Thursday, May 31, 2012

11 Months!

Our Livy is one month away from her first birthday.  She was eleven months on Memorial Day.

She babbles a lot.  And uses her tongue a lot in her babbling. It is pure da-dur-da-dur cuteness.

She is a crawling professional.  She can hold our fingers and walk, but she knows she is more efficient crawling and will often let go of us and crawl.  She stands by herself, until she realizes she is standing by herself and then will grab onto something for stability. 

This is her new favorite spot.  She loves to climb the stairs.  Time for a gate!

She loves to crawl, turn around and sit on her tush, then crawl one step, and turn around and sit on her tush.  She literally does circles all day long.  I sing the song "Turn around, every now and then I get a little bit..." and then I make up lyrics (cause I really don't know how the song goes) and she crawls and turns and turns and turns.  It's a fun game.



She is a good little eater at home, as long as she has "toys" to distract her.  She always has a spoon as a toy and I'm hoping that this will translate into a better, less messy, self-feeder when she comes of age.


She goes through phases of clapping a ton, waving a ton, and pointing a ton.  A couple weeks ago she clapped at everything.  Right now she is wanting to point at everything.



Whenever she is done with a nap, she has to grab a stuffed animal or blanket or something as we get her out.

She had her first fever this month - and diaper rash. 

She has a good sense of accomplishment.  She is so proud of herself when she is able to get into a small nook or open up something that was fastened tightly.  Which goes well with my next point... 

She knows when she is doing something she shouldn't and will look at us and wait for us to say, "Livy, no touch."  She usually follows our command with a big smile and an increased effort to do what she knows she's not supposed to do.  That stinker.


She is becoming less interested in her bath but still gets one nightly as part of her routine.

She loves to do "cheesy smiles" with a crinkled nose.

My baby girl is getting so big and I can't believe she is almost one year old!

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Mother's Day

I had a vision of how my first mother's day would go. It would start by getting a bouquet of mixed flowers from my husband, as a token of his appreciation for mothering his child. I envisioned buying a new dress for Alivia and myself and I'd have Cody take our picture together before church, mother and daughter. We'd have a lovely Sabbath, fit with either a small candy something or flower something from the ward as a small recognition of the day. After church, we'd travel to my parents for a family dinner, where I'd get to be with my own Mom. And my day would end snuggling my newly bathed daughter as she drank her last bottle. I'd put her to bed and ponder the blessing of being her mother.

That is what I envisioned.

And this is how my first Mother's day actually went down.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
We woke up at 6:45 am in Arizona, packed the car, and headed to California after visiting the AZ Orvins.

Pumping in the car, preparing my Sunday School lesson, and putting on my make-up all while traveling through some of the ugliest parts of the California desert.

Eating lunch at Wendy's and changing my sick child's diaper in the dining section thanks to a full car and a lack of a changing table in the bathroom. Classy.

Driving through typical Riverside traffic while Cody napped and getting caught in horrible and unexpected Corona traffic thanks to a 9 car pile up.

Missing Sacrament meeting thanks to the traffic and having to change from my PJ's to some church clothes in the church parking lot.

Teaching my lesson and then leaving afterward to go home to a sick baby.

Going to my parents. Eating some lovely food while missing my daughter who was taking a 3.5 hour nap in my parent's closet.

Attempting to take a picture with my daughter and failing miserably.

Feeding my daughter her nightly bottle while driving home in the car.

Going home to a dirty home full of luggage and laundry and feeling the beginning stages of a cold.
------------------------------------
But, my day was amazing still.

Cody didn't get me flowers. After all, he'd either have to break the Sabbath by going to get some or he'd have had to get them in Arizona and they would have surely died in the car on the drive back to CA. He did surprise me by getting me a sweater and necklace I was eyeing earlier that week. So that was perfect.

My daughter, although sick and having to travel in a car for 7 hours, was smiles and cuteness and an absolute trooper. And her nap allowed me to spend more time with my mom, an amazing and devoted mother.

My lesson, went well. And I love teaching the Marriage and Family Relations course every week, but it was so much more meaningful to teach about parenting and the sacredness of that responsibility on Mother's Day.

Connie, my mother-in-law, snuck a book and card in my luggage and I opened it last night. She is so thoughtful and loving and the book she gave was on motherhood. So as I fell asleep around 2 am after a long night of cleaning and unpacking, I opened up that book and started to read about this new role of mine, that of a mother.

Let me tell you, I love being Alivia's mother. It is a blessing to love her; to hold her, feed her, clean her - mother her. And even without flowers or little somethings from a ward or snuggle times or successful pictures, I couldn't be more blessed, than to have a day, devoted, to remembering the privilege that is mine in raising her. How'd I get so lucky?

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Livy Pearl is 10 months!!!

We are now in the double digit months which is too much for this mommy!

Alivia has 8 teeth now and she still grinds them all the time.  It drives me nuts.  I'll be shocked if she hasn't widdled down those teeth to stubs come two years old.

She can stand briefly by herself, but only momentarily before falling.

She walks from one side of the coffee table to the other, or one side of the crib to the other if she's holding on.

She loves eating, but is disinterested in hydrating (unless it is her morning or evening bottles). 

She is obsessed with swinging at the park and cries most times we get her out of the swing.

She points at stuff.  It's cute, but creepy when she points in close range to a strangers face.

She loves exploring and getting into everything.  She often just plays with my make-up or necklaces instead of baby toys.

She is getting good at waving, kissing, and clapping.  Last Sunday, she was crawling on the floor and playing with these two cute boy babies and out of nowhere she kissed them, individually, about two minutes apart.  It was darling and all the Relief Society ladies commented on how sweet she was with the babies.  Funny thing is she was the youngest of the bunch. 










We sure do love our silly silly.