Is it Fall yet?

I LOVE FALL! It is my most favorite season. 
The crisp fresh air, sweaters, scarves, jackets, boots, pumpkins, latte's, crunchy leaves.....

Pinterest is making me anxious for the next season...

Olivia's Newborn Photos

We had Olivia's newborn pictures taken by the same wonderful lady that took my maternity photos {Christy Bode Photography}.  They turned out fantastic - we love them! 

Embracing the camera with The Anderson Crew!

Zucchini Bread Muffins with Cream Cheese Frosting

We went to the Farmer's Market a couple weeks ago and loaded up on fresh veggies (YUM!).  We got this gigantic zucchini that we planned on grilling up.  Our awesome neighbors then brought over a load more of zucchini and we couldn't say no.  On to Pinterest I went to look for recipes that had zucchini in them.  I have never had zucchini bread before so I thought I would try that.  After much searching I found this recipe for Frosted Zucchini Bread Muffins.

I thought they looked good because lets face it - anything with cream cheese frosting is most likely going to be amazing!

They were a hit! Everyone loved them - they are definitely on the list to make again.

Here is a tip: when I was making the frosting I made a double batch (because it didn't look like there would be enough - there was).  So now I have a tupperwear full of extra frosting that tastes really good with animal crackers! So if you want a tasty treat after those muffins are gone, make a bit more frosting!  YUM!

In LOVE!!!

So in love with this little peanut!

So far adjusting to motherhood has been great! She has been sleeping fabulously and is really easy to calm down.  She does get a bit fussy (I think it has to do with gas - so I cut out cows milk and that seems to be helping) but not bad at all.  She is awake a lot more during the day and her facial expressions are fantastic! I love just watching her sleep to catch the random smiles (and I swear I heard her laugh).  Dan goes back to work this week so we will see how it goes with just Olivia and I - I am sure it will be fine though.

I can't believe how fast my maternity leave is going so far (the end of this week marks 3 weeks and I am taking ten).  We have been so busy, the days just fly by.  We have also been interviewing home daycare's which we hope to be finding one soon.  We are signed up for a local center and have been since we found out we were pregnant.  BUT we don't think we are going to go that route because it is DOUBLE the price of a home daycare.  In our down there are only 2 centers and both their prices are up there it is ridiculous.  We plan on starting with a home daycare and when Olivia gets a bit older we want to transition her to the center because of the great programs and curriculum they have.

Other than that - daytime tv isn't great.  We were pretty spoiled with the Olympics.  When we were in the hospital that is all we watched as well as the first week at home. But if that is all I can complain about - oh well!

Now for some pictures!

Olivia's Birth Story

I thought I better write a post about Olivia Mae's birth story before I forgot it! So here goes!

At my last appointment, I was overdue by 4 days.  We decided that the best thing to do was induce (we were worried about any risks that can happen by going to far overdue).  We were scheduled to go to the hospital at 7:30pm on Thursday, August 2nd to start the "ripening" process.  Leading up to this day both Dan and I took a half day at work on Thursday so we could get everything ready, have a nice lunch, take a nap - basically relax before actually having this baby!

On to the hospital we went.  Got into our labor room (which was fantastic!), met our nurse and got all hooked up to the monitors/iv's/etc.  It turns out that I was having contractions every 6 minutes - though I could not feel them.  The good thing was that we were able to watch the Olympics all night - so that kept my mind occupied.  The nurses came in multiple times throughout the night so not much sleep was had.  I received two doses of the ripening agent and at 5am they started the Pitocin. At 7am my doctor came in and checked and I was at 4cm! I was thinking at this point - Great! The pain hadn't been too bad yet so I thought it was going to be fairly tolerable.  He then broke my water and said "I think that is a butt".  Baby girl had been head down at all previous appointments so apparently she had decided to flip - she just didn't want to come out!

Enter chaos.... The doctor decided that a c-section was going to happen and that we were going to do it now (not medically necessary - he just wanted to get me in before their scheduled one happening at 7:30am).  The anesthesiologist, nurses and doctor were all in the room getting me ready to go.  Dan had just woken up and was standing there dazed.  He grabbed about 3 granola bars because he was starving but could only eat one - he said that he would probably have thrown up if he ate anymore.  At one point I asked him if HE was ok!  

I was wheeled into the surgery room and immediately given the spine block/epidural - which wasn't too painful at all.  It was pretty weird to feel my entire bottom half go numb! After I was all numbed up Dan was allowed in before they started cutting.  Just looking at his face I could tell he was a little freaked out - but he was a great support while everything was happening.  The weirdest thing about having a c-section was that I could feel all the tugging and pulling - just no pain (thank goodness!).  At one point they had a nurse either lay on the top of my belly or push really hard to get the baby out.  She was really in there! Doc announced that she had a full head of hair and she was out! No crying immediately - until she got over to the warming station and they were drying her off.  Then she wailed! She was beautiful! Dan was very excited - he was standing there in awe! He was the first to hold her and the look on his face was amazing! She already had him wrapped around her finger!   She weighed 7 pound 14 ounces and was 21 inches long.  Just perfect!

After that nothing seemed to matter! It did take them a while to get me all stitched back up.  We were back in our room in no time.  Dan got to change all the diapers for the first couple days as I was confined to my bed (still numb for some time!).  Her first 24 hours of life he changed 6 poopy diapers (the black sticky poop!).  The first time I got to stand up was quite the experience and way more difficult than I thought it would be.  Over the next couple days it got easier - just a little pain.

We took Miss Olivia home and everything has been just fantastic! She has adapted well and is sleeping better than she did in the hospital.  Overall, my labor experience wasn't what I thought it would be but we never ruled it out that it could happen that way.  Our plan was as long as we get the baby out healthy and safe and that is what we did! I wouldn't have it any other way because now we have our beautiful baby girl!

I just can't believe how much I love her - what an amazing feeling becoming a mom!

Olivia Mae is finally here!

Olivia Mae was born August 3rd at 7:50 am weighing in at 7lbs 14 oz, 21 inches long and exactly 1 week late. 

We are seriously in love! She is fantastic!

Now for the photo bomb.....

  

 

My heart already bursts with love for this little girl! I didn't think that I could love this much - best feeling ever.

Birth story to come....

Embracing the camera over at The Anderson Crew!

Still Pregnant...

If you would have asked me 6 months ago if I would still be pregnant right now I would have said NO WAY! She is due July 27th!

Now I know this child has plans of her own and I am going to start living by her plans and not my own!

We are going to try out the induction process - we go in tomorrow night so we will be officially 41 weeks (which my doctor doesn't like to go over unless the baby is still doing great).  We will see how this all goes...

Wish me luck! My sister asked if I was super excited because we knew we would having her soon.  I thought about that for a while, because as of right now I am not jumping up and down for joy.  I know that tomorrow I will have very mixed emotions - excitement, happiness and extreme nervousness.  We are going in at night and I know I will not be able to sleep. I just hope everything goes smoothly and works how it should.

Hopefully by this weekend we will get to meet our baby girl!