31 weeks.

So I'm 31 weeks and feel really... waddle-ish. I just feel so awkward moving about. And of ourse Olivia has reccently found a love for Ring Around the Rosie. Every time we "all fall down" she jumps right back up asking for "more more more" and I feel like I'm getting a huge workout just getting up and down over and over again.

We've been more serious about potty-training since we've been home from NJ. Olivia was in big girl pants almost all day today. Even a trip grocery shopping that lasted over an hour. She stayed dry all day. It's still a matter of me taking her to the potty every hour or so, but once today she told me peepee, and we actually made it to the potty in time! Normally if she says pee, I have literally 1 second before theres pee everywhere. The hardest part is going out, and knowing we'll be gone for a while. Like, today I had to go buy Aaron some books at MCC's bookstore, and I really didn't want to deal with an accident in a college bookstore, so I put a diaper on her... which I also didn't want to do because I know I need to be consistent. And of course she told me she had to pee when we were there and I had to be like, just pee in your diaper, it's okay. How confusing is that for her??

Anyway, Olivia has had a cold, and been trying to get back on schedule from NJ. She's finally sleeping better, but her nose is still running.

Home.

So our trip to NJ was wonderful. I actually extended my stay another week, and had to say goodbye to Aaron after 10 great days together. Then I spent the next week with Olivia and my family. Mostly it was just great enjoying delicious food, time with family, beach, boardwalk, etc. Some highlights were deep sea fishing on a boat. We caught 3 fish each, but none were keepers. We spent one day down in LBI and just enjoyed all day on the beach. The waves were pretty good and Olivia was so not into it. She did enjoy the sand though. One night my parents took me and O to Point Pleasant which is another boardwalk on the beach. She loved the rides. It was crazy to see my baby on those rides, looking all like a big girl. She even went on a huge roller coaster with her Pop-pop. Point Pleasant also has an aquarium which was so much fun. O was running around screaming and yelling "FISH!". It was fun.

Now we are home, trying to adjust to the time difference. Olivia is still waking up at 5am. Which would be great if we were in NJ... but we're not, and 5 is way too early! I came home to lots of projects done, thanks to my hubby! He painted the girls room, and moved the furniture and it's just perfect. He also finished painting the wall in the living room that I started 10 months ago. So now I really should be cleaning because yesterday I pretty much vegged all day.

Also, a quick update just for myself about Olivia. These past three weeks have been crazy to see her vocab grow. I can't even count how many words she knows now. She uses 2-3 words together in little phrases, such as "daddy go?" and "byebye daddy" and of course the popular "MINE! Myyyy baby (or whatever item it is)." We are still working on her little violent habit of face pinching when she doesn't want to be held. She likes to be on her own, and if that's interrupted she claws your face off. It's terrible, and she had stopped it for a long time, but started again in NJ. This week I'm also starting to get serious about potty training. I really don't want 2 in diapers, so I have about 2 and a half months to get this girl out of diapers. She goes on the potty, and will usually tell me when she has to pee, but not when she has to poop. But if I time it right, she will poop on the potty, just doesn't tell me that she has to. So I think we're about half way there.

NYC

So here are some quick highlights of our NYC trip.

Rooftop by the sea ports. So nice. After hours of walking it was heavenly to sit and enjoy the view.

This cracks me up. Lawn chairs in Time Square. I heard about this, but it was still funny to see.

And my latest belly shot, 28 weeks in Times Square.

Other highlights, not pictured:

• Entering a Mario Kart contest at Nintendo World
• Yummiest pizza ever
• Yummiest cheesecake ever
• Yummiest lo mein noodles ever
• Learning to ride the subway
• Random nice people allowing me to use their employee restroom

Now I'm going to take a bath and put my feet up, while loving grandparents dote over my daughter. I love vacation.

Can't wait for vacation!

We are leaving for New Jersey the day after tomorrow. I can not wait. First of all... I am exhausted. And hot. I can't wait for cooler weather, and lots of hands and people to entertain Olivia for me. Today was actually a fairly good day. I don't usually use my blog as a place to complain, but right now I'm going to just vent.

First of all, this little girl 16 months, going on 16 years, has learned the art of throwing herself onto the floor and screaming her head off if something isn't quite so. For example, I went to give her a peice of bread, but right before handing it to her I decided to break in half. This was definitely not what she wanted, at all. And instead of just a "No." It was a full out fit. Fortunately these moments only last about 1 minute if completely ignored. Like, I leave the room ignore. She usually gets up and is her cheerful self again as soon as there is no attention. But I'm not sure this is the best thing to do. Am I letting her just get away with acting like a monster? And this strategy def would not work in public.

Then there's anytime we are around other children. She is not very nice. Well I take that back, she loves to give hugs and kisses and can be very sweet. But if you go near anything she's touched ever expect to get pinched, or hit and the object to be pulled from your hands while hearing her shout, "MINE!". Or if you are just playing innocently, she may come over and tackle you just for the fun of it. Most of the time I think this is innocent, but I'm still debating.

And then there are our sleep issues... which could be the root of these other problems? I am not sure. But she goes to bed around 7:30 or 8, wakes up around 6:30 or 7 (more like 6:30 lately). I know that's plenty of sleep for the night. But for naps, she is only sleeping about 45 minutes, an hour if I'm lucky. I have tried absolutely everything you could imagine. There is a quilt thumbtacked over her window to block out the sun. We have used white noise. We have used silence. We swim for over an hour before nap time. Plus lots of other playing. We have tried earlier, we have tried later. Nothing seems to effect it. Sometimes out of the blue she will sleep for almost 2 hours (this hasn't happened in about 3 months). I rack my brain trying to figure out exactly what we did, and try to replicate it, to no avail. I started just making her stay in her crib for the full hour no matter when she woke up. So most days she'd cry for about 20 minutes until I came to get her. Today I decided to go to her at the first sound of a whimper. I just patted her back and shushed her, and lo and behold she fell back to sleep! For about 20 more minutes, but still she fell back to sleep! So that might be my new strategy, and maybe eventually she will just stop waking up. We'll see.

And then theres the, what I would think to be "normal toddler issues". Such as emptying out every drawer she can reach. Pulling all the books off of all the shelves. Coloring on the table. Wanting to be in my arms every time I need to be doing something else, like looking at facebook cooking dinner. Etc, etc, etc.

But then in the same breath she melts my heart with kisses, and cutest little words, and watching her play with her dolls, and all that cute stuff. I guess that's motherhood for ya. How do we stay sane?? Like I said, I can't wait for vacation.

26 weeks and counting...

So today I am going for my glucose test.. fun stuff. Fortunately this pregnancy has been pretty uneventful. Hopefully it stays that way. I am worn out pretty easily. Olivia gets away with a lot she probably wouldn't if I wasn't so tired. I know that's terrible, consistency is key in all this parenting stuff, huh? But some days I just have to pretend I don't see her making a mess or whatever because I'd rather just wait until I have the energy later to clean it up. She also watches more TV than she probably should. I need to take a picture of my belly, but the batteries died on my camera right after I took this:
I was in the kitchen loading the dishwasher and came in to peak on her and this is how she was. In her car, feet on the dash, watching Elmo. It made me laugh. Well now I'm off to go drink my nastiness and get poked with needles... fun!

Happy Birthday Aaron!

Well it's been a while since I updated. Lots going on this summer.. my sister is in town and we have been trying to show her the best AZ has to offer. We went tubing down the Salt River, went up to Aaron's parents cabin and enjoyed a little cooler weather. We even drove out to Joe's Farm & Grill, which was a pretty far drive, but way fun and yummy. They were featured on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. We had fun doing our Guy Fieri impressions... well mostly laughing at Aaron's. We spent some time in the pool, but not too much, because really it's just been brutal out! We've done lots of shopping, and last night went to the movies to see my Sister's Keeper.

Today is Aaron's birthday. He should get his own post. But even as I type Olivia is yelling for my attention. We are going somewhere yummy for dinner, just not sure where yet. We enjoyed free Joe's real BBQ, and Krispy Kreams...mmmm... I think I ate more of the dozen than Aaron. Today I'm feeling espcially grateful to married to such a wonderful man. He makes me smile every day. He works hard without complaint. He changes diapers. Most of all... he puts up with my crazy moods, and still tells me he loves me every day. <3

A post not all about Olivia!

So, last night we went on a super fun date with our good friends Sean and Becky. I just want to document that it actually happened. No kids (except the ones currently residing within mine and Becky's wombs) yummy food, and lots of fun games at Dave & Busters. There are lots of coupons out there for Dave&Busters, like when you buy $10 of games you get $10 free. So that's what we did, and had a blast. I LOVE ski ball, and was at the top of my game last night. I beat Aaron a few times, and let him win a couple ;)

The funniest thing they have is this picture thing, and it took our picture (mine and Aaron's) and morphed them into what our child would look like. It's so hilarious. I wish I had a scanner to show you what Olivia will look like in 5 years. I couldn't stop laughing.

Anyway, it was a fun night and even though it was a rare night out for us, it was worth it. I'm usually in bed, asleep by 10, and last night we didn't get HOME until 10:30!! Unheard of around here. And I'm actually sore from the basketball games, boxing game, and possibly even ski ball.