5 Months Old

Our sweet little girl is 5 months old today and getting so big! She sits up on her own, has started eating rice cereal, loves playing on her play mat and in her bouncy seat, and is snugly and cuddly most days. Olivia is still not a great sleeper and seems to only want to cat nap during the day and sleep off and on throughout the night. We have tried the crib, bassinet, and even co-sleeping and some nights work better than others. I am hoping to transition her to the crib in the next month and hope and pray she will start sleeping through the night. Here are a few pictures of our sweet little 5 month old...

To my sweet daughter... I love you so much I think my heart might burst. You have turned into the most sweet, loving, and happy baby. I love the days we get to spend together and I just wish you would stay little. I look forward to our many days of snuggles, walks in your stroller, and soon to be crawling. You are my world! Love you sugar!

Book Club Menu - Appetizers and Wine

This week has been insane... like crazy insane! And of top of my crazy schedule, I am hosting book club this month. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to host book club with a 5 month old and a house covered in baby clothes, play mats, and toys in every shade of pink?!! I have exactly one day to pull my house together and pull off a delicious menu. I decided to keep it simple and just make two appetizers this time and offer wine and limeade for our beverage options. The two recipes listed below are from my Appetizer Board on Pinterest and seem pretty easy and quick to pull together. In  addition to these appetizers, I am going to serve hummus and pita chips... delicious and easy!

these cucumber feta cheese bites are gonna be perfect for snacking

this garlic feta cheese dip has all of my favorite ingredients and perfect for pita chips

I am only about half way through the current book club selection and I doubt I will finish by tomorrow. It has been a great book so far, so I plan to finish it soon and will post a review when I do. Even though the week is crazy, I am still looking forward to getting together with my girlfriends and have a good time!

Crock Pot Cream Cheese Chicken Chili

I have been meaning to post this recipe for months and just now getting around to it. This recipe for crock pot cream cheese chicken chili is so so so good... you have to make it! 

This is one of the easiest chili recipes I have found... you just through everything in the crock pot and let it cook for the day. This recipe goes perfect with cornbread and is great for a crowd or lots of leftovers. I always make a double batch because we just can't get enough of it. Enjoy!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter and celebrate this blessed day with family and friends! It was so wonderful waking up with my daughter this morning in her bunny pajamas and snuggling with her. I love thinking of holidays in the years to come and all of the great fun we will have with her. We are hanging at home today, maybe taking a nice long walk in the sunshine, and then Easter dinner at my in-laws tonight. I have a few cute dresses picked out for Olivia and need to decide which one she will wear for dinner :) Here are a few adorable pictures of her in her Easter onesie that Grandma Carlene made for her and her adorable bunny ears... love it!

Happy Easter!

Olivia's First Photo Shoot

I am still amazed that Olivia is 4 1/2 months old and it took us this long to have professional pictures taken. I received a gift certificate at my baby shower for a newborn photo session and we finally had time to schedule it this past weekend. The photographer came to our house on Saturday morning and took some amazing photos of our sweet little girl. I was hoping to catch more of her smiles, but unfortunately she was a bit shy with the camera. You can view all of the photos from the shoot by visiting http://juliemeansphotography.com/ and clicking on client galleries and entering the password gagliardi. I was able to catch a few photos with my phone of her sleeping during the session... she looks like a little sleeping angel :)

I can't wait to order prints from the photo session and frame them for our home. They turned out just precious and I am so glad we captured this special time when she is still so little!

Olivia's First Easter Basket

I have always dreamed of putting together a sweet Easter basket for my children and this Easter will be extra special since it is Olivia's first! Since she is still too little for fun things like candy, play dough, plastic eggs, and chocolate bunnies... I picked out a few fun things that are perfect for a 4 month old. Here are a few links to the items for Olivia's basket...

this adorable Vulli Sophie the Giraffe teether is a huge hit among little ones

this Peter Rabbit board book will be a perfect Easter addition to her library

I picked up some great Easter goodies at Target in the baby section including the adorable pink pajamas with bunny feet and bunny tail and the plush white Easter bunny that has a rattle inside. The pink and white bunny ears were from the dollar bin... total win!

I pulled out a basket from my gift stash (saving the adorable monogrammed Easter basket for next year) and filled it with the goodies. Here is a picture with it all pulled together...

For more fun Easter inspiration, be sure to check out my Easter Ideas board on Pinterest. Lots of fun stuff!

I can't wait to celebrate Easter this year! We plan on going to an Easter egg hunt on the Saturday before Easter and sporting some pretty cute Easter dresses the entire weekend.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Hope you find yourself extra lucky today and this year! With any holiday, it is a perfect reason to dress up our munchkin in an adorable outfit. This cute St. Patty's day outfit is from Carter's and is just so cute on Olivia. The ruffle butt is my favorite!

We are leaving town today, so I didn't have much time to plan any fun St. Patrick's day festivities... but I have pinned a bunch of ideas for the coming years as we celebrate holidays as Olivia gets older. If you need any St. Patrick's Day ideas or just want to see some green, check out my St. Patrick's Day Board on Pinterest. Hope you can enjoy something green today, whether that be a green beer or a green cupcake... enjoy!

Next Book Club Selection - The Time Keeper

Each month at the end of book club, we choose our next selection and I can't wait to read this one. We chose 'The Time Keeper' by Mitch Albom for this month's book club book.

I loved reading Mitch Albom's most popular book, Tuesdays with Morrie several years ago and can't wait to read another one of his books. Here is a short summary about the book:

• In Mitch Albom's newest work of fiction, the inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time. He returns to our world—now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began—and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so. Told in Albom's signature spare, evocative prose, this remarkably original tale will inspire readers everywhere to reconsider their own notions of time, how they spend it and how precious it truly is.

I look forward to downloading this book this weekend and catching a few moments here and there to have some 'mommy time' and read!

Book Recap - The Birth Order Book

It has been awhile since I have done a book club update and we took off last month, which worked great because I needed extra time to read the book. Finding time to read right now can be tough but I try to find little bits of time when I can and catch up on some reading. I just finished this book this week and our book club gathering was last night. We enjoyed a gorgeous evening on my girlfriend's deck enjoying the sunshine and discussing the book 'The Birth Order Book' by Kevin Leman.

I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about myself and others by reading this book. Being a first born has always driven me through life and reading this book taught me so much more about why I am the way I am. I loved the part of the book that discussed how your birth order affects your relationships and parenting. It is interesting that I am first born, married to a first born, and raising a first born... what an interesting ride this life will be! I am always interested in various personality profiling and this book fit right into that genre of information and reading. If you are a parent or wondering why your siblings and spouse are wired the way they are, I strongly encourage you to read this book. You will learn so much about yourself and others!

4 Months Old

My oh my, where has the time gone?! My sweet little Olivia is 4 months old today and is the cutest darn thing! Of course I would say that since I am her mother, but I have proof in the pictures :)

This past month has been full of giggles and smiles from Olivia and she is trying to be more mobile and animated each day. She loves playing in her bouncy chair and spends a good amount of time in her swing each morning. She is still eating good and sleeping almost 6-8 hours at a time each night. We have her 4 month checkup this Thursday and I am excited to see where her height and weight are but not looking forward to shots. There is just something awful about watching a nurse poke your baby's sweet chubby thighs with an awful needle.

Here are a few pictures of Olivia in her 4 months onesie, which she spit up on in about 3 seconds after I had it on her. Oh well, we just wiped it up and took the pictures anyways! My favorite is the one of her sticking out her tongue, another one of her favorite things to do right now. 

We are so looking forward to next week when we will be traveling to Salt Lake for the first time to see family and friends. I can't wait for everyone to meet our little munchkin and I can't wait to see my family! Wish us luck on our first road trip with a newborn! :)