6 Weeks Old (Video)

Here's a link to your YouTube video...Just trying this out for now!

FOUR Weeks Old! (12/12/10)

Look at you, Olivia Kate...4 weeks old already...here you are with Grumps (sleeping--your favorite activity) and watching the world around you. We LOVE you!!

Happy Hannukah!!

Olivia...our family celebrates Hannukah AND Christmas--so get ready for a fun filled December every year.

Here's a picture of us lighting candles on your FIRST Hannukah!

Thanksgiving 2010

Happy First Thanksgiving, Olivia! You slept through most of it, but you are only 11 days old.

Mom and dad come over to watch football (and share you with Honi Gram and Grumps and Uncle Jeff), then went to GG and Papa D's for dinner while we went to Scott and Sandi's.

We hope you enjoyed the day! We have SO much to be thankful for!

Olivia - One Week Already!

FOUR generations (mommy Ali, Nana Bea, Olivia and Honi Gram)
One week old!
...with Honi Gram
In my cute outfit from Aunt Alyse

Olivia - Day 2

Dad providing a little "extra" between nursing sessions.



You are SUCH a good baby--letting mom and dad eat dinner in peace.

Uncle Jeff discussing the finer points of the perfect golf swing. He can hardly wait until he can teach you how to play!

You Have ARRIVED!

Sweet, sweet Olivia Kate...you arrived safe and sound on your DUE DATE (so rare, we are told!). November 14, 2010. You were born at 9:32am on a Sunday (the BEST day) and weighed 7 pounds 7 ounces. You are too precious for words, so here's one of your first pictures taken when you were just hours old.

Here are your (very tired!) parents, just moments after you were born...Here's a picture of your grampa...

Week 39: This Week You are The Size of...

...a mini watermelon! Baby is waiting to greet the world! She continues to build a layer of fat to help control her body temperature after birth, but it's likely she already measures about 20 inches and weighs a bit over 7 pounds. The outer layers of her skin are sloughing off as new skin forms underneath.

7 days until the due date, although we've been having daily chats about the fact that it's okay to come a little early!

Week 38: This Week You are The Size of...

...a leek!! Olivia has already plumped up. She weighs about 6.8 pounds and she's over 19 1/2 inches long. She has a firm grasp, which we'll soon be able to test when we hold her hand for the first time! Her organs have matured and are ready for life outside the womb.

If baby is born with brown eyes, they'll likely stay brown. If she's born with steel gray or dark blue eyes, they may stay gray or blue or turn green, hazel, or brown by the time she's 9 months old. That's because a child's irises (the colored part of the eye) may gain more pigment in the months after she's born, but they usually won't get "lighter" or more blue. (Green, hazel, and brown eyes have more pigment than gray or blue eyes.)

Hopefully I'll only have to do a couple more of these updates! 13 days until the due date!

Week 37: This Week You are The Size of...

...a stalk of Swiss chard!

Olivia is now considered "full term," even though the due date is still a little less than three weeks away. If I go into labor now, her lungs will likely be mature enough to fully adjust to life outside the womb. Some babies need a bit more time, though.

She weighs 6 1/3 pounds and measures a bit over 19 inches, head to heel. Many babies have a full head of hair at birth, with locks from 1/2 inch to 1 1/2 inches long. But don't be surprised if baby's hair isn't the same color as mine or Austin's. Dark-haired couples are sometimes thrown for a loop when their children come out as blonds or redheads, and fair-haired couples have been surprised by Elvis look-alikes. And then, of course, some babies sport only peach fuzz.

Only 20 days until the due date!

Week 36: This Week You are The Size of...

...a Crenshaw Melon! Baby is still packing on the pounds — at the rate of about an ounce a day. She now weighs almost 6 pounds and is more than 18 1/2 inches long. She's shedding most of the downy covering of hair that covered her body as well as the vernix caseosa, the waxy substance that covered and protected her skin during her nine-month amniotic bath. Baby swallows both of these substances, along with other secretions, resulting in a blackish mixture, called meconium, which will form the contents of her first bowel movement. How fun!

At the end of this week, baby will be considered full-term. (Full-term is 37 to 42 weeks; babies born before 37 weeks are pre-term and those born after 42 are post-term.) Most likely she's in a head-down position. But if she isn't, your practitioner may suggest scheduling an "external cephalic version," which is a fancy way of saying she'll try to coax your baby into a head-down position by manipulating her from the outside of your belly. Another fun thought! About 27 days to go!

Shower #5 - Temple Beth David Friends

What a lovely shower at Margo Hunt's home on Saturday, October 16th! Hostesses with the Mostesses: Evie Cherkas, Kathy Greenstein, Margo Hunt, Cindy Ruchin and Colleen Weinkle.

Week 35: This Week You are The Size of...

...a honeydew melon! Olivia doesn't have much room to maneuver now that she's over 18 inches long and tips the scales at 5 1/4 pounds. Because it's so snug in the womb, she isn't likely to be doing somersaults anymore, but the number of times she kicks should remain about the same.

Her kidneys are fully developed now, and her liver can process some waste products. Most of her basic physical development is now complete — she'll spend the next few weeks putting on weight. About 35 days until her due date!

Shower #4 - 10/3/10 - Friends, Friends, Friends

This shower was held for Olivia by The Skilling Ladies (Nancy, Amanda S. Crane, Melissa (absent due to a bad cold-but there in spirit) and Rachel). More gifts for the lucky Olivia!

Week 34: This Week You are The Size of...

...a cantaloupe! Olivia now weighs about 4 3/4 pounds and is almost 18 inches long. Her fat layers — which will help regulate her body temperature once she's born — are filling her out, making her rounder. Her skin is also smoother than ever. Her central nervous system is maturing and her lungs are continuing to mature as well.

Good news if Olivia decides to make her appearance early....babies born between 34 and 37 weeks who have no other health problems generally do fine. They may need a short stay in the neonatal nursery and may have a few short-term health issues, but in the long run, they usually do as well as full-term babies.

Hopefully she'll stay put until at least the beginning of November.

Shower #3 - 10/2/10 - Babies & Beer

OK--admitedly a "different" name for a baby shower, but SO CUTE! Ali and Austin's good friends, Jessica and Todd, threw a magnificent evening couples shower for Olivia.

A great time was had by ALL, as I'm sure these pictures illustrate.

Shower #2 - 9/25/10 - Just the Family...

Even with just our family (mother-in-law, mother, cousins, aunts, great-aunts, and Nana!) we had quite a crowd.Olivia is going to be SET! Enjoy the pics!

Week 33: This Week You are The Size of...

...a pineapple! This week Olivia weighs a little over 4 pounds and has passed the 17-inch mark. She's rapidly losing that wrinkled, alien look and herskeleton is hardening. The bones in her skull aren't fused together, which allows them to move and slightly overlap, thus making it easier for her to fit through the birth canal. (The pressure on the head during birth is so intense that many babies are born with a conehead-like appearance.) These bones don't entirely fuse until early adulthood, so they can grow as her brain and other tissue expands during infancy and childhood.

Shower #1 - 9/19/10 - WOMBATS

Anyone who knows Ali well, knows that she is a lifelong member of the WOMBATS--an acronym for the seven friends who survived grade school (for some), middle school, high school and college together. Though they have ebbed and flowed, they have remained the very best of friends. WOMBAT stands for:

Woody-Shauna Lee Woodruff (now Winzeler)
Oil-Lorenzo's Oil-Faith Berrier
MEK-Mary Ellen Killgore (now Wiggins)
Bennis-Elaine Bennis-Lainie Giacchino (now Reagan)
Al-Ali
Tiff-Tiffany Thornberry (now McWhorter)
Subs-(feet) Cortney Barnett (now Nelms)

With three of the wombats pregnant (Lainie, Ali and Tiffany), the remaining four decided to throw a "joint" shower this past weekend. It was a marvelous (if a bit crazy) time--but it was a wonderful "reunion" for us Wombat Moms and a chance to see all the sweet babies (aka-Junior Wombats) that have already arrived--and I wanted to post a few pictures for Olivia to someday know how very, very important our female friends are. Thank you, Wombats!!