This and that

Here are updates on various things going on in our lives:

Four month appointment
We finally made it to the doctor last week for Olivia's four month appointment.  So really it was more like her 4 1/2 month appointment.  I was so frustrated after the appointment was over.  It had nothing to do with Olivia.  She was great.  I arrived at the doctor's office at 11:20 and left around 12:40 and I think we were actually with a nurse or the doctor for a grand total of about 12-14 minutes.  So much waiting...drives me nuts. I'm so busy at work right now which makes it so frustrating to spend three hours away (between driving to the house from work, feeding Olivia before we left for the doctor, the forever long appointment, returning back to the house to drop off Olivia and then heading back to work) which meant having to make up the lost time late at night.  Ok...sorry.  Enough venting, er, complaining.  Here are Olivia's 4 1/2 month stats:
Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz (60th percentile - can't believe she has more than doubled her birth weight)
Height: 26.25 inches (92nd percentile - no wonder all her pants look like she's wearing capris!)

Waiting at the doctor's office.  She loved grabbing at the paper and eating it.

 We are having so much fun with her.  She giggles regularly now which, of course, we think is hilarious.  She has been rolling over now for several weeks from her tummy to her back during tummy time.  She has always enjoyed her bouncer but she has recently discovered that if she kicks her feet enough, it will get her bouncing pretty good.  She is very curious about everything, which means wanting to touch everything and then putting it directly into her mouth.  She also "talks" regularly to us.  

Playing in her new toy

Deciding she would rather eat it than play with it.

Bundled up for the Houston cold

Geoff runs the Houston Marathon
Geoff completed his fourth straight Houston Marathon with a very impressive time of 2 hours and 49 minutes.  I'm so proud of him.  He worked so hard and it's great to see his training and discipline pay off.  I know it's not easy getting out of bed every Saturday morning at 5:30 after a long week of work, but he did it week in and week out.  

Geoff coming down the home stretch

Olivia and I were able to cheer Geoff on at three different locations throughout the marathon course.  It was raining off and on but we managed to stay dry enough.  I heard on the news that there was a 5 year old that ran the half marathon.  That's crazy to think that Olivia could be running 13.1 miles in only five years!!  I know Geoff hopes she gets his fast running genes instead of her mother's non-athletic abilities, but I'm pretty sure we won't have her running marathons that young.

Getting ready to be a runner like her daddy

Strangers do/say the weirdest things
This past Friday night, our family of three went out to dinner with some of Geoff's friends that he trains with so that they could all carb load before the marathon.  I noticed some older ladies at the table over my shoulder.  Halfway through dinner, one of the ladies approached us and asked if she could take a picture with her phone of Olivia so that she could send it to her 21 year old daughter.  Apparently, she thought Olivia was really cute or something and wanted her daughter to see.  It was kinda weird and made me a little uncomfortable, but I didn't want to refuse.  She seemed nice enough.  I'm sure her daughter got the picture and wondered why her mom was sending her pictures of some random baby.   

Caught sneaking snacks

Work-life balance...say what??
The balancing act between work and life as a mother and wife has been very challenging the last couple weeks as my work load has really ramped up.  My typical day right now involves leaving home around 8:00 am and getting home around 7:30 pm.  Once I get home, I play with Olivia for awhile, make dinner, put Olivia to bed and then work for another couple hours.  Also making it challenging is the fact that Olivia's sleep at night has gotten worse the last few weeks.  She started this thing where we will rock her to sleep but as soon as we lay her down in her crib, she wakes up thrashing around and then only goes back to sleep if we are holding her.  She does this not only when we put her down for the night, but sometimes she will also wake up during the night before it's time for her to eat and wants to be held.  Several times we've had to let her cry it out which is very hard when all I want to do is go back to bed.  Last week was especially exhausting as one night I was up with her for over two hours and several other nights she woke up multiple times throughout the night.  My mom's theory is that it is her way of coping with the fact that I'm not with her as much as I used to be before I returned to work and that she wants the extra attention.  Makes sense to me.  I think I feel more exhausted now than I ever felt when she was a newborn and eating every couple hours during the night.  At least then I could take naps during the day if I wanted and my brain was in a relatively relaxed state throughout the day unlike now when it's constantly processing at work.  Unfortunately, I feel like Geoff is the one getting squeezed the most out of this as there isn't much time in my day left for him.  Hopefully things will settled down in the next couple weeks and get better.  Plus, I keep telling myself  that all the extra overtime is allowing me to only work three days a week later in the spring so it's worth it.  

 

So far, so good

I've been back at work for a grand total of eights days and things are going really good.  The transition back has gone so much smoother than I expected.  I have enjoyed being back at work.  It's good to get dressed up every morning, socialize with my coworkers and have a feeling of accomplishment when I get tasks completed.  My previous days as a stay at home mom included sometimes not getting dressed until around noon, socializing with a person who doesn't talk back in coherent words and feeling like I accomplished something if I got a shower and shaved my legs.  Of course, I miss Olivia a ton when I'm at work.  I think about her all day long, wondering how she is doing and whether she drinking her milk and taking her naps.  But frankly, it's also kinda nice to have a break from changing diapers and wiping up spit up.  I love coming home from work and having her give me one of her big smiles because she is happy to see me.  Nothing beats that. 

Hanging out with her new friend Cookie Monster

Either trying to kiss or eat Cookie Monster

Besides Olivia and being able to play with her all day long, there are a few other things I miss now that I'm at work.  I miss being able to go to the grocery store on a weekday mornings when there are little crowds and the shelves are stocked.  Now it's back to shopping on Saturday afternoons when it seems like the entire city of Houston is out doing their shopping.  I also miss having the ability to take naps during the day. Olivia is still waking up once to feed during the night, so I do have times at work when I just want to lay down and sleep. Can't do that though.

Our nanny, Romelia, is awesome.  We are so thankful that we found her.  She has completely surpassed my expectations.  She gives so much love and attention to Olivia and already seems to have developed a bond with her.  She plays with her, reads her books, sings to her and takes her for walks 2-3 times a day if the weather is good.  Last Friday, on only her fifth day here, she told Olivia she loved her as she was leaving...too sweet!  Plus, she does housekeeping chores when Olivia is sleeping.  She does all the laundry, cleans the dishes, empties the dishwasher, sweeps the floor, reorganizes and folds everything in Olivia's dresser drawers and more!  When we hired her, I had hoped that maybe she would do the dishes for me, so all the extra chores are a huge bonus.  It is wonderful to be able to come home from work after a long day to a clean house and have more time to spend playing with Olivia instead of having to do housekeeping tasks.  Romelia has commented multiple times that she is "muchas happy" to be caring for Olivia and the feeling is definitely mutual.

We waited until her 4 month b-day to get her a blackberry.  She's updating her twitter page here. :)

Thank you to all who have prayed for my transition back to work.  I have felt your prayers.  Please continue to pray as my schedule at work will be very, very busy and stressful the last half of January.  I am still learning to balance my roles as wife, mother and employer and the next few weeks will be a big test for me.

Santa Baby

Christmas took an a new excitement this year with the added person to our family.  Not that Olivia really knew it was Christmas, but it was fun to include her in our Christmas traditions for the first time.  Here are some of the highlights:

Olivia loved Christmas trees.  She was mesmerized by the Christmas lights.  Also, she is really into reaching out and touching everything right now which included the Christmas tree.

Olivia took her second plane trip to New Mexcio to see Mama Glory, Granddad and meet Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Daneel and cousins Avalon (2 years) and Julie Kate (4 months - she is 2 1/2 weeks older than Olivia) for the first time.  It was fun for the cousins to finally meet.  I'm looking forward to when the girls are a little older and will be able to play together and be great friends.

Cousins Julie Kate and Avalon

Olivia's pajamas should have said "unhappy" instead of "happy" for this picture.

Hanging out with Granddad

Of course she has to feel Julie Kate, just like everything else.

Olivia was a bit oblivious to all the gift giving, but she got loaded up with books, which is what I had requested everyone get her.  The books are really more for me right now because I was getting bored with reading the same ones we had over and over again to her.  Now we practically have a library which is awesome. In addition to books, Geoff and I gave her an Olivia the pig doll.  She enjoyed trying to eat it. 

Having a child of my own now, I have a different understanding of the birth of Jesus and the wonder and awe Mary must have experienced.  I love Christmas and celebrating Christ's birth and look forward to teaching Olivia about the real meaning of the season as she gets older.

Pooped from all the Christmas activity