8 Months Old Today!

Olivia is 8 Months old today and looking more and more like a little girl. Although not crawling, you can tell she is thinking about it- watching her balls roll away and wondering how to get them back- I think if we had full carpets, she would be a bit closer, but its nice for the moment that she doesn't move around too much yet! She does however have one very obvious cute tooth on the bottom and two others quickly joining- the one next to it and one up top. They have created some fussy days but overall she is a great! She sleeps through the night (7ish to 7ish) and takes 3 short naps a day. She eats two "meals" a day (besides her milk); one in the morning and one in the evening. She has had apples, strawberries, blueberries, banana, pumpkin, peach, peas, green beans, squash, carrots and others...Don't know if she has any strong dislikes or likes yet, but she does seem to enjoy eating most of the time! And here are some pictures from today:




She found herself in her mirror today and had quite a merry time with the baby in the sunshine

She always likes it when Daddy puts her on his head:

This was this morning before we got dressed- you can almost see her tooth on the bottom right. She is grabbing for the red "tassels" on my hoodie- she LOVES them!

Fall Retreat

This weekend we had a great time at the fall retreat (minus Olivia not sleeping very well AT ALL!) Here is the group photo of everyone who came (minus Olivia and I who were catching up on sleep at this point:)

B-Stud Cross Evaluation Video

Our NavNight messages this semester cover aspects of what Christ's death on the cross means to us. This is a creative video made by students in my bible study to recruit to B-stud (our abbreviation for Bible Study) in which we are studying I John. They are amazingly creative and fun and beautiful and I feel privileged to hang out with them- they make me feel cool-er:)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLOM2m07tQE
This is another video two of the girls made as well last spring:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsZOOXBYuMo&NR=1And here is our B-stud last spring- I hope to get a new-er shot this weekend at our fall retreat:

7 Month photos...

Laughing Game

In my office I have up on the wall a collage of photos from before I was married...I think I made it the fall after I graduated college. And in the middle of it is a photo of my sister and I playing the laughing game with the Harris' sisters. Have you ever played that game? Everyone lays on the floor, their head on each other's belly, making a square. If I had a scanner and the photo wasn't in a frame, I would upload it- especially cause we all look so young!!!

Anyways, Olivia is very vocal :) And this afternoon she was laughing- "ha" and I would go "ha" back. And she would make another laughing sound and I would repeat it and we go on for awhile like this... its very fun and always reminds me of the other game. I love that we laugh together. She almost always brings a smile to my face!

Hanging out with the Ottos at Otto's. Nice.

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Caroline and Olivia watching the Penn State Homecoming Game at the Stavenesses

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We are the Navigators!

A video Eric put together for our first Navnight about who we are:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T0iB2c83MM

Staff, Oaks, and a BBQ

One of my favorite things about ministry at PSU is being a part of a team- our team for 2010-2011 at one of our first staff meetings: Our first event of the year is a BBQ- you can tell the weather only kinda cooperated with us... But everyone still seemed to have a blast! We invite everyone, but especially try to connect with freshmen!

Can you spot Olivia's stroller? (hint: check out the telephone pole- and don't worry, we are inside at this moment- she is not in it:)

Right before the BBQ we actually go away for a night with all the juniors and seniors who have signed up to lead bible studies- here is the group this year- and some are missing! Its amazing how many committed students are involved and help reach out to freshmen and continue pouring into them for two years!

Six Months

Olivia turned six months old yesterday- so amazing. And so crazy to think we have known her for six months! She posed well for her 6 month photo shoot- here are a couple of our favorites:

"What's the big deal Mom?""Why do you want me to hold this? What is it?"
"Hi!"

We love the drool!

And this was from the first time we gave her rice cereal...immediately followed by a bath:) She goes to the doctor tomorrow where I am eagerly waiting to find out her weight and height officially- she seems SO big to me compared to what she was. Her 3-6 month clothes are getting tight- especially if she is wearing a cloth diaper. This month has been another month of travel for Olivia- hanging out in State College, over to Hershey for my surgery, to Sandy Cove for a week in MD where she met her Uncle Matt for the first time! They seem to get along very well!, to NJ for Kimmy's bridal shower, back to MA for her Papa's 60th B-day and home again. I think we will be staying put for awhile:)

She continues to be a really happy baby. She is full of smiles- especially if you are giving her attention. She loves people. She loves playing peek-a-boo and sometimes if you catch it right, she will LAUGH so hard- its awesome. Just last night I noticed she was fascinated by tags! Not taggies of course, but the actual tags on her toys. And she loves spoons. And straws. And plastic bags (though we don't actually let her play with those). We have given her rice cereal and apple sauce so far and she has enjoyed trying to eat them, though I am not sure she has actually digested much. As I posted before, she started sitting up some too. Its amazing to watch her grow! She has been a real trooper this last week by coming to lots of meetings with me as we prepared for freshmen to arrive this week. I am still figuring out my place as a mom with my heart for students. She is pretty easy though and often just comes along for the ride without too much fussiness. We continue to be thankful for her and the joy she brings!

Our New Bed

This is our bedroom last summer, just after we moved in. This is to document our old bed. I had gotten it for free prior to us getting married. We moved it from PA to MA to PA... its a well traveled bed. We have been watching a lot of DesignStar on HGTV and that got Nate thinking about making us a new head board. Since I was doing so well after my surgery, Nate went Craigslisting...and came home with this:

After some washing, sanding, painting, and staining, our new bed is:

We feel like grownups:)

First Cold and Sitting Up!

A few days ago Olivia got her first cold- we have a hypothesis who to accuse...but we love him so we wont name names:) She doesn't seem too bothered though thankfully- she is just kinda messy with her runny noise...

Despite her cold, today I decided to test her sitting up ability. In the past when I have tried this she has almost immediately fallen over. Its really cute to watch. We try it on the bed, so its a soft cushion and she is totally unfazed. So today I tried it, and she actually started to catch herself to re balance before she toppled over! I was so impressed! And I wanted to show her Dad after dinner.. well, lo and behold, she sat up all by herself when he came to watch! Not for a super long time or anything but she did it! Yea! Our baby girl is growing up!!! The lighting is totally awful in this pic- but here it is anyways:

Olivia is FIVE months old!

I think this has been the month of the most changes for Olivia so far- she really seems more grown up these days and things really are happening fast. She can now grab and hold onto toys and often, if within reach, she can pick them and often put them in her mouth. Early in July she found her feet- and when waking up from a nap, she is often playing with them. Changing her diaper can be an issue because her feet are often up in the air. Not only does she put thinks her mouth- but she can do fun things with her mouth. A friend taught her to make Indian Like "Ah Ah Ah" sounds- when her mouth is open and we put a finger over again and again. This last week she is making all sorts of rasberry sounds- which also means a lot of drool! And this last week a few times we have taken something away and she has gotten upset- Nate and I are not ready for this! She still sleeps really well overall which is wonderful. She didnt mind when I had my surgery - she had a great time with Grandma. And even the week after when I wasnt supposed to pick her up- she played in her swing and jumper and on the floor and waited for Dad to get her when needed. We love her more everyday! She is a JOY!

I think you can go and see more pics from the month here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2080721&id=2102720&l=99a5236422

Caroline Recovering Well from Surgery

Caroline's thyroidectomy was today. She did great.

We were asked to be there at 7:30am for pre-op. We checked in and went to the room where she got in her hospital gown and had an IV put in. (The nurses had to try 4 different times because Caroline was so dehydrated. That happens when you're asked not to drink or eat after midnight the night before surgery.) We were hoping that was it for the day's mishaps. Thankfully it was.

I got to stay with Caroline until they brought her down to surgery shortly after 10am. The sign indicated she was in surgery at 10:42. I waited with my friends Randon and Kelly Willard who were in the area and offered to come by.

Somewhere around 12:30 pm, the surgeon came to find me with the good news. He was short and to the point, but this is what I learned:
1) The surgery went very well.
2) They were able to completely remove her thyroid.
3) They were able to identify and preserve her parathyroid glands (near the thyroid, regulates body's calcium levels).
4) They were able to identify and preserve the nerves that lead to her larynx (so her speech was not affected).
5) They were able to look at her lymph nodes and keep them in as well (doesn't look like the cancer spread).
6) She'll be on a pill a day for the rest of her life to replace her thyroid hormones.
7) She'll be checked periodically to ensure that the cancer doesn't reoccur.

Then the real waiting began. I wasn't able to see her until around 3pm, and I'm still not exactly sure why. But when I finally was able to see her, she looked tired and sore, but generally OK. She quickly perked up after getting some pain meds (Tylenol with Codeine) and a glass of water.

We spent some time together, and after Caroline had an early dinner (turkey, stuffing, roll, cake, etc...), I went to check on my mother-in-law and Olivia. They were doing well, we went out for a quick bite to eat, then back to the hospital. They hung out for a while, I brought them back and went back to the hospital for another couple hours. Got back to the hotel in time to help Olivia fall back asleep (I guess she woke up after only being asleep for an hour or two.)

Olivia did AWESOME today, by the way. Bev said they had a great time together.

For those of you that have been praying for us, thank you so very much! We do feel that this whole thing went better than expected. Please continue to pray that Caroline continues to have a smooth recovery. She's staying the night, but we expect she will be discharged early tomorrow morning.

We go back in a week for a check-up and to get her prescription for her thyroid hormone replacement meds. In a couple of months Caroline will undergo a radioactive iodine treatment to kill off any remaining thyroid cells throughout her body. We'll keep people updated on that as we learn more ourselves.

Hospital for Surgery 7:30 AM Tuesday

Just a quick update that we are in Hershey PA for my surgery (Caroline)- we head to the hospital at 7:30 am, so I think my surgery may start an hour or so after that. My mom is here to help us take care of Olivia which is great. Nate will try to post updates as he can- he may be a bit busy taking care of Olivia and me:) Thank you for all your prayers and sweet notes and calls, they are not missed and MUCH MUCH appreciated. I feel SO covered in prayer. Thank you!

Trip to DC

Apparently I am not good at updating the blog on a regular basis, but more in chunks- oh well! Not sure exactly who reads it anyways, but I hope you enjoy none the less:)

Even though we spent a month in MA visiting people, there were others a bit closer to home in PA we still wanted to see. Two weekends ago we got to Nate's college friend Mark and his growing family- since we last saw them, we both had children- our first and their second son. It was AMAZING how small he was- he was only a few weeks old, but only 4 months younger than Olivia. I cant believe how small she once was! Time really does pass TOO fast!

This last weekend we made to the DC area and it was a blast, though tiring, especially for Olivia. We got to use some frequent flier miles for hotel in the area- it was a BLAST staying in a nice hotel for FREE. As you can Olivia made herself at home!

We also made it to the air and space museum and walked along the mall.

Olivia found some comfy chairs along the way too- this was actually the first time we saw her shake her rattle! Seems like there are new things everyday!

On the way home we had lunch with another of Nate's college friends, Ryan in Baltimore. We actually visited his church first and got to hear him preach, something Nate had been wanting to do for a long time! Then headed through PA to see Andy and Emily Otto and their new house. Apparently Andy was VERY excited to meet Olivia- his facebook status before our arrival read:

"Any minute now, I get to hang out with Olivia Daman. I'm so excited I'm a little embarassed. Critics can say what they want, I think she's got really bright future. So original, unconstrained. They tell me she doesn't talk much. Hope that isn't awkward. Just going for eye contact really. I'm hoping to get pictur...es with her, but I left my camera in Philly. Anybody have conversation starters for a 4 month-old?"

Now we only need to meet the Paine's and Willard's and I think all of Nate's college friends will have met Olivia...now on to mine! haha. That might mean a trip to CA...maybe someday soon...

Baby Friends:)

When in MA, Olivia had a great time meeting Inez, photos on facebook:)

But this week we got to hang out with Lily who lives across the street from us in PA and who was born just three days before Olivia- we just missed each other in the hospital! Though we have gone on walks together before, I was curious to see how much they would notice each other. Not so much just yet. At one point they did play footsie, kinda...but they may have been all for now. I cant wait to see them get to know each other in the months to come though!

Reaching out to Summer Freshmen

Yesterday Olivia and I headed to campus with Nate to reach out to freshmen starting summer session at Penn State. It was a beautiful day on campus- Nate and I both got a little suburned but Olivia stayed mostly covered in her stroller and I COVERED her in baby sunscreen so she was good. We joined Nate and Eric, one of the guys Nate meets with, to ask students to fill out a survey for a chance to win a best buy giftcard or free pizza. In two hours we collected 52 surveys and 24 said they would like to be followed up in some way! Praise God! I was a bit surprised that Olivia didnt draw in more people. I thought she would be a huge draw but only one girl commented on her...I did have her turned away though to be out of the sun, so maybe thats why:) Nate went back yesterday evening and again today- last count I heard were over 50 people to be followed up with! And Nate is at the very first bible study meeting right now- I am home with sleeping Olivia:)
I tried to capture Nate talking to people without taking sketchy pics...
Olivia was content to play in her stroller the whole time- she did GREAT! Then took a nap while we had chick-fil-a for lunch in the student center:) She was awesome!!!

Four Months Old!

Olivia is Four Months Old today. She checked out as healthy today at the doctors and even survived her shots. By the time she was back in her carseat she was smiley:) Though she did take a good nap.

She weights 12 lbs, 11oz and measures 24 and 1/2 inches. So she is long and lean. Hopefully this trend will continue:) She has rolled over a number of times from her tummy to her back, has turned herself around in a circle while on her back, smiles and laughs alot, has started grabbing toys and putting them in her mouth- she still doesn't have great coordination so at times she hits herself in the head, but she likes it in her mouth. We are wondering if any teeth are coming in- Nate got his first teeth at four months.

Also during our time in New England, she visited all SIX states! She has spent a quarter of her life there so hopefully she will remember she is true new englander despite being born in PA:)

Here is her monthly photo and more are on Facebook:)

Sleeping...

Thankfully Olivia is a GREAT sleeper! As we have visited many people and places on this trip, Olivia has had many chances to sleep in new and cozy places:

Her Carseat is definitely a favorite- as long as the car is MOVING!

While visiting Great Grandma Beebe

At Kim and Chris and Baby Swanson's House

At Aunt Laura and Uncle Andy's Old Apartment

On Mom, while visiting the Shirley's

3 Months down, a lifetime to go!

A little over a week ago Olivia turned 3 months old- time is certainly flying! We have been in MA for a little over two weeks now visiting family and friends and its been great. Olivia has been a wonderful traveler and become a GREAT sleeper! She continues sucking her thumb, can hold up her head quite well, and "talks" a ton!

My First Mother's Day

Was GREAT! Nate made cinnamon rolls and cappacinos for breakfast and showered me with presents :) I think I like any holiday that includes presents- hehe. He gave me fun turtle earings and framed the name sake cross stich that I made for Olivia. We were able to hang it up yesterday in her room- along with a beautiful hand made quilt Olivia recieved. Thank you Nate and Olivia and everyone else for making it a wonderful first Mother's Day!