Olivia's sleeping schedule

Olivia has been a really good sleeper. When she was younger I could just leave her in the room with Mike and I and she would eventually drift off. Now that she is older she is more aware and is not able to fall asleep as easily if she is in a room with other people. For the past two weeks I have been laying by her not to comfort her but to hold her binky in her mouth. She is a smart little stinker and knows that if she pulls her binky out while she is drifting off she will wake up.

So last Friday I decided to sleep train her and I was a little worried that it would be really rough. Luckily for me she only fussed for 10 minutes the first night and even though her binky usually falls out she just used her thumb instead. Sometimes she does find her binky and she can reinsert it. Last night I was able to put her down without her fussing which is awesome!!!

I also started her on a napping scheduling and have been putting her down for her naps the same way. The great thing is our sitter has been doing the same thing so Olivia has that consistency throughout the day.

She goes to bed at 7:30 pm which is sometimes a struggle to keep her up that long. She wakes up between 7:30 and 8 am. She goes down for her 1st nap at 9:30 until 11. Her second nap is from 1 until 2 pm. And her 3rd nap is from 3:30-4:30 pm. Now I just wait for her to wean herself off the last nap. I used the Sleepeasy Solution book as a resource and it has a lot of great information.

Why I love church!

I love to go to church because I love to feel the spirit and it really helps me throughout the week. Church keeps me humble and helps me become a better person. Personal prayer keeps me grounded. Scriptures are a great reference to things I need to work on. Every time I go to church I always learn something new that really applies to me.

When I was pregnant the first couple of months I never went to church and that just turned into a bad habit because I missed more Sundays than I attended last year. I am trying really hard to start going consistently again and I have come to realize that I really missed relief society. Mike and I attend a married student ward and I love it because everyone is basically in the same situation. Recently married, a spouse or both spouses attending school, no kids or young kids and everyone is broke.

I am a convert to the church and I was baptized in 2005. While I was growing up I attended church with my neighbors for many years but I eventually fell away from the church. When Mike and I got married I had really high expectations. I love attending church and Mike isn't as enthusiastic as I am to say the least. I want to have family home evening every Monday, scripture study, family prayer and most of all I wanted Mike to want it as much as I wanted it. I would get so frustrated and upset with Mike because I always have to wake him up to go to church or I would always be the one to bring up family home evening and I usually have to bring up family prayer or scripture study. I basically want Mike to share some of the responsibility in keeping the gospel in our lives and I could never figure out why he didn't want to do it. I assumed he was just lazy which is terrible on my part.

A few weeks ago in relief society the teacher used the "Eternal Marriage Student Manual" to teach her lesson. One particular section really touched my heart. President Howard W. Hunter stated "I suppose you would say it is a man's viewpoint to throw a burden upon a woman to maintain the stability and the sweetness of marriage, but this seems to be her divine nature. She has a superior spirituality in the marriage relationship, and the opportunity to encourage, uplift, teach, and be the one who sets the example in the family for righteous living. When women come to the point of realizing that it is more important to be superior than to be equal, they will find the real joy in living those principles that the Lord set out in the divine plan. (Teaching of Howard Hunter, 139)

After reading this quote it helped me realize that I need to stop expecting/hoping Mike to do these things first or as much as me and accept the fact that it is in my nature or my strength to want to do these things. I shouldn't feel bad about always wanting to do these things and I should stop nagging Mike about it because sometimes I can get really fanatical about making it to sacrament meeting on time etc. All my assuming was bringing contention into our home and I was the one who was causing it.

Mike and I have a long way to where I want to be but the little small steps of reading one chapter a night from the Book of Mormon and family prayer in the morning has really helped in our daily lives. I feel the spirit more in my life and surprisingly I enjoy bearing my testimony. I love the Ensign too because there are always articles that I feel were written especially for me.

My professional roller

Olivia is rolling over

Olivia has rolled over a few times last month but this week she has become an expert. Quite frankly I can't keep her on her back. She has learned how to roll from stomach to back but has only done it 2-3 times by herself. Here is a picture of her naked on her tummy.



Olivia loves her binky but I think if she had her way she would suck her thumb. You will see in this picture that I took at night that she has her binky in her mouth and she has her thumb poking into the hollow section.



Kanika took this picture in December when she was babysitting. She loves to dress Olivia up. Kanika thinks she looks like a gangsta and her squash is her homie.



My coworker knitted this hat for Olivia. The picture doesn't do it justice though.



When Olivia was a newborn she loved to be swaddled so I decided to put a beanie on her and swaddle her. She doesn't like her arms restrained anymore.

Miss Olivia and her bath time

Olivia really loves to take baths. I can't wait until she can sit up by herself and play with toys. Here are some photos and a video.