Olivia's Adventures

Okay, so it's been a while since the last post...but hey, we've been busy (and parenting is just a little time-consuming)!  So, what's Olivia been up to, you ask?  She's been up to plenty!  Grandma Eileen and Awesome Aunt Pat came out for a visit in October and we all went to 4 n 20 for breakfast, Corbin Bowl for bowling and hung out at our apartment.  Soon after their visit, Olivia, Tony and I crashed my Paychex team meeting and had lunch with my HR colleagues.  Then we headed to Ventura, CA for a little 2-day getaway.  We toured downtown Ventura and visited the Buenaventura Mission.  

Olivia's next adventure was Halloween.  We went to the pumpkin patch with Aunt Colleen and our friends, Lisa, Matt, Jess and Jude.  Tony made a yummy spaghetti dinner for everyone and Colleen and Lisa brought lots of baked goodies.  Tony and Colleen carved pumpkins and it was an all around fun day.  The next big day was Thanksgiving.  Aunt Colleen built Olivia's highchair so she could sit at the table with us.  Tony cooked a full turkey dinner and we, Colleen and Lisa all enjoyed it very much.  We finished off the evening with some pumpkin pie (thanks, Coll) and some Scene It on the old xbox.





Happy Thanksgiving!





The day after Thanksgiving, we and Colleen went to Riverside for a day with the Masters and Hawthornes.  Another fun day, and Olivia got her very first Christmas ornament from Aunt Vicky and Uncle Kevin.

With Grandma Joan on the the day after Thanksgiving.

In between holiday fun, we mostly hang out at the house.  We regularly go shopping at Ralphs and Target and take walks to the mall and bank.  Currently, we're getting ready for a big trip to Chicago for the Christmas holiday, which is sure to be a blast.  After that, I have to go back to work.  Bummer.





How YOU doin?

Probably watching another episode of Law & Order: SVU

Cool shirt!

See you in 2011!

Olivia is here!

In my last blog, I told you that I was scheduled to have an "augmented" labor Monday, August 16th.  Our doc said we'd have a baby by the evening.  Apparently, our little one got the memo and decided to start the party a little early.  Around 3am that day, I was already having contractions 5 minutes apart and growing more and more intense.  By the time we checked in to the hospital at 6:45am, things were progressing pretty quickly.  My water broke at 7:20am and we started pushing around 11:30am.  In between contractions, Tony was looking up places to get lunch once she arrived.  At about that time, Olivia's heart rate started rising and dropping dramatically and our doctor ordered an emergency C-section.  Tony and I were both disappointed, but didn't have much time to grieve over the change in plans.  Within about 10 minutes, we had our little girl.  Olivia Joleen arrived at 12:30pm weighing 7 pounds, 13 ounces and measuring 20 inches long.  She has lots of dark hair, just as we suspected she would.  She had a little trouble breathing and spent the next 3 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.  We finally got to have her in our room on Thursday and we all went home on Friday.  She's been around for a month now and it's been amazing.  Parenting is not without its challenges, but overall, it is spectacular to know that we created this little person and get to watch her grow and change everyday.

Olivia's had many many visitors.  She's met all of her grandparents, the Masters, the Hawthornes, aunt Colleen, great aunt Betty (all the way from Missouri) and lots of our friends.  Aunt Colleen moved to California the weekend before Olivia was born and has been visiting and helping us out regularly.  She is great!  My mom and dad just spent 8 days here helping us out and hanging out with Olivia.  We did lots of fun things with them.  We had a BabyQ (backyard bbq with family and friends), took the train downtown to have lunch with Tony, went bowling, drove to Malibu and just chilled.

Olivia pretty much sleeps 6 hours at night now and that means I too sleep about 6 hours at night.  We go for walks to the bank, the grocery store, around the neighborhood, etc.  Olivia likes to ride in her stroller and also likes to be in the car.  She loves her bouncy seat and listening to music and our voices.  She doesn't love bath time yet, but we're hoping that will change.  To us, she is the greatest thing in the world and we're so happy to have her here with us, finally.

Olivia - August 17th - 1 day old

With Aunt Colleen

"What are you talking about, Dad?"



Grandpa Ed makes a comfy bed



So does Grandma Eileen

Olivia's first official photo shoot.  Looks like Daddy has his work cut out for him!

She just doesn't see what all the fuss is about...but we do!

I will continue to post here whenever I can so stay tuned for more fun facts about Olivia!

Last Day on the Inside

Well, this is it...the countdown is coming to an end.  You may be asking how I can be so certain.  Unless the baby decides to arrive tonight, which doesn't seem likely, we have an appointment to be admitted first thing tomorrow morning.  Contractions will be "enhanced" and we will have a baby by evening, according to our doctor.  Why not wait to see what happens?  My doctor does not want the baby to get any bigger and Tuesday would be a complete 40 weeks.  (And don't forget, at 34 weeks, the baby's head was measuring at 38 weeks!) Tony and I jumped on the idea of knowing we'd have our little one by Monday night.  


Believe it or not, we did accomplish about 99% of our pre-baby to-do list, so we feel pretty ready.  Colleen has arrived in LA and settled into her apartment in time for the action.  I am getting tired and bored with laying around, and have now started waking up at least 2 to 3 times a night, so I think it's time.  I know it's time.  We will finally know who has been wriggling around inside my belly!  WE ARE VERY EXCITED!


Here are the final pregnancy photos of me, taken this morning.

And here's a photo of Tigger and Pooh anxiously awaiting the arrival of their new roommate. 

Thanks for reading...stay tuned for updates on Baby Masters' first days.

Final Week

Okay, so I still don't have a final belly photo to post...we've been really busy and just haven't taken one yet, but I'm pretty sure we still have at least a day or two.


The baby's room is done...crib is painted, assembled and dressed, curtains are up, baskets are full of stuff.


Our apartment is almost back to normal.  Portable office is now assembled. Taking some things to Colleen's new place tonight.  Now we just have to find places for a bunch of little miscellaneous items.  


All in all, I think we've made good progress...speaking of progress, physically, we are also making progress, but not enough to send us to the hospital. Next doctor appointment is tomorrow and we're hoping for a baby by the end of the weekend.  We'll see!

Week 38...

Well, we have accomplished a lot this week, although the current state of our apartment would suggest otherwise.  Here's a rundown of the baby checklist:

1. everyone knows we completed our childbirth prep classes - check
2. we toured the hospital - check
3. one of two hospital bags is packed - check
4. we found a pediatrician - check (this was done this week)
5. I stopped working - check (Wednesday was my last day)
6. The office was cleared out - check (done this week)
7. Tony's brother and his family came over and painted the baby's room - check (done this weekend)
8. We had all of the carpets cleaned - check (also done this weekend)

Still left to do...but we hope to finish by this weekend so we can perhaps relax...

1. strip and paint the crib
2. put the crib together
3. organize the baby's room
4. organize our new mobile office
5. pack the other hospital bag
6. get some good sleep
7. sit around and watch some tv

By the way, there's nothing much to report from the doctor last Thursday.  We'll see if anything changes this week.  So far, the baby is cooperating with our "stay put until we have things ready" policy.  But we can't wait to finally meet this little person!

Sorry no pictures again...Tony's computer is out of commission as we transition and he keeps all the photos there.  There will be one more belly photo to come and I will likely post more often now that I am home.

Ta Ta for Now

No Sleep Til.....

Well, it's 4:22am and guess what?  I can't sleep!  I figured I may as well make productive use of my time, as I prepare for being up at all hours of the day and night.


This post won't include any pictures, because Tony is sleeping and he usually preps the photos for me.


We had another great (and final) shower yesterday with fantastic friends.  We received many  great books for the baby to last throughout their childhood years, as well as more cute clothes and some great wall art.


Is anyone tired of me saying that we're so lucky to have such great friends and family...well, I'm not tired of saying it!  It is truly amazing and overwhelming just how much love is out there for this little person we are so anxious to meet (oh yeah and we're pretty sure some of the love is for us too, which is also cool).


We will be working furiously over the next week or so to finish emptying the office and get it painted.  We're hoping to have a couple of weekends without projects before our lives are forever changed. Tuesday will mark 37 weeks...my leave of absence and weekly doctor appointments start Thursday.  We are really in the home stretch now!  


Guess I'll try to get a few more winks in while I can.  Thanks for visiting.

Nearly 36 Weeks Along...

Okay, Okay, I know I'm late in posting, but we've been pretty busy and I just haven't gotten around to writing this week.


Anyway, we had a 34 week appointment and found out that the baby is about 4.5 pounds (maybe 5 pounds by now).  We also found out that the baby's head is measuring at 38 weeks!  We knew there was a pretty good chance of having a big-headed baby, since Tony's head is quite large, but I think we were both a little shocked that it's 4 weeks ahead!  Not really though, because the legs are measuring at 36 weeks.  Anyway, everything looks good.  Doc says the baby won't be too big (I'm hoping for well under 8 pounds), it'll just have a big head.  Too bad the head has to come out first!

We had a lovely shower this past weekend in our backyard.  Pics below. Yummy summer fare, delicious cake and great company made it a wonderful summer afternoon.  We got a lot of diapers (about 550 altogether) which Tony thinks will last forever.  Boy, is he in for a surprise!  

This weekend, the focus is on clearing out some of the office furniture. We're hoping to have the baby's room at least cleared and painted by the end of the month.  We're getting there.  It's been extremely hot here (100+ degrees) so the outdoor project of sanding and painting the crib is on hold.  It's supposed to cool down a little next week.


I am also counting down the days to my leave of absence from work.  I have 8 work days left and plenty to do.  I will be so thankful for a little time off to organize the baby's things and just chill.  I plan to catch up on a few tv series I've missed.  Suggestions are welcomed.


That's all for now!