Taking it easy

Week 10

We took a trip late in the week up to Boone to visit Grandma Lori at work, to get her Easter basket from the grandparents, and visit our new friend William Eastlund. We can't wait to play with Will & Thomas when we get bigger!

Thanks Grandma & Grandpa

I'm an adorable bunny

Then we ended the weekend visiting our friends the Hoskin's in their new home.

We also went to BF group and this week she weighs 12 lbs. 11.7 oz. I had to get some new pajamas....I'm growing so fast!

Stay tuned.....I'm beginning my last full stay at home week before heading back to work, now we really need to transition to bottle feeding with dad.

Spring Fever

Since we have been so fortunate to get so many goodies from our friends & family I haven't gotten to shop for any girly clothes for Olivia until Easter! Ok, I was just looking for an excuse to buy her some cute things. We went on a shopping trip with my mom, sister, and her kiddos. We got her a swim suite and Easter outfits for all the kids-check out the pictures.....

Easter

My Favorite

The Best One

First Family Photo

So many smooches

Mom & Olivia

After having a lunch date with Blake, we headed over to Valley West Mall to visit the Easter bunny. She did great, not afraid yet.

Visiting the Easter bunny at Valley West

 We also took Olivia to church for the first time on Easter. It was a big holiday for us-looking forward to her upcoming baptism at our new church, St. John's in Adel.

Stay tuned......

1 Fish, 2 Fish....

2 Months

(weeks 8 & 9)

Another mile marker in the books! These were two very a big weeks.

Olivia slept through the night! We woke up the next morning and were so surprised it was already 7 a.m. She normally goes to bed around 8:30/9:00 p.m. and wakes up once around 3:30 a.m. and then around 6:30 a.m. for the day. Which we are lucky enough with that schedule. We're not expecting it to happen every night now (although that would be nice). And of course it hasn't....

We visited the Blank Park Zoo with her cousins-the Chesnut's. She slept through most of it, it was nap time, but it was great to get out. We hope to visit more often as she grows.

Olivia got to visit the doctor again-this time for shots. She weighs a whopping 12 lbs. 6 oz. and is 22.8 inches long. Doctor says she is a perfect baby (we think so too). She rocked her shots, a few minutes of crying-but dad comforted her. It was the first real time that she was ok taking a pacifier and she used it the whole way home & fell asleep for a little bit. Those shots are hard work.

Resting up for shots

We also got more visitors from Grandpa Jeff's side of the family.

Aunt Kristin got to babysit while I went to have a lunch date with Avery at school. Olivia spent time playing with her cousins Sam & Will.

Then we visited Madison Elementary to visit my co-workers & students. The students had been very caring during my pregnancy, always asking how my baby was-especially after I had my check-ups. It was great seeing everyone!

Walking the neighborhood, using the baby bjorn

Stay tuned as Olivia has many more firsts, seconds.....

3, 2, 1

Get prepared, this is a long one...

As the time of going back to work is coming near I want to take time to reflect on my own journey into parenthood....feel free to read or not. I cannot believe that I will be going back to work in 3 weeks. Wow! We are trying to gear up for this transition-meaning making sure that Olivia takes to a bottle & for myself taking short trips out of the house without her. I'm not sure which one is going to be easier.

After a bottle this week, what a look!

Bottles

When we first got home from the hospital we were supplementing after each feeding & she was doing well with a bottle. As we got better with breastfeeding, we supplemented less and less. We are down to 2-6 oz. a day depending on the day. Each day she usually takes her iron in a bottle. As we are just getting into the groove-the last 2 days she hasn't taken any bottles, yay! Unfortunately by all the reading I have done to gear up to go back to work this is around the time we would want her to begin substituting a feeding with a bottle from dad. It creates mixed emotions-I'm happy we are finally doing well breastfeeding, it has been a struggle & now I'm becoming anxious about going back to work-I don't want it to be stressful for both Olivia & Blake. He is staying home the first 3 days that I head back to work, thankfully he can do this. I want her to get enough to eat while I'm away (Blake & I went out for a dinner date for 3 hours, in the time she should have had 1 bottle from my parents & she refused until I got home) and not be upset. I want it to be a great bonding time for them.

Definitely has her daddy's toes

  

My thoughts....

I have loved every minute that I have spent with her, as I say there are good days & better days. She truly is our special little girl. I can't believe that my 12 weeks have flown so quickly. I am grateful that I was able to take this much time off of work & spend it with Olivia. Reflecting on the time, the first couple of weeks I was unsure if I was going to be able to handle being off of work for 12 weeks. It was a hard transition even though I had this precious little girl, but as the weeks went on we found our routine (ok, hers-I just followed) and now the second half has gone by too quickly. Around week 5 I couldn't believe that normally I would've been preparing  to go back-I wasn't ready, we hadn't figured everything out together yet. Around week 7, I thought ok we got this-now I'll be ready to head back to work. Now week 9 is here and it really is time to start preparing to go back to work and I don't want to (or at least a part of me doesn't). I do miss my students & co-workers and doing things for myself, but I already know that I will be missing her all the time that I'm there. One thing that will help is knowing summer isn't too far away-I'm only working about 4 weeks & then I'll be back home with Olivia until August.

Things that I have learned about myself during this time:

1. Breastfeeding is hard, but I can do it!

2. Taking 12 weeks was worth it.

3. This one is hard to admit-I don't think I could be a full-time stay home mom. Work is a good place for me. Part-time would be ideal.....good thing I have summers!

Things I've Learned:

There are great supports out there for moms, take it as you will. There is always going to be unsolicited advice given, but some of it can be helpful. I enjoyed going to the breastfeeding group at Methodist West, Baby Yoga at the Family Tree, and reading FB posts from the La Leche League. They all were great  to listen or read about moms telling struggles or triumphs and feel like you're not going it alone. Yes, Blake has been a great support, but sometimes your husband just can't understand everything little thing like a fellow mom. I'm sure he would say the same about me. We each bring our own unique view to the parenting thing which is a good balance.Some advice I'd pass along....

1. As always do what works for you and your family.

2. Take it 1 day at time. 

3. Breathe

4. Ask questions-it's ok. People want to help.

Can't get enough of her smiles

As my maternity leave ends it is bittersweet, stay tuned.....Olivia is going to have some bonding time with dad, grammy & pop, and grandma & grandpa!

Thank you to all those that are helping cover my time back to work to finish out this school year, it is very very appreciated and makes this transition easier. 

On the go!!

We finally got some great weather here and we took a stroll around the neighborhood. It felt wonderful to be outside. Hoping this weather continues so we can be outside more. To get out of the house we also attend our BF group that gets us out and about weekly. This week her stats are:  11 lbs. 11.1 oz. Olivia also does a great job during our grocery store & shopping trips. She usually falls asleep in the car along the way.

We have been very fortunate from the day we came home-she is a great sleeper, with a few nights here & there that have been a struggle. We are REALLY hoping this continues.

Dreaming

Shopping trip (before & after)

First stroll around the neighborhood

 We attended our first baby yoga class at Family Tree Yoga-it was a great experience. We learned different stretches & poses both for mom & baby. Olivia's favorite pose was divine drops.They even send a video afterwards to remind you how to do the moves. I think we will give it another go next month! Another big event this week, mom & dad went out on a date to dinner-thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for babysitting! 

Stay tuned as Olivia continues to explore....