Shes walking!

Shes walking! I cant believe Liv took her first steps last night. I was excited, yet sad at the same time. My little girl is growing up so fast! Ive been busy planning and preparing her first birthday. Shes almost 1! Wow! As I think over what I was doing this time last year, Im amazed at how quickly time passes. It truly makes you appreciate the moments you have.

Sleep!

What a busy couple of weeks we have had here in the Parry home. We dedicated Olivia to the Lord on the 3rd of this month, which was a very special service. It was followed by afternoon tea- with many, many cupcakes! We were blessed by all those who were able to make it (about 90). It truly reminded Chris and I that we are part of such a loving church family.

We have now finished the first week of sleep training. Let me tell you, it is a nightmare! Liv has been in our bed since birth...but last Wednesday night we decided it was time for her to be in her own bed. There has been many tears, screams, etc coming from our house... but I think we are making progress. If you are mom out there, and need to get your little one out of your bed, try the Baby Whisperer pick up/put down. I highly recommend it!

Party planning

well, Ive been busy trying to plan a few events/parties. Olivias baby dedication is on the 3rd of October, followed by Rebeccas baby shower. Then its Livs America 1st birthday, followed by her UK 1st busy. Phew... busy busy. Im trying to be organized, which means being busy planning now. I feel like my head is spinning with ideas..I just need to do them. Its a bit hard with Liv, as I dont want her to be bored going around all the shops. So alot of work is being done online. Oh the joys of late night internet shopping! Keep an eye out for upcoming events!

6 months!!!

Well, its been over 6 months since I have blogged. Wow, where has the time gone! Olivia is currently asleep (in our bed...wish I could say cot = ) ), and I am able to write a bit before she wakes up. She has grown so quickly.. I cant believe shes already sitting up, eating solids, and trying to crawl. I am really enjoying being a mommy. It has its challenges, but is very rewarding. Olivia is such a happy little girl; always smiling. I am blessed to have such a lovely baby. Our schedule is quite busy during the week...visiting with friends, attending baby groups, etc. We have made some amazing new friends who are true kindred spirits. My NCT friends have been such a source of encouragement and support... I couldn't have gotten this far without them. I sit here in my nice clean house (thanks hannah), relaxed and peaceful, and I am overwhelmed with how blessed I truly am! Well, that's all for now. Liv seems to be stirring a bit.

Olivia Grace Parry

We are happy to announce the safe arrival of our little miracle, Olivia Grace Parry, born December 31st weighing 9 lbs. After a very long labour...im talking Monday till Thursday, she decided to make her grand entrance. We knew from the word one of my clients gave before I knew I was pregnant that she would be born before the end of the year, and would be healthy. But as the end of the year approached and the hospital was insistent that I was just experiencing false labour, we began to doubt. Finally, early morning on Thursday December 31st, I rang the hospital, again, and demanded to come in. I had been having contractions since that Monday and was tired. They told me to come in, but that they were probably going to send me home as they thought it was false labour because the contractions weren't consistent (being between 3-5 min apart and stopping every now and then). However, when we arrived I was 4 cent. dilated, and the contractions never became consistent. Unfortunately, after 10 hours in the water, I wasn't able to give a water birth because Olivia wasn't in the right position to make me dilate fast enough ( probably why I had contractions since Monday). Anyways, be 2:11 in the afternoon on the 31st she came into the world. Now, I thought the labour was the hard bit. But, actually, after all those sleepless days of labouring.... we faced more sleepless days and nights when we arrived home. Its been really tough adjusting to life with our baby. The dr said its usually toughest for those who have struggled getting pregnant because your expectations are harder. I think for me, breastfeeding has been the hardest thing. Its been very tempting to just switch to formula...as I would be able to get some sleep, and my breasts could heal from the torture of feeding ( Ive had sores and mastitis which is an infection causing you to have flu like symptoms and severely painful breasts). But we have gotten through the worst bit , well thats what everyone keeps saying. God provided us with one of the pastors wives at the church who is a pediatrician. She came along every day and night to check on Olivia and I and to encourage me with my breastfeeding. We would not be where we are without her. Chris' mum also stayed the night during the first week when things hit an all time low with my breastfeeding and I had to express for a week. What a help... and we were able to get a good nights sleep which does a world of good for you. But, like I said, chris and I have gotten through the worst bit and we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. I still haven't managed to get dressed everyday, but my pjs are comfy and I cling to the fact that I know I will be able to one day.

Turning 30

Well, I'm officially 30 now. I thought it would be a harder day to celebrate than any of my previous birthdays...but it wasn't. Last week, the Joys and Ali celebrated my birthday with a meal at Fujiyamas, a japanese restaraunt. Then, yesterday, Chris and I woke up and headed off to my favorite restaraunt for breakfast. But to our surprised, they were closed FOREVER. We were shocked. So, instead we went to Starbucks where I sulked for a short while, before heading off to the cinema to see Sherlock Holmes. We then came back, rested a bit, then went to Jesmond Dene House for a very posh late afternoon tea. It was wonderful! The Joys stopped by later that night for a coffee, which was a perfect ending to my big day. Now we are just waiting for the arrival of Olivia Grace. Shes due today, however, there has been no sign of her arrival. So Chris and I are heading over to our friends for some lunch, and then we are going to go for a long walk into town. Hopefully she will come soon.

Christmas 09

Well, Christmas has come and gone. It seemed to fly by this year. On Christmas Eve, our good friends Dan and Catherine joined us for a turkey dinner. It was really nice to have friends with us, as we were both sad to not be around family. We opened our Christmas eve jammies from my mom, and then went off to bed. The next morning, we enjoyed gingerbread lattes and my attempt at making monkey bread. It was ok, but not as good as my sisters. For Christmas, I got Chris a skalelectrics set, which he was super excited about. I got a casserole dish and the Julia Childs cook book. We had so much fun opening our gifts and then got ready to go over to the Woods family for Christmas dinner. It was really nice to spend it with there family and be introduced to their traditions. We really felt welcomed, and were blessed to be there. Later that evening we stopped by Steph and Simons and said hi to all their family. The day ended with some left over Monkey bread and the movie Elf. It was a really nice Christmas, given the fact that we weren't able to see the kids this year.

We are now just waiting for Olivia to come. I will celebrate my 30th today with Chris and just wait in anticipation for contractions to start. We are going to go out to breakfast this morning, and then to the movies. Later this afternoon, we are going to go to afternoon tea at Jesmond Dene house and then the Joys are going to come over for coffee in the evening. I cant wait to open my presents, as my mom sent one from Tiffanys, and Chris has a little surprise all wrapped up for me. We did have a small birthday party last Tuesday at Fujiyamas, a Japanese restaurant. Ian and Rebecca, and Ali joined us to celebrate my big 3-0, which was followed by a massive birthday cake Chris had picked out. I would definitely say this birthday has been very special so far. The best gift is our little girl, who doesn't seem to want to come out just yet. I keep praying that the Lord would bring her on a day when its not busy at the hospital...so obviously that day hasn't come yet = ). We cant wait to see our little girl!