froggy

Because I am feeling froggy (mainly due to Ollie G's new hat) I decided to change the blog name to be more reflective of me. Basically, all I blog about is my child with a few other things thrown in here and there. Hence, Oliver with a Twist.

Day in the life - 9 months

Oliver is very busy these days. He continues to be quite the lazy (aka spoiled) baby and is not the least bit interested in pulling up, trying to "cruise" or crawl on his knees. He prefers the super speedy army crawl and is starting to get.into.everything. I have yet to baby proof and yes, I realize that is so irresponsible parenting. He has a thing for wires, shoes and remotes. Can he get any more germy? Yikes. He also likes to make long distance calls on our home phone.

Ollie likes to wave bye bye. He is such a smart cookie. Since learning to wave bye bye the clapping has been minimized. I miss my little clapper but love that he can has grasped a concept. Oliver is also starting to try some new big kid foods. He loves mandarin oranges, grits and chicken n stars soup (just the stars). His sleeping habits are nothing to brag about. He still wakes up around 3 or 4am every night.

Oliver Green - day in the life at 9.5 months

4am: bottle and back to bed for a few more hours
6:30 am: Up and at em. Still the happiest morning baby on the planet
7am: Leave for school. You like to "talk" and "sing" on the drive into town
7:30am: arrive at school and get in your highchair for breakfast (trying some new things like grits, yogurt, toast)
8am-9am After breakfast its playtime with your buddies Carter and Zac.
9:30am: 4oz bottle and then back to playtime business
10:30am: lunchtime (trying more finger foods and table foods)
11:30am: 4oz bottle
noon-2pm: nap time
2:30pm: snack time (fruit/puffs/mum mum cracker)
3pm: 4oz bottle
3pm - 5pm: playtime (from what Ms. Mandy tells me, you boys are crazy in the afternoons and like to wrestle and chase each other around the room. She says you all like to get at the door and stand up and shake the door insert)
5pm: Pick up time
5:30pm: home and playtime (crawling, walker, a few puffs for a snack)
6pm: bottle (3-4oz)
6:45pm: family dinner time (this is starting to get really messy). Oliver drinks formula in his sippy with dinner
7- 8pm: bath and a little more playtime with mommy and daddy
8pm: bottle and bed - night night :)

Oliver's favorite game is for me and Jake to get on opposite sides of the bed and "hide." Oliver likes for us to jump up and shout something funny and then he races to that side and looks for us. Once he finds us crouching he looks for the other "surprise" pop up and then races back the other way. Its actually highly entertaining for all of us :)



peekaboo!



House goals

Since Oliver was born, the house renovations have come to a complete stand still. In the past four years, Jake has finished about 80% of a complete remodel. It has been a long four years. To be honest, we are over our house. We want to get back to free (non working) weekends, a better school district and a house with different attributes. The goal is to put our house up for sale in the spring which means we need to tackle the remaining 20%.

I feel confident we can sell our house. Jake has done an excellent job with the renovations and we are in a great location. The elementary school and park is about 1.5 blocks away and the downtown area is less than a block. Its a great location and a great house for a family with kids (4 bedrooms and a big backyard). If we don't sell, that's okay too. Like I said, the house is great, I just think we need a change. Plus, I need a Target less than 25 minutes away. It's killing me.

Short term goals (by spring):

• Master bathroom and foyer remodel (complete)
• Complete dining room (install chandy, tile fireplace, remove window cornice and prep for paint)
• 4th bedroom - install new light fixture, prep for paint
• Finish interior painting (1 bedroom, dining room, master bath/foyer and mudroom)
• Landscaping - simple/inexpensive

Mid range goals (if we don't sell right away):

• New windows
• New siding / shutters (27 total)
• Install porch railing
• Lamp-post install at sidewalk
• more extensive landscaping (sod and tree removal)

Long term goals (if it looks like the mortgage will be paid before we can sell):

• refurbish hardwood floors (sand/stain)
• New metal roof
• French doors in kitchen
• Back porch off new french doors
• Build garage
• Install cconcrete horseshoe driveway
• Add fencing around backyard

I've been kind of slack about helping Jake. So I am going to try and do some of the smaller projects to keep things moving. I guess it won't kill me to paint the mudroom... okay it just might.

31

Today is my 31st birthday. Thirty didn't bother me. Thirty-one does. Jake bought me an iPhone for my present this year. I love it. I realize that I am officially about 5 years behind the times on the iPhone front. I actually had a panic attack waiting for Instagram to download because I have coveted every ones Instagram photos for so long on the blogosphere. I am finally hip to the mode. Well, kind of. I keep face dialing random contacts and pressing the mute button with my cheek. I will be adding this to my Christmas list this year. Jake thinks its nerdy. I think its awesome!

Stationery card

Snowflakes Ribbon Christmas Card

Add one photo or multiple to your Christmas cards this season.

View the entire collection of cards.

I like to get my Christmas cards out early. Like week of Thanksgiving early. I feel like that's our little present to all of our extended friends and family. Yes, the gift of our faces on a card - I am so self involved. Really though, people love photo Christmas cards. I love to send them and love to receive them. I'm a big card person. For birthdays and Christmas I like to tape all the cards we receive to the kitchen cabinets so we can see them up close and personal for extended periods of time. I finished our card this afternoon and placed the order. I had two great shutterfly.com coupon codes that expired today and had my pictures in mind. I thought, what the heck, and made the commitment. Is it just me, or does everyone experience immediate buyers remorse for every online purchase made. Something about pressing that submit button seems so... permanent.

9 months

This little cutie turned 9 months old yesterday. We rushed home after yet another doctors appointment (yes, you guessed it, double ear infection) so we could get home before sundown to catch the natural light for pictures. We didn't make it. Oliver was hungry and tired. I was getting irritated. This is as good as it got.

Oliver - 9 months old (November 2, 2011)

Oliver - you are the love of my life. I love your big blue eyes, your budding sense of humor, your toothy smiles and your endless clapping.  You, my little goose, love to clap. You clap for me, you clap for daddy. You clap for the cashier at the grocery store, you clap for grandma. You clap when you drink from your sippy cup and you clap when you take your medicine. I love that you're happy ... and you know it... clap your hands! 

At nine months, Oliver weighs in at 18lbs 15.5oz. He has six teeth and is starting to like finger foods. He has dropped a bottle during the day and overall seems to drink less formula. His favorite food to munch on is whole wheat toast. My sweet boy now says Ma-Ma all the time. It melts my heart. Oliver has had a rough few weeks fighting congestion and a non-stop runny nose. He hasn't been sleeping well and has been waking up two-three times a night. He usually lands in bed with us from 3am -6am. He loves that middle spot. He cuddles right in and puts one hand on daddy and turns his head towards me and breathes/snores right in my face. I would be lying if I said I didn't love it.  He can army crawl like a champ and is getting up on his hands and knees. We really have to watch now because he likes to grab just about everything he isn't supposed to. Toys? what toys? He prefers wires, remotes, lit candles and flip flops.

puppy

Oliver outgrew his Buzz Lightyear costume a few weeks too soon. A replacement was nowhere to be found so he ended up wearing a hand-me-down from my oldest nephew, David Ray. I think the puppy still looks cute 10 years later. Oliver has been sporting the top part as his jacket until he can fit into his cool new 12month sized polar fleece.

puppy on parade

Ollie and his best school friend, Carter.

My little puppy was in a parade at school. All the kids line up and walk around the block and then the older kids hit the local businesses for trick or treat. I had the pleasure of pushing Ollie around the block. The rest of the day was a total bust. It started raining midday and did not let up until late into the night. We still had a good number of treaters... who, no offense, have crazy a$$ parents for letting them be out in the cold, rainy night. Yes, I am a prude. And yes its because I turn 31 in exactly one week.

to infinity and beyond

Oliver decided to be Buzz Lightyear for Halloween this year. He picked that particular costume among the three choices in front of him at the Disney store that day. He passed up Mickey Mouse and Pooh Bear. I'm sure daddy was proud of his boy for picking the astronaut instead of a yellow bear with no pants. We needed the costume early since we were going to Disney and we were going to dress up for the Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween Party (MNSSHP).

disneystore.com (this is not my child)

Well, it was hotter than hell the night of the MNSSHP and Oliver wore the Buzz costume/glorified onsie sans space boots and hat. He looked mighty cute that night even without the boots. With the real Halloween one week away, I got out the costume and thought it looked a little small. I had to really pull to get the snaps together and am thinking my astronaut might have had a growth spurt sometime this past month. Is this what Kanye was referring to when he spoke of the big headed astronaut? Sadly and affectionately, yes,  we refer to Ollie (only sometimes!) as a big headed astronaut. Yes, we are awful and yes its funny as all get out. Jake loves him some Kanye which he pronounces like quinoa (KEEN-WAH). Back to the matter at hand. Oliver has a Halloween parade at school on Monday and I am debating about finding him another costume that fits. All of our local stores seem to be sold out of infant costumes in Baptist daycare friendly versions. So, do I get creative and try and make something (um.... radio silence ensues), make buzz work or just let him wear his new cow stocking cap and try and find a black onsie to match. Decisions, decisions. We are headed to SC this weekend for my BIL's wedding. We are staying in Gaffney so I think I will try the outlets and hopefully I'll get lucky and find a cheap costume for baby buzz.

8 months

Oliver - 8 months old (October 2, 2011)

Oliver turned 8 months old last weekend. He came home from Disney and developed another ear infection in his left ear that left us with three sleepless nights, a screaming baby, one huge baby vomit and a prescription from Urgent Care for an additional round of antibiotics. You would have never have guessed that was on the agenda because of the great week we had at Disney. Oliver even cut his top two middle teeth at Epcot with no fussing. We think the flight home may have been the breaking point.

Oliver at 8 months old you are the cutest baby in the whole world. You have stolen my heart and are free to keep it for ever and ever. Your smile lights up the room and even strangers make a point to tell us you are the happiest, smiliest baby they have ever seen. That makes me one proud momma. I hope you are always this happy. Your cheeks are always rosy and you like to click your new teeth together. You haven't crawled yet but you are starting to slowly "scoot" forward with your face in the carpet and your hiney in the air. Your preferred method of movement is rolling from here to there. You love books and waving and toys in the air. I think your favorite thing to do is clap your hands. You have been doing this for quite a while but it just gets cuter and cuter. You wake up clapping, you clap for daddy, you clap for momma, you clap for everything. When you clap we all sing out "Yea Oliver!" While we were in Florida you started to shake your head side to side... like no way Jose. Talk about cute!

During your eighth month of life you have ridden on a plane, monorail, bus and boat. The only thing left is a train and space shuttle (daddy noted). You have met Mickey and Minnie and saw your first Disney parade. In true Lawrence fashion, you went left and made Pirates of the Caribbean your first Disney ride. You have battled a double ear infection and then another lingering one two weeks later. You choked on a mum biscuit and Daddy flipped you upside down and now we are scared to give you any kind of food to chew. We may have overreacted just a tad. You have tasted a Dole Whip (hated it), frosting (yum yum) and ice cream (yummo!).  Your hair is getting darker and we can kind of give you a faux hawk. We love you so much. Everyday you look less and less baby. You even wore jeans for the first time today. I love you my sweet little eight month old.

Packing list - WDW

As promised, here is my comprehensive list of things to pack for an 8 month old baby for a 7 day trip to Walt Disney World. Jake made the executive decision to rent a car so that we could run to the grocery store (or Target), give tired mommas and babies a ride back to the hotel if needed and the top reason probably being so the men (poor David and Jake) could escape the madness in a moments notice! Since I am totally weird about hotel carpet, we plan on buying a cheap walker/exersaucer when we get to FL and then donating it to the hotel when we leave. The nice thing about this list is that I can always run to the store if I forgot to pack something. I am probably overdoing it, but I am kind of a hoarder-packer.

If we did not have the car I would order from Diapers.com and deliver to the hotel. The two-day shipping is awesome and that would have been a great alternative.

• Stroller - joovy kooper  (gate check, does not count as baggage allowance)
• car seat (gate check, does not count as baggage allowance)
• Copy of birth certificate for flight
• Diaper Bag
• Things to purchase on arrival: bottled water to make bottles, walker, 2 bottles RTF formula
• Feeding
• Powder tub (Similac Sensitive)
• Two formula dispensers
• Three bottles  (green to grow)
• Extra nipples/rings (2)  (the green to grow bottles fit the travel nursettes perfectly)
• Spoons – 2
• Travel bibs (Wal-Mart has cheapest price)
• Travel place mats (Wal-Mart has cheapest price)
• Solid food qty: 20
• Oatmeal with measure & Tupperware container
• Nursettes
• Travel pack formula (8oz bottles)
• Puffs (hit a deal at Big Lots for $1.49 each)
• Sippy cups – 2
• Bottle brush / small dish detergent
• Pacifiers – 3

• Supplies
• Muslin blankets - 2 
• Diapers - 50
• Wipes
• Travel pack of wipes
• Small robot bag (smaller diaper bag to use daily at parks)
• Ziploc bags - quart size
• Bibs - 5
• Burp cloths - 5 (purchased a cheap 5 pack at TJMaxx so we could throw away without guilt)
• Hand sanitizer
• Sanitizer wipes
• Face/hand wipes
• Travel changing pads
• Travel diaper trash bags
• Paci clips (2)

• Medicine (all carry on)
• Gas drops
• infant Tylenol
• Orajel
• Saline spray
• Bulb
• Boogie wipes
• Sunscreen
• Aquaphor
• Q-tips

• Pool/Swim
• pool float
• Swim diapers - entire box
• Swim trunks/shirts - 5
• Hats (3) /swim shoes
• Sunglasses

• Night/Bath
• Nail clippers/brush
• travel Baby bath & lotion
• Robe
• Blanket
• Giraffe
• Pack n play sheets – 2 (pack n play provided at hotel)
• Turtle night light

Toys (figure Ollie will get a few new toys to play with)

• Toy story book
• Sophie
• Links
• surprise toy for plane

• Clothes (I plan on buying some clothes for Ollie while we are at Disney. If you aren't planning on buying anything than I would suggest packing a light jacket or sweater and a hat for cool nights).
• 7 - one piece rompers
• 10 - onesies
• 4 - shorts
• 5 - tshirts
• 2 long sleeve/pant outfits
• Pajamas - 5
• Halloween costume -  (Mickey's Not so Scary Halloween party)
• shoes
• socks

I had to buy a suitcase (HUGE) from TJMaxx last night just for Ollie. I figure it will be worth the investment as we start to travel more as a family with kids. I think we can get by with two checked bags, one carry on diaper bag and Jake's carry on (laptop, camera, etc). Please excuse the excessive linking in this post. I like to know about stuff... so thought some people may be interested.

baby luv

Oliver is still sick. The bulb aspirator has reared its ugly head and I think Oliver actually tried to slap me this morning as I was aspirating his poor little nose for the 111th time. His nose is a little raw where we have been wiping boogies all weekend. That breaks my heart. We have a doctor's appointment tomorrow just to get the okay that we don't have further problems. I don't think I can will myself to get on a plane Saturday if he has an ear infection. Please pray that he doesn't. I had big plans to pack our suitcases this weekend but somehow ended up Sunday night and I didn't do a darn thing except pull suitcases out of storage and catch up on laundry. I did check one big thing off my to-do list. I bought some plastic bins and packed up Ollie's clothes into neat little, folded storage containers. All of a sudden he is wearing 9month sizes. I'm not sure of his current measurements but he seems much taller and really long in the torso. I will laugh if our dude is like 6ft tall considering Jake is the tallest out of all the Green men at a staggering 5'8".

Oliver's hair is starting to grow in and get dark. I think we favor in the eyes but for the most part he is the spitting image of Jake. I was cutting his tiny little nails a few nights ago and noticed that his nail beds are the exact same shape as Jake's. How do I know this? I cut Jake's nails. I cut his toenails too. I secretly love to do that. I know that is SO weird! I have no idea how we got here or where I am going with this. I really just wanted to post these two pictures. Some of the few we have together.



baby love




my heart



say it ain't so

Those thighs. I die.

Oliver was really congested last night and woke up with a very runny nose. I busted out the saline and boogie wipes. Please pray for baby boogie that he does not have another round of daycare cold/crud. We leave for Disney in one week and I do not want to deal with a congested infant on a plane with ear pressure issues. Fingers crossed!

Day in the life - 7 months

I thought I would try and do a "day in the life" post once a month so I can remember Oliver's schedule as he continues to grow.

OLIVER - DAY IN THE LIFE - 7 MONTHS OLD

• Oliver wakes up around 5am and drinks a 4oz bottle. He usually goes right back to sleep and cuddles with his giraffe and blanket.
• Oliver wakes up to start his day around 6:30. By then, daddy is ready for work and they hang out together while I get ready. They like to talk, play and watch cartoons. Oliver is happiest in the mornings. The kid is straight up funny. He loves to laugh, clap and talk in the mornings.
• We leave the house at 7am M-F. Oliver plays with his toys and we listen to Top 40 hits as we drive into town. Sometimes he takes a little cat nap but wakes up as we pull into the parking lot.
• I drop Oliver off at daycare around 7:30am. I usually hang with him for 15 minutes so we can play for a little bit.
• Oliver eats his oatmeal and fruit around 8am at school (2tbs oatmeal, 1/2 package fruit).
• Oliver eats a 4.5oz bottle around 9:15am.
• Oliver takes a short nap around 9:30-10am at school.
• Oliver eats his lunch (1/2 packet fruit/veg) around 10:30am. He has started to snack on some baby puffs too and has gotten really good at pinching them and putting them directly in his mouth. He also likes to have a little water in his sippy cup while he eats lunch.
• Next 4.5oz bottle around 11:30am-ish.
• Nap time around noon (an hour or so).
• Another 4.5oz bottle around 2pm.
• His last 4.5oz bottle at school around 4pm.
• I usually pick Ollie up right at 5pm. Miss Meghan is usually pushing Ollie and his friend Carter in the stroller. They like to laugh and smile together. Sometimes they like to hold hands (cutest thing ever!).
• We get home around 5:30pm. Ollie and I like to hang out before daddy gets home. We usually play peek a boo and tickle monster. Once Jake gets home he is on Ollie duty while I make dinner, wash bottles, prepare for the next day, laundry, etc.

Telling me how much he loves dada.

• Ollie eats a 4.5oz bottle at 6pm and then its play time.
• Jake usually takes Ollie for a 30 minute walk or jog around 6:30. Jake and I eat dinner around 7pm while Ollie sits with us in his highchair snacking on a few puffs and his sippy cup.
• Ollie eats dinner around 7:15pm (1/2 package fruit/veg). At dinner he makes a complete mess and has been dining topless so he can make as much mess as he wants and not ruin his clothes. After dinner he goes straight into the tub which is his favorite thing ever. His bath usually lasts around 15-25 minutes. After bath its baby massage, hair brushing, jams on. Note to self: love, love, love this time of day with Ollie and Jake. If we are running ahead of schedule (before his last bottle) we usually take a family walk around the block.

• Ollie takes his last bottle at 8pm (6oz). He usually falls asleep right at the end and goes down for the night. If he is still awake we usually rock until he is asleep or I turn on his mobile and he talks himself to sleep with his giraffe and blanket. He doesn't take his paci anymore except for a few minutes each night.

I have been feeling VERY guilty about the lack of time we actually get to spend together each day. Three hours is not very much. I used to be crazy OCD about cleaning, laundry and dishes each day and then I realized instead of enjoying Oliver I was basically toting him around the house and not paying much attention to him. Now, I give myself an hour each night from 8pm - 9pm to do house maintenance. If something doesn't get done in that hour it just has to wait until another day. How I wish for more hours in a day. A few just for me, a few just for Jake and a few extra with Ollie. I'm sure all moms have this wish. That and the wish for six clones.

joovy kooper

I did it. I finally did it. After months of research, endless review reading and saving my pennies I pressed submit on my most recent amazon.com purchase... Ollie's new JOOVY KOOPER STROLLER in Appletree. Ain't she a beaut?




I debated a LOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG time about buying this stroller. We needed a stroller to travel with. One that would be plane friendly, big enough for Disney World and future vacations, big basket, large canopy, easy to fold and would accommodate Ollie as he gets older. I'm not picky, right? My main hesitation for the purchase was the fact that we are already proud owners of two strollers. Jake got a jogger for Father's Day that he uses 3x a week. My main beef with the jogger is that it is BIG, doesn't fold and sits in our hallway most of the time. Our other stroller has been great. We got the Chicco Cortina Travel System as a shower gift from Jake's parents and I would give it very high marks. My only big dislike is that it takes up a lot of space when folded and is kind of heavy to manage when you have a baby in tow. It takes up almost the entire boot of my Subaru Outback. This stroller makes her home in our dining room. Oh, and don't tell Jake but there might be a bike trailer stroller under the Christmas tree for him. Santa dropped it off early and is storing it in my office because he hit a really good clearance sale at Target (holla target clearance marked down to $39.99) Um yeah, that means another stroller in the house. We will welcome the joovy (stroller #4) with open arms and find a place for it at our house. I think it will probably find a permanent home in my car or Jake might have to build a garage just to store strollers. I hope it lives up to my high expectations. She should be here tomorrow. Thank you amazon.comMom free 2-day shipping. That will give me a few days to test drive before our trip. I'll try and remember to do a product review once we get back from FL. Speaking of FL, it's almost here. We leave next Saturday. I have been working on a master shopping and packing list. Get excited -- Disney prep post to follow.

inspiration(less)

My attempts at blogging are half-ass at best. I have so much to say, so much I want to remember. I have no time. Let me rephrase that. I do have the time, I just don't use my time wisely. The internet has become a huge time suck for me, namely facebook. Like the rest of modern civilization (minus my husband) I have been on facebook for years. I have found all the people I wanted to find and have sufficiently stalked their pages. I know more about my 415 "friends" than I knew about them when I knew them in real life. But, like clockwork, when Ollie is down for the night and Jake is watching television I automatically go there - facebook.com. I can spend hours (oh the wasted hours make me want to cringe) trolling photos, reading status updates and pressing the like button because I am too lazy to actually write a comment. I hold my head in shame when I find myself on a stranger's page... you know the one. The stranger who is friends with a friend of a friend and you randomly ended up on their page because you saw wedding photos four years ago and now you go back again and again because, by golly, I need to know if they enjoyed their family cruise to the Bahamas. Yeah, that stranger. I have decided to strike. To put an end to my time suck. To focus on my life in real time. To make my time count. To make more time for Jake. To let Ollie stay in the bath for a few extra minutes because the kid loves water and loves to kick until there is no water left in his sweet (almost too small for him) baby tub. To actually put my project list into effect. Hello painting, sewing, roman shades, photo organization, fall cleaning, decorating, exercise, recipe trials. To take more pictures of the baby. To focus on me and to be the best that I can be. I need to be.... wait for it folks... my own inspiration. I am inspired just typing that.

Today is my wedding anniversary. Jake is driving home from Wilmington and we have a dinner date planned at Outback Steakhouse (our blind date spot). I am so excited to sit across from my husband and celebrate four years of marriage. To toast to the next 50+ years we have ahead of us and to plant a big ol' kiss on his handsome face. Today I will be inspired to enjoy the company of my husband... and then update my status on facebook.

Hula dancing at our reception (O'hanas at the Polynesian Resort WDW)

7 months

Oliver is 7 months old today!

This little cutie has learned to sit up...literally overnight. About a month ago I started to notice we might have a lazy busy bee on our hands. Oliver loves to lay on his back and watch everything and everybody. He is a nellie (nosy nellie olsen) just like his momma. You would put him on his tummy... and...flips right over to his back. Then he laughs. He's funny like that. Laughs at his own jokes. Again, like his momma. As of yesterday, Oliver could sit up for about a minute tops. He looks right at you and hits the floor. Um, lazy much? So, we get to Grandma's house last night (Jake's mom, Karen) and she has zinnias still looking good in her side yard and I wanted to get an outdoor picture of Ollie. I put out the blanket and sit Ollie up and start clicking away. I'm snapping and snapping because we all know you have to take about 150 pictures to get one or two great ones. Before I know it, I realize Ollie has been sitting up for around 10 whole minutes! Awesome job baby Ollie and what a way to celebrate turning 7 months old!!

Oliver has also learned how to clap. Its about the cutest thing I have ever seen. He claps and then looks around for everyone to clap for him. Smart baby! Loves praise just like his momma. Along with sitting and clapping Ollie has also learned how to drink out of his sippy cup. This past month he has experienced his first earthquake and hurricane. It's been an exciting month to be a baby! Oliver had his first cold/daycare crud for about three solid weeks. It was awful. His poor little nose ran non stop and he was so congested he could barely sleep. Jake and I would fight over who had the dastardly deed of squirting saline up his nose twice a day and then using the dreaded bulb sucker. Oliver hated us for the majority of August. However, we discovered a fond friendship with our froggy humidifier and saline boogie wipes (grape flavor). Ollie loves to talk. He talks about Dada a lot. In fact, he solely talks about Dada this and Dada that. He also likes to scream and shout about Dada. Dada is serious business at our house. If you ask him to say mama... he looks right at mama and says Dada. Very funny Ollie, very funny.

solid food and sippy cups

I think I might be mentally challenged. I used to think I was smart.... well smart enough, I'm no genius. I don't do math, but that's another topic for another day. I used to pride my self on my memorization skills. I could remember passages from books (page number whereabouts), movie quotes and scenes, an extended list of phone numbers (long distance at that!), grocery lists, to-do lists and the list goes on and on. ha ha. My brain no longer functions properly. I can't remember to pick up detergent at the grocery store and I actually forgot to rinse shampoo out of my hair last week. It's getting ugly people. Hopefully you get the point and I can segue into the real reason for this post. Baby food. Solid baby food. You would think that a person who has enough brain power to graduate from college could reasonably understand how to incorporate solid food into a baby's schedule. Oliver eats solid food. He actually eats it three times a day. Oatmeal/fruit combo for breakfast, veggie/fruit blend for lunch and veggie/fruit blend for dinner. He has had this routine (along with his regular bottles) for the past month. As we approach the 7th month of his life I feel like we need to get the ball rolling on finger foods and broaden the scope of his baby food repertoire. Up until now, I have been a complete baby food snob. I would make my own, but let's be real, I cannot even find the time to vacuum my area rugs let alone steam, puree and store organic baby foods. Why really when you can buy pre-packaged organic baby food for the bargain price of $0.89 - $1.49 each? Our favorite baby food brands are (yes I try Ollie's baby food and no I don't blame him for hating green beans) 1. Plum Organics 2. Happy Baby. Ollie is actually a really adventurous eater. He doesn't balk at spinach peas and pears, pumpkin banana (his all time fave) or even prunes.

I guess the questions (and the confusion) start coming when I ask my self the following questions:

• How much solid food should he be eating daily?
• Just how much variety should a 6-9 month old have in his diet? Am I pushing it with the blueberry/beet combo?
• Should I introduce yogurt for breakfast? Move oatmeal to dinner?
• Are we behind on finger food introduction? The kid can't even figure out melty puffs let alone eat finely chopped chicken.
• Am I a bad mother for being too tired at the end of the day and not cutting up teeny tiny pieces of avocado and tofu for him to practice his pincer grasp? Don't answer that. I already know the answer.
• We don't do juice. I don't believe in drinking empty calories. Should he be drinking juice?
• Is it awful that I am scared to death to introduce finger foods? My anxiety levels rise at the thought that we might be home alone and he chokes on a lentil and then I'm screwed because my gut reaction would be to stick my finger down his throat to dislodge said lentil and that's exactly what the baby books tell you NOT to do.

For now, he is gaining weight and seems to be growing and progressing just fine. I just cross my fingers and hope he is getting enough iron and vitamins AthruE. On a positive note, it only took 5 sippy cups to find the one that worked. It was like watching a lightbulb go off in his head  -- "I know how this thing works!!" He loves his sippy (H20 only). We took one to school today. It's orange and I put his name on it with my label maker.

My lucky day

I am not an extreme couponer. I like coupons, I just don't go out of my way to collect, sort, research, etc. I do print Target coupons weekly and keep Pampers coupons in my wallet at all times. My minimal effort at couponing paid off this morning and I am still giddy from the deal (insert evil laugh). I ran by Target early, 8am early, to get some diapers to take to daycare this afternoon. I picked up a pack of Target brand diapers because I never leave home without my $1 off Target brand coupon and Target diapers are excellent quality. That made that pack of diapers $5.50 and you can't beat that! I swung by the endcap and they had just marked down Pampers Prints diaper 66 count cases (size 3 - Ollie's size hoorah) from $19.99 to 12.00. I had two $2 off Pampers coupons and if you bought two cases you got a $5 Target giftcard -- SCORE!! Holla deal of the day. Yes, I know its slightly sad that I am so ecstatic over something Oliver is going to use for a bm and then go directly into a landfill. The shame of consumerism.

Well my dealing for the day (and endless consumerism) did not stop at Target. I have been researching a high chair option for Ollie. I love his travel chair that we hook to the island but I am always feeding him from the side and I don't want him to develop a complex because we have wonky feeding issues. Plus, it would be nice to be able to move him around so I can clean the island without worrying about him ingesting chemical fumes/germs.

I was on the fence whether to buy a full sized chair or go with one of those booster seats with a tray. After much research I landed on this cutie:


Fisher Price Dwell Studio



It's a full size chair that converts to a booster. All for the bargain price of $64 and cute to boot. One of the reviews said they found the same chair at BigLots so I ran (drove) to our local Rocky Mount store over lunch today. Score number two. I am excited to see if Ollie likes his new chair and to try some finger foods on his big boy tray. Moral of this post. It pays to go to Target every day so you can land a deal every once in a while and it pays to endlessly research baby goods before you buy. I especially enjoy amazon.com for endless review reading. Happy shopping.     

movin on up

Oliver moved up to his new classroom at school today. He is now the youngest baby in Nursery II. Daycare started off as a nightmare for me. When Ollie started his original daycare, I knew the first week that it wasn't working out for us. Everyday, they told me Oliver was fussy and cranky and cried all day. I knew this wasn't his personality. Oliver is such a good natured baby I found it hard to believe he was a problem child at school. We stayed there for two weeks which was 7 days too long. Why only 7 and not 10? The daycare called me three times in those two weeks to come pick him up because he would not calm down and stop crying. I felt horrible dropping him off everyday but in my post birth/going back to work/dealing with the trauma of leaving your child with strangers I just thought he was having a hard time adjusting to daycare. Looking back, I feel like an awful parent. The daycare was at capacity with 10 babies in the nursery and those poor babies basically sat in bouncy seats all day. Those last days I frantically started calling other area daycares to find a spot. When I had called originally, the waiting lists were LONG. So long, I didn't bother putting my name on the lists because I had found a daycare near our house that was highly recommended by people in our area. Not so. I just prayed I could find a spot somewhere, anywhere at this point to get him out of the awful situation. The first place I called happened to be the only 5 star rated daycare in our area. I thought what the hell, I might as well call and just check for a spot even though the waiting list had been a year+ back in July 2010. They had a spot. Actually, the baby room was completely empty. Due to the economy, the attendance was at a record low and no new babies had registered in the past few months. My prayers were answered. We started that next day. I love our new daycare. Oliver's teacher, Ms.Ann, has been there since they opened 33 years ago. She loves him so much and his face just lights up each morning when I take him to school. She calls me with updates throughout the day, takes his picture for me and basically just loves him to pieces. I love this woman for loving my baby. I felt so thankful to find Ms. Ann and could not believe our good luck to find a church based daycare and a 1:1 ratio for the bargain price of $200/wk. Today was a fresh start in his new room. He will have to share the teacher's attention with two other babies (poor spoiled baby - ha ha). I took this picture on his last day with Ms. Ann. I think she held him all day. I had to scrub really hard to get the lip prints off his cheeks that night :)

Ms. Ann didn't want her picture taken. Oliver loves her so. They are quite the pair!

6 months

Oliver - 6 months old on August 2, 2011

Oliver turned 6 months old yesterday. The past six months have truly been the best of my life. I can hardly remember life pre-Ollie. Okay, maybe I can remember staying up past 9pm and going shopping without six pieces of luggage shoved into the stroller under-carriage.

Oliver - you are the cutest, sweetest baby mommy and daddy could have ever dreamed of! You smile constantly and love a good tickle. You have the best laugh and you smile with your eyes (Tyra would be so proud)! You have two teeth (bottom fronts) and you love to nibble on toys, fingers and books. You also love trying new fruits and veggies. Your favorites so far are pumpkin&banana, sweet potatoes, sweet peas and mangoes. You have only tried green beans once and you promptly (via your one and only throw up) let me know that green beans ain't yo thing. You love bath time and the pool! You only like to cuddle when you are sleepy. That is my special time with you everyday because we rock and sing and you hold my hand while you fall asleep each night. I wouldn't trade anything in the world for that time I spend with you every day. In the mornings, you hang with Daddy. When you hear his voice you turn your head to look for him and light up with a huge grin. You like to jibber jabber away while we make dinner and wash dishes together. Your favorite word so far is dada and you make sure to say that when you are around momma...ha ha! We have a doctors appointment on Friday and I am excited to get your stats. You look like you have grown so much these past few weeks - you are almost out of your 3-6m clothes.

Edit: Oliver weighed 15lbs 15.5oz and was 26" tall at his 6month appointment.

beach baby

We went to the beach this past weekend. My sister graciously invited us to come stay at her place for the weekend. They have a great place at Holden Beach and I have been totally spoiled the last ten years because we have beach vacation access almost anytime we want it... at a great sister rate... FREE :) Yippee for sisters!

Oliver had a blast spending time with his cousins. He was the hit of the weekend. The kids couldn't get over how funny it was for him to roll over, eat baby food and laugh out loud. Tillie thought Ollie was a baby doll and didn't realize that once you start holding him you can't shove him to the side when your favorite episode of toddlers and tiaras is on the tube.

Ollie didn't hit the beach because Grandma decided to let me and Jake spend the day sunning and surfing while she held Ollie all day long. Great trade! Oliver did make his big debut in the pool. I was nervous that he wouldn't like it. He was a total pro. He sat in his little float and just floated (well daddy toted) around the pool.



pre-pool



It was so hot the camera lens got foggy.



karma is kicking my tail

When my husband is trying to be cute (let's be serious... trying to get his point across) he always says, "I am going to kick your tail." It always makes me laugh. First of all, it's southern as hell and secondly, Jake would never kick any one's tail because he is so nice and kind.

Well, don't worry honey, karma has arrived to kick my tail instead. I must have been a bad, bad girl (Fiona apple) and it is catching up with me. This must be payback for my stint as an awful teenager. Mom, I'm sorry.haha. Along with my fridge issues, my washer has decided to die on me too. This is not surprising since two months after we bought the damn thing, the water sensor went out on it. It was under warranty so it was fixed gratis by Maytag. It's having the same problem again and guess what.... the warranty is out (by two months) and it will cost $250+ to get it fixed. Stupid appliances. Two points to note: Don't buy anything from Sears and you are probably better off buying the low end appliance and hoping for the best.

I had two cavities filled at the dentist yesterday and then my dentist informed me I have two more that need to be filled asap. She offered a Valium prescription... nervous much?

Enough complaining... moving on to bigger and better things. We are headed to the beach tonight and we get to spend the weekend with my sister and her crew. I am in some serious need of some vitamin D and ocean therapy. My mom will be there too, so we have a built in babysitter for the weekend - WOOHOO! I hope we can sneak out to a movie. I really want to see Crazy Stupid Love. We are going to put Ollie in the pool for the first time this weekend. I am excited to see if he likes it. We have a Disney vacation planned for September so I am hoping he likes the pool or else that is going to be one long week at the most magical place on earth.

This is some major 'tude Ollie is giving Sears on behalf of his momma. I love this picture. I took it on Jake's first Father's Day at Atlantic Beach, NC.

time



Mom & Ollie - May 2011


Some days I wish I could stop time and live in the same moment for hours on end. We were driving into town this morning and I looked in the rear view mirror and Oliver was babbling away, chewing on his toy and looking out the window. My heart started breaking when I noticed the baby baby in Oliver has slowly disappeared. He used to hardly fill up his car seat and now the newborn insert needs to be taken out and his little feet dangle over the edge. What happened to my little 5lb baby and how in the world can six months slip by so fast? I am so emotional today. I usually don't visit Oliver at school (daycare), but today I just couldn't stay away. He was napping when I got there and I have to admit, I rubbed his face a little too hard so he would wake up. He slowly opened his eyes, sleepy little slumber eyes, and noticed me beside him. He smiled his Ollie smile (slow, big grin and flirty eyes) at me and I just melted. I know now what every mom has tried to tell all non-mothers before... the love you feel for your child is like no other. It is all consuming. I almost get drunk off this kid. His smile, his giggles, his da-da babbles (no ma-ma of course) his fat little wrists, his big blue eyes, his morning stretches with legs board straight ... be still my heart. I try to live in the moment each day, so I can try and remember all these moments. Its impossible of course. I already feel guilty for not taking video of his every waking moment,  not taking my camera and snapping pictures of every little thing we do and not recording every little detail of his life so far. Today, I wish I could have stayed with Ollie at school so I could witness his entire day. Instead, I froze that memory of his smile this afternoon in my heart and will hold it dear forever and ever.





sleepless in Spring Hope and a product review.

At 10 weeks old, along with his first day of daycare, Oliver started sleeping through the night. We would feed him his last bottle at 8:15pm, rock and sing a little and then he would be down for the night and sleep until about 5:30/6am. This worked into our morning routine perfectly. We were actually running early most mornings. Now? Not so much. Oliver has decided sleeping is for babies. He goes down at the same time, but wakes up at 1am and 4am and wants to eat. And in between those feedings he is fussy and wants to be held and/or rocked and usually ends up sleeping on my chest or in between me and Jake because we get tired of getting up every 15 minutes to soothe him back to sleep. No offense to co-sleepers, but I am not going to have a child sleep in bed with us every night if we can help it. We think he is teething and trying to cut his top teeth. Poor baby. I know he doesn't feel well, but I'm not sure if its just teething or a combination of other things too. All I know is that we are sleep deprived to the max and are getting kind of cranky.

This mascara works like magic. Go buy it. Right now.

stay cool

First, let me start by saying holy freaking moly, it is H-O-T! I hope this heat wave ends soon. I'm not a huge fan of 100+ degree temps.

I've had a bad week. It started when our fridge stopped working on Monday -- our two year old, $3k fridge. The repair guy deemed it un-fixable so Sears is going replace it since we had purchased the extended warranty (thank goodness my husband is a sucker for an extended warranty because I remember saying, "We don't need an extended warranty. What's the worst that could happen?") The replacement fridge is on backorder until the end of August. What the hell am I supposed to do without a fridge for a month? I'm too tired to think of a solution other than pulling my old dorm fridge out of our garage and eating out every night for the next month. Sounds like a plan. There are a lot more details to this story... details that involve me cussing three ways to Texas at three separate customer service reps, a complaint letter four pages long and one supremely dissatisfied customer.

My patience has been tested this week. Not only with the fridge issue, but as a mother, a wife and personally. Ollie hasn't been sleeping well and Jake has been exhausted from long days at work. Add this to me feeling less than steller about my current post-baby self and we have a big old party of pity. All week I have felt anxious and annoyed. Today, after I dropped off Ollie at school I had ten (rare) minutes to myself and my first thought was to call my sister and bitch about my fridge some more. I took a deep breath and then another one and another one and continued to breathe deep and enjoy the solitude of the car, with just me and my own thoughts. I needed those ten minutes to regroup with myself for the week. To prepare for a weekend of mothering and wife-ing. To look past the bad and move onto the good. I don't really know why I am writing this, I just felt like putting it out there. To say thank you to God for my wonderful husband, my beautiful baby and all the blessings of my life.