Weekend in Madison

On Friday, Jon, Olivia, and I drove up to Madison, Wisconsin to visit some friends. Max is one of Jon's oldest and best friends. He and his wife, Emily, have a little boy (Henry) who is about a month younger than Olivia. Another of Jon's closest friends, Joe, drove in from Minneapolis with his wife, Kaia and their little boy, Luke, who is 4 months old. This was our first overnight trip anywhere besides the grandparents, and we had a great time!

The three kids (not an easy task to capture the wiggleworms!):


Max and Emily were such gracious hosts. Friday evening, Max cooked a great dinner for all of us, as well as a few other friends who live in Madison. We stayed up way too late visiting, and catching up.

Up early on Saturday morning, Kaia, Emily, and I headed to the spa for pedicures while the guys kept the kids. It was so nice to get away for a few hours and have a little girl time. After lunch, we headed home and took over, so the boys could grab some food. Later that evening, we ventured out to dinner. (Yes, I realize that we were extremely brave in taking 3 kids under 9 months old out to eat, but they made me so proud!) The kids did so well, and we were able to enjoy a great dinner with even better friends. Back at home, we put the babies to bed and once again, stayed up too late.

After a home cooked breakfast by Emily on Sunday morning, we made our way back to Chicago. We were all exhausted, and turned in early.

It was so fun to watch Olivia and Henry play together. They are doing the same things right now, and they were so cute! And, little Luke is adorable! It won't be long until they are all running around together.

I kept forgetting to take pictures, so I stole most of the ones below from Emily.

Henry chasing Olivia:

Wishing they could break free:

Luke being such a sweet lil' guy:

Henry and Olivia:

9 Months Old

Olivia turned 9 months old on Friday. What is she up to this month?

- She still wears 12 month clothes.
- She is still in a size 4 diaper.
- She has a total of 6 teeth, 4 on top and 2 on bottom.
- Her sleeping has been very inconsistent this month. Sometimes she sleeps through the night, and sometimes she wakes up every 3-4 hours.
- She still takes 2, sometimes 3 naps. They are usually very short in length, though.
- Falling asleep is more difficult these days, as she likes to stand in her crib and look at us.
- She LOVES to be on the floor playing.
- She is still crawling everywhere and pulling up on everything.
- She is walking along the furniture now.
- She loves clapping! She will clap when I sing "Pat-a-Cake" and "If you're Happy and You Know It", or when I say "Yay!"
- She waves bye-bye.
- When I ask her where my nose is, she will reach for it (most of the time).
- We think she is saying "Duck". She loves her duck and when I ask her what it is, she says, "Duh". (Maybe it's a coincidence?!?) :)
- She likes to "dance" to the music.
- She loves playing "Giddy Up, Horsey".
- She is still a really good eater, and she enjoys picking up her food and feeding herself (sometimes).
- She likes giving big, slobbery kisses when she's in the right mood.
- Sometimes, she will "blow kisses". To her, this is accomplished by sticking out her tongue and blowing.
- She goes through shy phases. When someone strange reaches for her, she lays her head on my shoulder.
- When Jon gets home, she crawls as fast as she can to the door to see him.

I had a really hard time getting her to stay still for her 9 month photos, so here are a couple of random pictures from the week. I'll try again tomorrow and add them if I get any good ones.

(Late) Valentine's Day and the Rest of the Weekend

We had a great long weekend. Jon was off Monday, so it was nice to have an extra day. Since Jon's parents were visiting the weekend right before Valentine's Day, we decided to celebrate the following weekend. So, Jon took his two Valentines out to dinner Saturday night. We went to Dorado, which is considered French-Mexican cuisine. We went early so that we wouldn't have to keep Olivia up past her bedtime. We had an excellent meal, and Olivia did great. In fact, the waitresses asked if they could keep her! :)

Valentine's Day with Daddy:

Valentine's Day with Mommy:


After breakfast Sunday morning, we made a trip to Costco and then stayed in the rest of the day. It was cold and rainy/snowy.

We made plans to go to the aquarium on Monday. It was a community free day, so we figured it was a good time to give it a try. (Yes, I know... Olivia is too young for the aquarium. But, we thought she might like the big tank with all of the fish swimming around.) Unfortunately, it didn't go as planned. As Jon dropped Olivia and I off near the front and went to park, one of the workers informed me that we would be waiting in line (outside) for 45 minutes. It was cold and snowing, and we decided that wasn't the best idea. So, Jon picked us up and we left. Unable to think of anything else to do, we decided to go to lunch.



So, basically we had a wonderful weekend of eating out! Ha! This morning, we went back to our regular playgroup. The group has changed a little. Now, Olivia is the youngest and the only one not walking. The others are over a year old. She still enjoys herself, though, and it's (not so) fun to see what she'll be up to in a few months!

She has figured out how to crawl underneath our coffee table. This cracks me up because Dagny did this when she was a puppy.

We are going to Madison, WI this weekend to visit some of Jon's friends. There will be 3 couples, each with a baby. Olivia is the oldest of the three, so it should be fun!

9 Month Check-Up

I took Olivia to the doctor on Monday to get the booster portion of her flu shot. Since her 9 month appointment was scheduled for next week, we decided to just get it all done while we were there. She weighs 21 lbs 6 oz and is 28 1/2 inches long. Dr. Egues said she looks great!

In other news, Olivia now has 4 top teeth in addition to the two on the bottom. I'm hoping it was those 4 teeth that were causing the sleep disruptions. She's been sleeping much better the past 2 nights. Fingers crossed that it continues...

We went back to our playgroup today. One of the moms commented on how much Olivia has changed since she last saw her, which was just 3 weeks ago. She is growing and changing so fast these days!

Weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Gilge

Jon's parents came for a visit last weekend. They arrived Friday evening and stayed until Monday morning. We didn't do much, except hang out around the house and visit. Jon's mom brought food from home, so we didn't even venture out to eat, except for lunch on Saturday. It was a great visit, and we are looking forward to the next one!

Jon's dad put Olivia in the clothes hamper and pushed her around. She thought it was pretty funny: She LOVED sitting on Grandpa's lap and listening to him play the harmonica. (There is a video at the bottom of this post.) She enjoyed reading with Grandma Gilge. Here they are together: With Grandpa Gilge: Hope you all enjoyed your weekend as well!

One More Thing... Comments

(Be sure to scroll down... I posted a couple of updates below).

I have been asked several times about how to comment on the blog, and I keep forgetting to post instructions. If you'd like to leave a comment (and I hope you do... I'd love to see who's reading!), below are the steps:

1. Click on "(0) comments" at the end of the post.
2. Write your comment in the box.
3. In the "Comment As" box, choose Name/ URL. You will just need to enter your name in the next box that appears (and leave URL blank).
4. Click "Continue".
5. Back at the original screen, you should see your comment and name. At this point, be sure to click "Post Comment".

I hope that helps. If you have problems commenting (or would prefer to email me instead), email me at marybethgilge@hotmail.com.

Our Week Thus Far

To make up for my lack of pictures on the previous post, I thought I'd share a few pictures of the past couple of days. We've just been playing and exploring. We were going to get out of the house and go to Target yesterday, but my car wouldn't start. It seems that the battery is dead. Jon was going to jump it and let it charge last night, but he couldn't get to it because of the other cars nearby, which means we had to skip our playgroup today as well. Hopefully we can get out of the house tomorrow... we're both getting cabin fever!

Olivia is pulling up on everything now! Everytime I turn around, she's standing up. She can also take a few steps with her walker.


She LOVES the dogs!

This is the view I have of her most of the time:

Jon's parents are coming this weekend. I'll update again after their visit.

Trip to Arkansas

Olivia and I had a wonderful time visiting with family and friends in Arkansas. She did great on the flight there, and we were greeted at the airport by Glen, Abby, and Mason. I don't think my mom was too happy about Glen and the kids being the ones to pick us up, but she agreed to it under the condition that we come straight to her house. Ha! After visits with mom and Christi and the girls, Olivia, Amy, and I went to Horseshoe Lake with Glen and his kids for Olivia's first bonfire. We didn't stay very long, but she seemed to enjoy it.

We went to church on Sunday, followed by lunch at Cracker Barrel with family. We spent the rest of the day at mom's house with Abby and Mason. More of the same on Monday and Tuesday, and Olivia stayed with mom Tuesday night so I could go to dinner with Amy. On Wednesday afternoon, I left Olivia with mom and I went and picked Abby up from school. When I got back, Olivia was running a fever. (She had a couple of teeth coming in earlier in the week, so I'm not sure if that was the cause or not). She felt good enough on Thursday to go with me to have lunch with Abby at school, but the fever continued until Friday. She was a little fussy and her sleep was not good. She was waking up several times during the night.

Luckily, the fever went away before our flight home on Saturday, and she did pretty well on that flight as well. However, her good sleep habits still haven't returned. :( She is still teething, so maybe that is the culprit. I'm hoping she isn't starting to make this a habit, though. After months of great sleep, a week of waking up is wearing this mama out! Ha!

I only took a few pictures, but I can't find the USB for my camera, so I'll have to upload them later.

We're Back... Update Coming Shortly

Olivia and I made it back to Chicago yesterday morning. Wow-- I can't get over how much snow we got!! We've had a relatively low-key weekend, catching up on rest and time with Jon. I'll update on the trip in the next few days.

Here's what I came home to: