Friday Night Food Making

This is what friday night looked like in my house. WILD me! I spent the evening making food for the little one. With a few glasses of wine for me! I actually enjoy the process and it makes me feel good that I can give her the yummiest stuff. I went a little crazy and made a bit too much food and not enough containers so I had to get creative. I get so excited after the farmers market and just want to make everything. I'm still making her purees since I'm kinda nervous about giving her chunks of food. Although tonight she was picking up the food off her tray and putting it in her mouth so I'm guessing she might be ready for chunks. She has tried most veggies, at least the ones we eat all the time so I'm hoping eventually I will just be able to give her our dinner and mash it up as needed. I've been adding more grains and a bunch of new fruits to her meals and she seems to like everything. Obviously some days she just isn't in the mood to eat but for the most part she is ok with it. I'm proud that I've bought everything organic and for the most part local for her. Most people complain that buying organic is expensive and yes it does cost a few more bucks but really if you added it up it might just be enough to skip one meal out or not buy coffee out a few mornings. We're talking a few bucks and this is coming from someone who has to watch every single dime I spend. Happy Eating!

Carrots, three kinds of sweet potatoes, kale, squash, zucchini, apple and in the middle is basil.

Millet, zucchini, apple, and basil.

9 months

It's weird to think Olive has been around as long as I was pregnant. No? I don't know kinda a strange thought. This month has been full of so many new things. She is clapping, waving hello and bye bye, snapping, and making hang gestures to songs just to name a few. She is beyond social and anywhere we go she just smiles, waves, and stares. She still doesn't have stranger anxiety unless the swim teacher takes her but I think its more of a this bitch puts me under water so I'm gonna act all scared around her so my mom grabs me kinda deal. We have a long way till actual swimming but she is loving being in the water and floating around with me.

I think the biggest thing this month is standing on her own. I keep saying she is so close to walking but I really mean it. Like days! She can stand up as easy as using a toy on the ground for a little push then she can stand there and dance and clap. She just won't take that step when she is standing alone. She has amazing balance and can stand for a pretty long time. She walks along every piece of furniture in the house and can skip across from the couch to coffee table with no problem.

She loves playing in the kitchen and taking out anything and everything she can from drawers and scattering it all over. She wants to open up everything and exlore. She is so curious about everything. She is starting to crawl into things too and has figured out how to crawl into really funny small places. Her main objective for the day is to grab the dog. She is getting really fast and Sierra is not pleased.

I love seeing her personality really come out. She can be very serious and straight faced at times and I like to think she is taking it all in but most of the time she is super goofy and playful. A few times a day she gets super independent and will just go off and play by herself. She will stand at her toy box and take each toy out, crawl around from toy to toy while mumbling and spitting. She loves her books and will just sit and flip through the pages over and over. She has a favorite book which I must read to her like 100 times a day but each time she is excited. It's a book by Dwell called "On the farm." She has memorized all the pages so when I flip she knows just what to do. Cutest thing ever. She will sit patiently through a stack of books being read to her most of the time but she likes to flip them herself.

She really loves toys now and can figure out what buttons do and where to place objects. She has a toy that has a chute where you drop a ball and she has perfected getting the ball in the hole. It seems like such a simple task but I think she is pretty brilliant. She loves to knock down blocks after I stack them for her and she also loves to clap them together. She loves her ball and her new toy the drum. Everything still goes in the mouth but she is definitely starting to really play.

At her 9 month visit she weighed in at 15.5 pounds which is actually less than she weighed at 8 months but I think with crawling and being so active she lost some weight. She is also getting pretty long and lean, hopefully just like Blake. She is 26 inches long. She still has chunky little rolls on her legs but you can really see her thinning out. She was a really chunky baby. She is eating 3 meals a day and still nursing every 3 hours or so. Meals have gotten quite messy these days. She has started to want to feed herself so for the most part half gets in her mouth and the rest is everywhere and I mean everywhere. Every meal requires a full wipe down and sometimes even a bath but I'm glad she is learning to figure it out on her own. She is a pro at using a sippie cup and we give her a tiny bit of water with every meal. It's mostly just for her to learn to use it. So far she is a good eater and hasn't turned much down unless of course she is grumpy and she will wack the entire spoon across the room.

She still wakes up at night anywhere from 1-2 times but we're just taking it day by day since she is a happy baby so whatever we're doing is working. She is taking 2-3 naps a day depending on how long she sleeps. Her naps are getting better for the most part and she will usually sleep for an hour or more with the occasional 30 min one in there just to make sure we don't get too comfortable but it works.

She is still only really saying mamma and babba and I think today I really heard her say ok. I thought I heard that the other day but I'm pretty sure Ok came out of her mouth. Super weird. Today was the first time she repeated Mamma back to me. Usually she just says it randomly but today she would repeat it after me. She can make a ton of funny noises with her mouth from clicking to spitting. She just discovered that she can blow on my arm and make a funny noise. She has also been biting my shoulder which is kinda strange. And she has 5 teeth, well 4.5 since the 5th one is only half way out. Shockingly she isn't really biting my boobs. I mean we've had the occasional bite but for the most part she is pretty good. Happy Mamma!

She has become very sweet and loves to come up to me during the day and put her head down. She won't lay down and snuggle with me. She has wayyyy too much energy for that but I love when she crawls up on my lap and puts her head down. She is such a sweet little thing.

I feel like there are a million more things I could say but my eyes are getting sleepy. I love my little bug!

Ashley in Cali

The beginning of this week started off super fun. Ashley was coming into town for a work party so she was going to spend a few days with us. Olive and I picked her up from the train station on monday morning and then we immediately went to my favorite coffee place. Ashley shares a snobbery (um is that a word) for coffee so I was really excited to take her to Portola. The rest of the day was spent getting lunch and roaming around the OC. Olive was a total trooper the whole day and even slept the entire lunch was a nice treat. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging in the backyard till Blake got home from work. Then we bbq'd a ton of food and relaxed. It was such a fun day. I warned Ashley about Olive's sleeping or lack of sleeping ahead of time. She only woke up twice and I was able to get to her before she got loud. She did get up at 5am which is kinda her new thing. Sorry Ashley!!

We had to do this. I kinda feel bad but she didn't seem to mind.

We like stripes.

Tuesday was jammed packed. We woke up and headed down to Carlsbad to meet up with some friends so we could talk about a party we're planning for another friend. Ashley came along for the ride and got to help baby wrangle. On the way home we stopped for some coffee and treats. We needed to carb up for our long night ahead. So tuesday was the night of the party. The best part is Ashley got to dress me for the party in one of her dresses she designed! When we used to live together I would always make her help me get ready for our nights out so it was pretty fun to be all girlie for a night. Ashley is a fashion designer for Charlotte Ronson and she designed the entire line for I heart Ronson for JC Penneys. I know JC Penneys isn't the coolest place to shop but this line is seriously worth going there. I was lucky enough to get a bunch of samples from Ashley and then get a ton more clothes at the party but I would seriously buy this stuff. So anyways the party was for the launch of the line and it was amazing. It was at the Spare Room in the Roosevelt Hotel which is a really cool bar. I'd never been there before. Back in the days when I lived in LA the cool place to hang was at the pool bar at the Roosevelt. It was the biggest scene. I don't remember why it was so cool and why it was so important we got in there every week but walking in the hotel totally brought back memories. Anyways I'm getting off subject. The party was just super fun and it was good to be out and have some adult time. We sat at a little table and had lots of drinks, played Jenga, and watched all the funny celebrities. I don't care too much about them but it was exciting to see them in clothes Ashley designed. I felt like a proud mamma! We tried to get out of there at a decent hour but ended up running into a friend on the way out so we stayed for another hour. It was fun but I sure payed the price that night.....

Dinner Downtown LA

We got home a little after midnight and I immediately pumped and got into bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow Olive woke up. So I had zero milk and nothing I did calmed her. She was not pleased with the lack of milk so after hours of going back and forth into her room I think she eventually fell asleep around 3 or 4 and was up at 5am. It was brutal. I think I got an hour of sleep, maybe. Then we had swim lessons the next morning which was not the most fun on zero sleep. Ashley got to watch Olive swim and then we had to take her to the airport so she could go home to NY. We already miss her so much. Just hoping she had a good time so we can try and talk her into moving back to California soon!

Come back Ashley we miss you!!!!! And thanks for filling my closet with so many cute clothes!

quickie

The last few days have been super busy. Ashley was in town so we had many adventures. I have a million photos and stories to post but tonight I must attempt to sleep since that didn't happen last night.

Ashley and Olive at swim lessons today.

i heart ronson party and a slider.

Party like a 1 year old

Dane and Ryley turned one and they threw one hell of a birthday party. The weather was unreal and Olive partied like a rockstar in the pools filled with balls. I had no idea such a simple idea could be hours of entertainment. She was passed around between all the uncles who can't seem to get enough of her which is about the cutest thing ever. I had no idea baby birthday parties could be so fun!

The birthday boy and girl and Olive.

Shading my super fair skinned child.

The view.

Happy Momma!

Spitty!

So casual.

I thought it was going to be overcast in which my dark dress would of felt appropriate but instead it was sunny and happy and I felt like a gothic housewife. Fashion Fail.

Happy Father's Day

A BIG Happy Father's Day to Blake! Watching Blake and Olive together is the sweetest thing in the world. She absolutely adores him and her little face lights up as soon as he walks in the house. I love how hard he can get her to giggle and how calm and patient he can be with her when she gets in grumpy gus mode. I'm excited for him to teach her to surf and to play records and maybe even how to pull the perfect shot of espresso. You're the greatest pop pop and Olive is a lucky girl!

Happy Father's Day to my dad! I definitely take after him and all his craziness and I mean that in the best way possible. My dad has always showed me how to live life to the fullest from skydiving, scuba diving, to eating the most insane foods. Any vacation or destination with him is always an adventure. I've seen so much of the world and in the most unique way ever because of my dad. He is also kind, sweet, and sensitive to balance out the crazy and of course one hell of a Grandpa to Olive.

This is my Grandpa on the right. He was one of the smartest people I've known. He taught me how to spell fluorescent when I was like 5. I also owe my love for Frank Sinatra to him. I wish he could see Olive, I think he would be so proud!