Chupando y lloriqueando

Here's a little teaser for all the aunties who can't wait to meet Olivia in a few days.


She is a binky lover, but can't always keep it in her mouth.

Mi casa es tu casa

Welcome to the Leiningers!

As promised, here are pics of our new place. We're not done (is a homeowner ever really done?) but at least it's looking like a home now, instead of a construction zone or a warehouse. Here's the photographic grand tour (the photos didn't actually turn out that great) floor by floor.

(I REALLY wish I would have taken "before" pictures...my mom worked miracles on this place...seriously)

Main Level:

The "dining room", and what you basically see when you enter the house. (Note the lack of dining room chairs.)


The step down "living room" (they kept turning out really dark...sorry).


Staircase and wall adjacent to dining room. I love these shelves, but not quite sure what to do with them (since I'm not really a knick knack person...and they are too deep for books)...any suggestions?

Kitchen.

Dining area of kitchen.

Back deck (just off kitchen). There is a bit of backyard beyond the deck as well.
Not pictured: half-bath (aka powder room)

Upstairs:

Master bedroom (artwork not yet hung, and yes that is Olivia sleeping on our bed).


Perpetually open closets in master bedroom. I miss the walk-in in our old apartment.
Guest bedroom (pretty blah).


Olivia's room (you've already seen photos, so I won't apologize for the pathetic quality of this one).

Not pictured: hall bathroom & master bathroom

Basement:

Family room.

Family room from another angle.

Not pictured: laundry room & storage room (with potential...could be an office, workshop, or maybe even a bedroom someday)


So there you have it! As you can see, we have a bit of room to grow/room for visitors, so if you're planning a trip to the east coast any time soon...come stay with us! (And if you're not planning a trip to the east coast any time soon...maybe you should start thinking about it!)

A tiny American wishes you a happy Independence Day!

We think she is a sweet little patriotic baby.

We had a great 4th of July weekend! We started on Friday, celebrating with Lisa & Bill's family and Alisha & John's family. It was a blast!

Here's mama and Livi hanging out on the couch.


Lisa and Bill with Michael and Benjamin (Sammy was attached to Jon) on a little hike we took to a park. It was a blast!

After we barbecued (delicious steak!) we did sparklers and a few little "fireworks" with the kids. I think this picture of Alisha's Lincoln is adorable.


All the kids (minus Livi, who was sleeping).


All the adults. John is tall, but I think we were on a hill, because he's not that much taller... Note the baby monitor in my hand.


On Saturday, Jon, Livi and I took an impromptu day trip to Annapolis, which was awesome! We loved the small city that is our state capital, and we had a great time.
Jon and Livi resting in the garden of an old colonial house.


We visited the Naval Academy, and this is the only "family" picture we took the entire weekend.

And now for a compare and contrast...

Here's Jon last year on the 4th. We were in DC hanging out for the day.


Here's Jon and Livi listening to the Navy band concert while waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Same blanket, same guy, but how much can change in a year...


Olivia actually watched the fireworks, and seemed to like them (until she fell asleep). It was a great weekend, and we hope you had a great one too!

Happy MONTH Day to Livi!

Olivia is one month old today. I can hardly believe it! She celebrated by sleeping four hour stretches through the night, instead of three, which meant only one middle of the night feeding, and another early morning one. I celebrated by (almost) finishing her nursery. I am waiting for one picture for the wall to arrive in the mail, and I need to go buy a changing table (the current one is part of her pack 'n play). I'll post pictures anyway, because who knows if I'll ever get around to doing it again. Interestingly enough, these are the first pictures I'm posting of our new house. Probably because even though we are unpacked, I haven't hung any pictures yet, so it looks pretty boring. I'll do it soon, though, and then I promise to post. (Not that any of you have been dying to see pictures...mostly for my own records...)

At Livi's one month check up she was 9 lbs 3 oz (she's up just over 2 lbs from her birth weight) and 21 1/2 inches long (grown almost an inch). I knew all that eating (and pooping) had to be doing something. Anyway, she is sweeter than ever and I'm still so crazy about her. I'm just a little sad that she's not really a "newborn" anymore, but I have to admit that she gets cuter and cuter every day, so I can't really complain.

Here are a few things she is doing at one month...

Holding her head up by herself.
Rolling from her back to her side.
Making cute peeps and squeaks.
Pushing up with her arms and her legs when lying on her tummy on our chests.
Smiling!
Looking around at the world.
Recognizing her parents' faces and voices.
Recognizing routines (i.e. I always lift her up and kiss her twice on the forehead before I nurse her, and she always calms right down, knowing food is on the way).

We think she's a little smarty-pants (but we're her parents).

Happy Month Day, sweet Livi! We love you!

The Grand Poopmeister

Before I was married, I heard that once people become parents, suddenly all they seem to be able to talk about is poop. I thought it was ridiculous that otherwise intelligent, educated people were suddenly reduced to conversing primarily about one of the less pleasant bodily functions. Well, now that I'm a mom, I'm falling into that trap (and with good reason). Here are five of Livi's poop tricks (just don't tell her I wrote this about her when she's a teenager...)

1. Olivia likes to poop in a fresh diaper. Pretty much without fail, she poops as soon as we put a new diaper on her. I think she is trying to break the bank with how many pampers we have gone through already. Speaking of pampers, she also seems to know which one is mommy's favorite (it has the baby big bird and baby snuffy on it...they are just so much cuter than baby elmo...sorry elmo lovers). Whenever I put the big bird and snuffy diaper on her, she seems to dirty it extra fast. Maybe she just dislikes big bird. Hmph.

2. When she's not pooping in a fresh diaper, she's pooping as soon as we take her diaper off. While not as much of a financial problem, this little trick has its own set of issues. Like her poop running all over her changing table, up her back, all over her clothes, all over mommy's hands, etc. This happens even when her diaper is already poopy. She saves up a little extra to let out when bum meets air.

3. Air isn't the only thing that brings on a poopy situation. The other day, while I was bathing her in her little baby bath tub, she pooped in the water. Gross. So much for a bath getting you clean. After I rinsed her off, I wrapped her up in her hoodie towel and took her straight to the changing table to put a diaper on her. She was too quick for me. As soon as I set her down, she pooped all over the cute towel. Bummer. (No pun intended.)

4. I have heard all kinds of stories about little boys spraying innocent diaper changers, and I must confess that I was a bit smug when I was having a girl while all my friends are having boys. I would avoid being sprayed by pee. My smugness has come back to bite me. This girl has the special talent of being able to projectile poo. (I've heard of projectile vomit, but this one was new to me.) This usually happens when we are changing her diaper (see #2). Once, she surprised me by shooting out a stream of poo over the edge of her changing table and onto our bed. A couple days later, Jon was changing her in the middle of the night. I started at a loud sound and an exclamation from Jon. I thought he had dropped her (not that he would ever do that) and got up frantically to see what was the matter. Turns out she had projectiled right onto him and fairly covered him in poo. I finished the diaper change while he cleaned up. So much for midnight help. Then the other night (while Jon was out of town) she struck again. Only this time, she beat her previous records. I managed to get out of the way, but she shot her poo over the edge of the changing table and, no kidding, five feet across the room and all over our brand new (and very expensive) carpet. I'm not lying about the five feet. I measured. Anyway, I cleaned it up with wet wipes right then, and thought I had taken care of it, but apparently the lighting in our room isn't so good at two am. Today I noticed yellow baby poo stains streaking our beautiful floor. Thank goodness for Reslove. I think I got it all. And I'm keeping it close by for future poop episodes.

5. As amazing as projectile pooing five feet is, this next one might be her best trick yet. I had laid her on my chest and was patting her back (she likes to go to sleep this way) and heard her doing her duty in her diaper. "Oh no", I thought, "now I'll have to change her diaper before I put her down for a nap." But before I could get up to change her, I felt a strange warm sensation all over my tummy. I looked down, and sure enough, I was covered in baby poop. Enough that it soaked through all my layers. But that's not the amazing part. (Obviously. I mean, any old baby can poop on its mom.) When I went to change her, I was shocked to find that she did not have one speck of poop on her own clothes. I guess she liked that outfit and aimed right out the side of her diaper. (And onesie, and bloomers.)

Another unbelievable thing I heard about poop before I was married was that mom's don't mind their own baby's poop so much. Believe it or not, turns out that that one's true too! All I can do through each of these poopy tricks is laugh, and clean up my little sweetheart to make sure she's comfortable. And I still think she's the best baby in the world.

And now, for Grandma, here are a few recent pics of the best baby in the world...