4 Months Old

Olive is 4 months old today! I thought it would be fun to see how she has changed even in such a short amount of time! Here she is, not even one day old!

1 month old...

2 months old...

3 months old...
And now, 4 months old!

Fall Weather AT LAST!

It has been deliciously chilly in Florida. Or should I say chilly FOR Florida. Up to this point, we have had the AC set to 75 degrees. When I woke up this morning and kissed Olive's fat cheeks, they were a little cold. I checked the thermostat and it said 68 degrees inside! Wow! I was actually really excited because Olive has some "warmer" outfits that I was worried about her not being able to wear. So this week, we had a splendid fashion show!

Cute corduroy romper from Aunt Sonia, Uncle Wendell, and Justin. It looks incredibly comfortable to me. Do they make it in my size?

We love this striped sweater outfit from Alexis! Olive was so excited, she decided to show off her robot moves!

She remarked that wearing the hood made her feel like an ewok character from Star Wars.

A nice warm little dress from the Hale's. (Sorry to interrupt the important conversation you two were having.)

And she finally fits in these jammies from my mom. That ought to keep those ears warm!

There are a lot of dresses that Olive fits in all of the sudden, but I am starting to worry that there are not enough Sunday's to wear them all multiple times!

I think Olive is teething ALREADY. Or at least she is getting pre-teething pains. Let's not talk about that.

I have been working on some birth record stitcheries. I hope they will be an excellent item on etsy. A search didn't yield many comparable items (and certainly not as cute, if I can toot my own horn). The quilts I sell are obviously higher ticket items so I am hoping the lower price will result in my first sale soon! I will post pictures soon!

We got Olive a new car seat. We had bought the old infant one from craigslist for $25--which should tell you why we were eager to get a new one. I'm actually glad we didn't pay full price for a new infant carrier just to find out we didn't like it. The new one is a convertible one, so she should be able to use it for a long time.

Doesn't she look cute in her hat? This was one of my "most anticipated" purchases from when I was pregnant. Ever since I saw my cousin's baby (Penny) wearing a really cute one last December at Grandpa's funeral, I had decided it would be my mission to find something darling like it.

We went to an amazing Italian market for lunch today. I am accustomed to getting lots of comments about Olive, but the hat added something a little extra I guess. I had two different sets of people tell me that Olive was cuter than any of their own grandchildren. While I appreciate the compliment, I felt a little bad. They didn't need to compliment Olive at the expense of their grandchildren!

Kevin has been living at the library (as usual) but we are counting down the days until finals! We will be in Utah for 3 weeks. We can hardly wait!

Kevin got a book on building polyfoam puppets. (Can I just say how much I love that my husband enjoys arts and crafts!) When we lived in NY, he really wanted to attend a puppet-building workshop, but it was just too pricey. He just started, so there aren't really any pictures to post...

Spooky Halloween!

I love Halloween! And because neither of us is working, we had to be extra creative without the budget to go all out! We bought Olive's costume: a cute "Princess Leia" Star Wars costume. We decided to be her nerdy parents, which wasn't a stretch.

Our church's branch wasn't doing anything for Halloween so we decided to crash another ward's party!

I think Kevin looks hot in his glasses. He looks like a secret agent from the '50's or something.

And Olive just looks so cute in her costume! It was a little big, so we rolled up the sleeves. We like seeing her with hair, don't we?

Cute dress from Tom, Carly, and Jace. And she is showing off her thunder thighs!

I am still working on projects for Marcus Brothers and made a cute little stitchery for their website. (Hope you like it, Clare!) I just need to add another dot to complete the colon in the time.

This week, I am going to share my delicious chocolate mousse recipe. It is really rich and good by itself, but I love using it as a fruit dip! It's really great with strawberries, pineapple, apples, etc. You could also use it as a filling, or probably even a frosting on cupcakes!

PERFECT Chocolate Mousse

10.5 oz of your choice of chocolate (we love dark!)

1 gelatin packet

4 large eggs

1/2 C. sugar

2 C. heavy whipping cream

1. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler. Or if you're like me, you can make one by putting a glass bowl over a saucepan of boiling water. Stir the chocolate frequently until it is almost melted. Remove from heat and continue stirring until chocolate is completely melted.

2. In a small saucepan, combine 3 T ice cold water with the gelatin packet. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is dissolved.

3. In a separate bowl, beat eggs and sugar together well.

4. Once chocolate is melted, combine with egg mixture while stirring. Add gelatin next and beat well.

5. Place this bowl on a larger bowl of ice so it can solidify a bit.

6. Beat heavy whipping cream until stiff. Gently fold in chocolate until fully combined. Chill for 1-2 hours.

You will dirty a lot of bowls, but it is a tasty treat!

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Dinner in a Pumpkin

I am sooooo going to rock your world with this recipe (courtesy of my mom)! We made this for dinner tonight and it was incredible, not to mention just FUN. I was going to save this recipe for next Sunday, but the missionaries came over for dinner and I figured they probably don't eat out of pumpkins too often. It is surprisingly easy and seemingly foolproof. I hope you will try it!

You will need:

1 medium pumpkin

1 box Zatarain's jambalaya rice mix (mild)

1 kielbasa or other comparable sausage, cut into bite-sized pieces

1 lb. shrimp, peeled

1 1b. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces

½ C. celery, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1. Heat the oven to 350°F. Using a sharp knife, carve a circle around the pumpkin stem to create a lid. (Make sure it is big enough that you will be able to scoop dinner out!) Scrape and clean out the gooey insides of the pumpkin. Place the pumpkin on a cookie sheet and place in the preheated oven while you prepare the rice mix.

2. Assemble the rice mix according to the box instructions—add the meat and vegetables to the water as it is heating to a boil. Continue following the instructions. Once the rice is done, remove the pumpkin from the oven and add the rice mixture inside. Place back into the oven and continue baking until the pumpkin flesh is soft inside (test with fork). ENJOY!

*When I made this, the pumpkin had been in the oven 45 minutes by the time the rice mixture was ready. When I took the pumpkin out of the oven, I realized it was soft enough. I ended up just scooping the rice mixture into it, placing the pumpkin top, and letting it steam for a few minutes. (Which also reminds me, I had to bake the pumpkin minus the top since it was too tall...hence the mismatched pumpkin/its top).

*When served, make sure you scrape up some of the pumpkin with your dinner. It is super delicious!

We opted to paint pumpkins instead of carving them this year. (Too messy!) At the time, Olive wanted to be held--so I attempted a simple "Nightmare before Christmas" character (Jack) on mine. (We only had red, yellow, green, or blue paints to choose from--so my coloring is odd-looking...) Kevin made a freaky clown. Then you have Olive's pumpkin. This is what happens even when we try to "be her arms" and let her dictate where the paint brush goes. It reminds me of when Mikey transformed his blank cloth doll into "Swamp Thing." Good times!

This week, Olive almost brought me to tears. (In a good way, don't worry!) Kevin got her laughing and it was such a delight to hear that sound come out of her. As soon as I realized what was happening, I ran for the camera. And luckily, I captured the tail-end of it!

Despite this “fun” development, it was the week-of-a-thousand-curse-words (not to be confused with the quilt-of-a-thousand-curse-words). Alright, maybe that is being a TAD dramatic. But the fact remains, I got hardly anything accomplished in the vein of quilting. (The house is clean, though, so I can't fully complain...) Here's the problem:

Olive likes to be held. Period. Olive likes us to hold her in a standing position. Olive likes us to assist her to a seated position. All variations of holding her. None of these allow me to get much else done. SO, I got to thinking that I needed to find a contraption that would allow her to sit and stand (and allow me to get stuff done). I enlisted Craigslist to help, and found this jumperoo! I think it will do the job! I tested it out while creating the grocery list yesterday. I think we found success! I had to take a little break and get this on camera. It is so funny to see her jumping around already!

This is what happened ten minutes after putting Olive in the jumperoo.

The Teddy Bear Family Tree quilt is slowly coming along. The appliqué leaves and framed pictures have been ironed in place and just need to be stitched on. I am going to use dark thread so the contrast will make them stand out more.

Olive's $3 Halloween shirt from Walmart. It says "wickedly cute" on it.

My $3 shirt from Walmart!

Rocker Babe

Do you dig Olive's outfit? Ever since we stumbled upon the ACDC onesie at Old Navy, we were determined to have an 80's outfit for Olive. All she really needs now is the skirt. Clare (my sister-in-law) had posted some links a while back on how to make chiffon tutus, and I intend to make a white one to complete the outfit. Still cute "as is" though.

I have a couple of projects I am working on. For etsy, the next item I want to add is a sunflower quilt. There doesn't seem to be anything like it online. So far I just have the blocks laid out, and now I am ready to sew it all together. I am debating about using a different green on one of the stems. See the green and white print? I actually like the contrast even though OBVIOUSLY you wouldn't find it like that in nature. Is it too much white? Should I use something else?

The other project I am working on is for Marcus Brothers using their new baby line. It is a pastel palette with lots of teddy bears. It is very sweet. I will try to put up pictures once there is anything to look at but I have basically designed a teddy bear family tree. Hopefully it will be cool! (Sometimes quilts end up looking a LOT different than how I've imagined them in my head.)

Kevin has an exam on Thursday for his research and writing course. Wish him luck! He has been living at the library and is really nervous about it. I think his biggest frustration with law school thus far has been the inability to gauge how he's doing. As far as I'm aware, the only test you have is the final...so who knows what to expect! And of course everyone has his own strategies and recommendations for Kevin, but they are always contradicting what someone else has told him. Anyway, he puts EVERYTHING into his studies and makes me so proud!

Okay, here are the videos of the week! Olive is trying to create a spark by rubbing her feet together. She wants to build a fire, apparently.

And she also enjoys Dad's hair...

Dad Pissing Olive Off

3 Months Old

Well, the little fatty is 3 months old. Are those not the most pinch-able cheeks?

I gave Olive the baby doll this week and first she embraced it and then she tried to eat it. Then she remembered that she has hands.

When Olive is lying down, she does these little mini crunches. We took this video in the early stages, but she has since become even stronger! She will be sitting on her own in no time! You get to see a little of her cheerful personality in this too! We also heard a first giggle this week.

More happy noises. And one of her crunches.

Olive has a new cousin! Kevin's sister (Geordan) gave birth to baby Zoey 10/7/10--exactly 3 months after Olive. She is beautiful and has quite the head of hair. (Olive is really jealous!) She needed a little help breathing at first but is doing much better. Geordan will probably get to bring her home Monday morning! And Zoey had to deal with the bili bed too. Much sympathy from Olive!

I just have to say how wonderful the "Amazon Mom" club is. Kevin found it for me on Amazon.com. All I had to do was "subscribe" to have diapers delivered every month (free shipping on our student account) and I get 30% off for just being set up to have it shipped every month. I can go in and cancel if I need to, change size, quantity, whatever I want. I am delighted to have discovered it! It is saving us lots of money!

Kevin and I went and saw a play called, "I Will Be Good." It was directed by our friend, Erik Orton (wrote "Berlin" that Kevin was in on KBYU-TV). It is a one-woman show and involves a woman (Tricia) telling about her colorful life. The website describes it as follows:

"In this witty, one-woman show, Tricia Rose Burt chronicles her unexpected journey from Southern businesswoman to contemporary New England artist. Along the way she learns how to draw a naked man’s essence, is stalked by God, and gets beauty tips from her priest. Despite great pressure to conform, she finds hope and healing in authenticity, and learns that life and art are both about process."

http://www.iwillbegood.com for more information

I related to Tricia a lot. I also thought that the performance was something my mom would enjoy a lot. It reminds me about a lot of the books she reads. It was a nice evening and it was nice to have a date night.

When I was younger, my mom and I went shopping for groceries at Albertson's. They had some free "Quick Fix" recipe cards, and one of them included the recipe for these chocolate kiss cookies. Last night I made a double batch and we delivered all but 4 cookies to neighbors as an excuse to introduce ourselves. I thought I would share the recipe. They are foolproof! They would be fun to make with kids! (Olive had so much fun watching that she decided to take a nap from it all).

Chocolate Kiss Cookies

2 C. Bisquick

3/4 C. peanut butter

1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

sugar ( for rolling)

36 Hershey kisses

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease it. In a large bowl, mix Bisquick, peanut butter, sweetened condensed milk, and vanilla extract. Roll some dough into a ball (usually is about 2" in diameter) and roll in sugar to coat. Arrange on baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. As soon as they leave the oven, press a chocolate kiss into each ball and let cool for a few minutes. Make sure you have milk before devouring!!!

October is Here!

I love fall sooooooo much. I whipped out the Halloween decorations on Monday. I don't have a ton of stuff to festoon our house with, but here are a couple pics. I love the crow silhouettes!

The candy bowl is already a little depleted...how did that happen?

A fall garland, cobwebs, and crow silhouettes spruce it up a bit!

Kevin and I aren't too sure if the student/retiree demographic will yield many trick-or-treaters.

"Nightmare Before Christmas" tree?

Last week, I watched a friend's kids for a couple hours while she ran some errands. I think Olive was entertained to have Dallin (3) and Evan (6 mos.) around. My friend is not a crafty person, so Dallin and I made a cute cowboy bean bag! Dallin danced around for the babies while I had a good laugh.

Olive has started spitting. It's totally my fault. I got her to stop fussing one day by blowing raspberries at her. She picked it up surprisingly fast. Now she is blowing spit bubbles all the time and all over the place. When she is lying down, she likes us to help her to a seated position. I am really surprised she can do it already but she is really strong! I firmly grasp around her forearms and she wraps her fingers around my thumbs. Then she squeezes really hard and her jaw usually drops--like she is concentrating.

My mom has a new line of fabric out inspired by the civil war era. It's called "Americana Collection" by Benartex. She sent me some and I have already put some to good use. This is my Hugs and Kisses quilt:

We still go to the beach weekly. Kevin got a body board and has had a lot of fun with it. The waves weren't very good on our most recent visit, which was pretty disappointing.

I am bummed that the water is getting cold. It was so warm just a month ago--like taking a bath. I love Olive's strawberry attire from Grandma and Grandpa Goertzen. Soooo cute.

2 Legit 2 Quit

We're not quite sure why Olive loves MC Hammer so much--but it's entertaining! We usually put on some jazzy music at bath time but Kevin set the IPOD to '90's tunes last night.  She is fun.  And now that song is stuck in my head.

On Friday, I resigned from the bank. I was supposed to return from maternity leave tomorrow (Monday) but told them I wasn't ready to return. Not only because Olive is still little but also since Kevin is at school 10+ hours a day.  And it is supposed to be crazy like that the whole first year of law school.  I can just imagine how it would be to be working and get home around 6:30 or 7.  It would be a mad rush to make dinner, run errands, do chores/laundry, get Olive's bath...  It would be terrible.  I want Kevin to be able to relax when he gets home after his long day.   I want him to be happy to come home. And I want him to do well in school with no more work piled on than what is absolutely necessary. Student loans, here we come!  However, it is my hope that I can bring in some income by selling some of my crafts on etsy. I am still working on the quilting book with my mom too.



Olive visited the cardiologist on Monday and had an ultrasound to see what was going on. It turns out that she has ventricular septal defect (VSD), which is basically a tiny hole in her heart (see diagram below). The good news is that it should just heal itself. (Phew!) We have another visit right before Christmas just to check things out.

  









Last night, Kevin and I did some crafting and made Olive a couple of headbands. (I have hated the elastic ones because they dig into her head.) We created a few and utilized velcro to make them adjustable. I made the one with the bow; Kevin made the one with feathers.

Olive Loves...

Olive loves being toted around in the carrier. I soooo appreciate that she loves that carrier. I can strap her to me and get a lot of things done. I can't say enough about how much I love the carrier!!!

Kevin and I have observed that she always wants to see what we are doing. I just hold her when we eat dinner and she watches. We always feel guilty eating in front of her for some reason. It might be because she licks her lips as she watches. Okay, she doesn't lick her lips. But she does watch us so intently.

Olive loves watching me cook. I put her in the carrier and face her forward and try to show her what I am doing. If all else fails and I am doing something she apparently is not interested in, I just open up the spice cabinet. She LOVES looking around up there. And it keeps her distracted enough that I can do whatever I want.



Olive loves going to the grocery store. It is the sensory overload I imagine. And all the old people love her. It is no exaggeration when I say that I get at least 10 people every trip that stop me and comment about her. My favorite was some old ornery woman who skidded in her tracks and yelled, "LET ME SEE THAT FACE!!!!!" Funny and a little scary.

Oh oh and Olive loves watching me get ready in the morning. Even if she is fussing while I am in the midst of putting on makeup, all weeping and wailing is remedied by laying her in the boppy in the bathroom doorway so she can watch me. Or sometimes I will face her out in the carrier and she watches from there. She loves watching me apply my makeup and straighten my hair. (Sidenote: she really really loves Dad's hair too. Sometimes he is trying to get her to look at him and she is captivated by his locks...)

Olive loves her new wardrobe that opened up. Okay, maybe Mom loves the new wardrobe that has opened up. At her doctor's appt on Monday, she weighed in at 11 lbs 3 oz. So now she is fitting in her 3 month clothes. What a fatty. The doctor said her heart murmur is back though, so we go to see the cardiologist tomorrow. It isn't supposed to be a huge concern, but the doctor just wants to have it looked at anyway.

Olive LOVES LOVES LOVES outdoors. See video, it explains everything.





And of course, Olive loves Dad.



Finally, Olive loves sleeping. Last night she slept 10 hours. Mom and Dad LOOOOOOOVE Olive.

2 months old!

Olive is getting fat. And it is simply irresistible! She has discovered her delicious hands it seems and they are always in her mouth. She tries to suck her thumb but tucks it inside her hand as she puts it to her mouth. But she does manage to get some fingers in there.

Since I am home I have been listening to music a lot. Growing up, my mom always had something playing so I suppose that is where it comes from. Kevin bought me an IPOD docking station and installed an app called Pandora. It's fun. You can type in an artist, composer, or song and it will create a radio station based on that search. When it plays a song, you can mark whether you like or dislike it and it will adjust your preferences accordingly. Some days we enjoy listening to Symphony Espanole and its assortment, but Olive really likes the Rodgers and Hammerstein mix. If I had to guess, I would say her favorite song is "Whistle a Happy Tune" from "The King and I," and anything from "Mary Poppins" is pretty big too. (Mary Poppins is not R&H but our preference for Julie Andrews has created a nice segway to Disney...)



Olive and I have become a sewing duo. She cries with me whenever we have to unpick our mistakes. She seems to like the machine-quilting process and tries to help. Usually I position her in the swing on the floor since she likes to see me as I sew, but I decided to put the carrier on the other day so she could see what I was actually doing. She seemed to really like it and even rested her hands on the edge of the table onto the quilt. The picture above is the best I had to represent this although in the picture she was starting to get upset. Probably because we weren't actually sewing...just posing for the camera after Dad got home. Still, don't we make a great team?



I started and finished this quilt this week (yay me!) and have it listed on etsy.com. It is a pinwheel like the one I made for Olive but totally different color palette. I call it "Chocolate Huckleberry Baby Pinwheel." Don't you just want to eat it up?





Olive and Dad are best friends. He can get her to smile like no one else. Kevin has been very disciplined and stays at school 8-6 every day so he can come home and be "done." (It's nice to be able to put away your toys at the end of the day, right?) He has a contracts class which I think has been an overload of terms but at least most of the reading he does every day is actual cases. Makes it easier to stay awake I suppose. We just found out Christmas break for him is Dec 15-Jan 11. We are going to take a Utah trip so we are delighted that we will have a lot of time for visiting!