Memorial Day

Oops, a little behind on the blogging! Here are a few pics from the Memorial Day BBQ at our house.

David grilled burgers and dogs and we ate them out back until the breeze and the mosquitoes got to be too much for me and we moved the party indoors!




Our friends brought over their baby girl Zoe (8 days younger than Oli - she's tiny!) Here she is looking chic in her new sunglasses!



Some of the guys chill on the couch and Oliver is clearly the life of the party!

Almost Smiling!

Oliver continues to be a joy in my life and I feel blessed that I get to hangout with him everyday. I'll admit that I find it tough to get much accomplished around the house and my "To Do" list hasn't seen much progress lately, but I feel like spending time with my little boy and watching him grow and change are the most important things I can be doing right now. He's already maturing so much and I'm just sure he's going to smile very soon! He's come so close and I'm ready to see his precious little dimples in action!




He does look to be grinning in this pic, but he was actually just making a variety of expressions and I caught him as he was opening his mouth. I hope to post some real smiles on here in the near future!

Still Gaining

Oliver had a weight check yesterday and I am happy to report that he is up to 8 lbs 6 oz (still small for a 1-month-old but he is heading in the right direction!) I am continuing to pump and feed him by bottle after he has breastfed because he still isn't a very efficient eater, but he is making improvements here too. We are just happy that he is healthy and putting on more ounces.




He may turn into a little chunk yet!

1 Month Old!

Today is Oliver's 1 month birthday! It's really hard to believe he's been a part of our family for that long already - the time is going quickly and he's growing and changing so much! We are so blessed that he is a happy and healthy boy and we're very glad he is in our life! Happy 1 Month B-Day little Oli!

Almost a real smile...




He looks so tiny in his big crib!



We like to call him froggie.



He's such a sweetie.




We are looking forward to more adventures in month #2!

Tummy Time with Oliver

We make sure that Oliver has some time off his back each day and he is beginning to enjoy it more. His little arms and neck are starting to get stronger too!

Enjoying the Sun!

We had a couple of days of sunshine in a row and tried to take advantage of the weather by being outside as much as possible.

Oliver models his new sunglasses. (He didn't actually wear these outside because they are too big for his head. We opted for a sun hat instead!)





Out for a walk near our house. Tucker bounds through the field and Oliver enjoys sleeping in the front-pack.




I wouldn't mind if the rainclouds stayed away a bit longer!

Big(ger) Boy!

I didn't write any blog posts about this before (probably because it was a bit frustrating and worrisome for me) but Oliver was past 3 weeks of age and still not back up to his birth-weight. He was born 7lbs 12oz and got down to 7lbs 4oz in the hospital (normal for a baby), but at his 2 week check-up he was only back up to 7lbs 7oz. We came back for 2 follow-up appointments and he was stuck at that same weight. He wasn't losing anything but the doctor and nurses were concerned that he wasn't gaining normally.

The medical staff had several instructions for us to follow including an herbal tea and 2 additional supplements for me to take, waking Oli every 2-3 hours to feed 10 minutes on each side and then offering him an additional 2 ounces of breastmilk/formula afterwards, having me use a pump after every feeding (ouch), and increasing my amount of sleep (easier said than done!) Anyway, it seems that these methods have been very successful!

Oliver was weighed on Thursday and was still stuck at 7lbs 7oz. I started with the doctor recommendations after that appointment and my mom and I took Oli back in for a weighing that Saturday (2 days later.) I was so very happy and relieved when we discovered that he was up to 7lbs 14oz! He gained 7oz in 2 days! Hooray! Also, I fed him while we were there and he gained another 2oz so he was technically up to 8lbs! All the sleep deprivation and use of the suction/torture machine have been worth it!

Here are some pics of our BIG boy!







Also, he quickly got tired of being propped-up in this position! =)



(I think this was a yawn... not screaming.)

Sleepy Head

I think that Oliver got a combination of "sleepy" genes from David and I. You see, both David and I can basically fall asleep anywhere at anytime no matter what is going on. This is handy when you are traveling by car or plane or when you need to catch a quick nap at the office, but not so handy when you are sitting in a class or church and can't keep your eyelids open! It seems that Oliver has inherited this trait as well. I consider it a blessing when he can fall asleep quickly and remain in slumberland even when the dog is barking, David is using power tools in the basement, or some annoying car alarm is going off in our neighborhood. It does, however, make it tricky to keep him awake for important things like eating or being social when guests come to visit!


So peaceful...



Sleeping like a champ!




I guess it gives me new meaning to the expression "sleeping like a baby."

Mother's Day

This past Sunday was my first Mother's Day to celebrate as a mommy. My mom and brother had been visiting for the weekend and helped us get all sorts of yard work done - so nice! I received a very nice card from David and Oliver and enjoyed the service at our church that morning. Then David made us a delicious lunch and I got to take a nice afternoon nap.

If Oliver could talk, I know he'd say "Happy Mother's Day!"



Oliver wishes he could enjoy some of our yummy lunch too!



David gets his turn with Father's Day next month!

Pond

When we bought our house, it came with a cute little goldfish pond in the backyard. Well, it would be cute if it wasn't filled with mud and debris. David rigged up some makeshift cleaning tools and gave the little thing a thorough scrub. It was a nasty job, but he did well! (Notice the hip-waders, this was hardcore!)








The "after" picture isn't the greatest. It was actually a photo he took to list this lawnmower on Craigslist, but you can see the improvement in the background.




I think that 6 of the goldfish made the transition successfully from murky to clear water. (I guess we lost 2 this winter during the big freeze!) Now we need to construct some kind of fountain feature for the water pump and add some cool plants!

Reunited!

This past weekend at Cascade College, I got to attend the final graduation ceremony and several other reunion events. There were so many people there celebrating this great school - I heard an estimate that over 1300 people were involved! I got to catch-up with many old friends and acquaintances from my college days and it was great to share in some of the memories from the past 15 years.

Specifically, it was wonderful to reconnect with 6 of my favorite ladies! I think the last time The Mag7 were all together was almost a year ago at Suzie's wedding. I love that we can always just pick up right where we left off though. These gals are the best!

We snagged a couple of pics while we were together.






This was also a big weekend for Oliver. He got to attend many of the activities with us (though he slept through most of them.) He also got to meet many new friends (though we don't expect him to remember everyone's name.)




It's still hard to believe that our Cascade is closing its doors, but we know that the School of Brotherly Love will Remain Forever in Our Hearts!

Oliver Has Hands!

I decided to record another short video of Oliver because some of our family far away enjoyed watching the last one. He doesn't make as many fun noises in this clip, but he does demonstrate how he has discovered his hands and enjoys chewing on them!



Oliver is 2 weeks and 2 days old today!

Sleeping Like a Baby

As I type this post, little Oliver is cuddled on my chest snoring contentedly. We have had a very busy (but good) weekend and I'll share details about that later. I really should lay him down and get some sleep while he's knocked-out... so I'll just share a couple pics and save the stories for another entry.

Oli with dad




Oli with mom




We can't believe he's going to be 2 weeks tomorrow! Time flies!