Update on Oliver

Today a lady from Kids on the Move came to do a home study of Oliver. They are an organization that helps underdeveloped babies and toddlers and they were coming to evaluate Oliver's development and see if he qualifies for their services. The lady observed his motor skills and he gave her some good smiles and showed her his head holding skills. She said that he was right on track developmentally and he's actually advanced in tracking objects and holding up his head (he's a STRONG baby!!). We are so happy to hear he is doing so well!! He doesn't qualify for their services, which is a super great thing, and the lady said he seemed like a perfectly normal, healthy baby :)

...and I would add super super cute as well :)

This week we've moved out of Newborn sizes and moved into 0-3 month clothes (though some of them still have quite a bit of room for growing). Oliver's blessing is this Sunday and he has a pediatrician visit in 2 weeks, so keep posted for more updates!!

Trip to GREECE

Among the chaos of figuring out our new schedule with Oliver, handling the new set of chores that seem to have come along with a new baby, and spending our first 2 weeks without any visitors since Oliver's been born, we still found time for our monthly trip out of the country...this month, we went to Greece.
For our trip we had Saucy Chicken Gyros! I was very happy to find this recipe because I knew Tommy wasn't the biggest fan of Greek food, but this was just Americanized enough that he enjoyed it while we still got to feel pretty authentic.

Saucy Chicken Gyros

For the Chicken:

4 cloves garlic, smashed
Juice of 1 lemon
3 tsp. red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp. plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. dried dill
salt & pepper (to taste)
1 1/2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts cut into thick strips

For the Tzatziki:

16 oz. plain Greek yogurt
2-3 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 Tbsp. white wine vinegar
1 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. dried oregano
half a lemon, juiced
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Other ingredients:

pepperoncini, diced
cherry tomatoes, halved
feta cheese
6-8 pitas

Directions:

1. Prepare the chicken, combine the garlic, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, olive oil, greek yogurt, oregano, dill, salt and pepper to taste in a medium bowl. Whisk together until mixed well. Add the chicken pieces to the bowl and mix well to coat. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour or overnight.
2. To prepare the tzatziki sauce, mix together the greek yogurt, garlic, white wine vinegar, dill, oregano, salt and pepper to taste, and lemon juice. Drizzle with olive oil. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to meld.
3. To cook the chicken preheat your broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving the marinade. Place the chicken on a baking pan and broil the chicken for 5-7 minutes until cooked through. Pour the remaining marinade in a medium size skillet and bring to a boil. Simmer for 3 minutes and then toss the cooked chicken with the sauce.
4. Heat pitas. Top with chicken, tzatziki sauce, sliced tomatoes, pepperoncinis, and feta cheese. Serve immediately.

After dinner we watched Hercules, which was very enjoyable. Tommy and I picked up some funny jokes that we hadn't picked up before when we were younger ("Somebody call IXII!")

Oliver & James

Pictures from Ashley's visit!! When Tommy saw these, he said "I hope they're best friends" :)

Mommy Survey

I found this randomly on my sister's blog and thought, I will take it upon myself to fill that out :)

This is Oliver's first picture, kind of obscured by the nurses trying to get him oxygen because he was having trouble breathing like he needed to

1. Age? 4 weeks today!

2. Name? Oliver James McLaughlin
3. Birthday? January 9, 2014
4. Time of birth? 4:48 pm
5. How long did labor last? 11 hours
6. Who was in the room when baby was born? Just me and Tommy, the doctor, and 2 nurses
7. How long did you push? 15 minutes...I was pretty darn lucky on that one
8. Weight? 7 pounds 7 ounces
9. Length? 19.25 inches
10. Any hair? A lot of long, dark hair in the back and a little on top (he kind of had/has a receding hairline)11. Who does baby look like? For the first week I thought he looked exactly like Tommy, but as he gets a little older, I think he's starting to look a little more like mama. Actually, I was showing Tommy baby pictures of Jenna and we decided they look A LOT alike...
Here's a picture of Jenna...

And here's one of Oliver...

...right?? Pretty similar.
12. Be honest...how much weight did you gain while pregnant? 30ish lbs. Though I really don't know what my weight was before I got pregnant
13. Was the baby early or late? 16 days early
15. How many baby showers did you have? I had one here in Utah
16. When did baby start sleeping through the night? Definitely not yet...though Oliver did shock me last night by sleeping a solid 5 hours...that was shocking.
17. Did you breastfeed? Yes
18. Who takes care of your baby/kids the most? I do mostly since I work at home and have baby all day, but I haveTommy take over when he gets home from work and they have Daddy and Oliver Cuddle Time
19. When do you want to have another one? Not for a long while...haha I still have a baby in newborn clothes so it is way to soon to get hungry for another one.
20. How did you pick the name? When Tommy and I were dating, he introduced me to a song called Oliver James and told me that he wanted to name his son that some day. Luckily I also loved the name, so it worked out perfectly.
21. How did you know when it was time to go to the hospital? I actually woke up to go to the bathroom at around 6 in the morning and was surprised to find that my water had broken, so I figured I should probably head to the hospital.
22. Anyone spend the night with you the first night home? Tommy's mom stayed with us our first night home from the hospital and Aunt RaeAnn stayed with us Oliver's first night home
23. Did you cry the first time you held your baby? Oh yes, as soon as I saw him I started crying and I really didn't stop for the rest of the night (even though they changed from excited/happy to worry/scared). My crying didn't make for the cutest first picture with baby, but I like it anyway.

24. Where was the baby born? Orem, Utah
25. Did you video tape the birth? No, and I'm so sad cuz I forgot to have Tommy play the playlist I made during my pushing...so sad.