Faces

Another video :) There's a bunch of these to come... this is just a short video showcasing many of the wonderful faces that Olivia was learning how to make! This was at about six weeks, on December 7, 2010.

First Smile

Just a short clip of the first smile we caught on camera :). This is about a week after she actually smiled for the first time, but she had an amount of adoration for the camera that prevented her from doing anything except staring when anything electronic made an appearance :)

Tasha's Wedding/Thanksgiving

Alright...here's my effort to get caught up on Olivia's first two months. At three weeks Olivia had her first plane trip when we went to my sister Tasha's wedding in Utah. Alex had to work that weekend, so I also had my first time on my own as a mom. It was quite the trip!

The trip started with a marathon all-nighter of packing and getting ready to go (babies need SO much stuff!), so by the time we were taking off from Portland I had been awake for over 24 hours, and it was only 6:30! It was a long day :) I couldn't have done it without Alex driving us up to the airport (after only 2 hours of sleep himself) and Jenaye flying with us. She helped me get through security and every step of the way with all my stuff!

The first picture is just showing what an angel Olivia is to fly with. She just sleeps, and doesn't seem to have any trouble with the elevation change!


We got to Utah on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving and two days before Tasha's wedding. In the afternoon, we walked around Temple Square "meeting" all the missionaries (OK we were looking for my cousin Nikki, who was assigned there before she went to Poland0. We finally saw her and all the walking around and waiting was SO worth it! It was great to see her, and we really did have a nice chat. After we got back to my Aunt Dalita's we spent some time getting ready for Thanksgiving-for-60 the next afternoon. After we got started (but not even close to finished), we were able to go see Tasha's dress - absolutely beautiful! - and we met her in-laws. We then went back to Dalita's to keep cooking and catching up...all my sisters were there so it was a blast!

After a couple hours sleep (not nearly enough, but we were having too much fun), we woke up on Thanksgiving! I took a few first Thanksgiving pictures.

Caption: If you don't stop taking pictures of me I'll sock you...

Thanksgiving was so fun! Almost all of my mom's family was there and Olivia had a good time meeting all of her "cousins" (Amber's 4 kids are her only first cousins, but I have a hard time figuring out relationships, so everyone is a cousin). We also presented my Grandparents with their 50th anniversary present, a book of the whole family that Amber put together. It was amazing, and I've looked through it dozens of times since then.

Friday was Tasha's wedding. In the morning we went to the temple (yes I took Olivia to the temple in her sleeper...but wrapped in a beautiful blanket!) and saw Ben and Tash right after they were married, then we got ready for the reception. Somewhere in this timeline we had dipped about 1000 bananas in chocolate and nuts, but I'm really not sure when...the days all blur together (between Tuesday and Saturday I had a total of 15 hours of sleep...not enough for me!).

These are a couple getting ready pics, thanks Amber for letting me borrow a beautiful dress for Olivia to wear (the bloomers were adorably big). I just realized this, but Olivia had tight fists pretty solidly for the first 3 months of her life!

At the reception we tried to get some cousin pictures...it was a little bit of a struggle, but this one turned out pretty well! Elli's fascination with Olivia was so cute, she was just always around, smiling, talking, and playing with her. My favorite moment was when I was sitting in a chair holding Olivia, and Elli stood right next to me, just talking to her. At one point, Olivia and Elli locked eyes, and Elli's whole face lit up as she exclaimed "she just looked at me! Oh, she loves me!" From then on, she grabbed a chair, and moved it around to wherever Olivia was looking, and would put herself in the perfect spot so that Olivia was "looking" at her. As Olivia's eyes wandered, Elli just moved, never frustrated, as fast as she could to keep up with Olivia's gaze.

This is the only picture I have of my siblings holding Olivia. They all did, and it was so fun letting her meet them all! But like I've said before, I'm a horrible picture-taker, so I just have the one picture with Auntie Em :)

The next morning we headed back home. Again I had help in the airport from Emily, who was flying out at a similar time. I'm so grateful for all the help while I was in Utah, I truly couldn't have done it without my mom, sisters, aunts, grandma...pretty much everyone! I never realized how hard it is to travel with a baby, and I was struggling without Alex there to run my errands!

Lastly...just a feet picture from the day after we got back. I've struggled since she was born to get good feet pictures (I love baby feet), but they're always moving!

Next up, December! We're getting caught up, slowly but surely!

November Happenings

A couple weeks early - we were in Utah for the actual holiday - Alex, Olivia and I celebrated Thanksgiving early with my Grandma Grahyl and some cousins on that side. It was an excellent meal, and we enjoyed letting my cousin Tiffani and her three kids, Victoria, Kaitlin, and Seth, meet Olivia. I especially loved how much Seth and Kaitlin loved her feet, and Tori was great at holding her in a non-kid style :)

On November 18th we hit Olivia's 3 week birthday! No party was planned (we didn't even get her dressed for the occasion) but we did get some cute pictures. In this first one it looks like she has the pacifier holding mastered...but she is faking you out. She loves to suck for a few seconds, then as soon as she knows mom is standing up trying to do something she spits it out as far away as she can get it (masterful plotting I think) :)

She wasn't especially thrilled about this photo shoot, but I like how long this picture makes her look.

Cute baby feet!

Awkward view...but it does make her feet look HUGE!

The next day, Alex got up early with the baby and let me sleep in, and when I came out a couple hours later this is what I saw (ESPN is on the TV...)

Dad had made a little pouch just big enough for the baby, but it kept her totally warm!

On the 21st, we took Olivia to her 2nd Beaver game (no pics of the first one :( ). She also got to wear this adorable had from Aunt Kathy for the first time! I am proud to annouce that Olivia loves Beaver events (ok she slept through both games)... and is excited for the rest of basketball and gymnastics this winter!

This doesn't conclude November, because 2 days after this Olivia had her first big trip when we went to Utah for my sister Tasha's wedding!

Oops! Forgot this one

Oops! I forgot to post the pictures that we took on Olivia's 1 week birthday!

I love daddy daughter pictures :) They are all so precious

This is our daughter the gangster ...

Not a great picture, but this is the face I regularly see when Olivia and I are resting together...notice the slouching mouth!

At two weeks we gave Olivia her first bottle. It was breastmilk, and she did awesome, drinking the whole thing. This very important skill allowed us to be able to go out for more extended periods of time, including Olivia's first Beaver basketball game that night!

Olivia's First Week

Olivia had a very eventful first week, but I wanted to point out this wonderful Moses basket we were given as a baby shower gift that Olivia slept in for her first month. It fit next to our bed and was great for those middle-of-the-night feedings! Also, it may seem like she is excessively bundled, but Alex and I like to sleep with the fan on, so this was a good way to keep her little hands and feet warm (she sleeps with her hands and feet stretched out as far as she can get)


Olivia had her first walk when she was 5 days old! We spent the majority of that week going back and forth to the doctor (slightly elevated bilirubin results lead to a heel prick every day :( I was sad to have her get poked so much), and I was still recovering, but we enjoyed a short walk and the first use of our stroller!

Just a little sampling of Olivia's grumpy face :) She really is a amazingly happy baby, but she often has a very serious look and this time was just too cute not to photograph...

Niki Shaffer came to visit us the next day, we were so happy she got over her cold! Other visitors that first week included Michael, Michelle, Janet, Tyler, and Aiden Rock.

During Niki's visit, Alex was lucky enough to experience the first leaky diaper! Not a full blow-out, but Olivia did leak a little onto the ottoman, and Alex and I learned our lesson about changing her on new furniture :)

That concludes her first week, coming up next are 1 week birthday pictures!

First Day Home!

Olivia, Alex, and I stayed in Good Samaritan Hospital in Corvallis until about 6 on October 30th, because the doctors wanted to keep her close to 48 hours. We were very happy to go home and really appreciated Alex's family's help...They came to the hospital to help get things packed up, and then went to our apartment while we stopped at the pharmacy and cleaned up and did all the dishes! It was so nice to come home to a clean house when I left it so dirty!

Again, my lack of camera skills is evident in the lack of "coming home pictures, but here is Olivia the next morning, getting her first bit of sunlight...as you can tell she's not a huge fan :)

The beautiful blanket Olivia is laying on was made for her by her Great Grandma Wellman...we love it! She will treasure it forever.

The day after we got home also happened to be Halloween. Olivia had a super cute strawberry costume, and even though it drowned her, she was dressed up for all her visitors that afternoon.

You can't see it very well in this picture, but this was Olivia's first time in her favorite toy...her bouncer! This and her swing are immediate calmers when she is a little sad, and she loves being able to sit up enough to look around. I promise that she likes looking around, even if visitors for the first 3 weeks or so rarely saw eyes...she just settled down and fell asleep pretty much anytime someone was holding her.

Alex is modeling the hat for Olivia's costume while he takes a little power nap. He didn't have a very restful night the night before, as Olivia was getting used to her new home and didn't sleep very well.

Uncle Andy is looking on while Olivia naps...Andy visits quite often because he's going to OSU and lives pretty close. We always enjoy chatting and Olivia loves her uncle.

The afternoon of Halloween we had quite a few visitors, including Jim, Kathy, and Danielle Casqueiro (sorry no picture Danielle!), Andy Casqueiro, and Jenaye, Terece, and Grahyl Johnson

I can't say thank you enough to all the friends and family that have visited since Olivia has been born. From the many meals (thank you Johnsons, Casqueiros, Rocks, and Dibbles!) to the hours of chatting and catching up, it has just been awesome to see everyone and we love you all!

Trip Down Memory Lane

I've been sorting and organizing my photos and videos ... what can I say, I have a lot of free time now!

I've decided just to post some of the highlights of Olivia's life so far. Eventually I'll put them where they go as far as date, but please enjoy :) I've been brought to happy proud tears quite a few times.

Birthday Party!

On October 28, my 22nd birthday, I woke up feeling extremely uncomfortable, and knew that I was going to meet my daughter that day. My pain was too much to remember to document the labor part of the day, but to make a long story short, we went to the doctor, and were sent home because I wasn't making fast enough progress (was completely effaced, but only dilated to 2 cm).

Alex had scheduled a phone interview for that morning, so after we got back home, he sat with me for a while, then went into the living room to do his interview. I was in extreme pain, and couldn't really concentrate on anything except not screaming and interrupting his phone call. After the interview was complete, I told Alex we were going back to the doctor, even though the doc had said to wait 4 hours or so. However, when we went back in (about 11:30 AM), I had dilated to 5 cm, so the doctor realized how fast labor was going and sent us to the hospital.

Once at the hospital, I got an epidural, which immediately made labor quite enjoyable, and I was able to be excited for the arrival of my sweet little girl. After another 8 hours of labor and 2.5 hours of pushing, Alex and I were able to greet Olivia Rylen Casqueiro. She was born at 10:05 PM, weighed 8 lb, and was 20.5" long.

She was quiet and sweet from the moment she was born (I was actually worried because I couldn't hear her cry, but the nurses ensured me she looked great and was a healthy baby). She also enjoyed the increased space that her new space allowed, as shown by the picture below. She still refuses to be swaddled, and is most comfortable sprawled out, taking up as much room as her little arms and legs can.

I am so happy to share my birthday with Olivia, and was completely enamored with this beautiful girl from the very beginning

Olivia's footprints, take 2, The first attempt showed only 2 toes on the right foot, so they threw that one out and tried again.

After a couple hours of cuddling and meeting our new little girl, Alex and I gave her up to the nurse for her first bath while we got ready to move into our postpartum room.

The next morning, after a few hours of sleep, Alex held Olivia for a bit while we got ready to meet grandparents and other relatives! Unfortunately, I was still getting used to using my camera, and didn't take any pictures of her meeting family for the first time. Visitors included Grandma Terece and Grandpa Gary, Aunt Jenaye, Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gary (yes she has 2 grandpa Garys :) ), Aunt Ashley and Uncle Andy, Great Grandma and Grandpa Romrell, Great Aunt Kathy, Great Uncle Evan and Aunt Charitie, Cousins Max, Danielle and Tiffani, and family friends Hanna, Ashley, and Paul.

Whew! That was a fingerful - kinda like a mouthful except typed - of visitors! I apologize if I forgot anyone, Olivia is a very loved little girl, and she had a lot of loved ones come to meet her during her first few days of life.

Daddy and daughter recovering from a very exciting day meeting family:

I love this last picture of Alex and Olivia. It's not-quite-candid...neither Alex nor I would have been comfortable falling asleep holding her at that point, but Olivia really did fall asleep on her daddy's chest, and it was totally adorable.