Tax free weekend = books

We read lots of other books that do not have to do with horses. We are reading the real version of Little Women while Olivia plays on her playmat. We read Clifford and The Very Hungry Caterpillar regularly. I also bought Puppies.

One week down, a lifetime to go

The week started out well, got worse, and then finished okay. Tuesday, Olivia hardly slept or ate at school, and because I was exhausted, the evening was rocky since Olivia was very fussy and upset. I thought, "This is Olivia telling me she hates day care. How can I make her go back?" Wednesday went better for both of us. Olivia napped there and was smiling and happy when I came to pick her up. Every day that I have come to pick her up, she is in one of the teacher's arms, which I like. They told me on Friday that the wished all the babies were like her, as she never cries and is always looking around and taking things in. I still get good play time with her in each morning and night, so I am feeling pretty good. Friday, I ran a little late (30 minutes) because I had to get a parking tag, and I almost cried when I walked in the room. One of the teachers was holding her, and I said, "Give me my baby" with teary eyes. She probably thought I was nuts!

In other news, Olivia is three months old now! And, I think she is going through a growth spurt. For the past two days, she has gone to sleep for the night at 6 PM and has eaten almost four ounces at a sitting almost every time without fighting me. That hasn't happened since pre-Nutramigen days. She was 13 lbs 9 ounces two Fridays ago. I think I'll stop on Monday and find out what she weighs now.

Nicholas has been working on the book cases:



And Olivia and Ringo have been playing...in fact, Olivia laughed out loud at Ringo. She doesn't laugh out loud much, so this was particularly cute:

Back to work and time for school

It actually wasn't as horrible as I expected. I'm glad that Nicholas came with me to drop Olivia off because I did cry...and I did call twice during the six hours I was away. But, it felt normal to be at work. And I forgot how much I like working. Of course, I like being with Olivia more, but we had a walk and play time before work, and hours of playtime after work. So, I feel good about things. Here is Olivia's first day of "school" outfit: (Look how long her hair is getting! It's going to be in her eyes soon!)




And here is Nicholas playing with her in part of the play area at the daycare:

How far we've come...

This one's for Bill. I just wanted you to know that we have been taking pictures and videos all along with the new camera. I just learned this weekend how to use them. (The software is confusing and the MAC software didn't come with it, so Nicholas didn't want to do it.)

Warning: I still look swollen and I talk incessantly.



And to really show how far we've come, here is a video of Olivia dancing in utero:

The last day of maternity leave again...

For the HUGE Olivia fans, three videos of what we do everyday. For everyone else, these might be too long and boring for you.

Mom was here...

She played with Olivia:



She read to Olivia:



And she held Olivia: (Nice arms Mom!)

Olivia in HD

So, today is the last day of my maternity leave. I can't even talk about it. Instead, I'll note that I FINALLY figured out (enough of) the camera that Bill (Nicholas's dad) bought for us for Olivia's birth. It takes HD quality video and high resolution pictures. Check it out!