Christmas time is here **sing-song a la Charlie Brown**

Well the holidays have come and gone - and one can only hope that he will not be sick next year! Poor little O!

Friday evening, we went up to my Uncle's home in Edmonds and visited with my Dad's side of the family. Little Chelsea was a big hit, as was Oliver, who amused those in the living room.

I filled up on prime rib and deviled eggs, and Tim filled up on shrimp (he can't help himself). Oliver said it was time to go though. He was tired, and was busy coughing and snotting up everything. Awesome.

Christmas day seems to be like any other day at this point - as Oliver was still sick (to be honest, I think this was the worst day for him). We went up to my brother's house in the morning and met up with my Dad and Jana. Chelsea was actually awake! We all took turns holding and feeding her.

Oliver let my Dad know that his fist was delicious.

A quick Christmas vid. The batteries gave out and I forgot to change them out when I got home. Whoopsie.

This outing, as you could get from the video, was also cut short. Oliver was getting very tired and refused to nap at my brother's house (we also did not want to get Chelsea sick). We went home and let little man nap a bit before going to my Mom's for dinner.

He looked like a precious angel sleeping in our bed.

We went to my Mom's for dinner, where my Grandpa (G'Gpa for Oliver) was there. I did not break out the camera. This visit - as with everything this day and the day before - was quick. But trust, he was a little cutie for us. A coughing, boogery cutie.

It was a good weekend despite the common element of sickness. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, too!

Sickness and shopping

I am beginning to see that sick babies and children is a common occurence. Oliver has a cold. It is not as bad as the last time he was sick. He still tries to be the happy baby he is, and then he coughs, and starts to cry a little. Tim stayed home with him on Wednesday, and I stayed home with him yesterday.

I thought I'd venture out and pick up some more food to make baby food. I finally broke out the shopping cart cover I talked about here. I hadn't used it yet because I was just so nervous that he was going to be too small. I took some photos with my cell phone of his adventure.

You can tell he isn't feeling too good - his eyes aren't open all the way, and his mouth is hanging open. Poor little man.

Oliver, although sick, still seemed to REALLY enjoy sitting in this area. He got to look around and still flirt with all the ladies. So can you believe the steal I got on this?? Note to self: any time I want to buy something, check Me & Moms first!

Christmas is almost here!

I haven't been all *rah rah* for Christmas in many years, and even though Oliver isn't going to remember it, it makes me think of future Christmases to come.

I was excited to find Oliver's First Christmas ornament. I had been searching high and low for one and nothing appealed to me. There was a kiosk in the mall that personalized ornaments that they sold. So I was able to pick out this little cutie - and now it has "Oliver's 1st Christmas" on it.

My mom was also kind enough to stich in "Dad" "Mom" and "Oliver" into these stockings.

Oliver sat in with TTC and Chelsea in front of my brother and SIL's Christmas tree. I hope she doesn't mind me sharing - here they are in their Christmas pajamas.

Interestingly enough, Oliver loves their tree more than ours. I think it's because their lights twinkle and ours don't. Oliver really wanted to check it out, so Uncle Jim gave him a hand.

Even though he won't remember his first Christmas, everyone around him will, and that is probably why a baby's first Christmas is always so special, right?

Baby food!

I had some questions from Oliver's fans about Oliver's food - was I really making all of it? We can thank my good friend Allison who hosted one of my baby showers. One of the games involved attempting to guess what food you were actually eating from the jars of Gerber baby food. And you know what? It was not only disgusting, but I had a REALLY hard time with guessing the right food! I was going to make his food anyway, but anytime I think, "Maybe I'll just pick some up just in case I run out," I think to my baby shower and remember... Thanks, Al!

I am no stranger in the kitchen, but this website has been a huge, huge, huge help. Search for pretty much any food and it will tell you how to prepare it, the nutritional content, and what goes best with it. Here is some of Oliver's food:

The green thing is a silicone tray that you can push the food out after it freezes. Then transfer to freezer bags. All you have to do is just defrost, and BAM - ready to eat food! In the tray currently is peas - behind is sweet potatoes that will be roasted in a moment. In the little pots contains carrot/apple/parsnip puree, apple, acorn squash, peas, and more sweet potatoes. He also loves pears, whole grain in formula, bananas and yogurt (the one thing I do not make because, well, making yogurt is a bit tricky).

Oliver is also learning to master his sippy cup. He hasn't figured out that he is the one that is supposed to hold it (we hold it up for him), but he definitely gets that it goes in his mouth... as demonstrated by this quick video:

Lastly, someone wanted to know how much time I spent during the week preparing his food. I usually do it between other things on Sunday (throw some sweet potatoes in the oven, while poaching some pears or cooking some peas). I read a really good blog post from another lady who made her own baby food here. She is also a photographer, so of course her food photos are better than mine. Like her though, we have been doing all organic.

Okay - end long post here - mostly educational, not too Oliver filled. So here's a bonus video for you. Congrats!

Midweek recap

So I had left the camera at work accidentally, so I did not get a chance to post since last Thursday. Oliver first wanted to show you how he spends college football Saturdays... in his Penn State onesie, of course! Amazing that this is already so tight on him. Luckily we have some more in bigger sizes, so he can cheer on as he grows.

It's becoming a rare sight to see him without his bib... but we have to take it off every now and again! He is a real drool monster right now, though!

I also wanted to update you on my knitting. Here is my first "finished" product. Finished because I ran out of yarn, however it is too short to do anything with. I'm proud of my little handy work - however I don't think I can keep it up. With my hand injury earlier this year, it makes my hand hurt pretty quickly.

Lastly, Tim, Oliver, and I went up to my brother's place this evening. Baby Chelsea was discharged today, and she demanded our presence! My S-I-L's family was also over. My mom (TTC) was also in attendance. It was a very full house!

The paparazzi was in full force... with the two babies, my mom, brother, and Tim all started flashing. We're going to have to get some shades for them to blind them from all the flashes.

The new addition!

I was beyond excited when I got a call today from my brother, who shared the wonderful news that they had their baby today! Her name is Chelsea Fahey, born this morning (December 9th) and weighed in at 7 pounds, 8 ounces, 19 3/4" long. Here is a boring video of her sleeping. Boring, but cute. I love her.

A few photos (FYI, hospitals have atrocious lighting)...

The lab tech came in while we were there to do a heel tap for blood tests. Just like all babies, Chelsea did not appreciate getting unswaddled. She opened her eyes briefly and said, "Aunt Carrie! Save me!" Luckily, I do a pretty good swaddle. Once she is home, I'll give her a good swaddling. :-)

Welcome to the world, Chelsea! You have so many people who love you... even your cousin Oliver... and you probably thought Oliver wouldn't get a mention in this post... HA!

Oliver laughs at you. Of course he get's a mention. He's Oliver!

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum

Sunday, Tim, Oliver and I went to go pick out a tree. Last year, we got a giant douglas, which took up half the living room. This year, we downsized to a 5 1/2 Noble. We go to the same place every year - the people who work there are really friendly and always help get the tree in or on top of your car. Here's the finished product:

A close-up of Tim and my ornament we picked out for each other (they are both a bit creepy this year)

And of course, what kind of post would this be without a photo of little O? Here's Daddy giving tummy kisses.

Santa!

Does anyone else think of the SNL skit where Dana Carvey plays the Church Lady... switching the letters from Santa to Satan... I can't think of anything else when I see the word Santa.

Anyway, Tim, Oliver, and I went downtown to Macy's to pick up some ornaments and see about seeing the big guy. The line wasn't too long at Macy's so we made it happen! He wasn't the best looking Santa, but he had a real beard, and Oliver was okay with it. He didn't cry. He didn't smile either, because he was too busy looking around.

Here's Oliver's first Santa photo!

Life is wonderful.

I just found out one of my other friends just got engaged this week. That makes three couples that make me smile even happier! Congrats, Brooke and Keene, Heather and Sarah, and Terrell and Andrew! The highlighted ladies also have blogs which keep me entertained at work. Thanks!

You know what else makes me smile? My sister in law is about to pop. If she goes on Sunday, I'm the big winner winner chicken dinner of her baby pool. Although no prize involved, I get the knowledge that I know when babies come. We had a baby pool for Oliver, and I guessed closest with that one, too! Go me.

Speaking of awesome babies, Oliver wanted to show you what an avid reader he is:

This weekend, we are going up to Everett for a holiday party, we are also going to try to hit up Macys for the annual "buy an ornament for the other person" festivity. This year we will also buy Oliver an ornament. We may even visit Santa as long as the line isn't too long and he has a real beard. Fake beard Santas make me scream.

6 month checkup!

Wow, 6 months already, Oliver?! He hit the 6 month mark on Thanksgiving, so it was partially thankful for Thanksgiving stuff, and the rest is about Oliver. The time is really flying by. I remember this time last year, I was still pretty nauseous and being crazy pregnant lady... and now we have this little guy who is practically going to college next week. You know, because time is going so fast... oh nevermind.

Little man had his 6 month appointment yesterday and had more shots including a flu shot. Tim reported that he was charming the ladies at the office, but his charm did not avoid the shots. He weighed in at 17 pounds, 3.5 ounces (42 percentile), which actually is not that much more than his 4 month check up. He is 27" long (69 percentile). Besides him sounding congested from his leftover cold, he is the perfect picture of health. Way to be, little O!

I tried him out in his high chair yesterday for the first time. We had been feeding him for a while now while he sits in his bumbo on the table. The problem is that he gets VERY distracted and makes feeding him a challenge. Now with nothing around for him to grab, feeding time goes faster!

Last night, Oliver and I watched Glee. Here he is watching a performance at sectionals.

Oliver says, Kurt! Come back to the New Beginnings! You're such a Gleek, little man.

More hot deals

Tim and I were on the lookout for a shopping cart cover now that Oliver is sitting up (...like a big boy). We went to Babies R Us and also to Merry Go Round in Bellevue and found them to be extremely pricey! $40+ for some fabric? And awful designs? Yucky.

I turned to Me and Moms again to look for one, and found a super cute "shopping nest" and "dining nest" for restaurant high chairs. I found the new ones at: http://www.theshoppingnest.com/ Each separately new runs $40 for the shopping cart and $30 for the high chair cover. It all came in the Matching Carry-All Tote that runs $15. And what price did I pay for this treasure? A measly $7.99. And it looks BRAND NEW - I washed it in hot water and it's good to go! Look for photos to come.

Turning from my hot deals are new photos of the little guy. This one is from last Monday... the beginning of snopocalpse. My mom (TTC) thought she'd bundle up the little man and walk to the grocery store. The trip was cut short when she was not dressed properly. Oliver remained toasty, however.

Anyone think he looks like Ralphie's brother from "A Christmas Story"?

Super cute, right?! Yesterday, Oliver woke up from a nap in his crib and looked so happy... so I brought some toys in to him. He played with them for a while. Here's one I caught of him showing us that he still doesn't have any teeth.

Oh, and that awesome thermal onesie? Courtesy of his Uncle Jim and Aunt Ali. And although it says 9 months, it fits him perfectly!

The king of sitting

Well, maybe not yet. It is amazing to see how he is getting to control his balance. Just thinking back to a week ago, he could not sit up this well. What a big boy.

Here's a video showing him sitting on the bed while Tim and I were putting the sheets on.

A few minutes prior, he was playing with his BFF Spike. Oliver is really taking to him, although we are doing our best to not have him grab a chunk of cat flesh... luckily Spike is pretty easy going, but I know one of these days, he will tell Oliver, "No more!"

First pureed food!

Now that Little O is feeling well, we are starting on the "solids" train! Solids in air quotes, because it's just puree and rice cereal. I pureed the pears we got in our CSA box. I first lightly boiled them to soften them up, and then put them in the blender with a little bit of water. A few seconds later, delicious, puree pears!

Knitting?

Spurred on by my crafty cubey neighbors, I decided to take up knitting. I wanted to do this about a year ago, but then I broke my hand - so no knitting for me. I'm getting into the slow season at work for me so finding a hobby helps pass the time.

I am on day two of my adventures. Things I've learned about knitting:

1. Being left-handed means I can't use any learning to knit books. I hear they have a book (yes, ONE) at Michael's, but I have yet to go.
2. Online also follows the right-hand dominant peeps.
3. I have found a few videos via youtube to help me and my minority ways.
4. Looking at blogs of ladies and their super crafty knitting projects makes me want to stop right away.
5. Bamboo needles are better for beginners (why didn't anyone tell me this before I bought the aluminum ones?).

I will keep at it. here is day 2. It's kind of a hot mess - but I'm proud of it so far.

Getting back to normal

Little man seems to be almost done with the nasty cold he had. I gave him a bath last night and here he is chewing on Ms. Octopus.

I'm so glad he loves his baths now. He spends a majority of the time chewing on this toy while I clean him up.

Yesterday evening, after watching the Seahawks dominate over the Cardinals, Tim, Oliver, and I went to Fred Meyer to kill some time. Tim is now sick but he was getting cabin fever and needed to get out of the house. Here he is dressed up, ready to go.

Are you noticing his fly kicks? Yes friends and family, those are Pumas. They are a little big on him right now, but they are SUPER cute. And I'll let you know right now, I will not be spending that much again on little baby shoes. We saw them and both Tim and I had to get them.

All in all, we had a pretty slow weekend while Tim was trying to recover, but I did do quite a bit of cleaning on Saturday. People with children tell me that it's not going to get any easier to get a good cleaning in, so I'm doing my best to keep up with most of the mess.

Sickness... continued

I thought all was well this past weekend when Oliver seemed to be fine after his little fever incident last week, however he had progressed to coughing, sneezing, and runny/stuffy nose all this week. Wednesday afternoon, his eye had globbed over and after a diagnosis from the doctor, developed an eye infection. The past two nights have been absolutely awful - Tim and I have been up a lot. The Nose Frida has been our best friend lately.

So you haven't missed anything wonderful this week. I am being optimistic that he will be better and back to his old Oliver self soon!

BTW, no photos, because really, you don't want to see it.

One last bit of news - we found out that Tim's sister will be having a baby girl early next year! Yeay! Baby girl explosion!

Toes

Today's blog is interrupted by Oliver's toes. Which apparently are delicious.

Happy Wednesday!

Pennsylvania, part two

I am back from the brink of death, so I thought I'd let you know how the rest of our trip went. We spent a lot of time hanging with Tim's mom's side, however we did drive up to see his dad one of the days, along with his dad's mom and dad. His grandparents live in the middle of the state near State College, PA, home of Penn State, and his dad lives about an hour and a half north. I did not have my camera mind going so I missed out on a family photo at his grandparents.

Both visits Oliver did wonderful - he was a big hit. Oliver is the last hope (so far) to carry on the Hollingshead name, so both Tim's dad and Pap were happy to meet the only hope!

We also spent a lot of time down at Tim's mom's parents (Pop and Grandma). Grandma goes by Aunt Grandma to the great-grandkids. It came accidentally but stuck after one of the great-grandkids called her that (apparently she had a lot of "aunts"). Her number one thing she wanted to do was sit in her rocking chair and rock him to sleep - which totally worked.

While we were there, autumn was in full force. Here's a few of the changing leaves.

Gorgeous, right?

Here is Tim's mom hanging with Oliver (and Christopher).

I'll finish up with two small videos - one is actually 3 small clips together, and then the other? That is Christopher. He's 2 1/2, and is off the walls with his energy! Whew!