5/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

Legs in the air. Balancing a rattle.
As you do.

Taken 31/01/2014

4/52

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

This has got to be one of my favourite photos of my little bug. Apparently, I'm exasperating. I love it.
Taken 20/01/2014

::4 months::

FOUR MONTHS
26/12/2013 - 26/01/2014
Weight: 5.2 kgs (clothed) & 62 cm long

Clothing Size: Slowly but surely crossing over into the 000 camp, all of your singlet jumpsuits in 0000 have been passed on to Aunty Dee for baby Kendall, but your sleeved onsies in 0000/NB still managed to fit...for the moment. You are definitely in 000 for any long sleeved jumpsuits now!

New Milestones/Firsts: First roll from back to belly on 03/01/2014! Realised you can splash in the big bath on 05/01/2014. First swimming lesson and time in the pool on 16/01/2014 and you went to the public pools for the first time the next day. You really started flipping from back and belly together repeatedly on 17/01/2014.

Loves: Violet the Dog, Lulu Ladybug and Olivia the Owl. Standing on our legs and "dancing", "jumping" and stamping your little feet! "Big" baths with Mama where you can splash and float around. Your new Sophie the Giraffe!!

Milestones I think she is close to: Sitting up! Getting first teeth...

Sleeping: The month started off very, very rough and Mama and Daddy were close to tearing their hair out - mucked up night sleep, struggles to get you to sleep during the day...it was tough! You fight sleep so much during the day (although when you are down for the count, you sleep like a champ for an hour and a half - 2 hours) and at night your wind pain seems to be waking you up. Mama and Daddy purchased a little iPod dock CD player to play white noise and lullabies through (check out Rockabye Baby Albums...they are awesome!) in an attempt to help you snooze. Unfortunately, the upset sleeping pattern continued through most of the month and your needles on the 23/01/2014 didn't help! That night was filled with lost of crying and not much sleep for anyone. Mama has made the decision to have a nursing/sleeping vacation with you for the whole next week, in an attempt to get you used to settling yourself and getting enough sleep during the day! Let's hope it works! As I write this, you are asleep in your cot after falling asleep without being picked up for the first time in months...and as you drifted off "You and Me" came on the CD player

Favorite activity/toy: Definitely your new Sophie the Giraffe. She's been a Godsend, not only for your sore gums, but as something you will finally squeeze while nursing, to stop you pulling and scratching at Mama! You took to her straight away.

Best part about being a mum: You started giving Mama kisses on Australia Day - grabbing Mama's face and smothering her in slobber. Best. Thing. Ever.

This month we: Went to your 3rd cousin's Baptism (Mama's cousin's little girl), had your first swimming lesson/time in the pool, saw our midwife at Aunty Dee/Kendall's appointment, had your 4 month needles, celebrated your first Australia Day!

I've decided to stop monthly updates in this format and start with an open letter to my baby girl instead, so look for that next month! Thanks for reading!
-Amanda xox

2/365 :: 3/365

Yep, I feel like I have already fallen behind before I've really started! The post I had scheduled, or *thought* I had scheduled for the second week didn't post. So I'm putting 2 and 3 together...just in time for week 4 on Sunday! Eventually I'll get my blogging act together ;)

2/365
This week was an emotional one for me as a Mama. I finally started to really see myself in my daughter, and she started to fit into some of the little outfits I purchased for her, before I even knew who she was! In this pic, I started what I hope will be a lifelong love of reading like her Mama...even if she is reading upside down! (#reading...you'redoingitwrong!)
Taken 11/01/2014

3/365
This week Olivia started her swimming lessons! It was her first time in the pool and she loved it! This photo was taken the next day, at her playdate with her playgroup friends at our local kiddie pool. Growing up too fast!
Taken 17/01/2014

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

1/52

This year I will be linking up with Practicing Simplicity for a photo a week of my little Olivia, for the year. 52 photos in total, shared here on the blog. I've been following this series for a while and I'm excited to start it this year with my little bug. Of course, my photos won't be anywhere near as gorgeous as others in the link up as I only have an SLR on the occasion that I borrow it from my dad, and I have barely a clue how to use it...but it will still be fun to look back on at the end of the year! Many photos will probably be phone photos, so I apologise in advance!

But for now, here's week one! Gosh, we take so many photos in a week that I can already tell this is going to be difficult...but this week, little miss rolled from her back to her belly for the first time and this grainy, badly lit shot was taken just after she did so. She looks so cool about it, "What I rolled? Oh yeah, no biggie". Despite better quality photos, this one has to be my favourite for the week. (taken 03.01.2014)

"A portrait of my daughter, once a week, every week, in 2014."

::3 months old::

Dear Livie,

Please slow down. Please, please. You are so eager to jump ahead to every milestone, and you want so badly to just take off running that I feel like I barely have any time with my little newborn daughter. From the word go, you have always been so alert and ready to see the world and dive on in - it's wonderful but it makes me so sad to see you growing so fast. I feel that you will be such an independent little girl, whose Mama will always be mourning your lack of reliance on her. So when you do need me - those precious snuggles into a familiar body in an unfamiliar place, those 4am feeds, those chest to chest moments when only Mama's skin will calm you...those moments I treasure. For I fear you will need less and less of them, far too soon.

Try not to dive ahead too fast my baby girl. I will miss my baby too soon.

Love, Mama xxx

THREE MONTHS
26/11/2013 - 26/12/2013
Weight: 4.82 kgs (clothed, 12/12) & 59 cm long (19/12)

Clothing Size: You went up a nappy size on the 30/11 and are now in infant nappies instead of newborn - a proud but sad moment! You looked so teeny in them though, it was like you were a newborn again, for a moment.

We put you in a smaller sized 000 (0-3 months) for the first time on 03.12.2013.

New Milestones/Firsts: First time at a Baby Shower (for your cousin Kendall!), first giggle! (05.12.2013), first wedding and party dress, first Christmas, and first time meeting many extended family members, including your first time meeting your Great-Grandparents and many of your Great Aunts and Uncles, at both family Christmas parties. You also started grasping at your toys (if we give them to you!) and pulling your dummy in and out of your mouth.

Loves: Your new Lullaby Bug that you got for Christmas from Great-Aunty Barbara, your butterfly play mat that Mama bought, nappy-free time!, Daddy blowing raspberries under your arm and taking selfies with Daddy's phone! (we did this in front of our Christmas Tree on Christmas Day and it made you giggle so much!!)

Milestones I think she is close to: Sounds strange to say but....crawling! You have already got the legs going, tucked up underneath your hips and moving you forward, you just can't quite get your arms working so instead you grab onto the mat and pull yourself forward while pushing with your legs (or if this doesn't work, just lunging your chest forward)! I keep telling you to stop, I need my little baby for a little while longer!!

You are also so close to roll on your belly from your back. I watched you trying so hard in your crib the other day and managed to video tape it - you were so very, very close!

Sleeping: On the 29/11 we took you back to the doctors as your reflux was playing up again - around week 8 you stopped feeding well again, you were fussing terribly and started crying during feds again, and your night time sleeps got messed up. We think you were having a growth spurt as well. We started you on Losec, a very low dose, as well as the thickener...suddenly you were sleeping amazing! You slept 8 - 10 hours at night, waking for a feed then sleeping again until 7 or 8 (another 3 or 4 hours). You also started sleeping during the day, and letting Mama know when you want to nap. I didn't know what to do with myself when you are asleep, I wasn't used to having a sleeping baby during the day!

Then, after about 4 days, we were back to our old routine (10 weeks old). No day sleeps and your night sleep even got messed up! By 11/12 your night sleeps were back to fairly normal again, although after your 6 hr stint you were suddenly eating every 2.5 hours, instead of 3 or 4 - Mama and Daddy put it down to either the heat, or a growth spurt!

The rest of the month things went downhill. Your sleeping at night time started to muck up as well as your daytime sleeps and on Christmas Eve you had the growth spurt to end all growth spurts - feeding hourly and draining your poor Mumma! Your feeding has settled down but we are still trying to get you back into your sleep routine. Some nights it works, some nights you wake up and take hours to go back to sleep. During the day, sometimes after a fight you go down and sleep for 2 hours, other days you continually keep waking up. It's all a guessing game at the moment! We think you may be teething...and your poor windy belly keeps waking you as well.

Favorite activity/toy: You love your "Violet" dog from Santa, your Jemima doll from Mama and Daddy and your "Lulu Ladybug" doll from Nanny and Poppy.

Best part about being a mum: Your grins when you first wake up from a really good sleep. Such a beautiful smile my Livie-bug!

This month we: Had a hard time with feeding again thanks to your reflux, and you really hurt Mama. We had a Lactation Consultant come out to the house to try and help... We eventually got it sorted (it seems to be more your reflux then anything else!) and you were back to feeding beautifully again. Let's hope this sticks!

Sadly, this month we also said goodbye to your Great-Poppy, Mummy's paternal grandfather. It was your first big road trip and you were beautiful, sleeping in both directions (although not once during the day!). Although it was an incredibly sad day, you bought a smile to everyone's face and all Mama's family who hadn't met you yet were thrilled to have snuggles and smiles. Your presence really helped everyone heal a little, and your Great-Nanny loves you to pieces and would have kept you if she could! I know that my Poppy would have loved you so much, his first great-granddaughter. He and Nan had been waiting for the day they had a new little girl to snuggle (as much as they love all their boys)...you would have made him laugh that unique little laugh of his and he would have teased you mercilessly, as he did all us girls. xxx

On a happier note, this month we celebrated Christmas with all our families and while it didn't quite *feel* like Christmas, thanks to the crazy blur of days that is our life lately, we were so thrilled to celebrate your first Christmas with you! Your 3 month mark fell on Boxing Day and so your monthly photos are Christmas themed this time!

-Amanda xox

...merry christmas...

Sooooooo I'm a little late thanks to the busy-ness of the season with a 12 week old BUT -

Merry Christmas everyone! And Happy Holidays! Whatever and however you  celebrate, we hope you had an amazing time with loads of love xxx

baby Olivia's birth story - Part Two!

Catch up on Part One here -

...not long after my Mum arrived we made the decision to head to the hospital because the pain had gotten so bad I felt I wouldn't be able to get in a car if we left it too much longer!

So, we did one last trek around the house, trying to think of anything we had missed that we would need, locked up and headed to hospital...

After arriving at the hospital (and oh boy, getting out of our suburb was interesting while in labour....full of twists, turns and roundabouts!) the hubs dropped my Mum and I at the front, parked the car and then joined us, and we made the slow trek to the birthing suite. Upon arrival, we were informed that the caseload midwife working that day was in prep with another client, as she was getting ready to have an emergency caesarean. So we waited for a monitoring room to be ready for us (all the while my pain level was getting worse!) and I was hooked up to a monitor for baby's heart rate to be monitored.

I was so excited to have yellow straps...
everything for Little Bean was yellow!

It felt like we were in that room forever! All I wanted to do was get in the hot shower and it felt like I was waiting for an eternity...meanwhile, the pain in my hips was getting worse and worse with every contraction. I eventually got off the bed and tried sitting on a chair beside the bed, leaning onto my husband or the bed...until *finally* they let me get into the shower in the room - only to discover the water in the shower was inconsistent, going from nice and hot to cool! Talk about irritating! All I wanted was hot, hot, hot! I had used a heat pack all the way to the hospital, and I remember getting one of the massive gel ones while I was waiting for the shower - it just didn't do the trick!

I tried to work through the pain in the shower for as long as I could, but it just kept building to the point I felt I couldn't handle it - and it didn't feel right. Having been in the labour room with my sister, when she gave birth to my nephew, I had a fair idea what to expect (my poor sister was in labour for 3 days!) and I have a fairly high pain tolerance. However, the pain I was getting during contractions was all in my hips - it honestly felt like my hips were going to crack! I started mentioning to my husband that I didn't think I was going to be able to do it without some assistance...

After a while, we were moved to a birthing suite - number 5! By this stage, I was pretty much set on getting an epidural. Anyone who knows me knows how much of a big deal that is, and I think the decision to get the epidural was harder than actually getting the epidural! However, the midwife who was watching us had set up the bath for me to try first, and encouraged me to use some gas. The gas I HATED, and after one contraction I told them to get it away from me - it made me feel dizzy, nauseous and out of control...not something this a-type lady wanted! The bath just didn't help at all...I feel like if I had gotten in it sooner, when I was managing the pain a little better, I might have held out a little longer.

After the gas attempt, I got out of the bath to get a cannula in preparation for the epidural. The guy was lovely, particularly when I gave him a heads up about my phobia of all things medical, in particular needles. I think the cannula was worse than the epidural! The epidural was so scary for me, I have always been scared of getting one so I was terrified. Luckily the anesthesiologist we had was lovely, and listened to my fears and helped me through it (I advised her that unlike most patients, I did *NOT* want to know what she was doing, for her to just do it). This was where our Calm Birth preparation really helped me - I focused on my breathing to really keep myself calm and still as I was terrified of moving while they put in the needles. I remember the anesthesiologist asking at one point if I was having a contraction because I was so focused on breathing - I wasn't!

After the epidural, everything suddenly became peaceful and I knew I had made the right decision. I had been in natural labour for approx. 6 hours at that point (I believe I got the epidural around 12.00?), and suddenly I felt like I could actually enjoy the process of giving birth to my baby. I remember passing my sister in the hallway on the way between the monitoring room and the birth suite (she had been adamant that even if I couldn't have her in the room, she was waiting in that hallway until I gave birth) and I couldn't handle the thought of anyone else in the room, no matter how much I wanted to give her the experience she gave me. However, after I had the epidural, I had my Mum go and get her, and she spent the rest of the time in the room with us. It was so nice to be able to do that...I am still a strong advocate for natural birth, and I will try again next time, but having the epidural was the right decision for me that night - as it turns out, it was a good thing I got it...

To be continued...

:: 2 months old ::

Dear Livie,

I can't believe you are 2 months old already! The time is flying by and I am just not ready for it. You are already trying to do so many things, and I wish you would stay my teeny, squishy baby for longer. In saying that, I'm so proud of how clever you are and how much you are taking in the world around you and wanting to learn new things!

The best thing about my day is your milk drunk snuggles in the middle of the night and your bright, happy smiles every time you wake up. As sad as it is to see the teeny little Livie disappearing, the new personality that shines through every week makes me excited to watch you grow.

Just please don't grow too fast.

I love you my baby girl.

Love, Mama xxx

TWO MONTHS
26/10/2013 - 26/11/2013
Weight: 4.86kgs (clothed) - a whole kilo more than last month! - & 55cm long

Clothing Size:0000/Newborn BUT you are completely out of any footed 0000/Newborn because of your length. Not too much longer and I think you'll be in 000!

New Milestones/Firsts: First Halloween!, first Christening (for your cousin Kimberly!), first birthday party and lolly bag, first Christmas party (Poppy's family party!), first purposeful rolls from belly to back and first accidental roll from back to belly! You had your first trip to the Plaza at 7 weeks old to purchae Mia's birthday present. You also started "talking" - ie. making purposeful sounds in response to our conversation with you!

Loves: Still in love with your Daddy but Mama seems to be getting a bit more love these days :) You also love your "Minnie Mouse" rattle my aunt bought you, your singing Lion, "Gemima" doll from Playschool (Nanny bought you a Playschool Nursery Rhyme book and every time she is on the page you grin at her and go quiet!), your bedtime routine (oh my, she lets us know when she is ready for her bath, massage, feed and bed!) and foot massages (this one is Daddy's job :) ) and you have recently started loving to play "peek-a-boo!"

Milestones I think she is close to: Real laughs/giggles - you already do this in your sleep, but you have recently started to make the connection when something fun is done repeatedly to you (eg. tickling your belly) - you will smile before the next time happens and I think the next step will be a giggle! You are also trying so hard all the time to pull yourself up to sit up!

Sleeping: Still all over the shop during the day, though slightly better than it was, since we started using some Infacol to help your poor belly. Night time is still really good, you have generally been going to sleep from about 7 or 8 til between 12 and 2, then waking 3 hourly after that. Last month I mentioned you had a day of 2 hourly feeds...as it turns out, you have silent reflux. Our doctor got suspicious of it when we took you in at approx. 4 1/2 weeks for the sniffles and a cough, when she couldn't find any infection, etc. She advised that it can been signs of silent reflux and sure enough, that weekend your coughs turned into coughing up something and swallowing it, then you started screaming and arching your back while feeding. Your 2 hour feeds had been an attempt to soothe your sore throat! 5 weeks old was the worst week and unfortunately coincided with your tongue snip. We started you on thickener during the day and your sleeping and feeding got better!

Favorite activity/toy: Still love Minnie, but also a fan of your singing Lion. You also still really love tummy time, despite being a reflux baby! You definitely love your baths and massages very night as well

Best part about being a mum: Late night, milk drunk snuggles and your beautiful grins!

This month we: Had a lot of adventures! Lots of parties and celebrations. We also had our 6 week check ups, and you had your needles. You did so well with those! You cried while they were being given to you, then afterwards only cried for a minute in Mama's arms before starting to have a very cranky conversation with Mama, Daddy, and the nurses! They thought it was so funny, you sounded like you were telling us all off and would be wagging your finger at us if you could! The nurses loved you and couldn't stop going on about how gorgeous you were :) Made Mama proud.

You also had your tongue tie snipped at 5 weeks - again, you did beautifully and only cried for a few minutes. I think it was harder on Mama and Daddy, watching them do something like that to you! But we knew it was something you needed. You were grinning at the doctor and nurses beforehand and barely cried afterwards. After 5 weeks of feeding difficulties and Mama fighting to get someone to believe something was wrong, the first time you latched on afterwards was such a relief! We still had a rough time for about a week and a half while you relearned how to use your tongue, but then we had a week and a half where you suddenly "got it", and did amazing!!

We also started going to the "Meet and Greet" at the Community Health Centre, to meet up with other mums and bubs! It's been a lot of fun so far, and our friends Kate and Imogen, and Kate and Peyton, are all going as well! The 5 week course looks like it is going to be lots of fun.

Another month over...and I still haven't finished Livie's birth story! I do promise it's coming but you know the saying - babies don't keep. Blogging can sometimes wait. I'll be around more soon, but I promise I'm keeping up with everyone's blogs (even if I don't get a chance to comment!)
-Amanda xox

:: 1 month old ::

Well, it's a little late, since Miss Olivia was 1 month old on the 26/10/2013 but golly! Is it ever hard to get a chance to blog when you have a little newborn refusing day naps...*more on that later*

I personally love reading baby monthly updates on all my favourite blogs, so I hope you will all indulge me with Olivia's! I also love the chance to write everything down and print it out for her Project Life - it takes a little longer to get into there, so this way I have all her milestones written down somewhere to access later.

I can't believe that my little munchkin is already over a month old...people aren't kidding when they say time flies! She's already changed so much...and my, oh my, what a first month we had. Without further ado, Livie's first month!

ONE MONTH
26/09/2013 - 26/10/2013

Weight: 3.86kgs (clothed) 3.78kgs (bare weight)

Clothing Size:0000/Newborn although some are still a little big!

New Milestones/Firsts: First car ride, first doctor appointment with Dr. Khan on 04/10/13, first trip down to the local grocery store, first photoshoot (and first shoot with our wedding photographer! More on that later!), first trip to the Plaza (7 weeks), first real smiles (oh they are so much better than wind smiles!!) and first roll from belly to back (and she's already trying her darndest to roll from back to belly! Stay little for a while baby girl!) She had her first time to a house other than our own - we made a quick stop at my parents' house for my Mum's family reunion! We also thought she had her first cold BUT turns out it was reflux... :( ...There are probably a million other "firsts" given her new to the world status, but they are the big ones I can think of!

Loves: Her Daddy. Oh my is this little girl a Daddy's girl! Not only is she the spitting image of him as a baby (I think she has my eyes...that's about it so far!), but all he has to do is talk and she would stop and listen. She could stare at him for hours. I'm just the food, clearly!
She also loves her Nanny's voice (my mum) and I think that's because my Mum stayed with us for the first 5 days out of hospital, to help out, so it's one that Livie recognises. It's so sweet to see her smile when she hears her Nanny!
Other loves include the "BABY" frame beside her change table - it currently has generic pictures of babies and grandparents in it, and I swear she thinks they are her friends! She smiles at them and coos a bit at them...she's going to be disappointed when I put pictures of her in there I think! She also loves to stare at the banner and hot air balloons on her wall, and if she is facing the other way she is captivated by the mobile I made! Score! (DIY to come on that one!)
Baby girl also loves cuddles, of course, the abstract canvas art in the living room, and she has also taking to loving to stay awake during the day...something we decidedly *don't* love. However she loves her sleep at night so that's fine by us!

Milestones I think she is close to: "Talking" (ie. cooing, making noises) purposefully.

Sleeping:Olivia was a fantastic sleeper for the first two or so weeks...then her poor little belly started playing up. She's a great sleeper at night, she started sleeping from 5 - 6 hours from 7pm quite early on, then would wake at 4am and sleep again until her wake time at 7am. She then feeds every 3 hours during the day....but the sleeping during the day? Was not happening unless she was on our chests. She also went through a period of 2 hour feeds, which I think is when her sleeping started to get messed up. It wasn't too bad then but week 5 was terrible! But more on that in next month's update!

Favorite activity/toy: She loves the Minnie Mouse rattle my aunt bought for her, and she's a fan of her vibrating rocker. But mostly she loves face to face time with her Mama and Daddy, and tummy time on the playmat with Daddy (Mama couldn't do this for ages thanks to Livie's birth)

Best part about being a mom:The smiles at 3am. There is nothing better than your baby looking deep into your eyes, and giving you a great big, beautiful grin! It makes everything else worth it :)

This month we: had a really rough time! Recovering from Olivia's birth was hard enough (Part Two of her story coming soon!) but on top of that we had latching problems, blocked ducts, excessively sore nipples, bacterial infections, mastitis, tongue tie, gas problems and reflux. *phew* We had it tough. Really tough. But thankfully month two is looking better...And this month was all about us getting to know our little girl, and getting to know ourselves as parents. So in spite of it all, all the pain and the problems, it's been amazing. And I'm more in love with my husband then ever before. He has shown himself to be an amazing, hands on Daddy and I love the relationship he has with our daughter already <3

That's it for this month! Stay tuned for Part Two of Olivia's birth story (you can read Part One here) and, if the little miss gives me time, a DIY for your baby's nursery!

Amanda -xox-