My Christmas Started 9 Months Ago...

When this stuff was born:

and today she is the main thing that keeps me going.

My love for her is impossible to measure,

to describe, to explain.

Her smell makes me warm and her giggles light my day.

Happy 9 Months Birthday, Olivinha!

Mamae te ama, tanto tanto tanto!

(Born March 21 2009, 6lbs 10oz 20in. 9 months later 22lbs 5oz 28.4in)

5 Months Ago...

I woke up like this:

And after an exhausting but worthwhile battle,

I was given this:

And it was the.happiest.day.ofmylife!

And now I get to enjoy beauty like this:

And cuddle times like these:

I don't think there's a blessing bigger than this!

Do you?

I Think I Know Why Some Women Keep Having Children

It's gotta be because of this:

So warm,
so cuddly,
so sweet,
so heavenly,
so precious,
so sacred,
so special,
so unforgetable...



Is that why?

She Makes Me Cry

Of joy!

It is 3:30am on Sunday and I am up. I just washed some of Olivia's clothes, by hand, then got her diaper bag ready for church and other events today. I washed and sterelized all of her bottles and put aside the formula she will eat today. I filled in her feeding and potty chart and separated the dress she is going to wear to church. It is 3:30am and I am up, not for me, but for my daughter.

Imagine this: you're running errands, or with friends, or at your inlaws', or just sitting on the couch giving your baby a bottle, and then you look at her, and just... overwhelming love takes over and you start crying. Did this ever happen to you???

It has happened to me a lot lately. I love my baby SO MUCH! I don't want her to grow as fast as she is groing,! What the heck?! Why can't babies stay newborn forever???

Last week I was at a friend's wedding and they had music playing... One of the songs was "From This Moment On" by Shania Twain. I know it's supposed to be a romantic song that lovers will sing to each other, but when it got to the part "From this moment as long as I live, I will love you, I promise you this, there is nothing I wouldn't give, from this moment on..." I started crying! I was holding Olivia and she was sleeping like an angel and that song talks about unconditional love, which I now understand, and I just wanted time to freeze so I could hold her forever and ever!

Just thinking about it and hearing that song in my head right now gives me goosebumps and brings tears to my eyes again.

(I do swear that I'll always be there.
I'd give anything and everything and I will always care.
Through weakness and strength, happiness and sorrow,
for better for worse, I will love you withevery beat of my heart.)

From this moment life has begun
From this moment you are the one
Right beside you is where I belong
From this moment on
From this moment I have been blessed
I live only for your happiness
And for your love I'd give my last breath
From this moment on
I give my hand to you with all my heart
Can't wait to live my life with you, can't wait to start
You and I will never be apart
My dreams came true because of you
From this moment as long as I live
I will love you, I promise you this
There is nothing I wouldn't give
From this moment on
You're the reason I believe in love
And you're the answer to my prayers from up above
All we need is just the two of us
My dreams came true because of you
From this moment as long as I live
I will love you, I promise you this
There is nothing I wouldn't give
From this momentI will love you as long as I live
From this moment on

I had no idea being a mother was so amazing! Did you?

It's Been Three Years...

First we met, became friends, fell in love and got engaged:

Then we took fun engagement pictures:

In the meanwhile I was having bridal showers

and pretending to be ANTM:

Finally we got married and had the coolest reception:

And three years later...

it's all better than ever!

HAPPY

WEDDING

ANNIVERSARY

FOR

US!!!

How have the past three years been for you?

Updating on Romantic Date

I was supposed to have posted this long time ago. It was a "romantic date" Trevor and I went a few days before Olivia was born, our last romantic date without a baby. From now on, we can't change the fact that we have a baby, that we love her, and that I feel like my world is coming to an end when I am away from her so... for a while she will come with us to any future romantic dates :)

We are low maintenance, so for our romantic date we went to Red Robin! Yummie!

I want to know, when was the last time YOU went on a romantic date with your special someone? ;)

I Need to Repent!

I've been the worst blogger in blog history, haven't I? The thing is, I am lazy and think I have a great excuse ( I rather spend time with the cutest baby in the universe! ) but I was just realizing that if I don't blog about Olivia and life with her, then I am failing to register her growth and development... So I need to repent and be better about blogging!

Time is going by way too fast!!! Olivia is not that skinny fragile baby that we brought home from the hospital anymore. She is gaining weight, she is getting smarter and cuter and... OLDER! I took a "one month picture" and I will take one like that every month in order to track her growth. We go to the Dr on the 20th to get her first shots and that shall be interesting. I hear most moms cry when their babies take the shots but so far I think Olivia's cry is the cutest thing in the world. Even her cry is developing, getting louder and cuter, but she really only cries when she is hungry or too tired (which I don't understand, if you're tired, SLEEP! But she fights it and fights me and I have the scratches to prove it!)

She has also started playing with toys, especially the toys on her "floor gym" thing, it's the cutest thing in the world to see her punching them and watching them as they move and then smiling. Everyone tells me how smart she is and that they've never met a baby her age that does the things she does. She's really observant and, as my mother in law says, she is "constant movement." I have some videos on my youtube if you girls want to see them, just click here. I've been making videos of her for my family in Brazil and Portugal to see, they love it and it's fun to go back and look at them. Hopefully when she grows up and watches them she won't be too embarrassed :) I can always show them to her boyfriends, you know, the ones she'll have when she's thirty, hee hee hee

Okay, I will share some pictures of the last couple of weeks. I don't have a lot of pictures with her cuz I am always the one taking the pictures. I will blog more about other stuff that's going on especially Olivia stuff. We simply love her, so so so much! I am sure all of you understand!

One month old! April 21, 2009.

Recognizing grandma's voice on the speaker phone. So cute!

Holding the bottle at 5 weeks. Silly girl!

Business on the front, party on the back!

Sleeping with daddy.

Mini-skirt on Cinco de Mayo :)

And I am looking to get a baby sling, which one do YOU recommend and WHY?

Parting...

... is such sweet sorrow!

My mom flew back to Portugal on Tuesday (yes, we're all Brazilian, but she lives there with my brother, long story).

I miss her a lot. A LOT! I still wonder what I am doing with Olivia, I mean, it's funny cuz I have babysat so many kids and loved it and thought I had so much experience and was so ready but... for some reason I still look at Olivia and wonder if I am doing things right. As Trevor says, "taking care of babies is easy: you feed them, you change their diaper, you bathe them, you let them sleep and you cuddle with them." Isn't that true? It's not the hardest job on earth so far, but I still feel so uncapable. I know I will feel more secure one day, how about that day come tomorrow?! :)

I have to say thank you to all of you my friends who visit and post on my blog! Your advice and experiences are helping me tons! I have been procrastinating to visit you but I will soon, I promise! Now that my mainha is gone I need distraction when Olivia is asleep... but... speaking of her, she just woke up!

Enjoy the pics of mainha's last day here and I will be back soon :)

Grandma Vila Nova with Grandm and Grandpa Windhorst

at the airport

giving advice

fighting back the tears...

"É bom sentir saudades, é sinal que se viveu. Das coisas que não se vive não se sente saudades."