Yes, that's Alex asleep midway through checking his email one day after work. At his last job he often worked starting at five, and once a week he worked from 3AM til 10AM, which was especially hard because when he got home I'd be ready with a list of to-dos and activities for the day. It will be hard for him to be away all day every day, but great to have a normal schedule that's consistent. Alex will move down the first week in July, and I'll stay up here to finish wedding planning and move down in September after we get married.Anyway, on to May! I'm cheating for this post because I'm trying desperately to get caught up on the blog before Monday when we leave for a vacation in VEGAS :) so I'm throwing all of this out there, making this a horribly long post...
We've been having a lot of food introducing Olivia to new foods. She turned seven months old at the end of May, so that whole month was full of trying new drinks, and a few things like crackers that she was able to gum. One of the first things she had was water out of a straw, and I was so impressed that a few days later I wanted to see if she could do a repeat performance with Orange Julius. She did get some, and I got some drool added to my drink, so I guess we both benefited :). She's alwas surprised when she gets something from the straw, I think because she's just chewing and sucking like she does with every toy.
The month of May was full of many nights of invitation preparation. On the 8th all of my girl-friends got together to help me assemble them, so that week Alex an I had a lot of cutting and scoring to get ready for the assembly party. Alex was great and never complained once, even though I insisted that he measure everything and make it perfect :) The invitations have since been mailed, and what a relief!
May 8th was my first Mother's Day. It was amazing! Started off with Alex (like every day actually) getting up with Olivia at 7 so I could get one more hour of sleep...I claim that it's to make up for the 5 o'clock feeding, but it's really great to get that hour, it makes the world of difference. I woke up to the smell of pancakes and was surprised with breakfast in bed! I shared a little with Olivia, and I apologize for my face in this picture, but I always pick the best one of Olivia because she's so much cuter than me anyway!
Alex (or Olivia I guess :) ) got me a jogging stroller and a workout DVD that I've been wanting, and I was so thrilled because a jogging stroller is a splurge that I've really wanted for a while, but have a hard time commiting to spend the money for. He shopped around and ended up getting a great one on Craigslist!Later that day we went to my parent's house for Mother's Day dinner (the Casqueiros were having a horrible time in Hawaii that week :) ) Olivia's favorite thing about going to my parents' is playing with the kitty. Her Grandpa Gary ...or one of them...always takes her out, and it's really fun to watch her reach for the cat and test her patience for having her fur pulled.
We tried to take some 4 generation pictures while our grandparents were over, and our camera only decided to save one side, it was having battery issues. But it just reminds me how lucky Olivia is to have 6 great grandparents that she knows and that have been able to meet her. I love my grandparents and know that there's no better people for Olivia to remember and try to be like as she grows up.
On May 12th we took Olivia swimming for the first time at Osborn Aquatic Center! As with most new experiences, she took it in stride, but was very quiet and mostly was content to watch the other kids splash and play. Towards the end she started really having fun, and was fine with getting water in her face and eyes, but hadn't quite mastered the art of splashing :).
Another new skill during her seventh month is standing! She doesn't pull herself up yet, but loves to stand up and see the world from a new angle! Coincidentally, she also loves to fall, and while I'm rushing over to help she's usually laying on the ground laughing. This picture is the first time that she truly stood up by herself on the side of the couch.
And later that day she demonstrated how NOT hard standing is when she was in her crib holding herself steady with one hand and playing with her wocket with the other. That's how rolling, sitting and standing have all been, she acts like it's no big deal and she could have done it months ago she just didn't have a reason to show us!
I don't really know why I took this picture, but when it's big I just love looking at her eyes. She has the most beautiful clear blue eyes (thanks Grandma Mary and Grandpa Gary J!), and as someone with brown eyes who always wanted blue, I now know what I was jealous of for so many years!
On the 22nd the Casqueiros came down to visit and they brought Olivia some big-girl toys they were storing at their house when she was too little. Let me just tell you, she had a blast. She's still a little small for her rocking horse and walker, but she loves sitting on them, and I'm sure she'll be rocking away soon!
I just threw this picture in because I LOVE these pjs! They're gray and white polka dot with a cow hat :) SO cute! They were a gift, and it just reminds me how amazing all of our friends and family have been. We'll be pulling out gifted clothes and toys for the next year as Olivia grows, and we know that so many people are here that love Olivia and are so helpful to us. We have more babysitting offers that I know what to do with, and really enjoy seeing our friends and family as often as we can. THANK YOU ALL!!
In the middle of May some of the Casqueiro women went on a shopping trip to Portland, and Olivia and I had a blast! I personally am not a shopper, and usually don't enjoy shopping all that much, but it's very fun with my new family :) (Don't worry old family, it's fun with you too, you just all moved away from me...so I've replaced you in the shopping department :) ) I didn't take any pictures of the group or the spoils, but Olivia did have her first soda on this trip, so I documented that!
and trying lemon :) not the first time, and I know if I were a nice mom I would stop giving it to her, but I love her face, and her determined attitude to eat it even if it's not at all enjoyable.
Another thing Olivia has discovered this month is the window. She's always been enamored with the trees and birds and everything else that moves outside, but her newfound mobility allows her the freedom to roll right up to the window and/or screen and get closer to outside than every before! On this particular occasion she rolled across the entire living room to get there and watch the tractor that was mowing the field behind our apartment :).
On May 28th Olivia turned 7 months old! I tried my hardes to get some good pictures to document the occasion, and following is a few of my attempts. We were having an off day with the photo shoot, but Olivia is truly beautiful no matter what awkward moments we happen to capture ...
On May 29th Alex and I had our first night without Olivia. We decided to do a trial run because the third week in June we will be in Las Vegas and will be leaving her with my parents, so we left her at my parents' for one night to practice (My mom has asked a few times, but the practice was definitely for me and not her :) She has a childcare resume longer than I can imagine, and we all turned out relatively normal) So we went over there for dinner on Sunday, brought WAY more things than she could ever need - including a one-page sheet of instructions about her daily routine - and left to enjoy our night away! We went to the movies and had a very relaxing night. I have to admit that one night away was easy for me! I thought it would be really hard and I would wake up worried about her, but I totally trust my parents and we really did enjoy our night out. Thank you mom and dad! So that takes us to Memorial Day. We went out to Grandma and Grandpa Romrell's for dinner, and it was so fun to watch Olivia and Matthew play together! They've been together before, but as they both get older (he's 11 months now) and learn to play and push and steal pacifiers, they become even more fun to watch.
Here's a few pictures from the evening of the two of them together :) First, Olivia enjoying her first corn on the cob
And Matthew with his lime (he ate about 5 of them throughout the evening :) )
some minor strangulation as Matthew tries to get Olivia's plug (I didn't capture her with his, but she was found twice with it, so this moment was deserved)
And that just about does it! I managed to complete a month's worth of posts in about an hour! Just a couple more to go to reach my goal of being caught up before Vegas (only 3 days!)
