My Baby is 6 Months Old!

I can't believe it! My baby is 6 months old. I swear I just gave birth like two days ago. He has changed so much. In the last 6 months, Ollie has learned to nurse, smile, laugh, coo, babble, sit up and roll over. He has also learned to use a spoon, has discovered his hands and feet, pushes up during tummy time and changes his cry according to what he wants or needs! Over the next six months, he will learn many more things. Here are some pictures I took today as well as some from the past!

                                             6 months old

                                      

                    2 days old                             6 months old

                       

                  4 weeks old                             11 weeks old                         

                                  

                                        6 months old

                                  

                                                                                             

Ollie Gray: Attack Baby

Ollie has become increasingly obsessed with his mouth. He likes to put everything into it. I've noticed that is how he plays with toys. Pick it up, look at it and stick it in his mouth. He even grabs my hair and pulls my face to him so he can latch on to my chin. I caught him "eating" his play gym. Take a look. 

Ollie's 1st Birthday Party

Ollie attended his first birthday party on Saturday. Adam turned 6. It was pretty exciting. Ollie had a great time. Here are some pictures of his exciting day.

Ollie HATES carrots

So I usually make homemade babyfood but I decided to try something store bought. So I bought carrots. Poor Ollie!

Dancing Baby

Just about everyday, Bob comes home for lunch. It is the highlight of Oliver's day. He loves his daddy! On Monday, Bob was singing to Ollie and dancing him around. Ollie was cackling! It was so cute. Here are a few pics:

New Friends

Lately, there have been a lot of babies born into our church. Since July, we have had 6. First it was Gideon on July 3. Then Oliver on August 27 and Cade on the 28th. On September 22, we welcomed Conor. Now this week, we got to welcome two new babies! Hunter was born on February 11 and Lily on the 13th. Both babies are wonderful. Hunter has an especially heartwarming story. After 3 years of trying, Keith and Constance decided to adopt. Within a few hours of posting their information, they were contacted by a birth mother who had only a few months before delivering. What an awesome answer to prayer! Well, those months flew by and he's here. Here are a few pics of both babies.

Here is Ollie & Hunter

Here is Ollie & I, Constance & Hunter
Welcome to motherhood Constance!!

Ollie & Lily

We had fun visits. The exciting thing is there are two more babies yet to come!

Working Hard

Many of you wonder and some have asked, "Just what does Ollie do at work all day?" I work part-time at my church as the children's director.  I am very fortunate to have an understanding boss who allows me to bring Ollie to work with me. It's a blessing. Our day starts pretty early; we usually arrive at church sometime between 8 and 9 am. We always have a lot to do but spend the first 15 minutes catching up with Auntie Veronica, the lovely secretary, and Grandpa Ken, the Pastor. Then the real work begins. Here is a series of pictures to show poor Oliver being completely overworked and underpaid:

He has to work on his tummy time.

and then of course he has to read the Bible awhile,

and make copies.

Then, there is all that typing,

and jumping. 

What I didn't get pictures of was nap time and the best of all: LUNCH WITH DADDY!

Shopping Trip

On Thursday, February 11, Ollie and I went out on a shopping excursion with my friend, Julianne. She has two boys, Brady, 4, and Landon, 14 months. It is always exciting when we go out. We first went to Old Navy. Ollie decided he wasn't happy and screamed while I was trying on jeans in the dressing room. I was very disappointed because I am in desperate need of jeans; most of mine are too big (yay!). Ollie did get a bunch of new things, however.  Landon decided to try to run around the store. Needless to say, I was very frazzled by the time I left. 

We went to Red Robin for lunch. Yum!  We had the best server and the food was excellent. Ollie had avocado. He really loved it. We were rejuvenated before our final stop at Costco.

When we got there, I remembered why I hate places like Sams and Costco.  It's just too much for my ADHD. Ollie spent the time in the front pouch while I walked walleyed around the store. I was so thankful when we were done!

Ollie & Lyle

Here's a video I took a few days ago.  Ollie has learned to drag the exersaucer behind him as he moves about. You can also see him going for Lyle. He loves Lyle so much. It's adorable!

Laughing

Here's a bit of that beautiful sound: baby laughter. Sorry the footage is so jiggly, I was trying to tape and tickle at the same time!

Eating!

Here is a video of Ollie eating. As you can see, much like his mom and dad, Ollie thoroughly enjoys eating. He gets very excited. He currently is only eating rice cereal although I think he'd like to be eating more. I tried veggies and he seemed to have an even more sensitive stomach so I decided to wait until he is six months old. That's only a few more weeks! Can you believe it?

Caught on Tape: Ollie Pooping!

 

I was trying to get Ollie on tape eating and he decided it was time to "excavate the system" instead! I love his facial expressions.  Oh the things we think are cute!

Lyle & Ollie

Lyle has taken a sudden liking to Ollie.  It could be because he's so dang cute or maybe it's the delicious spit up that is always where Ollie is.  Hmm....which do you think? Anyway, ollie is very curious about Lyle.  He is constantly trying to grab him and pet him.  I often have to stop Ollie because he's actually pinching Lyle. Poor dog.  Anyway, here are a series of pictures that I have taken over the last few days. 

Triple Coupon Shopping

As many of you know, I am a crazy coupon shopper. Unfortunately it has gone by the wayside since Oliver has been born. So when I found out triples were this week, I got a bit anxious.  I had stacks of unclipped coupon inserts and my binder was a mess. Ollie helped me get it cleared out and refilled. I finished (without Oliver) at 7 O'clock on Thursday morning. Oliver got up, ate his breakfast, played a bit and then we were off! 

We started at the Harris Teeter in Fuquay. We

were quick. I have a method of picking coupons, placing them in an envelope and listing the products on the outside. Since you can only use 20 coupons per trip, I only have to pick up 20 items. We were in and out in 15 minutes. I got to see my favorite cashier, Christine. Yay! Ollie slept through this store. 

Next, we drove to the store on Holly Springs road. It's about 15 minutes from Fuquay. There we found more items on our list. Including baby wipes. Those made my bill much more expensive. 

Ollie woke up on our way out of the store. Luckily, he wasn't too fussy so we made our way to our final destination.  It's about 10 minutes from there. I nursed him in the parking lot and hooked him in the carrier. Off we went.  This store was much more tedious because I did all of our regular grocery shopping as well (our bill was much bigger too!). 

The picture below shows my first shop. I spent 11.47 & saved 46.70. That's a savings of about 80%. In total (remember I had to do all of my regular shopping as well- produce, meat, cheese, milk, etc.), I spent 199.18 & saved 155.21. That's about 44 %. Not great if it were all coupon stuff but not bad considering I didn't have coupons for a lot of it. 

Cousins

Ollie met his cousins over Christmas. They loved him and were so great with him.  Bella read to him and played with him a lot.  I can't believe how mature she is for an eight year old and I don't mean mature like acting like a teenager! She is such a good girl. Lilah was thrilled with him as well. On Christmas, we had to leave their house to go to my mom and dad's house. Lilah pressed her face to the window as Bob was walking out and said, "Wait Uncle Bob! Where are you going with my baby cousin?" She played with him and was adorable, as always! 

Here is a video of Bella reading to Oliver. Isn't she a great reader? Can you believe she's only 8?

The Sleep Solution

Getting Ollie to nap can sometimes be challenging. He will often cry off and on for 45 minutes to sleep for 30 minutes. I have found the sleep solution: a blankie. Ollie has taken to a blue blanket with a dog head on it. I started giving it to him at naps because he liked to snuggle up to it and it calmed him right now. I planned to only let him have it during the day because my paranoia had set in and I was convinced he's suffocate while I was sleeping. Well, two nights ago he bawled hysterically until I gave it to him. Then, he was fast asleep.  I was worried to leave him alone with it, so I snuck in & tried to take it around 10 pm (mind you he'd been asleep for 3 hours!). I took it and walked out.  Not one foot out the door he started wailing! "You have got to be kidding me!?" So I went in and gave it back. He went right back to sleep! I have given in and let him have it. It is so sweet.  

As far as sleep goes, he has been going to bed at 7 pm, getting up to eat at 5 am and then going

back to bed until 7 or 7:30. He is still taking three to five forty minute naps a day.  Occasionally , he will sleep an hour. On Saturday he slept for two! So if you need something to pray for, it's good naps. I would love to move him to two longer naps a day. I can't ask for him to be any better at night. What a good boy!

Jumperoo

 

Here's ollie in his Jumperoo.  He is so cute when he gets excited! he has actually gotten pretty airborne at times.  Hope you enjoy!

Caught on Tape: Ollie Rolling Over!

I've caught Ollie on tape rolling over. As you can see, he is very methodical. It's amazing how excited you can get about something as simple as rolling over or how anxious you can be when they just don't seem to be getting it. Oh well, I figure by 2 years old it won't really matter if he rolled over a week early or a month late!