The Great Wean

Well, my post today was supposed to be an AWESOME video of Olivia...but it wouldn't load. So I'll try again tomorrow.

Instead, shall be the story of the great wean. There once was a girl named Olivia, whose Dad said "we can't name her Olivia, it rhymes with Bolivia!" Okay enough with the rhymes, but that's what Ryan really did say when I proclaimed my love for her name! :)

Seriously though. Olivia will turn 11 months old next week! I can hardly believe it. It is getting close to be time to be done with the boobies. As much as I have loved nursing, I am READY to be done. Someone sucking on your boobs several times every day can be exhausting. Really exhuasting. About a month ago I was afraid that she would never be done nursing, but over the last month we have managed to eliminate 2 of her 4 remaining boob fests. She now only nurses twice a day! Yea! Her remaining fests are early morning (STILL) and bed time. Bed time I think we will be able to eliminate no problem, but the early morning feeding I think may pose some problems.

Some history. Olivia has "slept through the night" since she was 7 weeks old. (Clinically speaking, sleeping through the night is 6 hours straight). We have certainly been blessed! From 7 to 13 weeks, Olivia would go 9 to 10 hours at night without nursing. It was wonderful.... At 13 weeks, she started being ready to go to bed earlier--between 7 and 8 every night--so she started waking up an hour earlier in the morning to eat--between 4 and 5. Thus has been her schedule since 13 weeks. So now it is habit, and STRONG habit! I've tried just putting her back to sleep with the nuk, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...and when it does it's only for about an hour or so. This is going to be a tough habit to break..."crying it out" at 5 am doesn't work so much when she's not quite so tired!!

Here are my questions:

1. Should I eliminate the bedtime nurse first or keep it until after the early morning nurse is done?
(This poses several different problem scenarios: If I eliminate it, will she then wake up earlier...if I don't eliminate bedtime nursing first, after the early morning feeding is done and I work to eliminate the nighttime feeding, will she then start waking up early again?? So many problems, so little time...)

2. Did anyone have the problem of having to eliminate an early morning nurse, or were everyones babes already sleeping ALL the way through the night at this point? (And if they were, don't rub it in too much...salt in the wound...)

3. Am I worrying too much? They say they will just be done when they are ready...I've trusted this so far and it's worked...but this early morning feeding has got me going insane!!

What to do? I need some advice from you mommies! Thanks!!

Sweet Oli

cribz

I think a beaver crawls in Olivia's bed with her during the night.

Amazing Babies

Every week Olivia and I attend an ECFE class called Amazing Babies. It has been so much fun to go to class with her, watch her play and grow with her friends. I took some pictures from our last class we had...they are so cute! Enjoy!

Welcome our newest arrival...

NO! I'm not pregnant. Don't even think about that!!

For those of you who don't know, and just to remind those of you who do, my husband is an avid hunter. AVID just may be an understatement. He loves archery hunting for deer. He and his buddy, Sam, even make hunting videos. Serious hunting videos. Of course, since he is such a wonderful hunter, he loves to proudly to display his trophies. Oh the trophies. So, here is a picture of our newest arrival:

And here's our basement...

Don't they look pretty with my curtains? (And no my basement is not usually so messy, we've had company.)

Sickie

My little Oli got sick yesterday. :( Poor baby. She threw up twice and had a fever of 101. That is her highest yet, and boy did she feel it. She just layed on me all evening.

And last night was not pretty. You Mommy's know how it goes without details. At least there was no puke during the night.

We're going to the Dr. this afternoon to see how her ears are doing. I have a sneaking suspicion they are at least related to this whole thing.

More catch up...

Here's a picture from Olivia's dedication...like Florida, also took place in November! :)

And just a cute picture...

More from Florida

I know these pictures are like 2 months late...but they are cute! I just got them from my mom and I thought you would enjoy seeing Olivia swimming in the pool in Florida. She just loved swimming!! Ryan and I are hoping to take her to open swim sometime soon; it's just SO fun to see her in the water!

Deceptively Delicious

I recently bought Jessica Seinfeld's book Deceptively Delicious and I am loving it! I must admit, I have not used any of the recipes yet...I just haven't had time; however, I love the ideas.! I was a bit skeptical at first--I mean, shouldn't kids just learn to eat their vegetables the old fashioned way? That's what I had to do!! (And it wasn't easy--ask my folks!) But I got to thinking, why not just incorporate these recipes into Olivia's diet while still encouraging her to eat her veggies the "other" way! (Duh, right?)

We are having company the next two weekends, but I am hoping after that to have some time to make up some purees to have on hand and try out a few of the recipes. I'm excited!!

Livi's Aunties

Baby shower: Jan '07

In case you didn't know, I am an only child. This leaves poor Livi Auntless and Uncleless on my side of the family. (And cousinless...you know my side will be the one she won't want to go to for holidays! Although, Grammi & Grampy are pretty fun!) Livi does have one pretty terrific Aunt Jenelle (Ry's sister)...but she is even luckier! She has so many FAKE Aunties, she doesn't know what to do with them all!

Above is a picture from my wonderful baby shower last January. I was so appreciative to all of my friends & family who were able to attend and celebrate my little O...even before we knew who she was!

I just love all of my best girlfriends, and I am so thankful that they all want to be Olivia's Aunties! You are all so wonderful and I am so excited for Olivia to be able to get to know all of you better as she gets older! You all better be ready for "Days out with Aunties"! :)