Olivia Kate's Dedication Weekend

We had Olivia's dedication this weekend at church. Mom and Walter were able to come in for it, so all of her grandparents were there to witness it, which made it extra special. Nicole and Hudson came too, but we failed to get one single picture of them together! I didn't even take my camera to church or lunch, so I failed to get any pictures of Elizabeth and Mike too! We took a few before church at the house, and then Nicole took some during the service....thanks Nicole!!!

Olivia, Nana and Papaw - I just realized that I don't really know how to spell Papaw!

Olivia liked the Bible they gave her. The preacher said it was "a good sign"!

Elizabeth (Gram E) gave Olivia this pendant. Chip (Jason's dad) had given it to her, and now she is passing it on to Olivia. It's really sweet, and I can't wait until she is big enough to get to wear it!

O's first Thanksgiving

Olivia's first Thanksgiving was pretty low key. We woke up and went to my in-laws for breakfast, came home and napped, and then we went back over there for Thanksgiving dinner.

Olivia with Aunt Emily

Playing with her grandpa

Everyone minus me, Jason and Olivia

Eating her first Thanksgiving meal

She had turkey, baked potato casserole (yum), squash casserole, rolls, and Puffs (always!). She tried green bean bundles but wasn't a fan. Her favorites seemed to be the turkey and the cheese off the top of the baked potato casserole (a girl after my own heart)!

It's a Ladybug Party!

We went to Maggie's 2nd birthday party this weekend. The theme was ladybugs, and they really did it up! They had ladybug necklaces, ladybug masks and ladybug aprons for all of the kids. The big kids got to decorate their own cupcakes and also participate in the ladybug bean bag toss. Everyone also got to make a reindeer using their feet/hands, which was super cute! It was a great party! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAGGIE! We love you!

Olivia played hard at the party. She loves going places that have "new" toys for her to play with!

Clancy did a great job on the cake...very cute.

The ladybug cupcakes.



Olivia had fun playing in the ladybug tent (notice her tongue..HA!)

Olivia with Maggie

The birthday girl. She was constantly on the move. This was the best pic I could catch of her! I bet her mommy got some better ones.

Hudson and Olivia

10 Months Old!

It seems like I JUST posted the 9 month post...time is FLYING!!! I've started planning Olivia's first birthday, which is a lot of fun!

At 10 months, Olivia is doing the following:

• She is still wearing 6-12 month, 9 month, and some 12 month clothing.

• She is still wearing a size 3 diaper

• She says Mamma and Dada a lot. When she hears the back door open in the evenings, she starts saying Dada before she's even seen him. So sweet and so smart too! Maybe I'm partial, but I think she's a genious! HAHA!

• She has started saying "uh oh" when she drops things.

• She claps, waves and blows kisses

• She loves to interact with us. It seems like she's always studying us and takes everything in.

• She is generous and likes to share....the other night, I sat next to her highchair and asked her if I could have some of her cheese, and she fed me a couple of pieces. She thought it was so funny. And people say that only children are spoiled and don't share! :)

• She has started to pull up a lot. Sometimes she gets a little dare devilish and lets go, but she crashes! I do not foresee walking anytime soon, but I guess you never know.

• She generally sleeps from 7pm to 7am. Sometimes she stays up until 7:30pm, but not very often anymore. They must keep her really busy at school every day!

• She seems to FINALLY be getting a less picky pallete and is enjoying a few more foods.

• She was weaned at 9 1/2 months and is now on formula full time. She's done great! It was a very difficult decision for me to make and I was pretty nervous about it. It ended up being such an easy transition for us, and I was so thankful for that!
  

I left her in her room for a few minutes alone.
Once I came in and she had this little suitcase and some stuffed animals out from under her changing table.

The other time I came in, she had books everywhere. I hope she loves books!

Our 4 Legged Family Members

I decided to participate again this week on Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life. This week is all about our pets.

We have 2 standard poodles, each between 50-60 pounds. Gracie is nearly 3 years old, and Bentley is nearly 2. We got Bentley very soon after we got back from Europe last year. When we got back, Gracie seemed really depressed and like she missed her doggie friends that she had been hanging out with for 2 weeks! So...we got Bentley. Exactly a week later I found out I was pregnant! Lucky for Bentley that I didn't know at the time or I am SURE that we wouldn't have added him to our family! Shhhh...don't tell him!

Here they are running around when Bentley was a puppy. He's now several inches taller than Gracie.

My little Gracie. We have a special bond and she will always be my baby girl!

Checking in on Olivia



They love it when Olivia eats finger foods! Here they are cleaning up her green beans and carrots!

When we initially decided to get a dog, my husband was 100% against getting a poodle, but he finally gave in to my begging. I knew I loved standard poodles and their personalities. They are also really smart...and they don't shed, which is wonderful! It probably took an hour before he began to love Gracie! And with the 2nd dog...I didn't even have to beg! He was all for getting another one. They really are great dogs. Ours would be even better if they were better trained...it's totally our fault, but they don't have a lot of manners!

A Whole Lot of Nothing

This past week and weekend were pretty uneventful, which isn't too abnormal for us! Olivia has continued to amaze me by growing way too fast! This past week she started saying "uh oh!" when she drops something. She typically just gets the first part out, but she tries to say the "oh" part.

We also found a new game that Olivia likes to play this week. She likes to sit on the floor and "roll" toys back and forth. I say "roll" because she chunks them at me, and then I roll gently back to her, then she chunks them back at me, and so on. She finds this game to be really amusing though! She seems to understand the concept...she just hasn't quite gotten the gentle roll down!

Being silly and eating some cheese.

I was doing something in her room and found her in her closet playing with a big girl toy. I had put it away thinking it would still be a while before she got to play with it. Well, apparently she's already a big girl because she plays with it just fine!

Here's her signature mohawk! Her hair is really growing!

The Perfect Little Patient

Olivia got tubes in her ears on Friday. I was pretty nervous about it, although I was trying so hard to not be! I knew God would take care of her, but as a mom, I still couldn't help but worry about them putting my baby under anesthesia. It was pretty upsetting when they came and took her from me, but the entire procedure took about 3-4 minutes. I had not even sat down in the waiting room yet when the doctor came out to tell us they were finished! SUPER QUICK! Several people (medical personnel and friends) had told me to be prepared for Olivia to wake up very disoriented and unconsolable. Well, she was PERFECT....barely a tear was shed and she was about 100% by the time we left the hospital. She was such a good girl all morning. I was so proud of her!

Here she is in her hospital gown playing before the surgery.

My mom (Nana) came this weekend, but we were BAD about taking pictures! I was able to snap one of them before she had to leave!

Olivia's 1st Halloween

We had a little bumble bee at our house yesterday! Isn't she just precious?! Warning: there are A LOT of pictures! I just thought she was too cute in her costume! We got dressed 3 different times yesterday....once for pictures, once for Gram E and once for our outing to the Fall Fest. I think we wore her out!

SO SWEET!

One of my favorites.

Busy bee trying to get in the flower bed.

Gram E brought her a Halloween book

Showing off her little tooth

The fall festival had tons of games for little kids, bouncy houses, hay rides, horse rides, etc. Olivia liked watching the horses.

Daddy went to the playground and decided to slide.

First time in a swing.

Busy Little Bee

This little girl is really starting to get around. I knew this was bound to happen one day...glad I was able to catch her on camera! She wasn't too sure about it at first, but I guess she liked it because she squealed pretty loudly when I took her out. She's a mess!

Oink Oink

Dressing up for Halloween must have made my little girl quite hungry! Maybe she should have been a little pig for Halloween! Look at what all she ate! She's NEVER come close to eating this much! She had 2 whole jars of food AND a bowl of oatmeal! Maybe she's turning a new leaf and is going to quit being so picky!