you are doing right by your child no matter what name you choose...so don't worry about our ordinary, common children :)

As for the 20 weeks ultrasound...when you are pregnant, you are usually covered for two ultrasounds...one early on IF you need one to date your pregnancy, and one around 20 weeks. I HATE when people refer to the 20 week ultrasound as a "gender ultrasound"...it's beyond annoying. The purpose of the ultrasound is to check baby's heart, organs, growth/size, check mom's fluid levels and in general just make sure everything looks like it's progressing on track...THIS is the most important part. In addition, just being able to see your little one is so amazing and such a great experience, THIS should be what you are excited about. To see people put so much emphasis on finding out baby's sex at this ultrasound, and not focusing on the actual importance of it, breaks my heart. I mean, I'm not going to lie, we found out with Olivia, and intended on it the whole time...but didn't even ask to know until she had checked everything and told us everything looked good. And, we're not sure if we're going to find out this time, but if we do, it will again be the last thing on our mind's when it comes to the appointment itself. I guess I just wish people would focus more on the basics of pregnancy, rather than on girl vs. boy parts.

OK, weekly rant over!!

Until tomorrow!!!

3/2/10 - 14 Months!

Wow, that's all I can really say, WOW. Olivia is 14 months old today. To most, 14 months doesn't seem like a huge span of time, but in the world of babies, it really is. To think of how far she has come in 14 months, amazes me...

She has been walking for a few months now, and at this point, she runs, walks backwards, hardly, if ever ,falls, stumbles or tumbles.

She has 8 monster choppers (which she has had for quite a while), and molars that should be popping through any day now. And she loves brushing her teeth!! I'm actually in the process of making her first dentist appointment..."excited" to see how that goes!

She is around 24lbs now, and getting taller by the second. We haven't measured her lately, so I'll have to do it. I'll be scheduling her 15 month check up for April, so I'll be excited to see what her latest stats are!

She's picking up more and more words. In this area, I don't expect too much...everything I've read on the topic says that bilingual children take longer to actually speak because they are taking in so much and trying to separate everything. My mother in law speaks Spanish to Olivia pretty much at all time...Christian does occasionally (I wish he did more!), and other than that she gets English...so she gets a good mix of both. At this point, she has "baby" down pat, she says it non stop (and does know what it means...she looks at my belly and touches it when I ask her "where is baby"...it's adorable). She says "stop it" ALL the time. She says "si" and "que", and knows what they mean (yes and what in Spanish). She's been saying "mama" and "dada/papa" for quite a while now, but unfortunately prefers "dada". Those are her main words at this point. She seems to be repeating us more and more, which is hopefully a sign that she's catching on!

She's been off formula for a little over a month now (and our checkbook is happy about that), and hasn't had a bottle period since last Thursday, which is very exciting! She loves food...ALL food...meats, veggies, fruits. She is a great eater, so hopefully that sticks. She takes her sippy great so she still gets about 24oz of milk per day, plus some water, so that makes me very happy!

And, the best part of her is her amazing personality. She isn't afraid of anything...she'll jump, roll and throw herself off just about everything, she wanders into dark, empty rooms on her own to explore, she "talks" to and plays with anybody and everybody (child, adult, friendly face, stranger)....she flashes a great smile to everybody we pass in the grocery store :). It is scary, but at the same time, I love how brave she is. She always has a room lighting smile on her face, and the BEST laugh I've ever heard, so she'll brighten anybody's day! I've said it before, and I'll say it again, we definitely hit the jackpot with this amazing little girl!

FINALLY - I got the pictures up and they are ready for the world to view! Here is her 2 Month/14 Month comparison...my what a difference a year makes!

Until tomorrow!!!

3/1/10 - Case of the Monday's...

Well, I'd say today I have a definite case of the Monday's. I'm never quite ready for Monday's to get here, and I don't know why really. I usually get up between 5:15-5:30 to get ready for work during the week...on the weekends, I'm up by 7:30 at the latest most of the time, plus I obviously go to bed earlier on work nights, so it's really not THAT big of a difference...so why am I so much more exhausted?? I have no clue. And, why are Monday's so busy at work...shouldn't it be slow since everybody was off for the weekend?? Again, I have no clue. And, I'm back on Olivia driving duty...well, for this week anyway. We've decided to switch off weeks from here on out...which should be good for both of us. On the VERY plus side, my mother in law sent home lots of food for us, so there won't be any cooking in my near future!! YAY for that. So, today was just a regular Monday in the end...work, home, eat, play, bed. I am happy the Olympics are over though, so that's a silver lining! Don't get me wrong, I was an athlete my whole life, I enjoy most sporting events and I love the winter...but the Olympics, especially the winter games, just bore me to no end. Plus, they interrupt my regular broadcasting, which of course upsets me greatly! So, one bright side to Monday I suppose!


Here are a couple pictures from today...Olivia was happy as can be bright and early ready to head off to grandma's for the day. Later, she decided her diaper box was going to be the entertainment for the evening. Seriously, why do we buy kids toys?? Boxes would seriously do just fine...











Until tomorrow!!!

2/28/10 - Goodbye February!!!

WOW, I cannot believe today is the last day of February! This year is already just flying by, it's so hard to believe. Tomorrow will be MARCH, that is so weird to say. And March means, we'll be saying goodbye to winter in no time. It's a double edged sword for me. I am one of those rare people that actually prefer winter of all the seasons (though I will admit, we got WAY more snow than necessary this year), so a part of me is sad to see it go. BUT, I'm excited for spring/summer this year for many reasons. Of course, first of all, welcoming our new bundle this summer is very exciting. But, I'm excited for spring to start getting outside more and more with Olivia. Taking her down to the park, on walks through the neighborhood, playing in the backyard. It's going to be so much fun. She's such a daredevil, and so independent, she's just going to LOVE the freedom of being outdoors. So, for once, I really do welcome the end of winter!

Today was pretty low key. We were up and at em' early, as usual. I got ready and headed out to Target to do our weekly shopping. It was nice to get up and get it done early...and actually get it done on Sunday for a change! Then, we took my mom to dinner for her birthday!! Here is a picture from dinner :)
Until tomorrow (MARCH)!!!

2/27/10 - Beautiful Winter Day!

Today was so nice out!! These are the best days of winter...snow all around, sun shining bright, warmer temps...just perfect! We didn't even have to have the heat on today...it was so sunny the sun kept the house nice and toasty!! After Christian got home from work, we decided it was a good time to (for the first time this winter) shovel/clean off the deck. We've been contemplating some winter grilling for a while, but that was impossible with the amount of snow we had out there. So, we figured while the weather was nice, we'd take Olivia out to play and clean it off! Olivia had so much fun, and did NOT want to go back inside. She was not happy about being cut off from out door play...but the sun started going down, and the shade was taking over, so it was getting way too cold for her to be out there. Poor thing. While we were out, we built a big snow slide and took her down it, she "helped" shovel the snow away and she just got down and dirty playing in all that white stuff. There is no doubt that this child has winter running through her veins!!

After some winter play, we just had some family time inside...watched some TV, played with all the toys...the usual! I thought Christian and I would be in for a long night of catching up on some shows...unfortunately we both passed out on the couch within about 10 minutes of Saturday Night Live. WOW, we are party animals!

Day two of no bottle is in full effect as well. So far, so good! I don't even think she notices it's gone, so YAY for that! Here are some pics from our outdoor adventures!

Until tomorrow!!!

2/26/10 - Happy Birthday Mom!

Today is my mom's birthday...so HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! She has big casino plans tonight, so we're taking her to dinner on Sunday to celebrate!

Olivia and I just spent the day playing at home...destroying the basement in the process. Christian had to work a couple hours late, so it was a pretty long day. Our big news is...we are taking Olivia off the bottle, and we're very nervous about it! She was on three bottles a day...once she turned 1, we started weaning her off formula and the bottle at the same time. We took away her afternoon bottle, and she did just fine. Then, we took away her morning bottle and worked on getting her to take the sippy cup more...this took some time, but went fairly well. Now, she is doing great with her sippy...almost a full glass with each meal, and she hardly drinks any of her bottle at bedtime, so we think it's time! I do think she'll do just fine with it, but change is always a little scary. Our biggest reason for getting her off the bottle (other than the fact that they recommend to do it around 12 months) is that we need her to be completely over them before baby comes, so she doesn't get jealous about it. Hopefully this is soon enough to get it out of her mind. So, we'll see how it goes!!

Here is today's picture...as you can see, she always has her sippy close by!!











Until tomorrow!!!

2/25/10 - End to a Long Work Week!

Today is my Thursday/Friday, and it is very welcomed!! I need a B-R-E-A-K, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend! Christian will be at work tomorrow, like normal, and he's also working some more overtime on Saturday, so it will just be me and the lady for the next couple of days. Sunday we're taking my mom to dinner for her birthday, and I'll hopefully make it out for my weekly Target shopping, otherwise...NO PLANS! I'm very excited about that!

Today was a pretty boring day overall...work as usual, then home for the usual dinner, play and bed! I will say, I was officially hit with my first ever craving today, and it was very overwhelming. Right around lunch time I was hit with the NEED for Chinese food...and it would not go away. I swear, I was about to cry I wanted some so bad...so I ended up ordering some take out, risking my parking spot at work, and picking some up...I just couldn't take it anymore! I felt like such a loser...but it was delicious and well worth it!!

Here are some pics of Olivia from tonight...she's really been getting into her Lego's and love having me put them together for her. She's also become obsessed with the cable boxes...she's figured out the "on/off"button, and it is NOT cool. Of course "NO" means "do it again" in her world, so nothing helps with this little phase.











Until tomorrow!!!

2/24/10 - 18 Weeks!

Well, today is 18 Weeks!! I still can't believe it! So close to half way! I'm feeling good, but I'm already starting to feel uncomfortable. Maybe it has to do with the previous c-section, maybe I'm just so tired it's making me uncomfortable, maybe it's just the added energy Olivia requires, but I am UNCOMFORTABLE! I'm now up 3 lbs (trust me, this update will stop once I'm embarrassed by my number!), which doesn't seem like much, but I have this huge belly anyway! I actually like that though :)

I've decided I'm adding a little rant to my weekly pregnancy update. Seriously, I swear, being pregnant is so stressful, in so many ways...I've decided to vent to the world about what bugs me. Sit back and enjoy the ride :)

Today's vent is weight..not actually gaining it necessarily, but other peoples' view of it.

With Olivia, I packed on the LBS, from day 1. I never had any morning sickness, I was always hungry, and I subconsciously decided I was "eating for two" and took that literally. By this point, with her, I was already up around 17lbs! On top of it, gaining weight with her happened EVERYWHERE, and my belly didn't grow out, it grew wide. I was so disgusted with myself my entire pregnancy, it actually was starting to depress me. I felt out of control, and like there wasn't anything I could do about it. I still loved being pregnant, but it was really ruining the experience for me.

As I mentioned above, I've so far gained 3 lbs, which doesn't seem like much to me, but I definitely LOOK pregnant. But, everything feels different. I had really bad morning sickness for the first 14/15 weeks, so I actually lost weight, and since, have been slowly putting it on. Some days I'm starving, some days I force myself to eat. BUT, the biggest difference this time, I actually feel OK with myself...I feel like my belly is growing out, much cuter, and I'm not gaining weight everywhere else (at least not yet). I actually have a healthy view of myself.

Now, here's my rant...why do people think it's OK to comment on somebody's weight just because that somebody is pregnant? I've had so many people already tell me how "big" I am "already", and ask "are you sure you aren't having twins". Even Christian, my wonderful husband, looked at me like I had two heads when I told him I've only gained 3lbs...following it up with "how can that be, look at your big tummy"...nice. I'm 18 weeks, already getting these comments...what is it going to be like 10, 15, 20 weeks from now? The worst part about it is that every time somebody says something, it just chips away at my confidence, and I don't want to end up in the place I was in last pregnancy...depressed and upset and overly emotional about it. But what can I do? I know logically people aren't saying things to hurt my feelings or be mean, but it's hurtful. You wouldn't walk up to Jane walking down the street and comment on her sudden weight gain, so why do you think it's OK to comment on it to me just because there is a person growing inside of me?

So, in conclusion, NOTE TO EVERYONE: It is never, I repeat in capital letters, NEVER OK to comment on somebody's weight, body shape or anything of that nature, pregnancy or not!

Until tomorrow!!!