Olivia - 6 Months!

She's getting huge!  I just can't believe she's already half a year old.  When did that happen in all the craziness that we've been having this year?  

I know I missed 5 months and I apologize, but things have just been crazy and I still am finding things.  Things are definitely becoming more organized with our life together that's for sure.  I feel like 6 months makes all the difference.

This month she's weighing in at 16 lbs 14 oz, and measuring 25.5 inches.

Milestones

Tons of fun milestones this past month.  She's started really eating foods.  Which she has liked for the most part.  I just started straight out with carrots.  I used baby cereal for the other two to begin with but they all hated it, so why would I do it.  Plus, I've read a lot of things saying that it doesn't really matter what you start them out on.  Carrots it is!  She loved it too.  She's also been eating some puffs and random soft things that I'm also eating.  I've always been more into just giving my kids the real thing verses pureeing everything.

Olivia is MOBILE!  She's started scooching around.  It's kind of an army crawl I guess you might call it.  I like to think of it as an inch worm.  She sure can do it though!  She's fastest when she's not supposed to have it too.  Like when the kids leave a bowl of cereal on the living room floor, or when a remote of cell phone is left unattended.  We're really going to have to get this house baby proofed.  I don't have a gate on the stairs currently.  Thankfully this house is so much bigger than our last and we don't hang out by the stairs at all, but it still needs to get done pronto!

She also had her first ride in the swather ever!  Big moments

Sleeping

We have made SO much progress this month with sleeping.  I couldn't be more happy.  We are finally establishing some sort of routine around nap times.  She's taking 2-3 naps a day, and typically one of those naps will be a really good 2-3 hour nap!  It's been pretty glorious from my stand point.  

As for night sleep, it's been getting better too.  She still has been having 1 wake up a night, but it's been short and to the point.  She's also managed a couple of night where she's actually slept through the whole thing.  So we're getting there.  I'm hopeful that by the end of August she will be sleeping through the night most nights.  

I've started using a music box to help her fall asleep or at least signal that it's bed/nap time for her.  I think that's really been helping her calm down and figure out how to soothe herself a bit.  So for naps she's been putting herself to sleep these days.  It's been magical.  She's taken to it pretty quickly though.  I think sleeping through the nights is just around the corner.

Eating

As I mentioned above, we've started with actual food.  It's been ok, nothing to write home about, but we're making it work.  She likes it a lot, and really wants to eat things.  She's definitely figuring out the swallowing verses sucking thing.  We're getting there.  She's going to be a pro at this soon too.   I just love this age!

Family

Still so many changes going on.  We celebrated her first 4th of July, which she probably could have cared less about but she was there looking cute.

She's also been working really hard at sitting up.

Besides all of those things, she's showing us every day her little personality.  She's been such a fun addition to our family.  Her siblings still smother her with more attention then one little kid should have, but it's all out of love.  What a lucky little girl.  Stay tuned because hopefully next month she'll finally have month than 1 tooth!

It's Been too Long!

It's been way too long since I've posted last!  There are so many things are are going on right now it's just been crazy.  

First off, I've been SO SO busy with these three little kiddos!  It's been completely different for me to be at home with all the kids.  I love them to death but some days have definitely been hard.  We've kept busy doing things outside, and investigating our new home.

I'm going to share with you a few of the highlights from the month of July.  

Olivia had her first taste of baby food at the beginning of the month.  She really liked it and has enjoyed eating everything ever since.

We celebrated Brett's birthday.  Me and the kids made him an ice cream cake.  I think it turned out pretty good!

Then of course it was the 4th of July.  Such a fun holiday around these parts.  The kids just love the parade and all the fireworks.  It was a fun filled day for everyone.  We actually had fireworks a couple of days.  Alyssa really loved the snappers.

Next, my parents came to town.  It was so great to see them as usual.  And since Brett has been working pretty long hours since we've gotten here, it was extra nice to have some company.  While they were here there was a big storm and Luke pulled up some chairs by the sliding door to have a front view.  Alyssa has really gotten into frosting decorating, so we decorated cookies together.  The big project was fixing up Alyssa's dresser.  This was a garage sale find a long time ago, and was painted black.  Now it's so adorable!  

Brett and I have had a couple of moments to ourselves since getting here too.  We got to see the new Independence Day movie (which Brett is a huge fan of), and we've been out and about checking cows.  For most people, this is a super romantic thing...

Besides all that, we've just been having a ton of fun around the ranch.  Things have been getting better, and we've been settling into our new home.  I'm still searching for a job, but I'm really trying to just enjoy and treasure the quality time that I'm getting to have with my kids.  Some days its been really hard, but I know I'm going to be a little sad when I finally do find a job.  I'm not going to ever have this kind of quality time with them probably ever again.  How weird is that to think about?  

I can understand why women and men decide to stay at home with their kids when they are young.  It's such a magical time.  They love you unconditionally, look up to you and just want to snuggle and be with you.  

Olivia - 4 Months

AHHH!!! Olivia is already 4 months old!  May has just FLOWN by since we found out all the news about our jobs and moving and what not.  I've been so out of sorts.  I decided that I really needed to get this post done.  I still have a Stitch Fix post to get figured out as well, but hopefully we'll get that out soon now that we are connected once again.  Anyway, let's get on with my Olivia update :)

First up, as you can see, I don't have my little sign.  I don't remember where I packed it!  Olivia is 4 months old, we don't have any teeth yet, and she's weighing in at 13 lbs  6.5 oz and 24 inches long.  She's getting so big!  She's still wearing 0-3 month clothes, but not for much longer really.   She's in a size 2 diaper.  I think she's getting a bit pudgier too.  

Milestones

The big milestone that we reached actually this week so it might really go in this next months post, but I want to share it now because I'm excited about it.  She rolled over from her back to her stomach!  What a rock star!  

She's also getting so much stronger with her sitting up skills.  She's obviously not doing it on her own yet, but she LOVES doing it.  

She's also been playing a lot more with toys.  She grabs things now and smacks them around.  It's just so fun to watch her be more interactive overall.  

Sleeping

I think we've reached the 4 month sleep regression.  She just has not been sleeping as well as she once was.  We were getting a 6-7 hour stretch and now we're down to 4-5.  It's still not awful, but it's not as good as it once was.  I know we'll get back there though.  The one thing that I've been really thankful of though, is that she's figuring out how to put herself back to sleep if she's not super angry when she gets up.  It's been good overall.

Eating

Olivia is eating pretty well.  She's definitely picked things up.  She eating probably 25-30 oz a day now which is great.  I'm trying to get most of those oz eaten during the day.  Since I'm at home now until I find work, I'm trying to get a bunch of "habits" figured out.  

Family

Also, the whole month was crazy, so there were a ton of things we did to mess up everyone's life.  Here is a picture of Olivia's new room.  It's a really great little nursery.  It's not as big as her old room, which is fine.  It's just right for a little baby though.  I'm still trying to get clothes and stuff put away but for now things are working.  

Now I'm just going to share some pictures of what Olivia has to put up with on a daily basis from the kids...really just her sister.

Maybe this month will be a little less crazy.  We're getting things figured out and Olivia is definitely settling down.  I love that we have most space to spread out all of her toys, so that we can actually use them all.  Baby toys are so big.  Things are great.  I'm really happy in our new home so far.  

Moving Update

This past weekend we got our first shipment of stuff moved up to our new house thanks to some friends that brought down a huge trailer to load things in.  We got most of the basement moved over.  I think we've probably got two loads left though.  We'll see how well we can pack another trailer.  We also took up the Mustang to park in the garage there.  That's all that car seems to do...

Anyway, so once we got there we headed over to the new house to start some cleaning,  Brett cleaned all the walls and I started on the floors.  There is just so much dust that we're going to have to make another couple of passes at the floor I believe.  Plus we're still moving things in, so people are going to be tracking in all kinds of dust still.  

Once, we got that kind of taken care of, Brett started installing the closet organizers.  We decided to go with organizers from an online company called EasyClosets.  They were wonderful to work with, and will design your closet for you if you'd like.  We talked on the phone and finally once we knew what we wanted and were sure about it, we made our purchase.  We purchased four closets worth, and they were shipped to our house for free!  So awesome.  We've actually had them sitting around for awhile...probably since November so it was time to get them installed for sure.  I'm pretty impressed with them and Brett really liked them too.  They weren't too hard to install once you got the hang of it, and I'm pretty sure they're not ever going to be going anywhere if you know what I mean.  These are the two organizers in our kids bedrooms.  

Olivia and I had to take a break from the fun so we sat on the only thing that was in the house, a rug.  I impressed myself with this purchase.  We bought it online and I just prayed that it was going to match the paint and everything in the room.  It's PERFECT!  I couldn't be more happy with it.  

Then we started to get things put into the living room.  We brought over our sectional couch and our new entertainment center.

Boy was it nice to see something that we've been talking about for years finally come together!  We have had the couch for years in the basement and now it's finally going to get some good use.  The entertainment center we found at our local Sam's Club!  It was an awesome price and just the right size so we couldn't refuse.  Olivia is already enjoying the new digs :) 

In a nutshell, that's pretty much all we got done.  With three kids it is kind of tough.  Also, little Olivia had one really terrible day where she just cried.  I'm pretty sure she was having some tummy issues that day.  Poor little thing.  But here are a few more pictures just for fun!

What a Week...

Oh boy!  It has been one crazy week for my family.  I can't even begin to explain how crazy and complicated it has been.  I'll start with last Friday night...

On Friday night, Luke had a mild fever and was acting pretty irritable.  Saturday, Brett took him to Urgent Care.  Luke told the doctor that he had a scrap on his leg, so he got a Bugs Bunny band-aid.  We also found out that he has and ear infection.  So we got him some antibiotics and thought we were done with it.

Sunday things were more noticeable.  I put two and two together and determined that Luke has Hand Foot and Mouth.  What a bummer.  Needless to say, we've been cleaning our house and washing our hands like CRAZY people.  We've also been trying to keep both of the girls away from him as much as possible.

This is the first time we've had this in our home, so we didn't really know what it was all about.  After some research and communication with our doctor, I finally am starting to feel like our home isn't an infected cesspool.  I don't do well with sickness or things that are highly contagious.  It makes me crazy!

For those of you that don't know what Hand Foot and Mouth is, it's basically a rash.  People get it mainly on their hands, feet, in their mouth and on their butt actually.  Luke had it mainly in his mouth and on his butt.  The mouth part made him miserable.  He wouldn't eat or drink for basically a whole day.  We had to force him to drink.  It was so sad.  Everyday it has gotten a bit better though.  I'm glad he didn't have it as bad as some people get it.  I've googled and looked at some pictures.  

Today he is feeling like a million buck basically.  We took him back to the doctor yesterday to get the ok, and he's back at school.  Neither of the girls have gotten it....yet, and I hope that they don't.  Brett and I also haven't gotten it and surprisingly I was less nervous about us getting it then them, and we were the ones touching him!  

The next thing that happened this week I have to give a little bit of back story to.  Basically two weeks ago, the company that Brett and I work for told us that they are going to be laying off 85 people in the offices in our area.  So we've basically just been waiting and waiting to hear what the fate of our jobs are.  It's been roller coaster of emotions for both of us.  

We knew that things were going down this week, and unfortunately we had to take turns staying home with sick kiddos!  What a mess.  Monday I stayed at home with the kids so Brett could go to work and see what was going on.  The layoff started on Monday, but Brett didn't hear anything at that time.  Then Brett stayed home on Tuesday and I went to work.  Tuesday morning I got called in and was laid off.  I packed up my office and headed home at about noon.  

It's so surreal to be laid off.  I have worked for the same company since I got out of school.  It's been 9 years almost exactly.  Brett and I talked a lot about what our options were before any of the layoff even happened.  But now that it's finally here it's just strange.  I've never not had a job like this before, and I've never been laid off before.   

Then we just had to wait it out the to see what was going to happen to Brett.  He went to work on Wednesday and called me at about 1030 to tell me that he was also laid off!  So here we go!  The name of my blog is about to actually take place! 

WE ARE HEADING TO THE RANCH!

Olivia - 3 months

I'm a few days late, but Olivia is now 3 months old!  She is getting to be so much fun too.  I feel like she knows that she's not a newborn anymore if that makes sense.  The outfit that she's in in her 3 month picture, all of my kiddos have worn.  I just love it and think it's adorable.  It has tiny giraffes on it.  Such a cute gender neutral outfit.  I might be keeping this one in my keepsake box.

Milestones

Olivia's neck strength is getting so much better.  She loves to be propped up to be able to look at everything around her.  All my kids have been like that.  It's so much easier to hold her now because she isn't as floppy.  That makes such a difference when I'm trying to put together a bottle in the middle of the night.  

I don't want to rush things, but I'm so excited for all the wonderful milestones that are going to be coming up in the next few months!  Things are starting to get fun I feel like.  The first 3 months are definitely the hardest.

Sleeping

Olivia has always been a great sleeper.  This month she has been pretty consistently sleeping a stretch of 6-7 hours.  This typically is her first stretch at night.  It's been great!  Typically she goes down for the evening at 8 and sleeps until 2-3 o'clock.  Since I also went back to work this month I have only been waking up with her every other night.  So I think over all I feel pretty good personally.  

She has been taking probably 3-4 naps during the day.  Typically 2 hour long naps and then one longer 2-2.5 hour nap.  If I wait too long to get her down for a nap though, she is a BEAR.  It's so hard to get her to sleep then.  At daycare, they have had a lot of trouble getting her to sleep.  I think she's just not transitioning as well as I would like her to.

The best thing that has happened all month though is that she slept in her crib!  I was super worried about transitioning her from her Rock n' Play to the crib.  She's just getting too big for the Rock n' Play, so last weekend I decided I was going to try it.  She slept just as long as she did in the Rock n' Play, so I couldn't be more happy!  Way to go Olivia!

Eating

Olivia goes in spurts where she eats really well and then she eats just ok.  This has not been either one of my other kids.  It makes me wonder if she's going to be my picky eater.  At the beginning of the month she was eating between 20-25 oz a day.  The second half of the month, it's been more like 16-20 oz.  She's just such a weird eater.  She's still gaining weight and she doesn't seem to be upset or fussy about it, so we just keep going on with life.  She's just going to be my smallest baby.

Play

It has been so much fun to watch Olivia "play" this month.  She's starting to actually try to grab or hit things that are hanging on her play mat.  She's also started to spin herself around to get a better view of things.  It's been funny to walk away for a second and when you come back she's turned herself sideways on her play mat.  She doesn't like it when she has a dangling toy sitting on her head lol.  

She also will play for a lot longer then she did last month.  She'll hang out on the play mat for probably a good 15 minute as long as she's not hungry or tired.  

Family

This month we didn't go anywhere or see any family, which is alright with me.  It's nice to just be able to stay in sometimes too (this coming from an introvert).    Olivia still is in love with Alyssa.  They just have such a sweet little bond.  I hope they keep it forever.  Olivia puts up with a lot of random "love" that Alyssa gives her.

I LOVE this picture of the two of them.  It gets me all emotional every time I stare at it.  SO sweet!

It's just been so much more fun this month.  I know it's going to feel that way every month, but at the same time I'm going to miss never having a baby again.  I'm going to miss not hitting all of these milestones again.  I am so happy that our family is complete, but at the same time it's sad.  All I know is that I'm going to continue to love, enjoy and cherish every moment with all three of my kiddos.

Stitch Fix Review - April 2016

It's that time of month again!  I just got my 9th Stitch Fix last week and Tina, once again, knocked it out of the park!  I love love LOVE how she totally listens to what I say and post and everything.  I don't know if I could ever break up with Stitch Fix.  That is unless Tina left and I never found anyone else as awesome! 

I'm not going to go through all the details, but if you don't know what Stitch Fix is check out my first review or just head straight over to the Stitch Fix website and check it out for yourself!  Also here is my referral link in case you want to go try it out for yourself!

Moving on with my Fix.  I can't believe I'm on my 9th Fix!  It's been so much fun receiving these every month or so.  Over the past year I haven't been getting them every month because I was pregnant in there and it just didn't make sense.  Now I'm doing it, and loving it!  This month, I asked Tina for some summer stuff specifically floral tops because I actually don't have any.  I also asked her for a specific bag to use to carry all my work stuff in to and from work.  I spent some time pinning a bunch of fun new things on my Pinterest board as well.  I really try to freshen it up every month just to give her some idea of what I'm into and where I'm going.   

Here is what Tina wrote to me this month:

"Hello Amie! I'm loving your new boho styled pins on your Pinterest.  The trend is so on point for the summer season and I thought these pieces would look amazing on you.  The Pixley blouse in particular is on Pinterest pick.  It would look great with any solid colored shorts or even tucked into a chambray skirt.  I also included a couple of floral blouses, perfect for transitioning into May as the flowers start to bloom.  We didn't have the Street Level Anchorage tote in a solid color at the moment, but I did find you a cute diamond print one.  It has the same design, but with a summery style that's great for work or a beach vacation.  Enjoy the Fix and I hope you're delighted with these picks! - XOXO, Tina"

Now lets check out what was inside :)

1. Le Lis Truxton Embellished Crew Neck Blouse - XS - $48.00

First, I have to talk about how I was totally excited and impressed that Tina took the time to try to pick the right size in my shirts.  The last Fix, I had mentioned to her that if the shirt is blousy, it would probably be wise to size down to an XS, and she did!  It totally made my Fix work this month I'm pretty sure.  

On to the actual shirt now...this shirt is actually a really dark navy blue.  I kept going back and forth in my head, but it truly could probably go either way.  I don't usually wear a lot of black just because I'm so fair skinned, but I think this one works because of the lighter peachy pink trim around the neckline.  It brightens it up a bit.  I loved the floral print right out of the box.  I like the fact that It's a little more unnatural or geometric if that makes sense.  It's also a high/low which I'm really starting to like a lot more than I ever thought that I would.

When I tired it on, I liked it just as much as I did just looking at it out of the box.  The XS really helped this shirt not feel like a tent.  I think this shirt will be great in any season too.  I didn't take a picture of it, but I tried this on with the jean jacket that I got in my previous Fix and it's adorable.  Something I will definitely wear together.  My husband also really liked this shirt too.

KEPT

2. Street Level Anchorage Diamond Printed Tote - $64.00

I was definitely excited that this was in my Fix.  It is what I asked for basically, so I was definitely interested to see how big it would be.  In the pictures that I've seen on other blogs it didn't look huge, but I'm also a rather small person.  That works against me with purses at times.  

At first sight, I wasn't too excited about the pattern or the fabric.  It's kind of like upholstery.   It's pretty and all, but it isn't something that I gravitate towards for a bag.  I was really hoping for something neutral, but not black.  

There are some great things about this bag though if you're in the market for a large bag.  It has about a bazillion pockets/compartments to put things in.  As you can see in the picture below there are two side pockets which are very large and have magnetic closures.  Then there is a large zippered compartment that has a few pockets within it to keep smaller things.  I wasn't overly excited about the fabric on the inside of the bag, it was kind of generic overall. Just not exactly what I was looking for.  Tina was definitely right though.  This bag would be great for traveling!

SENT BACK

3. Pixley Panorama Henley Blouse - XS - $48.00

I was SO excited to see this in my box.  Out of everything on my Pinterest board, I was probably most excited about this shirt.  I think it's so fun and could be a great piece all year around.  I love both the color and the pattern.  It's basically my go to summer shirt style.  I have a few shirts in this cut, but they are getting a bit old, so I definitely could use some new ones, and more modern prints/patterns.  The fabric is so light and airy as well.  It's going to be an awesome summer shirt!

When I first tried this on, I wasn't sure it fit me well in the shoulders, and I was super bummed.  Then when I had more time, I tried it on again and wore it around a bit, and I was mistaken.  I love love love it!  I think XS was definitely the way to go here, because if it were a small I think there would have been way to much fabric around my mid section making me feel like this is a maternity shirt.  I'm pretty sure this is my new favorite shirt at the moment.

KEPT

4. Collective Concepts Bimini Peplum Blouse - S - $54.00

This is a really pretty shirt, the pinkish peach color is very vibrant and in my opinion right on point for the spring.  It's just a beautiful feminine shirt with the color, floral pattern and lace details.  The color I think is definitely bright enough that it didn't wash me out, which I was worried about initially.  I was also worried about the peplum part of it.  I have always wanted a peplum top because I keep hearing about how flattering they are.  I just didn't feel this way about this shirt on me. 

I think overall it could be because it's to big.  The top part just seems like it was a bit too billowy for my chest.  Maybe if it were a size smaller I would feel differently, but who knows.  It could also be because I have a short torso too?  Maybe it's supposed to fit this way and I'm just not getting it?  It could be a lot of reasons.  Tell me if you think this is cute or if this is how it's supposed to fit because I'm uncertain.

SENT BACK

5. Daniel Rainn Cassady Tie Neck Top - XS - $64.00

Oh this shirt...I think it almost killed me.  This shirt was SO me it was ridiculous.  The moment I saw this shirt I was like I'm going to love this shirt.  It's going to be in my wardrobe (again Tina hit it out of the park).  I actually have had many shirts that kind of fit this same profile in my life.  I love the detailing around the neck line, and I'm a big fan of the pattern too.  There is actually a built in black stretchy tank top under this shirt too.  Although I don't think you would need it necessarily.  I would personally probably have cut it out.  The shirt isn't see through, so you don't really need it.

I tried it on and was pretty much in love.  This particular shirt was the one my husband though was 100% me, and he was right.  I kept going back and forth about this shirt.  I really loved it and it fit pretty well.  The only complaint I had about fit was that it was kind of hard to get off because there is no stretch to it at all.

I also kind of wish that it didn't have the tie.  I've had shirts with ties in the past and something that get really weird once you wash them, even if it's by hand sometimes.  And I like the front design so much that I didn't want the tie interfering with how pretty it is.  Then there was the cost of this shirt.  It was the most expensive shirt in my box, and at this very moment I had to think about how much I was going to spend this month.  As much as I would have loved to have kept this piece, it was just too expensive at this time.

SENT BACK

As I've said time and time again...Tina knocked it out of the park!  I wish I could have kept all three this month, but a 2/5 isn't a bad Fix.  I'm so ready for summer to get here already.  Next month I'm thinking about asking for some cropped jeans because I really don't wear shorts at all.  Then maybe just leaving it up to Tina to see what she thinks would be great for summer!  I'm ready to get out with the kiddos and enjoy the nice weather.  It's supposed to snow/rain the rest of the week here this week...so this Fix gave me a little taste of spring before the weather changes again.