this is what happens when dad gets you ready...

Dear Olivia,

Sunday night I had a class at the hospital, so I left instructions for dad to take you to church for dress-up night.  When I came home, you had bigger muscles than me, my eye-liner on your cheeks, and the cutest Urlacher I've ever seen.

 

 

Tuesday night dad was working, so I took you to our friend Stuber's church for another dress-up night.  Of course we did the princess thing, and as soon as you saw princess Belle and the castle, you were in princess heaven. 

 



 

You could call this your third costume, which is more like casual day at home.  For our dance party, you sported a pull-up, Dora slippers, and hippie mullet.  At least your feet were warm.

 

 I do love this photo.

 

 

In October we also got to watch the color run downtown, which you didn't make it through since it was cold.  It was fun having aunt Mel and uncle Mark here with your cousins, and maybe someday you'll want to run too.

 

 

 

The zoo was fun, but you weren't as interested in the animals as I thought you would be.  I especially thought you would like the flamingos, since they're your favorite color, but you were more interested in snack time.  





 

We are 1 month away from your little sister arriving...so far your response is "mommy no hold baby".  We've got some work to do.

 

Love,

mom



orchard drama

Dear Olivia,

Friday dad went to the men's retreat so we had a day together at the orchard with our church friends. 

You were in a good mood MOST of the day, except when you got bit by the billy goat, fell off a block of wood, tripped on a crack, slipped on the bridge, and thought the tractors were too noisy. 

We also went down a slide that was fast enough to induce labor so we only did that once. 

Love,
mom

pooppaste and things



 

Dear Olivia,

 

We've had lots of family time this summer!

 

One day your cousins came over and we had tons of fun (besides Alaina's owie she got when she fell on the sidewalk...The Ernie bandaid helped a little, but I thought Dora may have helped more.  Note to self:  have more cartoon bandaids on hand!)

 

 Making cookies during your nap.

 

 These cookies tasted almost as good as they look!

 

 Impromptu puppet show with a dentist puppet telling Sharkie to brush more to prevent gingivitis.  Educational and informative:)

 

Girl time

 

Sweet Alaina smile:)

Everything is funner in water.

Again, everything is funner in water.

Is it bad that I don't correct you every time you ask for "poop paste" on your "poop brush?" 

 

 



Race day with daddy, aunt Amber and daddy's friend, "uncle Neb."

HUGS, and aunt Amber got an owie knee...we should have brought her an elmo bandaid

Fixing loose hairs

Cheering section

Daddy looks slightly like a Braveheart/Patriot/any war movie soldier

Now they look like they won the war.

Tackling papa over, and over, and OVER again!

The announcement; much anticipated...fun to make people wait just a LITTLE longer to get the photo text;)

Yeah!

Bonding with Great Grandma Lillian at breakfast.  When you come downstairs in the morning, it's my favorite time of the day because you greet everyone with a "Moanin!" 

Ever since you've fallen off your bike (twice), you've been too scared to ride.  So I got a purple helmet to help with that.  Now you look professional, but still too scared to actually peddle.  We're working on that!

 

Another highlight of our summer was the state fair with aunt Amber, auntie, unkie and Amelia...our camera batteries were dead:/  Grrr.  We still have great memories we won't ever forget and you still talk about Amelia and her pink potty quite a bit...but not enough to actually use a potty....that's a whole 'nother blog:)

 

Butterfly kisses, airplane hugs, and cheek squishes,

Mom

 

 

 



Sunburns, Allison Krauss, Denny's

Dear Olivia,

Your dad and I went on a vacation to San Diego while you stayed with your aunt Amber.  We are so thankful for aunt Amber taking you (and Snoop!) for almost a week...I don't think you missed us any more than Snoop did. 

We had such a fun time, it's hard to expain how quiet it seemed without having a two-year-old repeating "poopy" all day. 

 Our hotel swimming pool.  Would have been fun to swim in, except we got sunburns at the beach and were so scalded we didn't really want to swim.  So we played checkers by the pool and people-watched.

 The outdoor Allison Krauss concert was at our hotel next to the pool, but we didn't want to pay $200 to go.  So we went to the pool, hid in the bushes and took pictures of Krauss during the concert.  Security found us in the bushes and asked if we wanted to go to the concert.  Then he gave us 2 free tickets.  Olivia, someday you will read this and think what nerdy, frugal parents you have.  At least we're happy nerds!

Allison Krauss :)

Our day-cruise around San Diego Bay.  The endless buffet put a cheesy grin on your dad's face the entire cruise.  He ate 9 plates of food.

 We went to a comedy club, beach, downtown shopping, bus, trolley, restaurants by the bay, and Denny's.  All-in-all just a good, old-fashioned, last-hurrah, awesome vacation before our family of 3 becomes a family of 4.

Glad to be home with my Livey.



Love,
mom

Baby Mommy Tummy

Dear Olivia,

This may sound like a lame excuse since you don't know what a jump drive is, but mommy's jump drive has been broken for months so I haven't blogged since before your birthday. It's never as fun to blog without photos so I'll use some from the archive.

Your frequently used words:
Poopy
OK?
Kenny

You got in trouble a couple weeks ago for saying "poopy" too much. This is because you said "poopy" when you didn't poop maybe 40 times, maybe more, but not less than 40 times. "Poopy" has been used as a ploy to get out of mealtime, get attention, bored, or when you toot. That's why a minimum of 2 minutes on the potty chair is required for "poopy" follow-through.

I can't stay mad at you for long because you are such a tender-hearted little person and anytime someone gets an ouchie, you ask, "OK? OK? You OK?" until we say we're ok. It's hard to believe that you ever hit/clawed/punched other kids, and I'm so glad that phase is over!

The last couple of weeks you have been saying "Kenny" very persistently. "Kenny. Kenny! Kenny?". We don't watch Southpark, so I really didn't know which Kenny you were referring to. Finally you combined two of your favorite words, "Poopy Kenny?" And I realized you were asking for candy after a poop. Of course Kenny means candy!

Which means when mommy has a baby in November, if it's a boy we won't name him Kenny! This was very exciting news for all of us, and now you're announcing to family and friends, "Baby mommy tummy." I hope we're ready for all this newborn stuff again. As your aunt Melanie says, "you never feel ready!"

Love,
mom

Nana papa mama dada nana

Dear Olivia,
I haven't blogged for a long time.  Maybe it's because I've been picking up your plastic fruits and vegetables, cleaning up poop that ALMOST made it to your new potty, disinfecting toothbrushes you leave around the house...and just being entertained by you in general.

To sum up 2011, it was one of the happiest years of mommy's life because I got to spend most of it with YOU.  Work=overrated!  We also got to move closer to family!  We love love love our church and as soon as you stop hitting the other kids, I'm sure they will love you too:)  

I haven't been around enough kids to know if all toddlers ramble off every word they know and turn it into a sentence...but conversations with you are very interesting.

"Nana papa mama dada nana mama papa mama dada cookie NO"
possibly means:  "mom and dad won't give me a cookie, but nana and papa would if they were here."

We got lots of fuzzy pictures from Christmas so we don't have a super good representation of the family.  Your cousin Paige got a camera that is nicer than ours (plus hers is pink), so it's probably time for an upgrade!  Oh well, here's what we got from fall/winter 2011:)

I love our families, and I love you! 

 mom