Olivia's quilt made by Grandma

Grandma Kathee made Olivia the most beautiful quilt. The colors are so nice and bright and the lime green is such a great color! There are some patches with a soft pink and purple texture that Olivia will love to feel. Thanks for such a nice gift-we will cherish it forever!

Albquerque Wine Festival

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Kathee, Lee, Pat, Olivia, and I all took in the Albuquerque Wine Festival on Saturday. There were many of the local wineries that participated, along with entertainment and kids activities. Pat and Lee were troopers and watched Olivia-they went from tent to tent for the shade while Kathee and I went from tent to tent for the wine! We had lots of fun and got to taste a variety of the local wines. We were cut off after a couple hours by the guys-they blamed it on the heat, but I think they thought 2 loops around the place was plenty for us!

Grandpa and Grandma Froehich Visit

Grandpa and Grandma Froehlich are here to visit! We are so excited to have them here to meet Olivia. She is getting spoiled with lots of love!

Gone are the days!

After much thought (actually ALOT of thought), I decided it was time to give up my Mustang. Pat and I decided that we need more of a family vehicle that is practical for a baby and for traveling. A mini-van was brought up, but with only one child right now, I just couldn't do it quite yet. We went to the Ford dealership Saturday and took home a Ford Expedition to test drive for the weekend. It didn't take long to decide that we loved it-it's got all the options and then some we didn't even know existed, i.e. air conditioned seats! So yesterday, I took my last drive in the Mustang--right to Ford and we came home with the Expedition pictured below.

3 Weeks Old!

Olivia is 3 weeks old here. I know most of the latest pictures show her either in her bouncer, swing, or floor mat, but don't let this fool you-she doesn't like to be put down much. She has about a 10 to 15 minute attention span being left alone, and then wants to be held. Her hair in the pictures is usually how it looks-we try and comb it down, but it does what it wants! How cute though! She is doing much better with her days and nights but still doesn't always like to sleep in her pack-n-play that's next to our bed-so we give in & she snuggles with us. Not a good habit to get into, I know, but sometimes it's just easier!

It was only a matter of time...

For those of you who know our dogs Coco and Abby, you know that they live to play catch with their toy. Before Olivia was born, Pat and I were talking about how the dogs would react to her-Abby (our golden retriever) would be the protective one, and Coco (our lhasapoo & the dog pictured) would continue to be the little shit he is and would only try to play catch with her. Here he is trying to convince Olivia to throw his toy. He kept nudging it to her, and eventually ended up under her leg. Pat and I laughed hysterically at his repeated attempts to get her to throw the toy.

Olivia update

Olivia has been doing really well lately. She still has her nights and days mixed up, but we've been working on that. She also likes to be held all the time-she may have been a little spoiled her first couple weeks by Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll ;) and next week she will be getting spoiled by Grandma and Grandpa Froehlich when they come to visit over the Labor Day Weekend. But that's ok-we have a hard time putting her down too. We have found a couple "lifesaver" toys that she is content with-her swing, and her new floor mat-she's already hitting the little yellow lion on it!

A week ago Sunday we had her newborn pictures taken at JC Penneys (she was 6 days old). She did such a good job-Pat and I only got peed on twice! I guess that's what we get for getting her down to her birthday suit for pictures. The link to view them is https://www.smilesbywire.com/home.asp?AC=LTPP0696101172JCP. The customer name is Jodi Froehlich.

We'll keep you posted as our little angel continues to grow!

Like Father Like Daughter!

One big happy family!!

We couldn't include a family picture without the dogs! Coco and Abby are slowly getting used to Olivia-I'm sure they think she'll be leaving too once all the company's gone! But, they've been good so far-just sniffing her out and they get pretty curious about what's going on when she's crying (which isn't too often).

Enjoying the last day with Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll

Our last night with Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll, Uncle Dan, and Cousin Izabella out on our patio. My dad grilled us some delicious steaks, and we enjoyed our last night together. Pat and I have really enjoyed having them and can't thank them enough for all their help!
















Today mom, Izabella, Olivia, & I went to Casa Rondena Winery in Albuquerque. We sat under an arch of grapevines and sampled some wine (I was only able to do a couple). We didn't do the tour, but it was a neat place to go and see the vineyards of all the white grapes.

















Pat, my dad, and Dan went hiking in the Sandia Mts. all morning-sounds like they covered alot of ground and had a great time. The picture of my Dad "holding on for dear life" is at the Kiwanis Cabin. You can see the cabin off in the distance above my dad's head in the top picture.

Welcome Olivia Renae Froehlich!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

(The above picture is a slideshow-once you open it up, click on the bottom left arrow.)

This posting is long overdue, but we have been busy! On Sunday, August 3rd at about 7:30 PM, Pat and I went in to the hospital-I had been having hard contractions since 4:00 that morning, but they weren't close enough together to go in any earlier. Once we got in there, we were told to walk around the hospital for 2 hours since I was only dilated 1-2 cm (this was already 9PM). Just after an hour, the nurse informed us that if I hadn't progressed any further, we would have to be sent home because they were so full in the hospital that they had other laboring patients lined up in the waiting room needing a room. Well by then, they would have had to wheel me out against my own will-I wasn't about to leave-I could hardly walk with all the pain. But, I was then dilated to 2-3 cm and got my ticket to stay. By 11:00 I insisted on my epidural, and after doing the paperwork, the IV, and waiting for the anesthesiologist to get out of the O.R., it was about 1AM. I got the epidural, and was already at 9cm. I had never felt better! At 3:24 AM Olivia was born! We can't even explain in words how we felt at that moment. We were/are the proudest parents ever. She was perfect-weighing in at 7 lbs 8 oz and 19 inches long. We spent some time with her alone and then gave Grandma Driscoll a call that she had a new granddaughter waiting to meet her! She got to the hospital at 4:30AM and got to spend some time with us before we were moved up to our room. The hospital was so busy with women delivering that we had to share a room with another couple. It was not what we were expecting, and because everything was good with Olivia and I, we went home a day early. On Wednesday. we picked up Heath and Kristi from the airport and they got to spend 5 days with us. We were so excited that they got to make the trip and really enjoyed their company. On Friday, my Dad, Dan, and Izabella drove down here and arrived by 11:30 Saturday morning. Grandpa couldn't get here fast enough to meet his new granddaughter! It has been so nice to have them here-we have been having such a good time and will miss all their help and company when they have to leave on Thursday.

Happy Birthday and no baby yet!

Pat made dinner reservations for us at the Melting Pot for my birthday. It's a restaurant where everything is served at your table fondue style. The food was so delicious! We started out with a cheese fondue served with bread, apples, and vegetables; then a salad; next a fondue with a variety of seasoned chicken, beef, and seafood that we cooked in a delicious seasoned broth; and finally a chocolate fondue pot with strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, brownies, marshmallows, and more. On top of a very nice meal, Pat also gave me a very beautiful Onyx lamp that glows beautifully. To match it, he gave me my Mother's Gift early and gave me another beautiful and special piece of Onyx of a mother holding her child. We have it in our entertainment center in front of the light and it is radiant! I have such a wonderful husband!

I will do anything!

I have always said that I don't want our baby born on my birthday because I want her to have her own special day. However, things have changed. I am so ready to have her! I have been having our friend Rebecca, who is an Acupuncturist in Pat's office, inducing me for a few days now with needles. If the baby isn't ready, it won't work, but we have been trying! Here I have needles in my ankles, hands, ears, and forehead. I am hooked up to electricity (just to my hands & ankles) to help stimulate the process. Cross your fingers!