"Dada!"

Here is my amazingly handsome son! I think he looks a lot like both mama and daddy!


Yes, it's official, my son can talk!

Dada!!! from Hadassah Bird on Vimeo.

Since I took this video, I have heard other things that sound suspiciously like "dog" and "bye", but I'm not 100% positive on those just yet. Even if not, I can't believe that Oliver is starting to say real things! Or that he has 2 teeth!!! Yes, that's right - 2 teeth!!!
I haven't gotten a good picture of the chompers yet, because he won't hold still long enough - if you look VERY closely at the picture above, you can see a little bit of white next to his finger... they are ADORABLE and I feel like I'm looking at a toddler every time I see them peeking out of his little turtle lips! I know everyone talks about how fast babies grow, but I have never been so aware of it as I am now! I literally still can't believe I'm not pregnant anymore - let alone have a baby who is practically crawling!

three, two one... from Hadassah Bird on Vimeo.

He is getting around quite a bit more than this video indicates (it's about a week old), and I'm already having to baby-proof the house and keep an eye on him - somehow he gets around fast!

He also has started enjoying holding onto things standing up! He isn't pulling himself up alone yet, and of course can't be left alone whilst standing, but it's exciting and cute nonetheless!



And, now, here is a bit more loveliness for your viewing pleasure... oh how I adore my little one!

Look at him, doesn't he look like a little boy?? What happened to my little baby??

Oliver's personality is always becoming more and more vibrant! He has always loved to be outside, but he is getting much more explorative! (We have to watch those hands closely, they are fast!)

He has started eating solids (way later than most babies), but still isn't crazy about them. He definitely prefers Mama for all sustenance! ;)

He also likes flirting with the ladies! Wherever we go, he is constantly smirking and cooing at every woman he comes in contact with! He even flirts with his beautiful little friend Elvie! Here they are, holding hands (we didn't put them up to it, he totally reached for her and held it for several minutes!)

He is also VERY expressive - especially with his eyebrows! His facial expressions constantly crack us up, even his more scowly ones!


Well, folks, that's all for now! See ya!

Baby Dragon.

I know, it's hard to believe. But, yes, my child even looks adorable making a terribly unhappy face... it's hard not to give in to him when he makes these faces at me - I mean, come on! How can I resist that face??

and then he makes faces like these, and gets away with even more!

Oliver is constantly switching back and forth in terms of which parent (or other family member) he favors... my family seems to produce very strong genes though, because he has strongly favored my dad, brother and now cousin Libi (look at that mouth area then go to Melissa's blog and scroll down to the bottom of the pictures on the right hand side "this is why Libi always gets her way"):

Oliver is definitely getting to the point where he is SO excited to see us, even if we're only out of his view for a matter of minutes! There is nothing more gratifying than being greeting by the most beautiful smile in the world, and an excited squeal of delight! He has always been a major Mama's boy, but he is definitely VERY in love with his daddy too (probably because he has such an amazing daddy)!
He continues to delight us with his laughter and joy... sigh.

He's finally grown into an adorable hat he got as a gift, and boy is he handsome in it! (my little turtle!)
My peace baby! :)


And now, ladies and gentleman... my son, the dragon vs. the dragon puppet... guess who wins? ;)

Dragon Vs. Dragon from Hadassah Bird on Vimeo.

Hard to believe...

my little man has changed SO much in the last few weeks! He is a little chatterbox (he started trying to repeat sounds I was making the other day)! He is able to grab toys and pull them into his mouth (and, believe me, EVERYTHING goes into his mouth these days)! He laughed out loud for the first time the other night! He sleeps through the entire night now! He is already growing out of 6-month size clothing (even though he's only 3 1/2 months)! And he continues to delight and overwhelm both of us with his beauty and joy!

We have been ridiculously busy the last month, so I have been absolutely terrible about taking pictures! I have kind of a lot of videos though, so check his other blog to see them!


Andy and I made it through Earth Day alive - things were VERY crazy for a few weeks, but somehow Andy kept plugging along and was able to get everything done on time! Since Earth Day, we have actually been really busy with a ton of new customers, so that is extremely encouraging and exciting! Things seem to be going very well for the business (though we covet your continued prayers) and we are planning on keeping Brendan on with us part-time! We are also POSSIBLY going to be getting a storefront next month, so that is terrifying and really really exciting!

We don't have time for much else besides baby and work (not to mention trying to make time to sit down and actually have a conversation together that doesn't revolve around those 2 things), so I don't have a whole lot else to report. I will try my hardest to be better about taking pictures and posting more often - everything he does is just so exciting I never want to step away for even 2 seconds to grab the camera!

love!


UPDATE : I just caught Oliver laughing!! Wait till the very end!

laughing!! from Hadassah Bird on Vimeo.

11 Weeks (almost)!

Oliver and Daddy - my 2 handsome men!

Tomorrow Oliver will be 11 weeks old! As you can see, he is becoming masterful at making himself look as pitiful and adorable as possible - quite to his advantage, I might add! He certainly knows how to make Mama swoon, that's for sure! I mean, seriously - who can resist this face??

This past weekend Oliver got to take his first trip to the zoo to celebrate cousin Libiya's 2nd birthday! He snuggled into daddy and slept through the whole thing, but it was certainly exciting for the rest of us!

(no that's not a 'stache and goatee - that's Libi's birthday cookie lovingly licked into oblivion!)

Oliver is still changing so much every day! One day I think he looks exactly Andy as a toddler, and then the next I think he looks exactly like me/my brother (apparently we look like twins from a distance)! Either way, he certainly is a handsome little man - and boy does he know it!

Looking like Mama.
Looking like Daddy!

He has recently fallen in love with his Owl mobile! He loves to watch them spin around and gets very excited about the music! Then, once they stop, he squirms and smiles and talks to them for a long long time! It has certainly given Mama the opportunity to catch up on some housework, so we're both quite happy about things!

Oliver smiling at his owls!

Oliver's Owls! from Hadassah Bird on Vimeo.

He also has been able to grab ahold of toys! I don't think he quite knows that it's happening, but he's definitely reaching and trying to grab things, so pretty soon I think he'll make the connection! He continues to smile and jabber at me all day long, and it is SO delightful that I almost cry at least 2 or 3 times a day! It's not hormones, it's just my baby! ...sigh... I love him. In case you didn't know already. :)

more soon! Check out his other blog for more pics and videos! www.oliverbird.tumblr.com

9 Weeks!

Well I've missed a couple of weeks, but I think this picture MORE than makes up for it!!

Oliver continues to get happier and happier every day - he's even started kind of cough-laughing at me when I make happy faces at him!! Of course, I say that he's getting happier every day, and he's been crying and yelling at me all day today for some reason... I think it's possibly because we were just in Ohio and he was being held 24/7, but I also think that he's starting to need a schedule of naps during the day. Normally he just sleeps whenever he wants and hangs out with me all day, but now I think he might need to be "put down" for real nap-times, because he has been GRUMPY when he's tired!

Another exciting thing is that he is finally starting to sleep longer in between night-time feedings! I've actually been getting up to 4 hours of sleep at a time! Oh it is glorious! And, despite what you may think...
daddy is getting plenty of sleep all along! :)

We traveled to Ohio this past weekend for my friend Oren's wedding! It was wonderful to see all of our Ohio friends, and Oliver got to see both Papas and both Nanas! Oliver was amazing during both car-rides, he slept almost the whole trip there and then the entire trip back! We had a fabulous time, and even had kind of a date at the wedding (since we couldn't peel Oliver out of Nana and Papa Johnson's arms!) It was lovely!
They had dress-up stuff for fun picture taking - I think we looked pretty awesome, eh? Or would that be scary? :)


....I don't feel like putting up a ton of pictures right now, so check out Ollie's photo blog for many many more! www.oliverbird.tumblr.com

Besides constantly staring at my son - waiting for him to do the next cute thing - I have been extremely busy with the business! March and April are/are going to be VERY busy for us - we seriously have too much work and are almost to the point where we may have to turn jobs down! Things were REALLY slow in February, so this sudden spike in jobs is a major blessing! Hopefully things will stay steady post April (we're hoping this busy-ness isn't a fluke)!

I'm learning, very slowly, how to be a parent AND run a business (not to mention, try to keep the house from falling apart)... it's a difficult process but thankfully I have a patient and helpful husband who doesn't mind cooking dinner when I'm pulling my hair out at the end of a long day! Speaking of my husband, he's even busier than I am! His services are definitely in high demand lately, and he has been running in a million directions just trying to keep up with all of the customers who want his services! I am proud of his efforts and amazed at how he continues to keep up with it all - what a great man I have!

Love to you all!

MISTER Banana Bird!

Well, it's a bit late - but it's time for the formal announcement!
To the immediate left and a tiny bit below "boy" is the little manhood! Our baby is officially known to be a beautiful, strong and healthy boy! I have been SURE that he was a boy the whole time, but it was still sooo exciting to find out for sure! Andy was definitely secretly yearning for a first-born son, so I know he is ecstatic! Here are some more pictures!!

Isn't he handsome????








10 fingers!! And in the second picture, he stopped squirming and hiding long enough to give a quick wave!!



























This is where I get to brag about him being just like mama! In the left picture, he is most definitely giving the peace sign - "peace. love. save the baby whales!" And in the picture on the right, he has his 2 little feet crossed (1o toes), which is exactly what I do when I'm laying down!!!




















We'll end baby pictures with a grand ol' from the bottom of his adorable bum, thighs and little manhood! He was squirming and kicking ALL over the place during the ultrasound, and made things a bit difficult for the dear nurse - she was a trooper though and got all the shots she needed. She said he is right on track and kept my due date exactly as it was before: Jan 23rd! He is in the 50th percentile in terms of size, so apparently he's not the big fat baby I was expecting (since he eats all of my food and leaves me starving all day long)! :) It was so incredible to see him and to find out for sure that he's a HE!

I think everyone on Andy's side of the family was expecting that first-born Bird son, but everyone in MY family was completely shocked (based on the shocking amount of girls born to my sister, and the fact that girls always seem to come first with the whole family)! I, for one, would have been shocked and delighted either way (because it's shocking and delightful enough just knowing there's a HUMAN growing inside of me)! I am sooo excited to meet our son - and I'm officially half-way through my pregnancy, so it won't be long now!

Other things have happened lately that I could write about... but, honestly, who cares??? :)

(Nathanael, I promise to put up the Weiss Family pics/videos soon!)

HURRAY for Baby!

Bum bu-du-bu-dum-bum-bum-BUMP!

Last weekend, Andy and I traveled up to Ohio for my dear friend Mindy's wedding! Andy takes every opportunity to make faces while eating, while I take every opportunity of making grumpy faces about the fact that we're on the road AGAIN (seriously, we travel more than anyone I've ever met!) This is, quite possibly, the least attractive picture of me yet. I laughed after I saw it and said, "that doesn't look like me at all!" Andy looked at it and said, "yes it actually does!" (He got smacked)





The wedding weekend was long and tiring (I was a bridesmaid and Andy therefore ended up being a "helper" for everything that could possibly need helping-with [grammar?]) but nonetheless, a lot of fun! The theme was a 50's Soda Shop, complete with ice-cream floats, live band (and a terrible DJ too) playing exclusively 50's music, and a lot of food!
All the bridesmaids got to get our hair done at a spa and, of course, in 50's styles... although mine just ended up looking kind of awkward, I think... The bridesmaids' dresses were cute though, eh? And, of course, Andy and I were cute to! ;)

The whole thing was quite fun, and it was great to be there for Mindy (since she was there for me when I got married!) Phew! So many weddings in the last few years, I really only have a couple of friends who haven't joined the fun yet! Of course, along with all those weddings (and general getting-older), come all the babies! I have been to my fair share of baby showers and far-away visits to best friends with gorgeous babies of their own!








Which brings me to my MAIN news item...
It seems like Baby bird has finally decided to make an appearance! While we were at the wedding, Mindy's aunt actually asked Mindy's mom (without my overhearing of course, so as not to offend) if I was pregnant!! That must mean that people don't think I just look kind of fat anymore! It's all very exciting, and it's helping me feel not quite so sad about all the new discomforts of having your insides (and outsides, for that matter) stretched and pulled every which way but the way they naturally want to go! :) The most exciting news is that we finally have our first ultrasound scheduled for September 2nd... and we'll be finding out if Baby is a girl or boy!! I am VERY excited about this (I've been SO good about not getting too impatient) - FINALLY we'll be able to start thinking about names!

Besides gearing up for boy or girl land, we're also getting excited for my BIG BROTHER who is going to be graduating a month from tomorrow! We're all so very proud of him and we can't WAIT until he and his family are reunited and settled into their new home (so we can finally visit them all again)!!!!
[Just so you know, Nathanael, using commas in the label area is really irritating and I only do it because you asked me to.]

The last and final thing is that we've finally applied for a new house (to rent, of course)! We turned everything in yesterday and should be hearing back by Monday. If everything goes well, we'll start moving in on Sep. 1st and be completely out of the spider-mansion by the 14th!! It's all VERY exciting and I can't even tell you how delighted I am about the prospect of NOT living in this house!! Keep praying though, because we are still dealing with a landlord that wants to gauge us for money that we should NOT have to pay him (because of the circumstances)! I'm hopeful that God will show us favor and that we'll be released from everything with no penalties financially, but please keep praying for us!

Cheerio for now!