A busy week.

Olivia Grace has learned many new skills this week!

She is playing with her feet while on her back, grabbing at toys with both hands, holding rattles and small toys on her own, putting EVERYTHING to her mouth, squealing, cooing, and "talking" aloud for long periods of time (sometimes twenty minutes or more), and tolerating car rides much much better. The three and a half month mark seems to have changed our baby girl into even more of a 'laid back' and 'go with the flow' sort of baby. She has always been easygoing, but it is shining through more and more these days. She is tolerating daycare better and is showing her personality off there, too! They tell me often how happy she is and that she only fusses when she is tired or it is time to eat. It makes accepting her time at daycare a little bit easier knowing she is happy and laid back there, too.

Olivia & her new elephant are amongst a serious clash of flower patterns!

Olivia gives the same zoned out look as her Daddy while she watches him play X-Box. It is almost as if I can see it zapping their brain cells - I have always thought that game was EVIL!

This is Ms. G. Olivia LOVES her and smiles instantly whenever Ms. G talks to her. She is not the permanent teacher in the infant room, but she has been there fairly consistently lately and I am so happy for that. Olivia goes down for naps for Ms. G without tears and is asleep in a matter of minutes of being laid down in her crib. That is a big deal for a mommy who feels terribly guilty leaving her baby in daycare in the first place.

Olivia seemed to need/want some extra sucking time after a feeding on Sunday, so I let her play with the passy. She mostly just chewed on it, but she did latch on for a few minutes. It only lasted long enough for a picture, but it was a milestone none the less. It was very bizarre to see our baby girl with a pacifier in her mouth. Perhaps this is a sign that she is becoming more tolerant of silicone nipples and that taking a bottle may be in our near future?!?!? One can only hope.

there's more than corn in Indiana...

What a great trip we had last week! We spent a few days at Mom & Dad's and got to catch up with family in Rensselaer. Olivia was a trooper and traveled like a champ, which is a good thing because we are a family on the move! This was her second airplane trip in her short 3 months of life! Olivia loves her Nana and fell asleep in her arms many many times!

Olivia gave Great Grammy many smiles and raspberries!

Meeting up with Aunt Lori for lunch!

Olivia was all smiles during her baths in the kitchen sink, especially when Papa snuggled her up!

Where did Olivia's legs go?!?! Hanging with Daddy at Great Grammy's.

We then traveled to Indianapolis for Erin's wedding weekend! Such fun we had! Being a bridesmaid I was very busy around downtown Indy, so Mom, Dad, & Andy faithfully delivered Olivia to me each time she needed to eat. Oh, how our simple our life would be if our sweet girl would only take a bottle!

Erin was such a beautiful bride and we had a blast at her and Jared's wedding. Such a blessing to be a part of it! Olivia slept through the reception in her car seat. The loud music didn't bother her one bit!

On Sunday we got to see our niece Kaylynn play in her soccer game and then all have lunch together before flying home. It was such a pleasure to be at her game because we miss those small things the most living so far away. Olivia got some loving from her Aunt Kelly, too!

Below, I display my nursing expertise - standing up, under a tree, in the rain, at the soccer game.....the things I do for our baby girl!

Olivia even got to meet her Auntie Kristina at the airport on Sunday! Our flights were within 3o minutes of each other, so we met up early and caught up with her. I am so glad she got to meet Olivia. Waiting till Christmas just wasn't going to work!!

Saying goodbye to Nana & Papa after a very FUN visit! We hated to leave.

pictures for Nana...

I really don't have anything exciting to share, but I know Olivia's Nana is always anxious for more pictures, so here are some to keep her happy until we arrive IN PERSON in Indiana on Wednesday! hooray!! Olivia is adjusting okay to daycare and I am doing the same at work. I have a lot of thoughts on this topic, but I haven't worked through them all yet, so I will just leave my comments at that.

Enjoy our precious girl - I know that we sure do =)

She is laughing out loud in this picture - she sure loves her bath time!

She sure does have her daddy's forehead and brow, doesn't she?

Relaxing in our rocking chair after church so Mommy could get clean clothes put away.

She loves to look at her aquarium during tummy time (thanks Aunt Cathy!)

In the boppy the first day I left her at daycare. I think I may delete this photo now because it breaks my heart to even look at.

Our family at the beach this past Saturday for some fun with my co-workers and their families.

I love it when she wears her sunhat!

Our sweet girl and her chubby cheeks!

Mommy and her girl.

Look what Olivia's Auntie Mandy made for her!! Aren't they great?

a conclusion and the next chapter.

There you see them - the challengers.

These brave bottles all faced our sweet daughter and not a single one of them was victorious. She could not be outsmarted or convinced to enjoy the tasty breast milk that flowed from the carefully warmed nipples. Not even the "she will drink when she is hungry enough" theory works for our precious little one. We tried that, too.

So, the conclusion has been determined. We are a team, she and I. We will continue our bonding every three hours despite the fact that tomorrow I will be wearing my blue scrubs and squeezing her feedings in between my patient's therapy sessions. I am surprisingly okay with that. I have prayed a lot about this and can see that the relationship that we have developed during our countless nursing sessions is working out for her. She is growing and thriving, and that makes me happy.

It is okay with me that she will entertain no other option to meet her hunger demands. Someday she will be so busy exploring her world and running around that she will barely have time to notice me. It will be then that I can look back and feel my heart smile as I remember all of the precious times we have shared together. After all, we are a team, she and I. And I feel strongly in my heart that God wants us to stay connected. He chose me as her mother and I will continue to do my best to protect her and love her, even if it is a challenge at times.

So, the next chapter begins tomorrow as I drop her at daycare, but I can face this challenge knowing we are a team. She needs me and I need her. It is really as simple as that.

Boiler Up!

Hail, hail to ol' Purdue. Hail to our ol' gold and black!!

We are ready for college football season in the Allen household!! Are you?

chillaxin' at home...

Chillaxin'....a combination of chilling and relaxing. We have done a lot of that these past few days. Andy has been on leave and we are enjoying these final days together before I go back to work next week. Here are some pictures of our sweet girl as she gets readjusted to life back at home.

Post 2 month shots - she was in good spirits and still shared smiles despite her legs hurting a bit. The appointment proved our theories of how big she is - her height and weight were not even on the percentile charts that doctors use for infants. She weighs 15 lbs and is 25 inches long! Quite a nice size for being 11 1/2 weeks old! (understatement of the day!) However, when you start out at 9 lbs 8 oz, you are already ahead of the majority!

Picking out new meals to cook next week with Daddy.

Tummy time!

Checking out her new play yard! Oh, how fun =) Look how long I am!

She loves to smile at the musical star above her.

a graduate, good friends, and the other man in my life.

Andy graduated from Squadron Officer School and we were able to pack up the car and leave Alabama in the dust! We are so glad that we could all three be together these past 5 weeks, but were so thankful to be back in our own house. We definitely have a new appreciation for our spacious home and all of the 'props' that we have to help keep Olivia occupied and happy! She has quickly readjusted to life at home and seems more relaxed. We haven't battled bedtime (knock on wood) since being home and she has gotten lots of quality time in her swing and bouncy seat already. I think she was even excited to be back in her crib! But most of all, she and I were excited to have the rocking chair and ottoman for our nursing sessions!

We got right back into the normal pattern of life here in Charleston and were at a cook-out with dear friends within 20 hours of being home! We loved catching up and sharing Olivia with them. Everyone agrees that she has GROWN! She gave out some smiles and even pleased the crowd by cooing and talking a bit. What a little sweetheart!

Andy and Jamil talk all things baby (or so it appears!)

Jennifer and Kacey love on Olivia!

Molly Paige shared her mommy for a bit so that Emily could snuggle with Olivia!

Sunday morning found us on the road again (we weren't even home 48 hours!), but this trip was well worth it! We had tenth row tickets to Kenny Chesney for a belated anniversary treat! Kenny is my favorite artist. I have all of his albums and have been to many concerts over the years. In fact, I listen to his music so much that I had a fear while I was preggers that Olivia may think Kenny was her father because she heard his voice a lot more than Andy's due to the deployment! I thought that all the time after I read that baby's can recognize their father's voice when born from hearing it all of the time in utero. However, she seems to recognize Andy these days, so we are all safe! =)

We were supposed to leave Olivia with Andy's parents for the night to have our first 'getaway', but we cannot leave Olivia overnight due to the bottle situation. Therefore, Andy's mother met us in Raleigh and stayed with Olivia in the hotel while we went to the concert! Oh, the things grandmothers will do, right?! Thank you, Debbie, for making the trip and allowing us some time alone! It was fantastic......how could it not be when you are this close to Kenny? (no zoom necessary!)