small spaces and smiling faces...

Many have asked to see our humble living accommodations, so here they are at their dark and drab best. It is rather messy, but I decided not to clean in order to maintain the authenticity of the photographs ;) Only two more nights and we are outta here!! We cannot wait to get back to Charleston.

Walking in the door and looking to the left into the living space. We store the stroller and car seat next to the couch.

Making our way into the living space....Olivia is that pink and green lump snoozing on the bed!

Looking from the living space into the kitchen.
Looking from the bed in through the closet to the bathroom. See the curtain we devised so Olivia could have a door?

Olivia's bed in the closet. We put one of the kitchen stools there to save our backs during our frequent "pat and shush" marathons...

As promised in the title, here are some smiling faces to keep everyone happy! (and to keep this post from being too boring!)

Olivia has been growing a lot and seems a lot longer and heavier to us both. We are excited for her 2 month check-up next week to see what her stats are. She will actually be 2 1/2 months at the appointment because we had to delay it until we got home. She will also get her 2 month immunizations at that appointment....poor thing. She is becoming less and less tolerant of her car seat while driving (she doesn't seem to mind it during walks or when in restaurants), so our travels could be a little rough, but we are excited to get on the road none the less.

Olivia and her floppy sun hat. Hanging out with Mr. Worm on a car ride.
Resting her head during tummy time.

down by the station...

Olivia learned all about firetrucks and firefighters at our tour of the firestation here on base. She even got to meet Sparky when he surprised us and jumped out of the firetruck! The fun just never ends here in Alabama ;)

must love baseball...

In Andy's attempt to make our daughter a baseball fan, we filled the entire weekend with baseball! Friday night we were at the Montgomery Biscuits game where they were taking on the Braves AA team (I can't remember where they are from; perhaps Jackson?). Saturday found us in Atlanta at the real Braves game. We had several screaming fits on our travels, but all in all it went very well. We even snuck in lunch at the Cheesecake Factory =)

Olivia had a major blow-out in her cute dress, so she is wearing the 'emergency onsie' that was stashed in the diaper bag! Too bad we didn't take any pictures before that! Oh well, isn't that the way it always goes?! As you can see in the picture we were in the shade the entire game (strategically planned by Andy) so we weren't hot at all. It was a great way to spend our Saturday afternoon.

The Braves pulled out a win in the bottom half of the ninth inning and the crowd went wild!! Everyone around us (including Andy) was jumping and screaming while I was busy covering Olivia's ears and trying to hold her tight because she was scared to tears! Otherwise she was very chill by either relaxing in our laps or sleeping.

Olivia snoozing like a champ on her daddy's lap at Turner Field in Atlanta.

Friday night at Olivia's first baseball game. We were the minority because we were cheering for the visitors rather than the Montgomery team, but we didn't catch too much grief!

tribulations of motherhood

I have wished many times lately that someone had written a book on the true tribulations of motherhood. I don't need another book on the importance of sleep, how much a baby should be eating, when to call the doctor, what developmental milestones they should be reaching, or even what their poop should look like. That sort of information seems to be in every pamphlet, book, and website out there for new moms and I GET IT.


I need information (support, really) on the true pitfalls of motherhood. Evidence that tells me that it is okay for my baby to cry, and that as her mother it is okay for me to not know what to do to make her stop. I want to know that other mothers have a screaming infant in their backseat as they drive down the interstate almost every time they go somewhere. I need to know that it is okay to not know which sleeping theory to follow and that I won't screw my baby and her "routine" up by sampling a combination of them all. I wish someone had told me that what works one day probably won't work the next. That just because our baby sleeps for 9 hours one night that she will probably be up every three and half the next.


Trust me, I have read all of the literature out there. I can quote any detail you want from The Baby Whisperer to Baby Wise to The No-Cry Sleep Solution to The Sleep Lady to The Happiest Baby on the Block to The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.....you name the theory/book and either myself, my husband, or both of us have read it. That information helped me feel prepared through the beginning stages and confident that I could tackle anything our baby threw at us, but as time has moved on I merely feel like I am on information overload. I question every move I make wondering if I am going to somehow set a new pattern or create a 'prop' that will come back to haunt us. I am wondering where the literature is that tells me that other mothers have this same level of uncertainty because at this point I simply feel alone.


Information would be helpful that tells you that just because your baby doesn't follow the 'norm' and behave like every other baby you've ever known, that you aren't a failure as a parent. Who has ever known a baby to not take a bottle? Yeah, me either - UNTIL I met our daughter. That crisis continues, and it is truly a crisis now because I go back to work in three weeks. I have scoured the Internet and asked every mother I know and nothing has worked. We even tried formula. How can I justify that I am doing what is best for our daughter by going back to work, when I know she is counting on me to satiate her hunger every 3 hours or so? The pressure of being the lifeline for another human is stressful.


I have never seen a baby refuse a nipple like she does. The refusal presents itself in the form of crying and wailing, choking on her own saliva (as well as the milk that has come out of the nipple), flailing limbs and back arching, closed eyes with tears streaming from them, red face from moments of not breathing, and shrill screams that sound as if we are hurting her. She puts on a good fight and isn't simply saying "no thanks". It is almost like she fears the nipple and she does the same routine with pacifiers. We do not force the bottle on her; we simply move it around in her mouth in attempts of getting her to suck on it.

Someday she will surprise us all and happily latch on to a nipple other than mine, but until then I will live with the daily angst that fills my heart over this subject, and keep telling myself that this will not be the issue that determines my worth as a parent.

daddy is a rockstar...well, sort of.

Andy's squadron had a Guitar Hero competition and Andy was "in the band" for his class! They wore ridiculous outfits from the thrift store and came in a respectable third place.

Olivia and I loved getting out of the room for the afternoon. I must say that we probably enjoyed the socialization (and the pizza) just a little bit more than the entertainment ;) However, we played the part of "Andy's biggest fans" to the best of our abilities!

laundry day...

Apparently, Olivia hates communal laundry rooms just as much as her mother.

protective eyewear...

A trip to the zoo!

We spent the morning at the Montgomery Zoo and had a great time despite the heat. We love any chance to get out of our tiny room and explore. Olivia learned about animals from all of the continents and even got to ride the train. There were several toddlers in our group and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the animals (or amnimals, as Mia would say!) through their eyes....the excitement was contagious =)

Olivia was such a good girl this morning and hung out in her pack and play singing with Mr. Worm so that mommy could get a shower!

Olivia learned that flamingos get their color based on what kind of shrimp they eat....she is such a smarty already!

We rode the train all through the zoo with our friends Mia, Caleb, and Candace. Caleb is a month older than Olivia, but they are just about the same size! hmmm.
Our friends Laura, Levi, Amanda, Allen, and the other Caleb rode the train too!
The train ride was SO exciting that Olivia decided she should nap through it!
This one is from the other day, but I had to share it because I just know that her Nana will love it ;)

A day in the life...

....of Olivia Grace!! We have been asked many time about what Olivia has been up to lately, so here is a smattering of photos that explain the sorts of things she does each day!

She hangs out with Mommy in her pj's and catches up on the news with Matt Lauer...while simultaneously practicing to say "mmm, he is sexy"=)

She holds her head high during tummy time on her boppy!

She zones out for a bit in her travel swing while Mommy gets things done around the room.

She wears her sun hat to keep her head safe during the HOT and sunny walks with mommy.

She shows off her beautiful blue eyes!

She hangs out with daddy when he comes to the room for lunch!

She talks to her worm and thanks him for playing such sweet music for her!

She sits up in the pillows on the bed like a big girl (who doesn't have any bloomers on! OH MY!!).

She snoozes in her stroller while daddy grills burgers for dinner.

She flexes her big muscles for mommy while waiting on daddy to get the bath water ready!