"I Can Do Hard Things"

I'd like to mention something that's impacted me over the last 3+ months. I have a very inspiring friend that also blogs and dedicated a post to doing 'hard things'. The post talked about my friend working on habits and things she wasn't very good at, that were hard for her, and cultivate them into possible talents, such as taking pictures and like things. I made a mental note to think of something I thought would be hard or not very good at, and then do the same. It wasn't a few weeks later that I was in labor and undertaking the hardest thing ever (for me at least).
As the labor wore on, my mindframe became "I can do hard things" and so on it went. I can't even articulate how helpful, inspiring, and humbling this simple phrase was for me. I would sometimes think of my friend and her simple post and the monumental effect it had on me; About how strong she is all the time and how I could be like her and survive. Anyway, Olive was finally born and the weeks that followed heavily incorporated me repeating over and over that I can do hard things, (to myself, that is) until I felt that I could truly take on the role like I was meant to. I absolutely recommend thinking in your lives about 'hard things' and working on them, big or small.

3.5 months - Update

Golly, I need to get better at this. Anyway, it is now the middle of August and for some reason I seriously felt like I wouldn't live to see this month. haha, Really. It just seemed eons and eons away. But, here we are and life is good.

I suppose I should start at around eight weeks, or the 4th of July. Like I hind before, I we blessed Olive in the great little town of Blanding, Cody's hometown. He gave her a wonderful blessing and we were fortunate to have a lot of family come over in support. My best friend Erin made Olive's blessing outfit and it came out quite near perfect. We dressed her in traditional navajo dress for the occasion. It was beautiful.

We spent the rest of the holiday watching the parade and taking it easy. At night we set off fireworks and watched the neighborhood go hog wild on the festivities. To give you an idea, every night sounded like a war zone that married a Star Wars movie. haha. No, really.

After that adventure, the next week we went to Cody's family reunion in Marysvale, UT. It was a fun day to spend with more of his family and for them to love on Olive. She actually did ok on both of these occasions. We definitely need to get her more used to more people though. She can get pretty freaked out sometimes.

In the last 6+ weeks, Olive has learned/developed so much. She can now:

-Stand with help and bear her own weight. (This is actually her favorite thing to do. Anything else is just boring and limiting to her.)

- Smile more and more. She's a really happy baby and even if she's tired or mad at something, we can usually get her to smile anyway. haha

- Grasp and hold on to objects. We're getting better and better with that all the time.

- Drool like it's going out of style.

- We can hold on to her hands and pull her to a sitting and then standing position with no problems. Her head keeps level and steady.

- Tummy time is getting better and better. She can hold her head up for a long time. Not her favorite, but she'll thank us for it later. :)

- Talk and babble ALL THE TIME. She is so funny and makes the cutest sounds and gurgles. Imagine a little kitty talking to you all day long.

- This has been a normal thing this whole time, but she sleeps at night in good eight hour stretches. It's a beautiful thing.

- She naps in 30 minute intervals every two hours. I've adjusted accordingly. Whatever works.

- Olive has remained on the 30% track of the growth chart and weighs about 12 pounds now.

- Loves to be read to. (And add her two cents as well)

- Likes to see everything that's going on. Seriously.

- Can nearly hold her bottle all by herself. It's cute.

She's a funny little baby and we love her so much. It's fun to see what she'll do next.

In other news, the 12th week of my maternity leave came around and I had to make a tough choice. I decided to leave LearnKey and stay home with Olive. It wasn't so much that it was hard to decide, I, like always, wanted to somehow do both. It wasn't meant to be. There is no way I could bring Olive in (something they offered) and make the work fair and also fair to Olive. Since she naps in such short times as well, it would be impossible to get anything done there, or at home. (another thing they offered). I barely get normal things done at home. haha. Anyway, it was with mixed emotions that I left. I think that era is over and now I need to focus on Olive and making sure she gets what she needs. I'm up for it. :) Besides it all, I have been getting a steady stream of freelance work to keep me content. There is indeed a plan for everyone.