Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, to you and yours. May you be as thrilled over a $3 gift. :)

Bird Update

The Bird had her first doctor's appointment today. Well, her first since she was first born.

This is what happened.

She saw Dr. Hofman, and was quite set on getting his attention as he talked to Marian and I about this and that. She was laying off to the side and kept looking at him and jabbering on as if to say, "Hey, guy, I'm the center of the show here! Acknowledge me!"

So then he did acknowledge her. He checked her vitals and deemed her healthy. Then he measured her. Olivia is 13 lbs. 7 oz, which is like 95% percentile for weight. She also has nice-sized head. But the kicker was her length. Dr. Hofman cracked up when he saw the number on the tape measure. He showed us where her height registered on the chart...which was off the charts. I asked him what the longest length on there was but he would not say. I guess he didn't want me thinking that my child was abnormal. However, I am no stranger to Google, so I found my own growth chart. The highest for a girl her age is 23.5 inches, from what I could tell. Olivia is...

wait for it....

26 inches!

Oh dear. She is going to dread clothes shopping as an adult. What if she's like 6 feet tall? It's quite possible.

Then is was time for shots. She got one droplet thingy in her mouth, and three shots. I do not recall my siblings screaming after their shots when we were young. They cried, but did not scream. I assumed this was because my mother is a calm person and did not make a big to-do over the shots. I thought that if I modeled her and was calm while I held Olivia, that Olivia would be more at ease when they administered her shots.

No. Not true.

She SCREAMED bloody murder. You'd think the nurse was actually trying to saw off her leg, the way Olivia carried on. I was holding her in my lap and was very grateful not to see the look of terror on her face. Marian unfortunately did see Olivia's face as it contorted into ghastly dimensions. I thought Marian was going to cry, too.

Despite this, Dr. Hofman said that Olivia is the most beautiful, advanced baby he's seen in his entire life. And he is surprised that no one has tried to kidnap her yet, because she is so special. He wanted to call all the nurses into the checkup room so they could witness this miracle child, but didn't want the other babies around to feel unimportant.

Okay, so he didn't say that out loud.

But I'm pretty sure that I could read it in his eyes. :)

Here are some late-breaking photos of Olivia (I can't get that one to rotate--don't know why):

Talladega Nights fans will get it...

Dear Lord baby Jesus, lyin' there in your ghost manger, just lookin' at your Baby Einstein developmental videos, learnin' 'bout shapes and colors... little Eight Pound, Six Ounce, Newborn Baby Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant, so cuddly, but still omnipotent...

I would like to thank you for the three kings of outdoor apparel: Sirs Northface, LL. Bean, and Lands' End. Because of their gifts I was able to brave the icy winds and general blizzardry on my trek to 28th street today. Yes, church may have been cancelled (boo hoo!), and carol sing may have been canceled (boo hoo again!), and I-94 was closed because of a 40+ car pileup that included 12 semis, but by golly, we made it to Michael's Arts and Crafts and my beloved Schuler's. But not without a hat, down coat, gloves, polar fleece, boots, and long johns.

Oh, and a brave little red Ford Focus.

3 vs 13

Today was sister Anne and sister Melissa's graduations from Oakland U. (Congrats ladies!) So we loaded up April's Grand Prix and hit the road. My mom had called the night before to let us know that my cousin Emily was going to be visiting and that she really wanted to meet baby O.

Congrats Emily you were the first extended Bier family member to meet and interact with Liv! Don't let it go to your head... :)





fyi- Olivia doesn't seem to be a Cher fan.

Of course by the time we had left "The Hilton" we were late. So I took it upon myself to make up some time by using my handy lead foot. Mid-eighties in a seventy mile per hour expressway isn't too bad, but unfortunately the police officer didn't agree.

-Austin, this is the second time your "magic" sticker has failed us. For shame.-

I can't fault the guy for doing his job. And to be fair I WAS speeding. But it still sucks. Also he was probably the most abrupt police officer April or I had ever dealt with.

No asking if I knew why he was pulling me over.

No asking why I was speeding.

Just, "License. Registration. Proof of insurance. I read you going 84 in a 70." And he walked away.

Boo.

This is my third moving violation in my twelve years of driving. I've got a lot of work to catch up to April's thirteen.

I miss you, bloggedy blog!

So my mom announced that we are having a Craft Christmas, meaning that we should try to make all of our gifts this year. I love making things, but it has come at a bad time as I am very busy with a baby, a full-time job, and a plethora of holiday activities. And of course, I have taken on some huge crafty-endeavors for this. They cannot be done in one night or even one week.

Because of this, I do not have time to blog. Boo! And I have fun things to talk about!

• Like the rat the size of a hamster that ran across my dad’s feet while he was making breakfast one morning.
  
• Or our trip to Meijer Gardens for my birthday.
• Or the really bad magic show that we had to endure at my office Christmas Party. (They’re illusions, Michael! Tricks are what whores do for money!.... or candy.)
• Or my latest fascination: antique steam trunks
• Or that JB’s brother Austin is engaged! Yay! To a girl we’ve never met! Boo!

So I am alive, just busy. Since JB is not “crafting,” he should have plenty of time to blog, though. (hint! hint!)

Here is Olivia on her first trip to Meijer Gardens. I got a family membership to the Gardens for my birthday, so expect many more photos to be taken there. I love that place!