Last week was very busy with work travel for both Kevin and me. Thank goodness for Charlie and Aunt Kathy to the rescue! Charlie dropped Olivia off at daycare Tuesday and Wednesday so Kevin could get in to work on time, and make his flight, while I was gone. He picked Olivia up Wednesday afternoon, and Kathy came over after work and spent the night, watching Olivia until I returned from my trip to CT / MA. We would have been in serious trouble without the family helping out!
The next evening (Thursday), Olivia and I hopped on a red-eye plane home to MD for the long weekend. Kevin didn't return home until the next day, so we missed one another.
The weekend at Grandparent-B's house was fabulous! Annie was home for an interview Friday morning - the position would be in Oakland, but headquarters are in MD. Poor Walter was home with Hand, Foot & Mouth virus, and Joel was under the weather as well. They had originally planned to come to the Country Home too, but instead, Annie traveled alone on the bus.
Sarah was in town too - she was actually the first one to book travel to MD, and Annie and I decided to join up. This was an opportunity for Aunt Sarah to finally meet Olivia - very nice. They got along swimmingly from the beginning!
Friday night, we had a Financial Planning meeting with the core family - very productive, lot of wine consumed. Action Items all around - including for Kevin and me to set up our own affairs to protect little Olivia. We'll have to work through everything over the next few weeks/months and make sure the important things close (feels like work to me)
Olivia was impressive - she immediately adjusted to East Coast time. Little girl was pleasant as can be when we awoke on Friday. She slept well on the red-eye, then napped in the car on the way home from the airport. After that siesta, she awoke, met Sarah, and was entertaining until naptime around noon or so. Olivia went to bed around 7 or so and was basically down for the night! She was so good all weekend - pleasant, with a regular sleep schedule. I was so proud of her. :) The entertainment part is that little Olivia is semi-crawling now. We had fun with Mum-Mums and Pop-Pops on the floor in the family room, coaxing Olivia to crawl with toys jussssst out of reach! :) By the end of the weekend, she was also starting to pull up on things and with a little help would pull up to standing and was happy as could be! Olivia loved playing with all the new toys, and that rug at the Country Home is so interesting on its own. What fun!
Aunt Sarah and Mary Ellen dropped by on Friday to say hello - nice little visit.
Saturday was also Olivia's 10 month birthday - my little girl is getting Sooooo Big! Annie ended up driving home with Mary Ellen on Saturday, she wanted to be home with her family. And by that time, Annie was coming down with something as well, not to mention allergies. The weather was absolutely fabulous, and everything is lush, green, and in bloom in MD right now - GLORIOUS!
Oh, I think it was Friday afternoon too that we all went for a walk along the canal - beautiful, and felt so good to be moving around. I sit entirely too much every day. At some point we also went through several boxes of old stuff from our own childhoods. We mostly worked through Annie and Sarah's stuff - I was busy holding Olivia and staying out of the way. :)
We ate dinner out on the deck Saturday - delicious lemon salmon. Olivia even joined us. :) She's such a good eater. I think that night we watched some depressing movie.
Sunday we went to the zoo! First we had delicious blueberry french toast casserole, then we headed out to the zoo when we could. Olivia was up just before 7 am each morning, so we had breakfast by 8am. Unfortunately, I forgot a few key thing when we left for the zoo and poor Olivia was so tired and hungry/cranky that we had some moments at the zoo. We took turns carrying little girl, she was having fun trying to bite me, but eventually I just sat on a shaded bench and nursed her - that helped a bit. We did manage to see the lions and the baby panda - check! Olivia remained awake the whole car ride home, but then took a nap at the house.
Sunday evening we hosted a cookout and several Aunts, Uncles, and the Morrisons joined in. Becca Morrison is getting married soon - so exciting! I have to send a gift! Olivia was still entertaining, albeit dirty! Cousin Mazzie graduated from Elon that weekend, so Nor Nor and Tim had some fun stories about their trip down to North Carolina - unique hotel experience!
Again, Olivia went to bed easily... in preparation for the long flight home in the morning. Mom and I went out to purchase pre-mixed formula for the flight because I only had enough powder for one bottle.... as it turned out, Olivia would not drink that formula! Utterly refused (I tasted it - and don't blame her) Dad took Sarah to the airport, and shortly after, Mom, Olivia and I left. Olivia remained awake and fairly fussy for most of the flight - I think she was just over tired and maybe her teeth were hurting her.
Olivia's fourth tooth has broken the surface! It's the top right one. She's been biting my arm and chest pretty good. I gave up my last pumping slot at work and now pump one bottle as soon as we are home. I don't really nurse her during the day since Olivia tends to bit and it's super painful. At the 2am wakeup, I'll still nurse her in bed, but I'm not sure how much longer that is going to last. So, we made it 10 months - I think that's pretty good.
Kevin picked us up from the airport Monday morning and we grabbed lunch, then I tried to sleep to recover for a bit, but Olivia was awake and playing with pops :) So cute
Overall, a lovely weekend - my sisters look fantastic, and having the "planning" talk was part of our objectives for the weekend.
OK, bedtime. I'll add photos later (Hopefully tomorrow... I have to download from the fancy camera)
Nighty Night, Sleep tight. Don't let the bed bugs bite!
Tuesday morning, O was very fussy. Eventually, Mom just called it, "We're going for a hike!" There were two passable, 1/2 mile hikes from the campsite - just our speed. Kevin carried Olivia for the first one - to see a pretty waterfall. I carried her in this Ergo Baby rip off (half the price) for the second one and she fell right asleep. That time, we saw the Lime Kilns for which the park is named.
