Our Family

Football season has begun. Bart and his dad went to the 1st of many games that our family will be attending this fall. We are headed to the ASU v. ECU game tomorrow. It will be Olivia’s first football game. Be prepared for some really cute pictures! Hey! It’s great to be a Mountaineer!

I started back to school last week and the kids came yesterday. I had to leave my little munchkin with her Mimi and Pa-pa last week and I miss her soooooo much! She has had a little cold which makes it even worse. But she is doing great and I am surviving. I am at a new school and new system this year. I know, it was a quick change–I just interviewed 3 weeks ago. I had a lot of last minute packing and have A LOT of unpacking and organizing to do, but I am going to like being her. Now I am only 3 miles from school.

Back to Olivia. She is so close to walking. She is standing by herself without holding on. I’ll report back when she takes her first steps. Her 9 month appointment went well.  The docotr says she has great balance–hence her standing so well on her own. She is 29″ tall and weighed 21 lb. 2.5 oz. She still has just her bottom 2 teeth and very little hair. I’ll have to post some more pictures soon.

I have been really bad about getting back on track with my blogging since Bart and I got back from Hawaii–we went with his family and left Olivia with my parents. Man, was that hard. Luckily she waited until we got back to officially start crawling. She is moving pretty quickly now and has even pulled up in her crib and at the coffee table a couple of times. She and I spend our days together at the pool, chasing Emma our cat, doing summer projects, and just hanging out. She is amazing. I love her more every day. We keep waiting to see all the new things she is learning to do. Right now, we are working on sippy cups. I’ve bought about 5 different kinds now, most recently, one with a straw. Still, all she wants to do is chew on them. We are waiting for her top 2 teeth to make their appearance any time now. She is growing everywhere but her hair (ha ha). She is in size 4 diapers and mostly 12 to 18 month clothing. She can still fit in a few 9 month outfits, usually dresses where length does not matter as much. She is really strong and loves to watch other kids–other babies, big kids, she is facinated by all of them. Here are a few pictures from 4th of July (she was determined to eat some grass) and in her Hawaiian dress we brought back for her.

All American Girl and Her Hero

Two All American Girls

What are you up to?

Yum, This looks good!

No, Baby Girl, you cannot eat the grass!

Hawaiian Baby

Olivia is getting both of her bottom teeth. The right one has broken the skin and the left is getting ready to make an appearance. We didn’t even notice. No swollen gums. No sleepless nights. No fever or diarrhea. Bart and I were feeding her last night and talking about when she might get teeth. I was telling him some of the signs that I had heard to look for. I stuck my finger in her mouth just to check since she did seem to be drooling a lot more in the past 2 days. I wanted to see if her gums looked swollen or irritated and low and behold my finger touched something sharp. She’s such a good baby–maybe the others will come in easy too! Uh Oh Grandmomma and Granddaddy–you may have to go through teething one more time while we’re on vacation! I’ll post pictures as soon as Olivia will let me in her mouth!

Olivia’s 6 month appointment went well. Well, except the 3 shots she had to have. But she was a brave girl, only crying a few minutes. She is now 18 lbs. 8 1/2 oz. 27 1/4 inches and has a 17 inch head circ. The doctor say she is continuing to make really good eye contact and her curiosity (I call it nosiness) are really impressive. We will continue soy formula and talk about trying milk very slowly at 1 year. She has now tried applesauce, pears, peaches, bananas, green beans, green peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, and of course rice cereal. We think the bananas caused her to break out so  we will wait a while before we try those again. But she is growing really well.

Olivia had some more firsts this weekend. We went strawberry picking at Patterson Farms on Saturday. Olivia had a ball and we picked 3 baskets full of beautiful strawberries. Bart and I took turns carrying her and while we picked, so did she. Well, she pulled leaves off the plants and them tore them into pieces ( she also loves to tear napkins, paper towels, any paper really into tiny little pieces).

Picking Strawberries

This is fun!

We also took Olivia to our neighborhood pool. It opened a few weeks ago and we haven’t been able to get there until Saturday and we already had her greased up with lotion from our morning on the farm. She wimpered when we first put her feet in (it was VERY cold!) Then she got used to it. Bart put her in all the way to her shoulders. She sat on the step and splashed for a while. We are looking forward to some great times at the pool this summer. I only have 3 more weeks till I’m out of school for the summer! And these pictures show what I have to look forward to.

This is cold!

Splash! Splash!

I Like this Daddy!

New Family

Olivia got her first cousin and Bart and I became Aunt and Uncle for the first time on Thursday, May 14 @ 3:44 pm to an 8 lb. 9 oz. 21 1/4 inch baby boy. My sister, her husband and Baby Lucas are doing well. They came home from the hospital on Saturday. Olivia has already visited her new cousin and can hardly wait for him to be big enough to play with her!

I

Cousins

We all went to Raleigh this past weekend for my cousin Kelley’s graduation from NC State. Olivia had her first visit to Carter Finley and to campus. I’ve included some pictures at the stadium. We even got her some decals so that she will be ready for her first football game this fall. Her daddy can hardly wait!

Looking at the Wolves

My Little Wolfpacker

Daddy & His Little Lady Wolf

 Olivia also got to visit her Great Nanny’s house for a little while. They played pat-a-cake together!

Me and My Great Nanny

Noah Giving Me Hugs & Kisses

I Like Your Glasses Grandmomma

Oreo is Licking My Toes...That Tickles