Oliver at SEVEN months

               
           So we moved into our new digs and all of us our loving it. Somehow being in such a cool townhouse made Oliver want to get onto a predictable schedule and nap really well. Ummm..... YES!!! It has been very nice for me. He also is almost mobile. When he sits up he can get into the crawl position so only time will tell. Oh, and this little guy got his first tooth this month! Yay! Goodness, he is growing up so fast!

             His little personality is starting to shine through. He is pretty shy around others. He will bury his face in my chest and shake his head! He is so cute when he gets excited too. He will put his fists in his mouth and scrunch his eyes, kind of acting shy again. Cutie!

              This past month we went to "Monkey Rock." It was a fun little family outing we did on my birthday. I had never been there before but it was really neat! Too bad we didn't bring our suits because the water was not as cold as we anticipated. Nathan almost convinced me to swim in my clothes... almost. 

       
           We had lots of fun at Porter Park with Rachel's family. We went on the swings, which Oliver didn't like too much. He just clung on for dear life, whereas Holly seemed to enjoy them a lot. We also went on the carousel. Oliver was pretty neutral about it.

          This summer has been really nice so far. Nath has a break in school so we have just been able to spoil our little boy with lots of attention.

Oliver at SIX months

          Oliver turned 6 months so we had a little half birthday party for him! My family was passing through town so they were able to be there. We sang to him while he looked at us with a very bewildered face then we pushed his cake close enough for him to get a little lick. Yum!  

          Oliver is just not one to stay still. He is reaching milestones so quickly! He has started sitting up this month and doesn't seem to be slowing down. He is such a determined little kid. He was never really interested in getting around by rolling. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times he has by his own free will and choice rolled over! I think he thinks he is too "grown-up" to do something so degrading! Haha! Silly kid-o! He has also started talking really softly when he is ready for bed. It like a cute little whisper, saying "Mom, I'm really quite tired. Could you please put me down?" Its pretty adorable.

wincing at bubbles

                  You may have noticed that this month I changed the title from "Ollie" at _ months to "Oliver." This is because we almost NEVER call him Ollie. It is so strange to me because I just love the name Ollie and I called him that for like the last 3 months of my pregnancy. I guess he just came out more like an Oliver, at least for now. Actually I think he came out more like a "GOPS" because that nickname has stuck for months now! I think its kinda funny and cute.

Oliver sharing a smile with Uncle Matt

                We went to the Ranch for the 4th of July this year and had a fabulous time despite a nasty flu virus sweeping Zinn Ranch! Oliver got to meet nearly all my aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Zinn side. We had  a once in a lifetime opportunity to have sacrament meeting on the lawn at the ranch because of the sickness that slowly took out nearly everyone at the reunion. We had the sacrament passed by my adorable cousins (so glad they are all worthy!) and then we had a testimony meeting. It was so wonderful to hear the testimonies of my family members and to get to spend some time with them! What a great month!

Ollie at FIVE months

We kicked off this month by visiting Yellowstone. It was our first family outing and it was so great! Oliver slept most of the way there, which was wonderful. Then he just smiled away as we walked around. It was a really nice day.

Oliver and his dad 

The two of us admiring a beautiful hot spring

 Nathan and I took Oliver on a trip to the temple one Sunday. There are some small hills by the parking lot and Nath and I took turns rolling down the hill. We even gave gops a slow turn down it. It was a nice little visit. The bench we are sitting on in the pictures is the bench Nathan and I used to sit on when we would visit the temple when we were dating.

I love to see the temple...

I'll go inside someday

We had some visitors from Wales this month! Naomi, Vince, Loren, and Laine Jones came to visit Rachels family, as well as ours. Oliver had a great time hanging with his cousins, especially Holly (6 months old) and Laine (4 months old). We went to the zoo, played at the park, and took a stroll on campus with them. It was a blast!

Loren, Jacob, Oliver, and Logan at the IF zoo

Oliver is starting to move even more now. He can rotate 360 degrees while on his belly and is starting to arch his back in the car seat and Bumbo to try and escape! I'm not sure where all this energy is coming from because he is not eating anything but milk still. We have tried some baby foods with him but he seems to hate what we have tried so far. What baby hates avocados and sweet potatoes?! I think he's probably just not ready yet. He also still isn't sleeping too well, sometimes he wakes up just screaming for no reason, which can make me feel drained but it's alright because we have so many sweet moments together. He woke up just a few days ago at 6:30am and all he wanted to do was smile up at me so we just smiled and stared at each other. He is such a joy!!!

Ollie at FOUR months

        Oliver is such a wonderful little boy. He is growing so much and we are growing lots as well. We are learning so much about being parents. Nathan has been such a huge help. He is in charge of Olivers nighttime routine. He starts getting him ready for bed about 15 minutes before 9. He gives him a bath, lotions him, changes him into his PJ's. Nathan loves this set-aside time he has with Oliver.

 



He has lots of nicknames:

• "Boliver" - short for Baby Oliver
• "Oligopoly" - Ollie starts this fancy word Nathan taught me
• "Gopoly" - Short version of Oligopoly
• "Gops" - Short version of Gopoly
• "Olls" - Obviously short for Ollie
• "Olls - Gop" - Don't think I need to explain...

Oliver is just too cute!

He ALWAYS loves when Nathan blows air onto his feet! 

Such fun!

Nathan and Oliver wishing me a Happy Mother Day!

Ollie at THREE months

Oliver laughed his first real laugh at the start of this month. He really likes bouncing in his seat. It is so cute!

Abby and Oliver!

Andrew, Oliver, and Ruby

   We went down to Salt Lake for general conference weekend and while we were down there we went to visit the Fischer family! We were excited to meet Andrew, their newly adopted son and for them to meet Oliver! They are only a few days apart.

Temple Square

        While we were down in Utah we met Melissa, Parker and little Lily at temple square. We walked around and took lots of pictures. It was so beautiful there. I was excited to take Oliver to see the Salt Lake temple and the Christus. It was really nice to take some family pictures.

                                                                                                                              He is really enjoying his playmat and will finally give me a few minutes to get some things done! He is such a sweetheart and we are just loving the time that we get to spend with him.

Our Family

Ollie at TWO months

              The Saturday before his blessing Missy threw a baby shower for little Oliver and I. It was really fun! We played all sorts of adorable games. I especially liked the baby themed word scramble. One of the scrambled baby words was “Oliver Mulligan” and Stephanie Sundeen was the only one to get it! How embarrassing for me!

Ready for his baby shower

At Olivers blessing

            On Sunday, we blessed little Oliver. Nathan did amazing; the blessing was beautiful. Afterwards we had a little luncheon. It was so wonderful to have my family and Nathan’s mum, dad, brother Adam, and sister Rachel there together. We so rarely get to meet together.

Ollie captivated by Uncle Ad

            Ollie has been growing so much this month! He is getting his hair back, which is nice. He also has less of a concerned look and a more happy one. He grows more and more aware every day. He always responds to smiles with a smile with his own. He will follow people with his eyes and if you touch his lip he pokes out his tongue. (That is one of Nathans favorite activities.) He is also getting less snugly. He really likes to be held out so he can see the world.

          My little cutie loves tummy time and getting “loves” from his adorable cousin Lily. When he is upset in the car, one of us reaches back from the passenger seat and he grabs our finger in his little hand and it almost always calms him down. It’s pretty sweet.

Ollie at ONE month

          This kid is so adorable. Ever since he was born he has had his eyes wide open, or closed shut, never in between. With those wide open eyes he always has a look of concern. Nathan said when he was born he must have sensed the need to be deeply concerned for the world.

"FEET HANDS"

Co-sleeper Nath made! It is brilliant!

    My little cutie was born with hair all over his body! He had plenty on his head, shoulders, and ears! Now he has lost all the hair on the top of his head. This is very confusing to us, seeing as how we do not put him to sleep on the top of his head. He was also born with what I call, “Freddie Kruger” nails. They are so long and pointy! We haven’t really cut them yet because we are terrified of cutting his skin and making him bleed! To keep him from scratching his face we put socks on his hands. We called them his “feet hands” (insert funny voice here). It is so stinking cute! They didn’t stay on tremendously well so my mom bought him some mittens that work really well for him. They are also adorable. Something about trapping his hands is pretty funny.

     We put him to bed every night in his white swaddler that we got from the hospital. He looks so precious all bundled up! He is still waking up every 2 hours to feed and sometimes will not fall asleep after a feeding so Nath often takes him into the living room for some 3am father-son bonding.



     

My favorite thing to do

              The mother-son bonding is going well also. I have been peed and even pooped on pretty often but its all worth it for that lovely smile he has. He has been smiling since birth really but smiling in reaction to us at the end of his first month. He is such a fun baby boy!

                President Hinckley once described life like this, “Life is like an old time rail journey…delays…sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling burst of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.” I feel like Nathan and I are seeing beautiful vistas on our ride right now. We are so happy!

Loves bath time

Snuggly blanket made by Aunt Dixie

He's so sweet

Our Family

Labor of Love

Born at 5pm weighing 8Ibs

I started having contractions about 6 PM on Thursday. That's when my mother showed up with Mary, it was excellent timing. When we got to the hospital I wasn't quite 4 centimeters dilated yet but the contractions were coming two minutes apart so they had me walk around the hospital having contractions every two minutes until I was 4 cm dilated (It was a very slow walk). When I was 4 cm dilated and they admitted me to the hospital. As I was walking to the room I would deliver in I had a very strong contraction and asked for the epidural (nicely). The woman came very soon after I asked to do the epidural and it started working quickly. That was extremely nice.

Very awake

Soon my midwife came in and asked me to rest until 8 o'clock in the morning (at this point it was about 2 AM). I was able to sleep most of the night (epidurals are amazing) and when I woke about 8am my midwife broke my water and came back about noon to check on me. I hadn't made much progress so they gave me pitocin and the contractions started to pick up by 3 o'clock. I started feeling the pressure to push but my midwife wanted me to wait and let that pressure push the baby down that way I wouldn't have to push very long and it worked because I started pushing about 4 PM on Friday and after my first push you could see his head! Unfortunately my midwife was helping someone else deliver their baby at the same time I was trying to deliver mine so after a couple pushes and it was clear that the baby was coming very soon they had me wait for my midwife (apparently nurses are terrified of delivering alone, cause I did ask them to do it). It was the most uncomfortable 20 minutes of my life and as I waited the girl who was delivering with my Midwife was screaming bloody murder the whole time (she did it naturally, hence her taking precedent over me).

I kept feeling the urge to push while I waited and it felt like the baby was half out and I just had to hold him halfway in and out of the world! It was so painful that I had to resist the urge to yell “Rachel!!”,my midwifes name. Finally Rachel came in and I was so happy to see her! I finally go to push again! It was really cool to have my mom, Melissa, and Mary there. I hope Mary it wasn't too scarred because she was holding my hand most of the time that I pushed. The pain and pressure was still quite uncomfortable so I had Nath distract me by telling me stories about our trip around Europe, it worked pretty well. At one point they tell me to look down and I saw my midwife pulling out my baby Oliver and she placed him right on top of my chest having done nothing to him. I'll never forget how I felt. He was so amazing and so beautiful and so wonderful!

I didn’t have long with him before they took him to the NICU because they were worried he'd swallowed too much poop. Nathan got to go with him so soon I got a text from him that Ollie was doing well. The first thing I did after hearing this news was eat some fruit loops! I was so hungry! I had gone about 24 hours without food at this point. After the yummy cereal the nurse took me to the bathroom to shower. I remember thinking the bathroom looked like a murder scene as I left it. Yikes, that was a lot of blood!

After the shower I was taken to the mother-baby unit. I got to order a big cheeseburger, fries, and chicken strips. It was really good food! It wasn’t much later that we all fell asleep. Oliver did great that first night! He slept about 4 hours, ate, and then slept another 6 hours! The second night was not as great, but still good, its been downhill since!

           

          I really don’t mind the lack of sleep too much because I get to see the most wonderful baby boy every 2 hours in the night. He has made Nathan and me so unspeakably happy! I am VERY much enjoying motherhood. I am learning to be more selfless, kind, and caring. He makes me want to be a better person, because someone so perfect deserves a wonderful mother. Everything I do now, I do for him.

Oliver Kai Mulligan

Our Sunny and Surgical Summer

Me and my Grandma Zinn!

          To celebrate the good news we recently went on a trip to California to visit my grandparents and go to the Happiest Place on Earth: Disneyland! We drove from Rexburg, Idaho to San Jose, California in one long day. We had to go through the desert at midday with our A/C deciding when it would like to work, which was not very often! We were so glad to make it to my Grandma and Grandpa Zinn's house in San Jose. The weather was amazing!

          Our first full day there we took a trip to San Fransisco. We crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and went to Fisherman's Warf. At the warf we found a fish and chip shop that was owned by an actual Brit! I thought it was great. Nathan thought there was something to be desired. Anyway we just walked along the warf and looked at shops. One place we saw had a bunch of really old coin operated pier games. We both got 50 cents to spend on a game. I got a fortune from an old woman in a box and Nathan spent his on watching two executions! Those were so strange it was kinda funny.

Fisherman's Wharf

          On our way back from San Fran we stopped into the Redwoods to meet up with Nathan's cousins for dinner. We had a great time talking with them and I learned even more about cute little baby Nathan. :) We really enjoyed the pictures they showed us of Nathan's family back in the day. They were so welcoming and nice. I love meeting Nathan's extended family. They are always so kind.

         Our second day we went to Santa Cruz with my Aunt and cousins. The water was freezing but it was still lots of fun! I liked watching Stephen teach Nathan how to skim board. Stephen was really good at it. Nathan was ... not quite as good :) When we got back we realized it was pioneer day and a tradition in the Zinn family is to make homemade butter. We had to shake a jar til our arms hurt but there were lots of us so we shared the burden. The butter was super yummy when we were done! The last day we were able to spend just hanging out with my Grandma. It was really fun. She took me shopping for maternity clothes and now I am all set! The next day we set off for Fresno, CA. 

The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland

         In Fresno we were able to see my Grandma and Grandpa Shaw. My Grandma was still in the nursing facility and had some kind of virus recently so when we went to visit her I had to stay out in the hallway because I was pregnant and they didn't want me to get sick. I was glad to visit them both though. I love them lots! We also got to hang out with my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins that live in the area, the Hueys. They took good care of us. 

       After Fresno we went to one of my favorite places ever.... Disneyland! We went for two days and it was really fun! I couldn't go on a few rides because of the baby but that's why Disneyland is so great because I still got to go on a lot of the rides. Although, the ride Soar'n made me pretty motion sick! :) While at Disneyland Nathan got a call saying his surgery had been moved from the next monday to this coming friday! We weren't planning on being in Rexburg again til next sunday so we had to get home faster than we had hoped so we had to cut our visits to Julia Meservy in Vegas and to the Fischers in Heber very short! I was pretty disappointed but they didn't have another opening at the hospital for weeks after so we had to make it to Heber, UT the next day! That meant driving through the desert again at midday! So HOT!!!!!! Oh my gosh! The A/C wasn't working again so I just chewed ice the entire drive from Anaheim to Heber. We did get to stop and meet Julia and Joe Meservy for lunch. It was so fun to see Julia so pregnant! She looked so cute! 

The Happiest Place on EARTH!

        We finally made it to Heber pretty late that night and could only stay til the morning but I did get to tell the Fischers I was pregnant in person which I had been trying to arrange since we found out! They are always so good to us when we visit, too bad we couldn't stay longer. We had to leave at 9 in the morning to get to Rexburg in time for Nathan's pre-surgery appointment. 

        

OUCH! (Nath made me
post this sad picture)

        On Friday Nath had the surgery. It took 6 hours and then he had to stay the night at the hospital. He was pretty loopy still when we took him to Rachel and Josh's house til our apartment was ready to move into. I was so grateful for Rachels help during the day! Nathan was in bed for days and was on about 6 different medications he needed at different times of the day. It was a lot of work but Rachel is an excellent smoothie maker which helped Nathan get through those first terrible days. 

     
      Now Nathan feeling pretty good considering it's been about a week and a half. He gets better everyday. Because he is on liquids and soft foods our blender has been used more than ever. I wouldn't be surprised if it just gave up on us soon! (Written August 12th, 2013)