Better Late than Never?

HI.

I realize it's been just under a year since my last post. I think I'd better get to it, yeah? So much has happened in our family this year, and it's going to be impossible to recall all of the fun stuff, but I'll sure try.

Olive is a little different now. She turned one in May. She had a good, strong vocabulary at that point and it was getting easier and easier to understand her! It was such a huge blessing when we could actually start 'communicating'. We started to understand each other better, which took a lot of guesswork out of the equation. We celebrated her birthday in Cedar City on a cold, windy day. With my luck of course, I spent the previous month working on cute decorations and banners. Lovely centerpieces and tasty treats. The morning of, we saw and heard the weather and did not want to go out. We braved it anyway and had a good time. Olive didn't care what was going on. She was just excited that family was up and that it was her day.

She was spoiled rotten and wasn't all that into the cupcake. I spent a couple of weeks before her party looking up 'healthy cakes' because we had been so good at keeping sugar minimal,we wanted a veggie-based cake to keep the run going. (We're terrible parents, I know). The cake intended for the party didn't turn out and so we went with chocolate cupcakes for all. So anyway, Olive poked and prodded the little cake, removed all of the icing and the paper, and just threw it everywhere. She probably got a couple of crumbs in her mouth. We were ok with that in the end :)

Just some one year pics -- I have the prettiest baby ever known to this earth. :)
*photos from the amazing talent of Tiffani Hafen.

About a week after the party, we ventured to San Diego for a few days with the Campbells. It was planned to an inch of it's life and we knew nothing would go wrong. Nothing. We got there in one piece and Olive started full-on walking!  She had been taking steps for a while but hadn't taken off until then. It was so sweet to have that happen in my hometown. We spent the next day at the Zoo and all was well. Later that night, and for nearly the rest of our trip, we stayed huddled in our house, bed and bathroom-ridden because we all got the stomach flu! Just about everyone in the house had it but a couple of people. It was pretty miserable but even worse when Olive got it. We weren't feeling better until the last day and a half or so. We spent it at Sea World and then that was that. No beach, no visiting friends, no soul-fulfilling walks around Balboa Park and the Embarcadero. Just the sickly interior of a (nice!) house. It was fun for what it was and I'm very glad we went. I'm fully expecting a redo someday :)

I didn't get any pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

At the beginning of the year, we flirted with the idea of house hunting. We figured that we were in a good place and it was time to find where we needed to be. Cody's job was on the up and up and we decided that it would be good to keep a good thing going by staying here in Iron County than trying to make it from the bottom somewhere else in an unsteady economy. In May and June we found an AWESOME realtor and we started looking at houses in Cedar City and Enoch, (a town on the north side of Cedar). Just about every place we fell in love with quickly went, or for unknown reasons, just did not work out. We were just about to give up the search for a season until our realtor called and wanted to look at a last-minute house that had just shown up on market. We piled in the car and went to Enoch. It was built in 2005, spacious interior, dream kitchen, 3 bedrooms upstairs, unfinished basement on bottom. It had a huge yard that was well-kept. We did not do what we normally did, by taking a week to think it over and pray about it. Instead, we quickly made an offer as soon as we could. We closed and were moved in by late July.
Things sure work out in mysterious ways. Everything just, clicked. Everything. This is our place and we are where we are supposed to be. We have wonderful neighbors lots of room to roam. We are home owners. It blows my mind a little bit, but I love it.

(These pictures aren't very helpful at all. At. All. 

Someday, I'll get around to the grand tour. I promise, it's a neat place to be)

It took a couple of months to get settled in. In that time, Olive grew like a weed and gained 6(!) teeth since turing one. We also successfully broke her of the bottle and got her sleeping through the night. Big changes can sure wear out a girl.

Olive and her BFF puppy. 16 months. 

At a pumpkin patch in Paragonah. 17 months. 

Taking the tractor ride around the patch

*Somehow* she took to smiling like this for pictures. I love her. 

This brings us to October. We got really jazzed for Halloween and did our best to make it fun for Olive. We went to pick pumpkins, and we opted to paint them this year which was so much easier than carving. (Olive wasn't very fond of the pumpkin innards anyway). We watched some of my favorite Halloween movies growing up and we ate popcorn. We did our ward's trunk-or-treat and dressed up. 

Cody and I went as Price is Right contestants and Olive was D.W. from the kids' show Arthur. 

Dead-on, right? Haha. 

We totally had a fun day. Remember that bit up there about limited to no sugar? Well, Olive got into the candy (as pictured) and I told her that if she can get any open she could have it. I honestly didn't think she could get any open -- until she did. She got into a thing of Smarties and she ran away to enjoy them. The following couple of hours were kind of hilarious. She was WIRED. We played and let her have her fun. It totally worked out in the end because she crashed completely at bedtime. :) 

In November, we dealt with off and on sickness with Olive, totally teething-related. Poor thing does not teethe well. She just got in the last 2 of the previously mentioned 6. I think we'll have a small breather before the next two decide to come along. 

Thanksgiving was fun this year. It was with the Campbells and everyone decided to come here to celebrate and to see the house. It was good to try to host a holiday and everything went really smooth, thanks to awesome in-laws. We had a backed-up pipe which put a temporary damper on things (no really, we flooded a little bit), but it's all good now; I was definitely feeling pretty thankful by the end of  things. 

Just because. 18 months.

Olive just hit a point where she is just talking like crazy! She's got little sentences formed and is trying out new words all the time. We communicate pretty well now. There are still a few words that still mystify me, like 'ert' meaning 'milk', but it's still so fun. She is a happy, happy girl and just goes with the flow, usually. 

She loves dogs and puppies.

She loves numbers and trying to count.

She loves Blues Clues and Sesame Street.

She loves to 'help' with things around the house.

She loves to make-up and play games.

She loves cars and keys and steering wheels.

She loves her extended family and can name them all off. 

She loves BEES. (Any kind of bug or piece of lint on the ground)

She loves to say hi and bye to random people at the store.

She loves to dance and sing funny songs.

She loves to pray in a little, reverent voice (in baby gibberish) and then yell AMEN! at the end. 

I could go on and on about her and her quirks, but this post has got to end at some point, right? As for Cody and I have been good. It's been nice to be settled and comfortable. Cody really likes his job and things for him seem to be getting better and better. One of his bosses recently retired and so he has been promoted with more perks. It's safe to say that we're probably going to be here for a while. As for me, I've been good too. My old job, LearnKey contacted me in August and they were needing help with getting some work done. I only go into the office a couple of times a week for a couple of hours and then work the rest of the time at home, when Olive is sleeping. (Thank goodness for the Internet!) It's been so great and a nice balance for me, not to mention keep my head in the design world a little bit. My favorite thing still, is to be Olive's mom and to help her become a good, semi-normal person. 

What we look like now, in case you were wondering.

*photo from the amazing talent of Tiffani Hafen.

We plan on spending Christmas here and to have my family come up to us. It'll be fun to have them and make more memories. 

Well, we've made it. If you're still with me at this point, I commend you and you're probably a true friend :) I *hope* to keep this up to  date a little more often. 

4 Months Later....

I never thought I'd become the lazy blogger that posts so far between. I guess being a Mom does that to you. The last 4 months have been much of the same, but with so many changes and milestones met. Maybe I'll go month by month? I'm not sure. We'll see how this pans out.

October
Olive turned 5 months and learned to sit up and stay. haha She worked so hard to do it and learned within a few days. She was so proud to be able to sit up with the rest of us and so see more of the world around her. We spent a weekend in Salt Lake with Cody's sisters and had fun just catching up and them getting to see Olive. This month we also started her on cereal and a veggie here and there. She wasn't sure what to think at first but it didn't take long for her to catch on. We spent Halloween at home and Olive was a monkey and we were the zookeepers. She made an adorable little monkey and didn't seem to mind the costume that much.  

November

This was a doozy of a month filled with a lot of traveling. Right when Olive turned 6 months her two bottom teeth came through. It was a huge relief for all of us and she was her good, happy self again. Thanksgiving was spent at my family's house and it was a lot of fun, filled with shopping, eating and (some) resting.  This month we also started Olive on more fruits and veggies. So far so good on everything. She seems to like it all. :) This month we also took family pics. Fabulous Nicole Christiansen took them here in Cedar. 

December

This month was filled with more and more traveling than ever. We spent a lot of the first part getting things ready for the holiday and I was left a lot of time with Olive. Cody was trying to finish a lot of work which led to a lot of long, long hours and there were weeks where he didn't see Olive at all because she was in bed by the time he got home. The project ended up being a massive machine they eventually send over to the San Jose, CA area. When they send these machines over, they usually send a couple of engineers with to put the machine back together, get it all online and troubleshoot any problems they may come across. These type of jobs normally last about a week and then they come home. Well, this one was 2 weeks and I just say that 2 weeks in 'alone with a baby time' is more like a month. I was so blessed to have my mother in law stay for a few days and then to spend some more time with my family to make the time go my sooner. Olive was perfect (mostly) during that time, but we were both so glad when he came home. We were complete again.

Anyway, back to Christmas. Olive and I spent a day in STG (again) and then we all went up to Salt Lake to spend it with Campbells. It was to fun to be all together and to laugh and just relax. We had a wonderful Christmas and I think Olive had a blast too.  The day after Christmas-just like that, Olive decided she wanted to learn to crawl. It took her about three weeks of trying to figure it out, but in mid-January, she took off and is now ALL OVER THE PLACE. So funny and so crazy to see them grow and change like that. 

January

Like I just mentioned, Olive learned to CRAWL. It was again one of those things she worked at and worked at until she had it. She went from all fours to a one-legged crawl, to now full-fledged all over the place chaos. She's funny. The popular thing now is to climb and cruise. She loves to get to a standing position on something and then try to get from one place to another while holding on. Her steps are getting better and she is becoming more brave. Most recently, she has been learning how to get down from standing by falling on her bum. I think once she gets better at that, we'll all be just fine. (Instead of the usual parent freak-out and hovering over her so she doesn't fall down weird and get hurt).  So yeah... lots of mobility these days and its just going to get more and more crazy. February 1st she is going to be 9 (!) months. She can now talk and babble and say mama and dada. She is so much fun and so amusing to have around. 

As for Cody and I, not much has changed for Cody. He has still been working nonstop since his big install and it doesn't seem to be letting up much. The plus side is that it is so much overtime, but we don't get to see him as much and EVERYTHING gets left to me. We're tired folks these days. It'll even out eventually. We are great overall and we can't wait to see what lies ahead this year. 

Enjoy Now.

To all of the people who said that you need to take in every day with your baby because 'they grow up so fast', you were right. I had no idea it would be like this. 4.5 months doesn't seem like much but I already feel like so much has happened. About Miss O now:

-Weighs 15 lbs, 24 in long.

-Has the best little laugh.

-Has mastered the grab. She has a great grip on must about everything (Even my hair!)

-Can roll, but doesn't like to. ha

-Instead, she likes to stand and take assisted steps. There is nothing more fun for her than that. We like to call it QWOP. This is why.

-Olive can stand and hold herself up for a few seconds on something close to her arm level.

-She is dying to sit up. She is working feverishly on it too. This girl cannot wait to do bigger and better things. She gets so frustrated when she can't.

-We started her on rice cereal. She likes it ok, it will be a fun process for all of us to get used to.

-She still talks and babbles all the time. She loves to talk to Cody.

-Has found her feet and loves to play with them.

I'm sure there are more things, but that's the gist.

Last month we spent a few days in San Diego. It was such a fun trip! We went for Cody and I's 5 year wedding anniversary, Cody's birthday, and to show Olive around :)

Olive was SO good too! I was kind of nervous about it but she traveled really well and slept when she needed to instead of fighting it. She was a good sport about being packed all over town and to the beach at the end of the trip. She fell asleep, but I promise she was there! haha As always, it was sad to leave, but also was nice to get home and chill out.

We spent Labor day weekend with my family laughing and eating and checking out the Iron county fair. In addition to that, my dear brave brother Ryan shipped off to basic training a week ago. He's in the Navy now and we are so excited for him. We know he will do well and be honorable like our father and grandfather.

Besides that, life has been the same. Olive and I have fun everyday and it's exciting to see her reach all of these milestones. Our 'hobby' right now is LOST. haha, sounds lame but we are hooked! Cody's job is going well and it keeps him pretty busy. I'm sure the next time will showcase so much more.

Moral of the story: Enjoy right now, no matter what's going on, for it will never be back again. I know I'm going to try more than ever.

"I Can Do Hard Things"

I'd like to mention something that's impacted me over the last 3+ months. I have a very inspiring friend that also blogs and dedicated a post to doing 'hard things'. The post talked about my friend working on habits and things she wasn't very good at, that were hard for her, and cultivate them into possible talents, such as taking pictures and like things. I made a mental note to think of something I thought would be hard or not very good at, and then do the same. It wasn't a few weeks later that I was in labor and undertaking the hardest thing ever (for me at least).
As the labor wore on, my mindframe became "I can do hard things" and so on it went. I can't even articulate how helpful, inspiring, and humbling this simple phrase was for me. I would sometimes think of my friend and her simple post and the monumental effect it had on me; About how strong she is all the time and how I could be like her and survive. Anyway, Olive was finally born and the weeks that followed heavily incorporated me repeating over and over that I can do hard things, (to myself, that is) until I felt that I could truly take on the role like I was meant to. I absolutely recommend thinking in your lives about 'hard things' and working on them, big or small.

3.5 months - Update

Golly, I need to get better at this. Anyway, it is now the middle of August and for some reason I seriously felt like I wouldn't live to see this month. haha, Really. It just seemed eons and eons away. But, here we are and life is good.

I suppose I should start at around eight weeks, or the 4th of July. Like I hind before, I we blessed Olive in the great little town of Blanding, Cody's hometown. He gave her a wonderful blessing and we were fortunate to have a lot of family come over in support. My best friend Erin made Olive's blessing outfit and it came out quite near perfect. We dressed her in traditional navajo dress for the occasion. It was beautiful.

We spent the rest of the holiday watching the parade and taking it easy. At night we set off fireworks and watched the neighborhood go hog wild on the festivities. To give you an idea, every night sounded like a war zone that married a Star Wars movie. haha. No, really.

After that adventure, the next week we went to Cody's family reunion in Marysvale, UT. It was a fun day to spend with more of his family and for them to love on Olive. She actually did ok on both of these occasions. We definitely need to get her more used to more people though. She can get pretty freaked out sometimes.

In the last 6+ weeks, Olive has learned/developed so much. She can now:

-Stand with help and bear her own weight. (This is actually her favorite thing to do. Anything else is just boring and limiting to her.)

- Smile more and more. She's a really happy baby and even if she's tired or mad at something, we can usually get her to smile anyway. haha

- Grasp and hold on to objects. We're getting better and better with that all the time.

- Drool like it's going out of style.

- We can hold on to her hands and pull her to a sitting and then standing position with no problems. Her head keeps level and steady.

- Tummy time is getting better and better. She can hold her head up for a long time. Not her favorite, but she'll thank us for it later. :)

- Talk and babble ALL THE TIME. She is so funny and makes the cutest sounds and gurgles. Imagine a little kitty talking to you all day long.

- This has been a normal thing this whole time, but she sleeps at night in good eight hour stretches. It's a beautiful thing.

- She naps in 30 minute intervals every two hours. I've adjusted accordingly. Whatever works.

- Olive has remained on the 30% track of the growth chart and weighs about 12 pounds now.

- Loves to be read to. (And add her two cents as well)

- Likes to see everything that's going on. Seriously.

- Can nearly hold her bottle all by herself. It's cute.

She's a funny little baby and we love her so much. It's fun to see what she'll do next.

In other news, the 12th week of my maternity leave came around and I had to make a tough choice. I decided to leave LearnKey and stay home with Olive. It wasn't so much that it was hard to decide, I, like always, wanted to somehow do both. It wasn't meant to be. There is no way I could bring Olive in (something they offered) and make the work fair and also fair to Olive. Since she naps in such short times as well, it would be impossible to get anything done there, or at home. (another thing they offered). I barely get normal things done at home. haha. Anyway, it was with mixed emotions that I left. I think that era is over and now I need to focus on Olive and making sure she gets what she needs. I'm up for it. :) Besides it all, I have been getting a steady stream of freelance work to keep me content. There is indeed a plan for everyone.