10 Months!!

Holy Cow! It has been a very long time since I have posted on here.

Olivia has grown so much! I almost feel like she isn't a baby anymore, that is until she has a breakdown at night and wont go to sleep until three hours past her bedtime.

10 Months old and loving it!

Well, Grandma Winter AKA Yaya came for a visit these past two weeks and Olivia absolutely loved having her here (not to mention me. I LOVED having her here and cried like a baby when she left). We found out some things about Olivia during her grandmother's stay. For example, she absolutely LOVES the first 10 minutes of Robin Hood, the Disney movie. She jumps up and down and screams from excitement as the introduction music plays! It's pretty much one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. She loves to do the hand sign to the song Cinco Lobitos with yaya, not so much with her mama, though. Basically she just loved having her yaya around and misses her so much. She and yaya skype to keep in touch, though.

                                 Olivia only likes the first few minutes and then, as you can see, she loses interest.

Olivia has perfected the army crawl and is so close to crawling on her hands and knees, I'm pretty sure she'll get it by the end of the day. We just ordered a baby gate online because even though she's just army crawling, she's a fast little army baby! Olivia is such a talker. She doesn't say much, but she's always "talking." She also understands the signs for "eat," "drink," and "outside." Mama can't wait for her to sign them back! Olivia loves to go on walks, especially to the park near our house where she adores watching the other children play and swinging in the baby swing.

 She also loves grocery shopping. And boy, does she LOVE to eat bananas. They're pretty much her favorite thing in the whole entire world. She'll start whining for one with just the sight of it.

Olivia started sleeping though the night again, that is until yaya visited. There was just so much excitement with her here! But we're working on getting her on schedule again. She's a great napper though! She always takes her naps. Olivia absolutely hates hats of any kind. 2.5 second after I put her sun hat on it's off again. And the baby bath cap I ordered online is completely useless as it stays on her head for exactly 1.4 seconds. Luckily she doesn't know quite yet when she is wearing a bow! (Sneaky mama!)

Olivia loves playing with blocks and she loves to break down the towers that dada makes. She also loves to play with headphones, shoes, and dishware (that is until mama takes it away)! Olivia is very good at following directions. When she has something in her hand that she shouldn't I ask her, "Can mama have that?" and then she gives it to me! Can you believe that?! Olivia's absolute favorite thing ever, though, is being outside. Olivia loves to play with other babies, but sadly, she doesn't get to do that too often. Olivia also loves going to grandma and grandpa's house. She loves to see the horses, goats, cats, dog, but especially the chickens! Those are her favorite! 

Olivia is growing up into a little toddler, though she's not quite toddling ;) 

I can't believe it's almost her birthday. It's crazy how time flies. 

And now... for your viewing pleasure

6 Months!

She's starting to fill in that chair!

It's been a while! Olivia has been super busy growing and I've been super busy trying to keep up with her. I just wanted to update you guys on how she's doing and things that she loves!

Back when Olivia was around 4 months old, her pediatrician recommended we start her on solids. We started her on rice cereal and she LOVED it! I guess I must have eaten my fair share of rice while I was pregnant/nursing. Since then we have been slowly chunking up the cereal to about the thickness of those baby food jars and she's rocking at eating. There is certainly a bunch that ends up on her face and clothes, but I think more ends up in her mouth. Just the other day we tried carrots with her and she loves those too! She wasn't so sure her first couple of tastes, but she got the hang of it and now she can't get enough! We are excited to keep trying new foods with her! We're also excited for the weather to get warmer so that she can eat naked - less laundry for mama!

Obviously, for those of you who have had kids, babies schedules change - A LOT! Last time I blogged, Olivia was sleeping through the night regularly. After she got her four month shots that changed. I'm sure it had something to do with teething and growing up, but she's now waking up every 3-4 hours for a little midnight snack. Speaking of teething. Olivia's working really hard to get those two bottom teeth to break through. We're not quite there yet, but she's working on it! 

Around Christmas time Olivia and I took a trip to San Antonio, TX for her to meet the  rest of the Winter bunch. Sadly, daddy couldn't come because he had work and school. :(  Olivia had a fun time spending some time with her Spanish grandma and her aunt and uncles. Unfortunately it was also a difficult time for her. Obviously she missed her daddy very much. On top of that, her schedule changed a little bit, she wasn't sleeping in her own bed, she started teething, and she got sick with a fever ear, and eye infection. My poor tiny tuna. The flight home was probably the worst she had ever felt. She got motion sickness and threw up, a lot. But she got home, we got her the medicine she needed and she slowly got back to her old self again. I only wish the fam in Texas could have seen her regular, happy, cheery self. Maybe one day soon. 

"Good things come in small packages"

Olivia hanging out with her monkey buddy at grandma's house.

Laughing it up!

The fam bam at Cha Cha's Mexican Restaurant. 

On a brighter note, Olivia is developing physically as well as a charming personality quite rapidly! She can roll onto her side from her back and onto her back from her stomach. We're getting pretty close to rolling onto her tummy from her back! Olivia knows what she wants and will reach for it really well now! She can pass a toy from hand to hand  and she can skooch along a little when she's on her tummy. We're excited (yet terrified) for her to start crawling! Olivia doesn't like to spend too much time on her belly, though. She rather be standing up with mommy and daddy's help. Knowing her, I wouldn't be surprised if she skipped crawling and just went straight to walking! She loves to be on her feet! If daddy helps her steady her she'll take steps toward mommy! She's recently found her feet and grabs for them every time I change her diaper! She's also getting really close to being able to sit by herself. Olivia is also "talking" up a storm! She loves to communicate with mommy and daddy, especially if they are having a conversation that she's not initially included in.  Basically, she's getting cuter every day! 

Snow day!

Olivia certainly knows what she likes too! She has shown us that her favorite color is orange! We have some orange bowls that we sometimes use and she reaches for them like nothing else! Also, for Christmas we got a Disney store gift card and we took Olivia with us to see what we could get for her. We were looking through some of the stuffed animals and showing them to her to get a reaction out of her. First we showed her some of the bears from the movie Brave and she didn't really show any enthusiasm, but then we showed her Nemo and Tigger and she reached for them with a determined look on her face! What a cutie! We ended up getting her a Belle doll that she could enjoy when she got a little older (Thank you Marina Hernandez!).

Olivia usually concentrates really hard when she's burping, but here she got distracted by mama.

Like we told you last time, Olivia still loves her baths! And she loves to play with toys in the bath! But her absolute favorite bath toy is her bath time bubble book. We have to wait until the end of her bath to give it to her, haha. If you take it from her she gets really sad and might even start crying  a little. She's gonna love reading! ;) jeje. Toys, Toys, Toys. Toys are so important for a developing little person and Olivia loves the toys she has. Funnily enough, her favorite part of EVERY toy she has is the tag. Something about that tag just calls out to her, I guess. She plays with other parts of the toy too, but boy does she love that little piece of paper hanging off of the very colorful toys. She's a funny little girl.

She loves those tags!

All in all, Olivia is growing like a weed (except a whole lot cuter) and she's loving life. She loves to go on walks, going to the grocery store, eating, sleeping, bath time, and play time with her parents. She knows her name and she knows what she likes. She's the boss of the house and she likes it that way.

Until next time.  

Nice Guys Finish Full

A couple of weekends ago Bryce, Olivia, and I went out on a date night to Red Robin. My mom had sent us some money to go out and celebrate our birthdays (not for bills, specifically NOT for bills). First was Bryce's choice and what a good decision it was. We went around 3:30 or 4 pm so as to avoid the dinner rush. It wasn't very busy at all so the hostess showed us directly to our table. We flipped through the menu and both decided on the Royal Red Robbin burger (which I HIGHLY recommend). Soon enough I thought, "Well, that's weird. I never decide on something before the waiter asks what we want." Minutes passed and we were never asked what we wanted, not even a drink order! I thought that was really strange given how NOT busy the place was. Olivia and I are on the same feeding track, meaning we're always hungry at the same time and I was even able to finish her feeding and change an explosive diaper (because they are ALWAYS explosive when we're in public, - it's science) before anyone came and helped us. Finally, Bryce just decided he would bring it up with the hostess. At first we were pretty frustrated, maybe even a little angry and  really hungry after about half an hour or more of waiting (I even asked Bryce if he wanted me to swipe some of the leftover fries on the table behind us), but we decided to be kind and  Bryce patiently told the hostess that we hadn't been helped yet. 

Later we found out that the person that was in charge of our area left without telling anyone. Anyways, the hostess ended up helping our table. She took our orders and quickly brought us our bottomless fries so we could get started eating. Soon after, with many apologies and thanks for being so patient, she brought us our order. Oh my heavens, it was delicious! It was probably the best burger I've ever had. After we finished, the hostess came by and asked if we wanted any dessert (now I don't know about you, but I almost never have room for dessert when eating out - especially when they have BOTTOMLESS fries! ) and knowing what she was going to say I already started shaking my head no, but then she finished her sentence "...on the house." Ok, full or not I am not a person to turn down a free dessert! We picked the mountain high mud pie, which I also highly recommend. Very satisfied, we decided it was totally worth the wait. As the hostess came by with the bill she told us, "Since you guys were so nice and waited so patiently, I had a manager take care of the bill."

WOW!

And we thought the wait was worth it for the free dessert, but now the whole meal was free?!? Our testimony that patience and kindness are the way to go was strengthened that day. And so, nice guys don't always finish last, sometimes they finish full! 

We're 3 Months Old!

Olivia turned three months old last week and I figured that would be a good time to update everyone on how she's doing, what she loves, and milestones she's reached.

Olivia just finished her 3 month growth spurt and she's loving life. Her feedings are back on a schedule, although that schedule is stretching a little now since she doesn't need to eat as often. She's also sleeping through the night regularly. Bryce has work early in the morning so we all go to bed around 7 or 8. Bryce leaves for work at 3 and Olivia sleeps until 6:30am. I, on the other hand, am so used to her old schedule that I still wake up anywhere between midnight and one in the morning. I am one who loves sleep, so after her morning feeding I  can usually get her to sleep another hour and a half until daddy gets home. So technically, yes, she sleeps through the night but she's also nice to her mommy and lets her sleep a little while longer. 

We saw Olivia's first social smile soon after her first month of life, but now she smiles like a champ whenever she sees mommy and daddy (especially if they are acting silly). Olivia's first laugh sprouted out a couple of weeks ago. Mommy was singing and dancing for her and BAM! her first laugh! She's laughed at daddy too since then. We can't wait for her laugh to become boisterous! 

Olivia (like many of her counterparts) is not too fond of tummy time (mostly because it frustrates her that she can't crawl yet) but she is so good at lifting her head and shoulders for good periods of time. When she's on her belly she'll kick and pull so that she scoots forward and to the side in her first attempts at crawling! On the other hand Olivia LOVES to stand. She has the strength to stand on her own for long periods of time, obviously though she needs mommy or daddy's help balancing. Sometimes when mommy or daddy's arms get tired and they sit her down, she fusses because she just wants to stand some more.

Olivia has finally found her hands and she decided that they are wonderfully delicious. Many times you'll look over to find her sucking on her fists, not her thumb or middle two fingers mind you, the whole dang hand! It's nice and chilly here in good ol' Utah, so most times we'll have some mittens on her, in those cases she'll stare at her hands in confusion (mom, did my hands change colors?!) but eventually she'll suck on those too!  

Olivia staring at her hands during her 3 month photo shoot.

Olivia's favorite time of the day (besides the morning when daddy comes home) is nighttime, right before bed. As part of her bedtime routine Olivia takes a bath - which is probably her all-time favorite thing. A couple of weeks ago mommy taught her how to splash in the water and now she does nothing else. She loves it when mommy and daddy cheer for her: Yay Olivia! Good splash! 

Olivia loves music and dancing especially if it's Disney songs and especially if mommy is dancing super silly to them. I mean, that's how her first laugh broke through to the surface! She also loves it when mommy and daddy jump around like crazy heads - pretty much whenever they act silly. We already told you about how Olivia loves to stare at and suck on her hands, but she also loves to stare at her feet. She hasn't quite found them yet, I'm sure when she does she'll love to suck on those too, but she loves to follow her feet, especially when they are bare! 

Olivia loves all of her blankies especially her pink one with super cool patterns and her elephant one. Oh, she loves elephants! She'll stare at her elephant blankie for days and she has a little elephant toy that hangs off of her carseat that she just adores! Olivia loves to fly around in her mommy and daddy's arms! She's quite the little airplane! A couple of times mommy and daddy will give her a little lick of something here and there and boy does she love to taste mommy's and daddy's dum dum lollipops! At first she was really confused by them, but now when she sees mom or dad with a lollipop she'll reach out for it! 

All in all, Olivia is doing great! She's a happy little baby who is very patient with her parents. 

Real Women

You know, lately I've been thinking a lot about "real women" and how they are portrayed by the world, by books, and even by Disney. Not "real women" as in have you had your period yet, but more like what women should look like and the things they should aspire to. This, I know, can be a touchy topic and my goal is not to rant, but rather to uplift. 

Now I know everyone has heard it up to their ears about how magazines touch up pictures  to the point of non-recognition, and that a size 0 model is the way to be. And obviously there are a very few of us that actually look like that (and for those of you that do, congratulations! I'm sure there are things about your figure that are difficult to deal with too, or maybe not. Either way I'm sure you're tired of hearing about these kinds of things). The only thing I have to say about that is that it's unrealistic for every woman and girl to aspire to this way of being. There are different body types and that doesn't change with diet and exercise. For instance, I am a Spaniard and with that comes a set of full thighs and bottom. I used to resent those qualities when I was a teenager, but I have come to not only accept but also love them (on most days) as a token of my culture and family history. Plus it's easier to love them when I know my husband does. And always remember, you are your own worst critic. Those things you may hate about yourself might be someone's favorite thing about you!

For those of you who may not know, I just had my first baby -  a precious little girl. As such I have spent a lot of my time reading pregnancy and postpartum books. I learned a lot of helpful information about what my body was going through, and what it would be going through. I was very grateful for these books and the knowledge they imparted to me. I was also surprised (though I probably shouldn't have been) on the amount of time spent in these books on the topic of getting back to your pre-pregnancy shape. Now, obviously it's important to be healthy through and after a pregnancy (and always) especially if you plan on breastfeeding, and obviously that will include losing some of that weight you gained, but the way these books pushed the topic crossed the healthy line into the vanity zone. This is only compounded by the latest talk of Kate Middleton and her appearing out of the hospital with (who would of thought!) a rounded, bloated post pregnancy belly. Why? people asked... because she JUST HAD A BABY FOR PETE'S SAKE! Many people spoke out about this and how it was ridiculous that the media even cared - good for you! 

Personally, as I went through my pregnancy I told myself over and over again that my body would never be exactly the same again and I was ok with that. Stretch marks aside (because sometimes they make me feel unattractive) I really am not upset with my post-pregnant body. It's shaped a little bit differently, but that's ok. Sometimes I wish I could get a new wardrobe though, because the only time I feel badly about my body is when clothes don't fit me correctly. But that's OK! My body is now a mother's body, it functions differently than it did before and to do that, it has to look a little bit different. What a worthy sacrifice: in order to bring a child into this world, your body will be a little different afterwards. Let's celebrate that!! 

So, the Disney movie Lilo & Stitch recently arrived on Netflix instant streaming and it made me think back and remember the first time I saw it when I was a kid. I remember that through much of the movie I had an internal battle going on in my mind about whether the older sister  Nani Pelekai was really beautiful or not (shame on me!). She certainly didn't look like any of the other Disney princesses I knew; why, she looked more like ME! I thank the makers of this movie for making the beautiful older sister that you look up to look more like me than the other Disney princesses, for making her look like a real woman with hips and a butt and a belly that can actually hold all the necessary human organs inside of it! 

In the end, every woman is different - embrace that! Be as much you as you can be. Don't aspire to look like someone else, because genetics makes that impossible! Aspire to be healthy, embrace your body, and be happy.

Ok, maybe that was a little bit of a rant... Sorry!

Olivia's Birth Story

A triumphant return! So it's been a couple months -- I guess having a baby'll do that to ya. But I have now returned and my life has been turned upside down in the best way there is.

OLIVIA WAS BORN!

Olivia Renee Allred was born on July 10th 2013 at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. She was 6 lbs 14 oz and 19.5 inches long. This blog post will be all about how our precious little girl came into this world and joined our little family.

Well, first I'll have to travel back to the Saturday before Olivia was born. My mom and I had been talking about ways to get labor moving along because she wanted to spend some time with Olivia before she had to fly back home. She told me stories about how her five kids came along. One thing I thought was too funny was that when she was pregnant with both my older brother and me, she went into labor shortly after watching an Audrey Hepburn movie. Later that night I was having some dull pain in my stomach. Of course, this being my first pregnancy, I really had no idea what a contraction felt like. Looking back, I know they were very small beginning contractions. I shrugged them off at first. Well, the night was young and Bryce, my mom, and I were looking for a source of entertainment. We have netflix and decided, "Hey let's check out this Katy Perry movie everyone spoke so highly of." As the movie progressed I realized (kind of) that I was having more pain in my stomach. I was really unsure of myself so I told my mom what I was feeling. She suggested to time them to see how close they were coming. Could Katy Perry be my Audrey Hepburn? 

I was still really unsure of myself, especially in if I was timing them correctly. In my perfect labor fantasy, I always imagined my water would just break so I wouldn't have to worry about all this timing junk! Well after about half an hour of hesitant timing, we realized the contractions were coming about three minutes apart. So, we gathered all of our prepacked bags and jumped into the car (well, I waddled). Bryce admitted, "This is nothing like I imagined driving to the hospital would be." He imagined driving in the middle of the night with me screaming in pain, but the contractions weren't very painful and the drive was pretty peaceful. 

Well, we arrived at the hospital and after a brief moment of paperwork (thank goodness for preregistration!) we were admitted into a room. 

I changed into one of their oh-so-flattering hospital gowns and they checked me to see if I was really in labor. At the start I was dilated to 3 cm. In the duration of my 4-hour stay, my contractions came to be closer together (about a minute and a half apart) and much, MUCH more painful. I remember crying as I pleaded with my mom, "They're not gonna send me home, are they?" She didn't believe they would since I was freaking contracting EVERY MINUTE. Yet, at the end of 4 hours I was still dilated at 3 cm. Practice labor. Practice labor they called it! I don't think that's something someone needs to "practice" for. The nurse came in with the news that they would be sending me home with a shot of morphine. As soon as the nurse left I started bawling! I could not believe I could be in so much pain and not be progressing - not getting any closer to having my baby girl in my arms. Although, my dramatic spells of tears certainly slowed once I got the morphine shot. They wheeled me out of the hospital and as the pain faded I was able to fall asleep. 

So, Katy Perry isn't my magic labor kick start button -- but walking is! Friday evening the day before I actually went into "real" labor, my mom, Bryce, and I went on a long, brisk walk at Bridal Veil Falls. You know, my real labor was actually a lot more like my perfect labor fantasy than my practice labor was. Saturday morning/early afternoon, July 10th, I was getting dressed for my OBGYN appointment (really upset that I actually still had those to go to) and my water broke! So not only did I not have to worry about counting contractions, but labor started during the day time! (In the back of my mind I was worried about laying down to go to sleep and then labor starting when I was tired and spent from a day of pregnancy). Once again we all loaded all of our bags into the car and Bryce exclaimed, "Well, this is even less like I pictured driving to the hospital would be." It was bright and sun-shiney outside and we were happily (yet admittedly nervously) listening to the radio. 

Soon enough we were admitted to a room again. My water was breaking slowly so they were able to check my amniotic fluid there. They found out that there was meconium in the amniotic fluid and that could pose a health risk to the baby (Oh great! Like that's what I needed to hear!) So they called for the NICU personnel to be ready when Olivia was delivered. I was dilated a little over 3 cm. about 45 minutes later I was dilated to a 6. The nurse said I had a very favorable cervix, which is probably one of the most meaningful compliments I've ever gotten (at least it meant a lot to me then, because I was in major pain and anything favorable was a godsend). In fact, during my labor there was a shift change in the nurses and the second nurse thought they had me on pitocin and thought they should take me off. The first nurse assured her it was just my own labor progress. While I was a 6 cm I had the incredible urge to push - I'm sure it was the bearing down I had read about in all the numerous pregnancy/labor books. I told the nurse about the pain and the urge. She said that I was not ready for the pushing stage yet, so they gave me the epidural and I took it HAPPILY. A couple hours passed and the next time they checked up on me I was at 10 cm and ready to push! What I didn't understand is why after finding out I was at 10 cm it took so long for anyone to come assist me in the pushing stage. It was probably an hour after they checked me that they actually told me to start pushing. It was annoying at the time, but I was on the epidural, so it's not like I was in much pain and I guess I shouldn't have minded. 

So, five hours of labor, 30 minutes of pushing, and a lot of glasses of orange-flavored ice chips later, Olivia was born! It was 8:32 pm and at the first sight of my precious baby girl I started bawling uncontrollably. I cried as the did the APGAR test in the corner (of which Olivia scored an 8 at birth and a 9 five minutes later, so thank goodness(!) the meconium didn't cause a problem) and I cried as they brought her to me. She was the most beautiful sight in the world!

Getting her tests done.

Olivia's grumpy face (probably one of my favorite pictures from the whole day!)

One happy mama!

Daddy's first time holding the baby!

Well the doctor wanted to keep us an extra day because of the meconium problem, and also when she was born they found a loose knot in the umbilical chord. Luckily everything was perfectly fine and after two days we went home. The first night at the hospital, Olivia slept the whole night through! She hasn't done that since, but we're hoping!  ;)

Here's To You: Consuela and her Tamales

I want to start a chain of blogs. I will call them "Here's to you..." These blogs will just be about people I meet or run into that I think deserve some mentioning and/or praise. This will be the first of what I hope to be many. 

So, here's to you Consuela!

A few weeks ago Bryce and I were at Walmart just doing some grocery shopping. Just as we were about to leave, a small old lady standing with a cart full of corn flour and chicken asked us, "Hablas español?" And for my spanish-challenged friends, "Do you speak spanish?" By the tone of her voice, you could tell she had asked this question to many people already. Bryce answered with a resounding yes, as just the other day we were talking about how we never really get a chance to practice spanish conversationally with others. Then Bryce and the small old lady spoke for a minute or two and she handed him a small piece of paper. Bryce came back to me and said, she needs a ride. On the piece of paper was her address.

As we walked out to our car (that hadn't been cleaned for much too long) and subsequently drove to her home, we made introductions and small talk. We found out that her name was Consuela and that she was from Mexico. She had lived in Utah for a short time, but oh how she loved it here - the temples were so close! She spoke very very fondly of the temples and the inspired work that goes on through those holy doors. We also found that her husband had been sick for a long time and that she makes tamales to sell every Wednesday and Friday. 

She was very sweet to us. When she found out that we were expecting she oo-ed and aww-ed and held my hand as tenderly as one would hold an injured dove. She wouldn't let me carry any of the groceries and gave me many well wishes. She was such a sweet spirit and she definitely lifted up our day to a new level of happiness. 

We got to her home not too many minutes later. It was a humble house, but you could tell that she loved it dearly. As we parted ways hugs flew all around, she wished us well many times, and told Bryce to take good care of me and not to let me lift anything. She invited us to her tamale stand and waved goodbye until we could no longer see her. 

What a sweet spirit and an amazing lady. Instead of leaning on the government or the church for financial support, she made her own little tamale business. She loved the temple. She loved people, strangers even. In fact, she radiated love. From the moment we met to the moment we departed she had nothing but kind and happy things to say, even though life had been hard on her. It was a blessing for us to meet her and be able to serve her in some small way.