Thankful

Matt and I have been thanking our lucky stars for quite some time now. We were so blessed to have a relatively easy pregnancy and birth and a happy, healthy baby. I can't count the number of times since she has been born that we both remark how thankful and lucky we are. So, we were very glad to have an entire day to be thankful!

We might start some of our own holiday traditions once Olivia is a little older, but this year we kept the same routine we've had since we got engaged. First, we headed to the Woodlands for lunch with Pop-o and Tutu at the Marriott Waterway. Olivia was very good and slept all through lunch. On the way home, her little belly must have been very hungry because she showed Pop-o and Tutu what a good set of lungs she has by crying most of the way home. Until....I brought out (one of) the secret weapons...Michael Buble. I should have included Michael on the list of Olivia's favorite things. She loves this Canadian songbird and immediately stopped crying once we put him on! After I fed her, she was all smiled and ready to play.





Then, we drove to Humble to hang out with my family. We spend each holiday with our dear friends, the Kaltenbachers. I was so happy to have Olivia become a part of this growing tradition and she even got a special shout out from Uncle Ed during grace. Each year Uncle Ed cooks a fried turkey and Aunty Minda makes the MOST delicious Thanksgiving spread you've ever had. My sisters and I dream about Thanksgiving every year just for Aunty Minda's cooking. Now we have Matt hooked on it too! Hopefully next year Olivia will be old enough to taste the delicious food that Matt and I will tell her all about..

My mom and Yasmin


My dad and Uncle Ed


Nazreen and Kyra


Kyra, Robert and Colby


Olivia getting her bottle from Lola


Olivia and Aunt Yasmin


Then it was time for some family pictures (she's half Mehta, so she needs to get used to lots of pictures.....Matt has already learned that the Mehtas like to document everything!)






Two of the Kaltenbacher grandkids (Colby and Kyra) were at Thanksgiving this year. They were the ring bearer and flower girl at our wedding, so they have a special place in our hearts. Kyra really liked Olivia and wanted to hold her and kept rubbing her back. So sweet! Colby was more interested in playing with Matt! Its such a nice tradition because my sisters and I have been around to hold and play with all of the Kaltenbacher grandchildren as they've been born and grown up. Hopefully now those kids will get to hold and play with the Mehta grandchildren!







It was a very long day for Miss Olivia with lots of people loving on her, so she was pretty pooped by the end of it. So we put her in her Christmas pjs (excited we can now start telling her about Santa) and rocked her to bed!




We love our pretty, little turkey so much and are so very thankful for her!

These are a few of my favorite things...

Now that Olivia is getting a little bit bigger, she has definite opinions on what she does and does not like. Here are a few of her favorite things:

The Vibrating Chair.....we've added the "animal bar" to the top of it and she loves it so much. She is in heaven when she's sitting in the chair and looking at the animals. I just sit next to her and shake the monkey or dance to the music and she thinks its great! (PS - how cute are her baby legwarmers?!)



The Miracle Blanket....she is now big enough for this blanket and she loves it. She does not cry at all when we are swaddling her. And as soon as she gets all wrapped up with a paci in her mouth, she can barely keep her eyes open. (This is one of my favorites too!)


Tummy Time...she is getting so good at holding her head up! And now she will actually smile and make eye contact with you if you get down on the floor with her. She still can't go for very long before she gets tired, but she is getting stronger and stronger.



Activity mat....like the vibrating chair, Olivia is in love with the animals hanging from this mat.


Story time....this one is mine and Matt's favorite too. Last week we started a nighttime routine of reading a poem or story before bed. Olivia loves it! She looks at the pages very intently. Her favorite book right now is Aloha Zoo...given to her by her favorite Hawaiians, Aunt Jennie and Uncle Lloyd. Its a cute book about all the animals at the zoo. When Matt reads it, he uses different voices.....

Some voices are happy.....


Some voices are silly (usually...."Uh oh aloha stinky smell!")


Some voices are scary


But the book always ends "with love, aunt jennie & uncle lloyd" (a great message to end the day on!)

Two Months!

We have all survived two months together as a family and I'm happy to report everyone is doing well!

Olivia really is as sweet as can be. She is generally a happy, smiley, sweet little baby. She is starting to recognize us now, which is completely amazing. I'm home with her all day, so she doesn't really get a chance to miss me - but my parents and sisters have noticed that if I'm not holding her, then she will look around the room until she finds me. So sweet.

And she is so happy to see Matt each night when he gets home from school. She will just look at him and smile and smile. The other day she could not even eat because she was too busy smiling at him. Her little head follows him all around the room. So adorable.

Today was Olivia's two month check up and one of the most stressful days I've ever had.

The day started off with her check up, which included her first set of shots. They were super painful for Olivia and mom and dad. She cried like we've never heard her cry before. All day today all she has wanted to do was be held (which I gladly obliged!). But the rest of her appointment went well. Here are her stats:

Height - 22.5" (57%)
Weight - 11 lbs 5 oz (64%)

The shots would have been bad enough on their own. BUT, then, on the way home I got pulled over because my inspection had expired and I got a ticket. The fact that I had a 2 month old crying in the backseat was not enough to deter this officer. So, I bit my tongue, "shhh'ed" Olivia, and handed over my license and registration.

So you would think that would make for a pretty rotten day....BUT then I get home and one of my friends is in front of my house. She had planned to drop something off on my doorstep but happened to be there when we were pulling up. So, she and her 2 year old came in the house to see Olivia. Unfortunately, her usually sweet daughter was having a case of the Terrible Twos. I think she got a little jealous that her mom was holding Olivia, so she walked over to the bouncy seat where Olivia was sitting and PUSHED IT as hard as she could!!! My friend and I literally jumped off the couch where we were sitting and flew across the living room. Luckily I had buckled Olivia in and she was fine; she didn't even cry. But I'm pretty sure that I had a mild heart attack. My poor friend did too and has not stopped apologizing! Luckily everyone was fine!

That was about all I could handle. They left quickly and I immediately called my mom to come over.

I'm not sure I can take many more days like this. Good thing for me, our little munchkin is so cute! (Here are a few pics at the doctor's office before the appointment)

Visitors and Visiting

We have been keeping busy at the Dean house with plenty of visitors to entertain us.

Uncle Ryan came in town for a visit. He hasn't seen Olivia since she was 1 day old, so she certainly has changed. In case you can't tell, Olivia thinks Uncle Ryan is just as funny as her mommy does!




We love having family over too. Matt's Aunt Linda (his mom's sister) and Uncle Mike were in town from Idaho and got to meet little Olivia. She was, again, all smiles. I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the new people, because she got tuckered out pretty quickly. But I know she loved meeting them and seeing TuTu (Matt's mom) again.


And my parents made a quick stop over one night on their way to dinner to kiss the little bundle before she went to bed. She was true to her outfit ("Grandma makes me smile") and had lots of love for Mimi and GrandDad.




When we don't have people visiting us, Olivia and I have gotten braver about going out on our own. We made two trips to Humble this week to hang out with my parents! I'm getting more comfortable driving with her, but its still a pretty scary endeavor! (Just so you can see how far I've come - the first time I drove Olivia somewhere by myself, we went to Cafe Express. The restaurant is literally 5 minutes from our house and I've been there hundreds of times over the past 3 years. However, I (1) got lost on the way there; (2) left my car running once we did finally arrive and (3) left my lights on once I got back to the house such that my car battery was dead the next morning!)

Olivia loves the Mehta house. There are so many new lights and fans to look at (her favorite things!). And Mimi has decorated the house so pretty for the Fall - so there are lots of colors to enjoy. (Olivia won't actually look at any of us because she is so busy taking in all the new scenery.) And there are lots of people to love on her there. Of course Mimi and GrandDad, but Mrs. Sloan and Lola also came over for a visit!





BUT, the best thing Olivia discovered about the Mehta house is the recliner in the living room. We set her on it and she absolutely LOVED it - she smiled non-stop the entire time she was in it! Later on, she got a little fussy and we put her in the chair and she perked right up. I have a feeling that one little girl will claim rights to that chair from now on!

Back in the Kitchen

I meant to add this to the end of my last post but forgot. I love my friend Bethany's posts on what she's making for dinner, so I decided to follow in her footsteps and put some of our recent dinners on the blog. I was so sick during my pregnancy that my meals mostly consisted of toast and/or saltines. But lately I've been feeling much better and am glad to be back in the kitchen. Here's a few of the things we have loved lately - all are very easy & very good!

Pumpkin Nutella Bread

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

Grilled Balsamic Skirt Steak

Grilled Fontina Sandwiches with Prosciutto and Pear

Lately

We've been having more and more fun with Miss O these days, as she is getting more responsive to us. We are very blessed to have a baby who is generally happy and smiley. Here is our life in pictures lately:

She loves bonding with Aunt Yasmin & Aunt Nazreen


She's discovered the mobile in her crib and she L-O-V-E-S it. I've wondered for weeks how I was supposed to get ready in the morning and now I know....put her in the crib and turn on the mobile!


We take lots of naps....sometimes mommy and daddy sneak in a nap too! (Note how she always gets either her hands or her feet out of my swaddle!)



And we are SO lucky to have Mimi come over a few times a week to play with us. Mimi is great at feeding her bottle, playing with her (Mimi's favorite time!), and taking naps too.


But when Mimi doesn't do what Olivia wants, she gets this look!


But don't be fooled, it hasn't been all smiles and giggles over here, Miss O definitely gets mad and is not afraid to let us know!


But we are so happy with our perfect little family of 3!