Your Daily Olivia: February 4, 2012

What an adventurous day we had today! Olivia was a sleepy-head this morning, she slept about eight hours last night. I did not sleep that much, too busy playing on the internet, so tonight I'm going to finish my internet browsing early and try to get to bed when she does. Anyway, we got up a little before nine o'clock and saw the strangest thing...the SUN was coming up! Amazing! We finished an abbreviated morning routine and packed up an extra powerful diaper bag - fully equipped with multiple bottles, new outfits, etc. Olivia was bundled into fleecie pajamas and then stuffed into her snowsuit. I put on...regular jeans! In hindsight, I probably should have worn my snow pants, but I was so excited to find that these jeans fit that I couldn't resist.

With all our gear packed into the car, we kissed the doggies goodbye and dashed out to pick up Morgan to go watch the start of the Yukon Quest! Although the thermometer read only -18, (practically balmy compared to our temperatures of late), it felt much, much colder. I think it was because it was damp out - we've had some snow lately. I 'wore' Olivia inside my jacket and wrapped the blanket my father made around us. Our first stop was the Yukon Quest gift shop, located on the river bank above and beside the starting line. Morgan had never been inside, so we tried to look at the merchandise but it was very crowded. We bought Olivia a pink onesie that said "Future Yukon Quest Musher", just because we knew that Adam would have bought it had he been here.

We checked out at the register with two minutes to go before the official start. We hurried outside and saw the first musher & his dogs leap away from the line and go shushing down the Chena River. It's amazing that all this happens directly on top of the frozen river. After the first musher was away we had a few minutes to try and find a better vantage point. The river view plaza, where we were, was not shoveled from the recent snow so it made walking down the steps a little treacherous. Morgan made sure to be our buffer, just in case we took a tumble. Olivia was warm as toast inside her many layers, but Morgan & I were not! We cheered on the mushers as they left, but it was so cold that we could no longer feel our legs. Accordingly, we decided to wait to cheer on Jason Weitzel - the one mushing for the Wounded Warriors Project - and then leave. We got to see a few other famous mushers, but we couldn't imagine waiting another 45 minutes or more for the most famous - Lance Mackey.

After we thawed out in the car, we went over to The Bakery for a restorative brunch. Amazingly enough, we ended up sitting right next to Aliy Zirkle and her team (her people team that is), herself a famous musher from North Pole. It was very cool! Since we'd been out so long, I tried to give Olivia a bottle, but she mostly played with it. I was surprised that she wasn't hungrier. Perhaps she was too busy enjoying the attention she got from all the waitresses to eat. One plate of banana pancakes later, we headed out on errands. A couple quick stops was all we did because Olivia started to remember that she was hungry. I gave her the rest of the bottle while in Wal-Mart and then we waited in the car while Morgan did some more shopping. Olivia was very distressed by two really icky diapers, so I nursed her in the back of the warm car. She seemed to settle down.

We took Morgan home and then hurried back home ourselves because we had a Skype date with Nana! It was great to see her. I really think that Olivia looks at the faces on the screen sometimes. Nana liked watching Olivia, who was very alert and wiggling around plenty! After we said goodbye, Olivia's composure fell apart. I think the hectic day was a little much for her. She needed some serious cuddling, nursing and a nap on my chest before she was back to being a little angel baby.

She's been sleeping on my pillow, while also practicing some kind of baby contortionist moves. I think I may have to find another pillow for myself 'cause it doesn't look like she's saved me any room! Good night!