Independence Day 2012!

Key word in this post being independence. After a week or so or crawling/semi-crawling, here we are...

We enjoyed the Pleasant Grove fireworks again this year. It was Olivia's first experience. (Aside from hearing them in my tummy last year.) She did really well. It didn't phase her at all. The only thing is that the poor girl was exhausted. It was way past her bed time. Nevertheless, I think she enjoyed it.

I'm grateful for this wonderful country in which we live. I'm also very appreciative of all the military men and women that currently and formerly serve to protect us. This year, thanks to the many wildfires going, I know a number of fire fighting efforts are going on. Thanks to all those battling the many blazes also. God bless the USA!

Sad Day

We are down a family member. It has been an ongoing battle, and definitely a tough decision, but we ultimately had to say goodbye to our cat Jack.

I realize this may not seem like such a tough decision, and anyone who knows Jack would probably say that it's about time! Trust me, there were days - numerous times we thought that as well. We had Jack for almost 5 1/2 years, and he was a big part of our family.

Dave and I got him from one of my co-workers when he was just a kitten. This occurred after only 8 months of marriage. Jack was our baby back then, and has continued to be "Baby J" or "Jack Jack" since. Unfortunately (and fortunately), we then got a puppy a year and a half later. That may have been one of the best things we did. Jack and Sadie got along great...for the most part. It taught us a lot about Jack, and ourselves, "raising" these two kids.

In a lot of ways I think it helped Jack prepare for Olivia. He was very protective of her and knew very quickly that she was part of the family. Jack has been very protective of his family. To a fault occasionally. Over time, we went downhill somewhat though. Jack became territorial (of Olivia's room) and swatted at her twice - never hurting her, but still... Thus we arrived at the heart-wrenching decision to "send him to the farm" as it were.

It has been a trying day to say the least. I believe it was best for Jack, as well as the rest of our family. It was perhaps in part our fault for not giving him as much attention, but at the end of the day, human baby girl trumps cat. I feel okay about our decision. My only concern is what will happen if he doesn't get adopted. My sincere hope is that he will and that he'll have another family that will love him as much as we have. Despite his quirks and flaws,  Jack is also quite capable of giving tremendous love.

We will miss you and we really do love you Jack!!! (I apparently only have the one picture I can add right now.)

Quick Update

Here is a very quick update about what we've been up to. (Hopefully I'll get to write more soon.) Over Memorial Day weekend, and my birthday, we were in California. Specifically Disneyland! Dave and I had planned an adult trip, which turned into our 1st family vacation. Yep, Olivia went too.

 We drove to and from California in a Toyota Rav4 - rental. Olivia did so great. She was quite the little trooper. We only made a couple of stops. Unfortunately that left her with some tummy problems. So we had a day of not feeling so awesome. She made it through a couple of days of Disneyland, and was able to go on a few rides. Of course she won't remember it, but it was fun anyway.

After a lot of thought, perhaps more than it should have been, we picked a souvenir for Liv. I think Baby Minnie is about as big as my girl. Actually, I'll be interested to see her stats at her 9 month check next month. I tried putting her into some "bigger" clothes, and they seem to fit.

We were in Disneyland on my birthday. Dave planned a romantic dinner at the Blue Bayou for us one night too. When we got home we had Dave's birthday, which consisted of him going to a doctor's appointment. (Considerate, I know. :) I thought it was the least I could do.) Actually, it was not good. Apparently Dave had a couple more tumors than we had thought, but everything's still out and we're on the road to recovery. We have a check-up with Dave's surgeon soon.

Our sweet little girl, Olivia, continues to teeth. No teeth in yet, but our poor baby has been miserable. I feel like her teething has been ongoing for several months now, which I hear may not be so unusual. I love Olivia's toothless little smile, but if it will help her feel better, I'd rather have the teeth get in...and soon. I'll keep you posted if and when we get the chompers.

Annular Eclipse

Tonight we went up to Grove Creek and saw a solar eclipse. It was only a "partial" eclipse, but it was pretty cool. It was kind of cloudy when we got there; so we weren't sure we'd see much, but it turned out that we got an awesome view.

I looked pretty good too if I do say so myself.

And we had our first family pic, taken by someone other than me.

Mother's Day 2012!

A day late, but Happy Mother's Day to all the amazing women I know, with and without children of their own. This year was my first Mother's Day with a baby, and it was a great day. I made a quick bacon and egg breakfast before church, then we went to our meetings. I got my annual Mother's Day Utah Truffle truffle, chocolate this time.

After church Dave made us some really good sandwiches. We bought "real" mozzarella at Costco this weekend. He made a sandwich with bacon, tomato, avacado, and mozzarella. It was fabulous. Dave offered to make dinner, but I ultimately did it, which was fine. I tried to do teriyaki chicken, but it ended up being more like lemon pepper chicken. We had peas (from Doc's...from last fall) and funeral potatoes also.

It sounds like I did a lot, but Dave offered to help throughout the day. He really helped me a lot on Saturday with some cleaning around the house. He also takes care of Olivia for an hour or two each day during the week before I get home from work. He says I do better than he does at parenting, but really he does an amazing job too.

My mom gave me a nice blouse for Mother's Day and Dave has been working on a Mother's Day/Birthday/Anniversary present, which I'll be able to write about a little later. Olivia found out that the best gifts come from the heart (or tummy), and so she shared a little of her lunch with me - spit up. It's the thought that counts, right? Needless to say, it was a great day!

Keep Moving Forward...

I don't feel like I have much time to do anything these days. I know we all have the same 24 hours each day, but it often feels like it's never enough. So, here's a bit about what we've been up to.

At Olivia's 6 month check-up she weighed 13 lbs and measured 24 1/2 in. long. This put her in the 5th percentile for wt, 10th percentile in length, and 60th percentile head circumference. That was a few weeks ago. I believe she's packed on some more weight and has grown once again.

 

 

After nearly 7 months, Olivia has been named and blessed! Her Daddy did such a great job. We didn't have a ton of family down, but it was a really nice turnout. Dave was able to hold her without any problem and she cooperated and didn't cry or fuss.

In other Olivia news, she's a self-sitter, (baby) food eater, rolly pollie, cutie patootie. I think we have some teeth on their way. Not her yet though. I will miss my sweet little toothless baby, but am excited to see her "new" smile and progression. She continues to grow cuter and cuter.

Mom and Dad (Dave and I) continue to plug along with our everyday same old, hum-drum lives. We do however feel as though we're regrouping and things are coming together for us. There are a couple of changes in our lives currently, but I'll write in more detail about them at another time. It seems it's time for bed, again, so until next time, poka. :0)

Happy Easter 2012!

This year we did not do anything "Easter" with Olivia. We talked about why we celebrate Easter, but no eggs or visit with the Easter bunny or anything. We didn't even get her an Easter dress this year. Next year...

Mommy did her first holiday dinner. Just for Mom and Dad (Kim and Dave), but it was still a first. I did a crock pot ham with root beer and brown suger, roasted asparagus, and mashed potatoes. It turned out pretty well I think. Definitely not bad for my first "big dinner."