Olivia: 21 Months

Stats:

PROFILE

Weight: 21 lbs 7 oz

Size: 18 months, 24 months

Tooth Count: 16

Hair: Growing… slowly but surely. Reddish blonde and slightly curly

Nicknames: Via, Doodle (Bug), Love Bug

Nov 2013

Nov 2013

Loves: Palestra Open Gym, Playing outside, going to the park, the Dallas Arboretum Children’s Garden, Doing Art the the Perot, Sandboxes, Calliou (TV Show on PBSKids), Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood (TV Show on PBSKids), “Moo-sik”, Lotion, Reading Books before bed, Taco Joint Date Nights with Dayda, Swim Lessons w/ Miss. Amber, Playing in the Dirt/Mud/Sand

OPEN GYM

Open Gym – Sept 2013

Pumpkin Village at the Dallas Arboretum - Sept 2013

Pumpkin Village at the Dallas Arboretum – Sept 2013

Playing Dress Up - Sept 2013

Playing Dress Up – Sept 2013

Playing Dress-Up with Dayda - Oct 2013

Playing Dress-Up with Dayda – Oct 2013

Park Time - Oct 2013

Park Time – Oct 2013

Cranks: going to sleep alone, the grocery store, shopping, brushing her teeth

Best Friends: Bayo (Paden), Cami, Cousins Rylie & Remie

Moon Watching with Bayo - Oct 2013

Moon Watching with Bayo – Oct 2013

Best Friends, Cami + Via - Oct 2013

Best Friends, Cami + Via – Oct 2013

Favorite Foods: “Hot Cheese” (Macaroni & Cheese), “Maymos” (Tomatoes), Cheese, “Moo” (Milk), Ham, “O-E’s” (Oranges), Breakfast Sausage, Goldfish/Ducks/Bunnies Crackers, O’s, Muffins, Strawberries, Tacos, Hot Dogs, Pie (From Emporium Pie’s, a la mode, of course!), Apples, “Dipping”, Smoothies “Moo-mies”

G2G Taco with Dayda - October 2013

G2G Taco with Dayda – October 2013

 

Snacking at Klyde Warren Park

Snacking at Klyde Warren Park – Sept 2013

Enjoying a slice of Pie with Dayda

Enjoying a slice of Pie with Dayda – Sept 2013

Favorite Books: Llama Llama Red Pajama, Jesus Loves Me, Daddy Hugs, I Love You So, Goodnight Moon, Any of our Potty Books

Milestones:

Talking in short sentences – These are a few of my favorites… “Where’s Mommy’s Car?” “Is Dayda home?” “It’s Nigh-No Time” “Where’s the Moon, Mommy?”

Gaining independence and getting more comfortable with other adults (in nursery at church, etc.)

Sleeping through the night in her own bed (fairly consistently 7/8pm – 6/7am)

Completely weaned just after 18 months

Drinking Cow’s milk “MOO”

First Time Trick Or Treating

Swimming 8-10 seconds under water in Swim Class

Funny Via Stuff

While at Lunch at the Olive Garden, an elderly gentleman at a nearby table belches loudly to which Via responds, “NICE!”

Loves to wait at the back door for Dayda to come home from work – squeels “Dayda’s Home!” when she sees the back gate open.

Refers to her fur-collared denim vest as her “fuzzy” and begs to put “Fuzzy on”

Refers to the humidifier as “Fog” or “Foggy”- reminds us to “Fog Off”

While shopping, will look at clothing, find the tag then say, “Cute!”

Comments, “Mommy, Milk Ah-gone”

Says “Help You” instead of “Help Me” and “Hold You” instead of “Hold Me”

Likes to crawl between Mommy’s legs or underneath the dog AKA “Tunnel”

September

CA trip to visit Family Gorham

Big Bear Lake - Sept 2013

Big Bear Lake – Sept 2013

Pool Time - Sept 2013

Pool Time – Sept 2013

Dana Point - Sept 2013

Dana Point – Sept 2013

First Trip to Disneyland

First Trip to Disneyland - Sept 2013

First Trip to Disneyland – Sept 2013

First (real) trip to the beach

Gramma G in town

Arboretum / Children’s Garden / Perot Museum / Zoo / Palestra Open Gym

Rory Meyers Children's Garden - Oct 2013

Rory Meyers Children’s Garden – Oct 2013

October

Mommy & Dayda’s 3rd Wedding Anniversary

Dayda’s 30th Birthday

Paden’s 2nd Mickey Mouse Birthday Party

Pumpkin Carving

First nasty cough/cold/ear infection of the season  🙁

First time Trick or Treating (with Shugarts on Swiss Ave)  Costumed as “Lady Bug Girl”

Trick or Treating on Swiss Ave - Oct 2013

Trick or Treating on Swiss Ave – Oct 2013

Sweet, Sweet Via –

I can’t believe that the next time I update this blog, you’ll be turning 2 years old! My heart hurts just a tiny bit when I think about you not really being my baby anymore but I love watching you grow and learn every day. Your dad and I talk all the time about getting occasional glimpses into the “big-girl” version of you. You are such a sweet and gentle kid. You are learning to share, especially with your food, but also with toys and understanding what it means to take turns. I know you will make a fantastic big sister – I can’t wait to see you with your baby brother. You’re beginign to understand your dad and I when we talk about the baby in mommy’s tummy. You like to pull up my shirt and “pat, pat, pat” or kiss the baby. You also like to show us where the baby will get milk and very tell me all the time, “baby’s milk!” For the last few months, you’ve made such huge progress with sleeping through the night in your own big girl bed. Very rarely do you wake up in the middle of the night. Occasionally, you’ll be awake in the morning before your dad and I and you’ll just come stand at the side of our bed and say “mommy!” until I let you join us for some snuggles and a few more Zzz’s. You love to sing, especially when you’re getting sleepy in the car. You sing “Bye, Bye Olivia” and “This is the way we Drive the Car” and “Jesus Loves Me” from memory. It’s just amazing at how much you are absorbing. Your dad and I love you so much more than you will ever know. We are so proud of the little girl you are and feel truly blessed to be your parents.

Love,

Mommy

Family P: Pumpkin Doodle

IMG_4800

Yep! Finally getting around to making an announcement, at almost 16 weeks pregnant, I’m sure some of you were starting to wonder about my growing midsection. Daniel and I’s hearts are overwhelmed with joy! Becoming parents less than 2 years ago was the most wonderful gift and we couldn’t feel more blessed to be expecting another sweet baby on or around April 1st.

 

Picture 2

So you may remember… (hopefully not too well) that I blogged through my pregnancy with Via at Prego Mego … not likely that I’ll be able to capture as many details as I did when I was toddler-free, but my hope is that I’ll be able to document some of the major milestones with sweet baby #2 for the baby book! (Seeing as this post is happening 4 out of 10 months in to my pregnancy, don’t hold out too much hope!)

First Trimester ( and then some)

Week 5 – Despite being absolutely positive that I was NOT pregnant, and sure that my body was still trying to figure out how to ovulate & nurse a toddler… We took a home pregnancy test. And it was OH, SO POSITIVE. Ecstatic, Terrified, Shocked… I’m not sure I can accurately recall my exact emotion. Ready, or not…  Here we go… AGAIN!

Week 6 – Nursing & Pregnancy… did you know that in order to successfully continue nursing through pregnancy, Mom needs to consume an additional 500-800 calories a day? Not a joke. In some ways, I was starving… and in others, I’ve had no appetite what-so-ever. I won’t even get in to the other challenges that come with nursing a toddler while pregnant…  At this point, I was just PRAYING that my supply would remain decent and that Via will nurse happily as long as she wanted. Very mild nausea, slight fatigue, but easily distracted by chasing a toddler.

Week 7 – Nausea and fatigue settled in… Trying to nap with Liv during the day so I could keep up with her in the mornings / late afternoons. Nausea infinitely worse between 2AM – 8AM.

Week 8 – Family trip to California definitely came with a few awkward puking moments, huge dip in milk supply, awful summer cold… Still a wonderful two weeks of fun in the sun and of course, shared the happy news with Family Gorham.

Week 9 – Our First Sono revealed a wiggly little nugget with a strong heartbeat and revised Due Date (April 9th). Crazy hormones. Crying at the wonder of airplanes and Zillow commercials. Lots of Sonic Cherry Limeades to ease the pain of playing in the late afternoon Texas heat.

Week 10 – the roughest, by far. First half of the week spent in bed with the “Labor Day Stomach Bug” that just about wiped out my milk supply then an A/C that decided to quit… Dropped down to 2x nursing a day, once in the morning, once before bed.

Week 11 – Nausea, Nausea Nausea…. Finally gave in to a prescription for Zofran. Trying to snack often, drink lots of water. Snacking on Peppermint and Ginger candies. Expensive A/C and Foundation Fixes, decisions to be made about selling / moving / repairing our 100year old home. Dropped morning nursing session.

Week 12 – Second Sonogram and all good news 🙂 Mama’s belly is growing (already)… managing to keep weight gain under control this time! (If you don’t remember, I gained 62 pounds with Liv – about 40 pounds more than I probably should have! All of which it took me a year to lose!) Ready for the nausea and exhaustion to ease up. Realizing that chasing a toddler all-day, every-day is infinitely more difficult while trying not to puke. Also – hot dogs are the most foul smelling toddler lunch of all time.

Week 13 – Gramma G in town for 2.5 weeks to visit! Lots of meals out, trips to the arboretum, Perot, Swim Lessons, fun at Gramma B’s House! Less nausea, More food aversion/cravings. Broke the news to my dearest childhood friend, Ashley, whose wedding I’ll be 32 weeks pregnant in 🙂 Purchased my first pair of designer maternity denim… worth every penny.

HUGE WIN! *** Liv FINALLY started sleeping through the night!!! (At 19 months!) 8:00PM-6:00AM (give or take 30 min or so!) ***

Week 14 – Papa G in town for the weekend to visit with lots of fun fall treats! Fun meals out… and Pie… Spent lots of time outside in the gorgeous October weather! Finally completely weaned Liv. Finding it difficult to get dressed in the mornings. Most of my clothes are pretty snug, and my maternity goods from round 1 are just slightly too stretched out.

Week 15 – Finally reclaiming some energy! Still having 2-3 pretty bad headaches/migraines a month (something I was lucky enough to have completely escaped last pregnancy). Still holding out hope that they’ll fade once my hormones finally find some balance. The weather is finally wonderful making it easier to get out and play outside!

Food cravings: Honeycrisp Apples, Bagels, Macaroni and Cheese, Yogurt, Trader Joes Sweet & Spicy Pecans, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Twizzlers (thanks, Tammy!), Tortilla Soup, Chili, Sweet Tea, Peppermint Candies, Grapefruit Juice

Food Aversions: meat, especially chicken / steak

Thankful for a toddler who is finally learning to sleep, loves to give nose kisses and will surely be the best big sister in the world. Couldn’t do pregnancy round 2 without the bestest of friends and supportive family. Grateful for this crazy wonderful life we have. Can’t wait to meet the newest member of our little family this spring!