greatest hits

Dear Olivia,

 

The following is a collection of your greatest hits:

 

To the tune of Mickey Mouse clubhouse Hot Dog song:  "Hot god, hot god, hot diggity god." 

Not your typical worship song;)

 

To the tune of In Christ Alone:  "I don't want my magic wand to break."

 

"Bless the Lord, Oh my soul, oooooh my soul, worship His Holy Name!" This is the song you sang at the library as loudly as you could, right before you had a huge temper tantrum, screaming your head off and making me chase you down the hallway.

 

The following is an example of things you say:

 

me:  "what is that letter, Olivia?"

you: "it's a, um, a diddy"

that means you have no clue what it is.

 

me:  "ok Olivia, how do you say 'shoes' in spanish?"

you [confidently]:  Shoozeeta!

 

wearing bow:  "I be Paige!"

wearing cute dress:  "I Alaina!"

"will we see uncle Markus?"

 

"I go school when I bigger?"

"yep, you'll go to school when you're bigger."

"ok, I bigger!"

 

you:  "mommy, can I say you stink?"

me:  "no Olivia, it's not nice to tell ppl they stink, it could hurt their feelings."

you:  "ok, mommy.  I won't say you stink like stinky poop."*

 

*just to clear up any uncertainty of odors, and to protect mommy's insecurity, there was a trash can of diapers behind you;)

 

Aunt Amber and you started these conversations initially, with pink vs. red nail polish debates.

amber:  "it's pink."

you:  "no it's red."

amber:  "pink."

you:  "it's pink."

amber: "no, red."

(repeat, repeat, repeat)

Then you turned this into a daily conversation piece.

 

you: "mommy, you da boy gabba gabba."

me: "no, YOU da boy gabba gabba."

(repeat, repeat, repeat)

 

This is what we do while other kids are doing pre-school.

 

If I were not responsible for how you turn out, I would be completely entertained all day, every day:)

 

Counting papa's teeth and checking for sugar bugs.  

I was a little jealous of Giraffe for getting to nap

Again, even though baby is napping on a changing pad with a book as a blanket...still a little jealous.



2 peas in a...tunnel

You look like you're going off to school...maybe when you're bigger!

 

 

this may go in the wedding slideshow

the toilet paper tail...nothing wrong with saving some for later;)

 

"you da black one mommy, I da pink one.  ok?  ok."

"what do you want for your birthday Olivia?"

"um, PINK!"

PINK

10,000 reasons for my heart to sing

Defrosted cupcakes after being frozen over a month since you were sick for your birthday. 

Covered up freezer-burn with pink and sprinkles

 

Alaina!

Paige!

Amelia!

 

 

auntie looks like a model in this one:)  unkie and auntie took you for a week to play with Amelia and Isabelle.  That way I could catch up on housekeeping, sleep, and...re-energize for future Olivia gabba gabba conversations.  Again, bless the LORD for our family!

 

love,

mom

Alaina

Dear Alaina,

I'm not sure where to start so let's start with your senses.  Your mom told me your senses are strangely strong.  Your taste buds are acutely aware.  Your ears could hear a silent dog whistle.  Your nose KNOWS.  And you don't forget anything.  Ever.  ;)

Our conversation as I'm making orange chicken, a risky new recipe:
Alaina:  Something stinks.
Alaina:  What stinks?
Alaina:  It's smelling up the whole house.
Alaina:  I'm breathing through my mouth since I can't breath through my nose.
So you can imagine my surprise when you wanted seconds!  I considered that a victory.


We also went to storytime at the library today.  In 4 miles you asked 4 times, "are we there yet?"  Then you and Olivia set your mats RIGHT next to each other and were buddies the whole time.

 Left to Right: baby snowman with no face, mom snake, baby snake with a hat on, baby under a blanket, extra piece of clay, flat snake with red hair, big snowman, rainbow snowman with big eyes, dog bone.

You also love having your picture taken.

teddy bear picnic...Elmo was almost uninvited for not being an animal.

We're having so much fun with you!

 

Love,

Aunt Jenna





 

very merry un-birthday

Dear Olivia,

There's not much of anything sadder than seeing my sweet "big girl" sick on her birthday.  Especially when we've talked this day up for a very long time.


  me:  "olivia, when's your birthday?"
  you:  "after christmas!"
So when christmas was over, your birthday could not come soon enough!

Today at the doctor, you got your finger poked,  they used an old fashioned Bugs Bunny bandaid that looked expired, and swabbed your nose boogers to test for influenza.  To reward you and torture me, they gave you a sucker which always gets at least 3 objects sticky and there is never a place to throw away the stick.

Meanwhile, you have not been able to help with Cate in any way, and the two of you have only been able to look at each other from a distance. 

To make things worse, you were sick on Christmas too.

To make things better, I think of Psalm 103...
Bless the Lord O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

One day kind of recently, mommy woke up and realized her heart was selfish and needed to be fixed. 
That's because I saw how kind and helpful all our family has been to us.  We love 'em all!

Anyway, we'll try a birthday re-do after you're better!

love,
mom

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