I love being 7 weeks old

I love being swaddled
I love to eat every three hours
I love slurping down the milk very quickly
I love sleeping 4-5 hour stretches at night
I love making the sweetest cooing sounds
I love trying to smile and have smiled twice...and melted my mom's heart
I love laying "punch drunk" in mommy's arms after my afternoon feeding
I love my Burt's Bees Baby Bee lotion for my sensitive face
I love my white noise cd
I love that my sister tells daddy to "Kiss Olive before you leave" when he goes to school
I love when Caroline loves me and kisses me, and I also love when she gives me some personal space back
I love that I have had so many Utah visitors and can't wait to meet my aunts next Thursday, and then see Grandma Mary and Grandpa Wayne
I love to strike glamour poses

Dance moves?

(Warning: You may get motion sick from watching this footage)
I know you will all be wondering, "Where does she get those great dance moves?...it must be Andrea." Yes, well we all know the truth and remember the time I was called up on stage at the Samples concert and bobbed up and down, looking oh so foolish. Caroline is dancing all day to this loud, yet quite catchy, play it over-and-over again tune (thanks Mechams, really she LOVES it!) I catch Adam singing the tune while cooking, shaving, etc. This is to put a smile on the grandparent's faces, please note the hip action.

Goodbye tears

I try to be a positive person, but I have to be honest here and say that the past few days have been filled with tears (both Olive's and my own). There is nothing worse than not being able to soothe and comfort my little girls. Over the past few weeks, I have been truly baffled at what seemed like such discomfort for Olive. A million questions have run through my head...
Is she still hungry? (right after I feed her)
Is she poopy? (no, just changed the diaper)
Is my milk supply low, bad quality, is it something I ate?
She must be tired?
Gas? Upset tummy?
Is she in pain? Then my mind goes wild...bowel obstruction? (no she's pooping)
As a nurse, I just tend to look for symptoms and identify a cause.
Is it colic many have asked? Well, here is ignorant me not really thinking colic was a valid answer. I was thinking it was a catch all for all problems.
A little reading about the nature of colic and how to deal with it and wha-la....a very happy baby who is sleeping soundly right now.
After expressing my discouragement to my hubby, he secretly did a little research online, and put "The Happiest Baby on the Block" on hold for me to pick up at the library today. We had previously heard of the 5 S's to help calm a baby:
Swaddling
Side/Stomach
Shhh
Swinging
Sucking
But what I didn't realize was that there was an order that helps calm a baby right down, and even more so, a colicky baby with an intense temperament. The book cites 10 Universal facts about colic. It was very comforting to read them and realize I that this is likely what has been going on.
It's only been half a day, but I am really hopeful. Things went surprisingly well using the tips and tricks I learned and I hope it continues.

Happiness is...

While Grandma and Grandpa B were here, they went with Adam and Caroline to White Park to go sledding. There was a beautiful fresh blanket of snow covering Concord so it was a perfect day to go. Caroline loved making snow angels, being buried in the snow up to her neck, riding down the hill, eating it, and as you can see in the video..rolling in it. As Caroline rode through the fresh powder she would say, "Clouds, clouds, clouds." Adam said she had no fear of the cold. She would take her gloves off and dig her hands into the snow to get handfuls to eat. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for getting such great pictures and video so I could enjoy the outing from home. Olive and I stayed home and spent time together making homemade pizza for lunch, we had a lovely time as well.
Adam's parents have been gone a while now and oh how we miss our house elves that would have the kitchen clean after meals and make Caroline crowns and keep her fully entertained while I would be tending to Olive. We do hope that all of our visitors backs have or soon will recover from sleeping on the futon :). We love and miss you all!
p.s. Also let it be known that Adam returned to school today, therefore I was home ALONE with the two little ones. All I can say is, the house is still standing and we are all alive, it was a pretty good day. Reality is here and I think I can do this!

Olive 1 month

 

I can't believe that an entire month has already passed. It did not go this fast with Caroline and I need to enjoy every second because Olive is growing rapidly!
At 2 weeks Olive was 7lbs. 7oz. and 19.5in
at her 1 month appt. this week she weighed 8lbs. 14oz. and was 21 inches long.
We just love this little butterball!
Caroline has adjusted very well and is always making sure she knows where baby Olive is. She has been a very good mother to her dollies. She feeds them, puts them down for naps and they also go to time out sometimes. I walked into the living room the other day and she was on the couch counting to 20.
I said, "Caroline, you don't need to be in time out."
Caroline: "I am not in time out, Lizzie is, she was NOT a helper." She pointed to the "timeout" chair and there was Lizzie.

Sharon, Vermont

While Adam's parents were here we decided to head up to the birthplace of Joseph Smith. None of us had ever been there and it was a very festive place to visit this time of year. When we pulled up to the road that would take us to the monument, the wooden fences were lined with white twinkle lights. As we reached the top of the hill, we saw a beautiful display of colorful lights. No, it wasn't Temple Square, but it had a different very calm feeling there. There was Christmas music playing outside, and you could also tune in on the radio, that always adds such a nice touch. It was incredible being in this wooded area with tons of lights, I loved it! There was a real donkey that had Caroline just beside herself. We have recently watched "Small One" and if any of you have seen it, it is a tear jerker of a movie about a donkey.



After our visit we went to Nate, Di, and Chase's house for banana bread and cocoa-motion hot chocolate. Thanks guys for the tasty treat! Now the story about the red Canadian hat...Di got it for Nate's sister Steph. I saw her in it a long time ago and was obsessed. No really obsessed, ask my hubby. So the search began for a hat, but Di just got it at some gas station in Canada and no google search was good enough. The obsession ceased until a U of U football parade last year where I saw a toddler in one. Well Steph just sent it to me right before Christmas and Adam is still laughing over how excited I was. Thanks Steph! Now if only I could find a toddler one...

A princess Christmas

We were able to spread Christmas out this year and we had another "Christmas morning" the day after Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa B. Every inch of our living room was decked with something of the princess theme.


Sporting her new "beau, beau, beau, beau, beautiful gown" as stated by Caroline
Notice the "Aurora shoes" above. Caroline walks way better in heels than I do!

Here's to...

4 incredible years of marriage, celebrating countless good times, comfort during hard times, the operating room and endless flirting, graduations, two precious little girls, lynwood, everettwood, holladay blvd., and concord, innumerable candle lit breakfasts, lunches, and dinners, road trips, paris, island park, Adam's good sense with money management, long talks, snow shoeing, long love letters, cooking together, my best friend, loving being in love

Over the river and through the woods...

to Christmas in Vermont we go! We had a holiday right out of a movie this year. It was quaint and we spent it in my favorite state, Vermont. We went up to cousin Nate and Di's house in Hanover on Christmas Eve day and then slept over. It was nice to be with some family on Christmas! The drive up definitely filled us with the Christmas spirit as we drove by the snow covered woods and passed several beautiful rivers, with Christmas tunes playing.
Christmas Eve was a very happy time for the palate. We had stuffed mushrooms and clams, baked brie, homemade soup and french bread, and a chocolate fondue fountain. Some of Nate and Di's neighbors, the VanBibbers, came over with their 5 girls. Caroline was in heaven, and so were the girls who loved holding Olive.



Caroline and Chase in their new Christmas jammies





On Christmas Day we enjoyed watching Chase and Caroline open their gifts and be excited over the smallest little things...slinkies and sleds. We went to the VanBibbers for eggs benedict, which was delicious, and then hit the backyard hill for some sledding. Caroline had a blast! This was just the beginning to our Christmas Day because in true Santa Clause fashion, Adam's parents flew in to New Hampshire that night!