Wednesday, November 28, 2012

letters to ollie: 2 months old

My dear Oliver, 

I can't believe you're already 2 months old.  
Has the time really gone by this fast? 
You're getting so SO big, so SO fast!

Now I know that babies grow fast in general, but I swear you're growing exceptionally fast.
At 5 weeks you weighed 13 lbs 6 oz.
Exactly one week later, at 6 weeks,  you weighed 14 lbs 11 oz. 
And now, at 9 weeks you're 17 lbs 12 oz.
Yep, you're in the 99.9 percentile.
You're getting to be quite the chunkster.

You got your first round of immunization at your 2-month check up.
You were such a champ about it.
Only screamed for about 30 seconds and then you were all smiles and coos.
The doctor couldn't believe how much you're babbling away already.

So what's happened this last month?
Well, you outgrew size 1 diapers at 5 weeks and size 2 diapers at 8 weeks.  You're now in size 3.
You started wearing 3-6 month size clothing at 4 weeks and 6 month size clothing at 6 weeks.

At 5 weeks you started smiling socially on a regular basis.
At 6 weeks you started exploring your vocals a bit more.
At 7 weeks you started laughing.  You have the cutest little laugh my dear.  You love laughing and babbling to us. Every night when your dad comes home, he sits down with you on his lap and you babble and babble away to him.
At 8 weeks you figured out you have a hand.  And even better you figured out that hand has a thumb.  A thumb that you seem to really enjoy sucking on.


You've seriously gotten to be really cute kid.
You crack me and your dad up.
You occasionally snore at night now, keeping me and your dad awake.
It's nothing we can be too annoyed with though because it's absolutely adorable sounding.

Your dad and I have decided that you've obtained some street-smarts as of late.
You know just how to manipulate and play us.  
If you wanna get picked up, you always find a way to make it happen.
If you want to sleep on our chest a certain way, you squirm and squirm until we figure it out.
If you want to eat, you start making your pterodactyl-sounding cries until you get your milk.
Lately you insist on everyone getting up when you get up in the morning.
If you wake up to eat before your dad wakes up, you're not fully satisfied until your dad is up too.
Even once you've been fed, you grunt and grunt as loud as you can until he wakes up.
And as soon as he gets up, you quiet down.
Smart kid you are.  Smart kid.

On Nov. 25 you got your baby blessing.
You looked absolutely adorable in your little white suit.
Both sets of your grandparents were there to see you as well.


Oh my dear baby, I love love LOVE watching you grow.
You learn something new each week and you're always so proud of yourself.
There are days that you absolutely exhaust me, but I am so incredibly in love with you.
I love being your mom.
Still not sure if you're ever gonna have siblings though.
You're quite the handful sometimes.
I might be content with just you.
But that's fine with me.

For now, I'm loving being able to soak in all the "firsts" that you're going through.
I can't wait to keep watching you grow and change.
 But for now, I'm content just snuggling you up in my arms on the couch.

Love you more than I can tell you,
Momma

Monday, November 19, 2012

christmas came early!

Not even one hour after little Ollie posted his Christmas wishlist, there was a knock on the door.
We went to go see who was there and much to our surprise, 
there was a lovely package waiting for us with Oliver's name on it.  

Ollie couldn't have been more excited to receive this sweet gift from his great-grandma Helen.


We've been playing with it everday.  
It makes music and Oliver loves trying to swat at the hanging toys.  
He also loves staring at the elephant toy and hanging hippo as he babbles away.
I swear he has conversations with them.

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

oliver's christmas wishlist

Written by Oliver

So, my very first Christmas is coming up!
I have this adorable Christmas onesie that I was hoping to be able to wear, 
buuuuut,
it's a size 0-3 and I've already outgrown it.
Can you believe I was 14 lbs 11 oz at 6 weeks?
Mama feeds me well.
Who knows what I am now, at over 7 weeks...

Anyhow, I've been spending my days eating, sleeping, and dreaming about Christmas.
Mom tells me I'm gonna love seeing all the beautiful lights and hearing all the fabulous carols.
Dad on the other hand thinks Mom gets a little Christmas-crazy.  
Well, she must be rubbing off on me, because I've already put together my wishlist for Santa.
Cause from what I hear, every kid is supposed to have one.


-BobaAir-according to mom this brand is really good for my hip development and it's supposed to be super lightweight, so mom and dad won't have to have any extra weight to carry (seeing as how I'm already quite the chunkster myself hehe).

-Vulli Sophie la Girafe Teether-supposedly one of the best teether toys out there. I already love chewing on just about anything I can get in my mouth, so I assume I'll like this one!

-An activity mat/center-mom is always trying to make me practice tummy time.  An activity mat might make it a little more fun.  It'll be especially be great when I can move around more and play with the hanging toys.

-Halo SleepSack-I kick blankets around at night, so mom wants me to sleep in one of these or a Summer Infant SwaddleMe blanket, that way I keep warm but don't get my face covered.  Yep, mom's a worry wart.  I had a SwaddleMe blanket from Target, but it was a small/medium, and we all know I can't fit in it anymore.  

-Winter baby clothes (long sleeve onesies, pants, sweaters, vests, etc. in size 6 months)-I'm already wearing 3-6 months and 6 month clothing.  I only have a few long sleeve onesies and barely any pants in those sizes though.  I have a few sweatshirts that mom and dad put me in when we go out, but I'm definitely lacking in the winter clothing.  I think I'm meant to be in Hawaii running around in just my diaper.  *sigh* Maybe one day...


-Baby Banana Bendable Training Toothbrush-at the rate I'm growing, mom and dad think I'm gonna be teething in no time and this banana seems like the perfect teether/toothbrush in one.  Besides, chewing is what I do best.  For some reason mom and dad keep getting frustrated when all I wanna do is chew on my paci.  Isn't that what it's there for?

-Baby utensils-These will be great for when I start eating solids and pureed food. It'll be a couple months still, but I like to be prepared.

Yep, that's my list.  It really doesn't matter what I do or don't get off of it, I'm just excited to celebrate this year.  Mom and dad tell me that they were heading off to Kauai last Christmas for "romantic getaway vacation."  Good thing they have me now and don't need any of these so called vacations.
Christmas 2012, here I come!
What are you asking to get this Christmas?
Any other babies out there have any suggestions to add to my list?

Monday, November 12, 2012

slow-cooker bbq pulled pork

I've never made pulled pork before. 
In fact, I've never really made anything with barbecue.  
But I had a pork tenderloin sitting in the freezer and thought, why not?
So I pulled out my slow-cooker and made up a recipe.

I started with a rub.  You can let it sit on the meat as long as you want. 
I put it on Saturday night and left it on until Sunday morning when I threw the whole thing in the crockpot.
Now I don't mean to brag...buuuuut, this was pretty dang good.
It even got the approval of my barbecue-fanatic husband. 
Success?  I think so.



Slow-Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork 

Rub Ingredients:
-1 tsp black pepper
-1 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tbsp chili powder
-3 tbsp paprika
-1 tbsp lawry's seasoning salt
-1 1/2 tbsp cumin
-1 tbsp dried oregano
-3 tbsp brown sugar

Other Ingredients:
-Pork Tenderloin
-1/4 c. water
-1-2 c. BBQ sauce

Method:
-Combine all rub ingredients in a small bowl
-Cover pork tenderloin with spices
-Wrap tenderloin with plastic wrap and keep in the fridge 3 hours-2 days.  Your choice.  (I left mine in overnight, about 12 hours)
-Add seasoned pork tenderloin to crockpot along with 1/4 cup water
-Cook on low 8 hours
-After the 8 hours, pull the pork out and lay on a cookie sheet or cutting board.
-Pull meat apart with two forks
-Empty the liquid from the crockpot and place meat back inside.
-Add 1 1/2 c. BBQ sauce to the crockpot and mix to combine with pork.
-Allow to cook 30-60 minutes more on low.
-Serve and enjoy on buns, sandwiches, over rice, or any other way!
-Feel free to add extra BBQ sauce