Memorial Day Weekend Wrap Up

I finally bring you part two to this. I really really wanted to blog more, especially with all the fun Summer stuff going on. "It must be officially documented!" said I. But, the said Summer stuff happened and the documenting part of it fell by the wayside. In an attempt to play catch up, my posts will be less wordy and more picture-y. This way I'll be more inclined to blog because adding pictures is a breeze. Right?

To catch you (as in me) up to speed, we were supposed to go to Vermont over Memorial Day weekend, but Sydney got an ear infection so the Memorial Day festivities remained in PA. We were able to join in on my side of the family's get together at my grandparents house. There was a nice spread of cold cuts, and lots of treats to satisfy any one's sweet tooth. Of course, Sydney was the COA (center of attention). The weekend ended with a relaxing day at home, and then a visit to my parents where I just had to do a mini photo shoot of Syd in her patriotic outfit.

What a ham!

Kisses for PopPop

Lots of heart eye faces

Can't get enough of standing

I'd kill for those lashes!

It's only been a month and a half and that neck roll is gone...SAD.

Rubbing the sleepies out of her eye just like daddy does ;)

Ear infection or not, life is so much more fun with this girl!

Next up on the blog...June! I don't think we could fit anymore in that month if we had tried.

Holly xoxo

We were supposed to go to Vermont [part 1]

Remember how we stayed home from church on Mother's Day because Sydney had a cough which then turned into a cold? Well, fast forward two weeks and that cold turned into her her very first ear infection. Which meant we had to cancel our plans to visit friends in Vermont over Memorial Day weekend. So. Bummed. Not knowing how a nine month old with an ear infection would be feeling for a 7+ hour road trip, we decided to play it safe and stay home. But, we already rescheduled our plans to take that road trip to Vermont in the near future, so here's to hoping for a healthy, sick-free Summer!

The antibiotics did what they were supposed to do rather quickly. Sydney woke up Saturday morning a much happier child. We had a whole three day weekend before us. What ever shall we do? It did not take long to fill up our schedule. After a quick lunch at a small pizza joint, our family of three headed over to Hayloft Candles, where there is a free petting zoo. There's also a store where they sell their homemade candles, primitive home decor items and the like. They even have homemade ice cream! Shockingly, Sydney was not at all impressed. And I get it, the girl can't walk to or really pet animals yet, and apparently the sound of a pond fountain is enough to send any high strung nine month old girl over the edge. So, Steve pushed an empty stroller while Sydney held onto mommy for dear life. The zoo was small, yet cute, and even had a kangaroo! Considering it was free, I would definitely visit again and recommend to other families with children.

Thirty minutes later and Sydney had had enough. So, we loaded into the car, stopped for some much needed iced coffees while Sydney got a much needed nap. Then after a quick stop at Target, we made our way to the other Olsens for a good old fashioned impromptu BBQ.

There was lots of picture taking, lots of futile attempts to get Sydney to smile for said picture taking, matching cousin outfits, and of course beer, steak and Laurie's famous home made mac and cheese.  One then leaves promptly after dinner when there is a child recovering from an ear infection with parents who refuse to stay in on a holiday weekend, because that child needs some much needed rest.

And it was deemed a lovely family day, filled with lovely family memories.

Holly xoxo

A Very Casual Mother's Day

"She'll look so cute," I thought to myself as I picked out a purple and white striped dress for Sydney to wear to church the next day. The little number had Mother's Day written all over it. She never did wear that dress, nor did we ever make it to church. Sickness strikes at any time it darn well pleases. After a frantic midnight call to her pediatrician, our nerves were put at ease to know, that indeed, she did NOT have a piece of burger stuck in her lung {ahem, first time parents}. We were told it sounded like croup or the start of a cold. Which, it was.

Needless to say, we did not go to church. But that is okay. Steve made breakfast, and Sydney gave mommy a new fossil tote! At such a young age, this girl has quite the fashion sense. 

We enjoyed a leisurely, cotton romper, pizza eating, back deck sitting sort of afternoon. And the day ended with a lovely, casual back yard cook out at my sister's place. There were hot dogs, and burgers, and delicious drinks make with gin and pineapple. There was laughing and baby holding (albeit, tears). We even managed to get a family picture of all of us, sans Allison, which rarely happens these days it seems.

hipster in the making. #kale

 

 

So, alas, the only picture I have of myself and daughter on my first Mother's Day is sitting on a camping chair in our non-church attire. What matters is that we were together, and that is enough.

Thanks for hosting, Mandy! 

Holly xoxo

A birth story: the day my life changed forever

We had just finished eating dinner. I don't even recall what we ate...tacos maybe?

"Honey, I think my water may be breaking...?" There was no gush, just a little leaking I noticed in my underwear {sorry TMI!}. Or at least that's what I thought. Was I imagining it? I felt so uncertain, yet I had this gut feeling that I should call my doctor. As I was on the phone with a mid wife, Steve was upstairs ironing the curtains for the nursery. I don't think he thought much of my discovery until I ran upstairs and told him they want me to come in to labor and delivery...'just in case'. We scrambled around, grabbed our already packed hospital bags, thinking to ourselves could this be the day? As we were driving to the hospital, we tried our best to hide our excitement and remain calm because surely this was just a false alarm. Right?

We checked into triage and they immediately took me back to get strapped up to monitors to measure contractions and the baby's heart rate. Thankfully, Sydney was not in distress and my contractions were averaging about 7 minutes apart. Nothing that unusual, considering I've been having contractions on and off for almost two months! The mid wife I spoke with on the phone came in and performed a test to determine if it was amniotic fluid that was leaking and to see If my cervix was dilated at all. The test came back inconclusive and I was only about 1 cm dilated. She didn't think my water was breaking due to the inconclusive results, but ordered an ultrasound to measure the fluid around the baby "just to be safe". No biggie! We were right, just a false alarm. I was embarrassed but knew it's better to be safe than sorry. The ultrasound went well...as far as we could tell. Sydney looked great and was moving around a lot. The ultrasound tech did mention that the fluid was measuring low, but made no hint that we should be concerned or how low it was exactly. "I need to take these pictures to a doctor to look at. We will be with you shortly," the ultrasound tech said.

We waited about 15-20 minutes. It seemed like an eternity. Finally, the mid wife returned and said very matter-of-factly, "So, are you ready to meet your daughter tonight?"

!!!

Steve and I grabbed each others hand. I remember repeating "oh my gosh! oh my gosh!" I also remember Steve grinning ear to ear.

The next two hours were a blur. But, apparently my water was breaking and the level of fluid around the baby was way too low. They would need to take her out NOW by c-section in order to avoid full blown labor because she was breech.

By the time the mid wife told us we would be meeting our daughter that night, to the time I was being prepped in the operating room was about an hour or so. It was all happening so quickly, but I was so excited to meet her and see what she looked like! Since she was only 35 weeks along, I of course was also worried about her health.

At 10:55 pm on Monday, August 4, 2014, our beautiful and perfect baby girl made her grand entrance into the world.

As, the doctor was operating I heard him say "I see a little butt!" and then she was out. I then heard the most beautiful sound. The sweet cries of my daughter. As she was being carried from my belly to the pediatrician for examination, the first thing I noticed was lots of dark hair. Steve instantly went over to see her and take pictures and cut the cord. I could overhear the doctor and nurse as they looked her over and by seeing the huge smile on Steve's face, I knew she was healthy and I knew it was going to be okay.

5 lbs 7 oz. 18.75 inches long. Our miracle was finally here.

^^^about to go back to the operating room

 

^^^last picture of me pregnant at 35 weeks.

^^^first picture of our baby girl <3

^^^first time meeting mommy

^^^first family photo :)

^^^our future gymnast ;)

^^^first visitors. steer clear! Nana's on a mission!

^^^Nana, Aunt Erin, & PopPop

Holly xoxo