She can hold her bottle!

Yesterday Olivia started a few new things. She can hold her bottle by herself. She doesn't get a bottle that often, only when I work 2-3 feedings a day 3-4 days a week. When I'm home she is breastfed. Here she is holding it.

Then she was in her Jumperoo and actually realized she could jump in it. She's been hanging out in it a few minutes a day since Christmas and now she can bounce, too!

Here's a video clip of her bouncing.

The Developing Smile

We started getting a hint of a smile from Olivia when she was almost 2 months old. Now, she not only smiles at everyone she sees and everyone that gives her a smile, she also giggles sometimes. Especially when Daddy acts silly for her.

How fast she has grown

When you become a parent, you hear all the time, "They grow up so fast," "Enjoy it while you can," and "The time flies when you have kids."

And, the scary part is, it is SO TRUE! I really don't know what happened to the past 4 1/2 months. This little sweet newborn baby is now a laughing, drooling, squealing, non-stop chubby little girl. I feel like I'm just getting used to something new she has done and she's on to something else.

Let me catch up on the photos of her changing through the past few months.

Where it began.....

On Saturday, September 13th at 2 am I woke up with contractions that went into my back (first time I ever felt that). So I got up and started timing and they were 3-5 minutes apart and very regular, never had one go more than 5 minutes apart. I timed on and off for a few hours while I ran around house getting ready "just in case."

At 6:30 am I called my Doctor and he said time another hour than head to hospital if I had no change. I did and my contractions just got closer so Justin and I went to the hospital around 8 am. The nurse checked me and said I was only 1 cm but 95% effaced. The hospital won't admit patients until they are at least 4 cm dialated. She said my ob wanted me to either go home and wait to see if the contractions got worse or went away or hang out for 1 or 2 hours and I could be rechecked. The hospital is 30 minutes from home so I didn't want to go anywhere. I stayed another 2 hours and still no change in so we went home.

My mom and dad were at my house because that morning the furniture was arriving for the baby's room and we were at hospital so they went to my house. I helped my mom put the bedding on crib while I was having contractions. The pain got much worse very fast! I stuck it out for another few hours, afraid I'd get to hospital and they would send me home again. When I just could not bear it anymore, Justin called my Doctor and he said I could go back to hospital. We got to hospital at 5:30 pm. This time I was 5-6 cm and 100% effaced. I couldn't walk through the pain this time and it was very intense. They got me up to L & D very quickly and admitted me. When asked if I wanted the epidural, I said ABSOLUTELY!! I can't imagine not getting it. Sitting still through contractions was near impossible but I had while I got epidural. Justin was a little panicked at this point, knowing this baby was coming tonight! He called all our family and told them what was going on. My parents, who had drove back home (an hour away), headed back to the hospital. My 2 sister in laws also arrived and thankfully everyone got there after the epidrual kicked in....ha ha!

By 7:30 pm, I was fully numb and feeling much more relaxed and the nurse said we could start pushing. It was very easy and no pain with the epidural. I pushed for a little over 2 hours. The told me she had a head full of hair. At 9:15 pm, Olivia Lucrezia arrived into the world and it was so amazing! She weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long.

We had a room with a beautiful mountain view and there was a bright full moon (that probably sent me into labor) and we could see it during her birth.

It was simply the best experience of my whole life.....so far!