Sesame Street Live

On Friday, we got to go see Sesame Street Live, which translates to "ELMO!" for one particular 2 year old! I was so glad we got to go, as Olivia began running a fever last Sunday night and didn't quit until sometime on Friday. She had/has bronchitis, but I don't know if that's the reason for the fever or not.

A N Y W A Y.......we purchased the tickets to SSL at least a month ago, so I was going to be really bummed had we not been able to go.

We met Clancy & Maggie, as well as Hudson and his Aunt Lisa (since his mommy was in the hospital with her newborn baby Harper!!!). All three kids loved it. Hudson was particularly excited about it and jumped up and down the entire time. Too cute! Olivia either sat in my lap or stood in front of me the entire time. I'm thrilled they made me buy that $25 ticket! HA.

All morning, Olivia kept saying "I go bye bye....Elmo!". She was super excited when we got there and she saw Elmo everywhere!

Two sweet girls watching for Hudson to arrive.

It's starting!

They were immediately intrigued.


But.....the cotton candy was definitely the hit of the show. Even a little girl sitting in front of us turned around and snatched her a big hunk of it! It was a first for Olivia and she sure loved that fluffy, sugary, sticky mess!

The show was all about living a healthy lifestyle (sleep, exercise, fruits/veggies, etc.)

Afterwards, we wanted to get a group shot of the kids. Hudson wouldn't sit. And here's what we got from the sassy girls. Oh well...maybe next time!

Time to hug and tell each other bye!

thirtysomething

I only vaguely remember the drama "thirtysomething". I was probably around 10 years old when it was on, and I'm sure I wasn't suppose to watch it....but I did at times. I recall the characters being so mature. So why is it now that I'm officially thirtysomething, I don't feel old?!?!?

I turned thirtysomething this past weekend....thirty-one to be exact.

I don't feel old because I'm not old...yet.

Talk to me again at 35.

Now, that sounds a little scary!

My mom came into town this weekend. She kept Olivia Saturday night while Jason and I went on a date. We went to dinner, then to Babies R Us, where we got a safety rail for our toddler's little bed! We converted her crib to the toddler bed this weekend. She's done great and hasn't gotten out of it at all until we come in and get her (knock on wood). She's such a big girl now!



These pictures are from one evening when it was bedtime. She ran in her room and got her pillow and blanket that belong to her doll bed, laid on the floor and said she was going "night night". So silly. I loved how she tried so hard to fit on that little pillow.

She found an empty diaper box this weekend as well. It's a fairly small box, but she got in and kept saying "I fit! I fit!". Well, she barely fit!

1st TCU Game

On Saturday afternoon, we took Olivia to her first TCU Basketball game. She seemed to enjoy it, although she did begin to get a little restless towards the end (but so was her daddy)! My in-laws have season tickets, and their seats are behind the dancers. She seemed to enjoy watching the girls dance (they are much more entertaining than the cheerleaders). Most of the time, she sat in her own chair and ate snacks and played peek-a-boo with the little girl sitting behind us.

Unfortunately, the TCU boys lost, but we still had a good time!

Baby Potty Time

If you read my blog, you know Olivia loves her babies.

I caught Olivia in the bathroom having potty time with her baby, so of course, I ran and got the camera!

I just love this one! I sit on the floor next to the potty with Olivia. We talk and play games on my phone....we just do stuff to occupy her time spent sitting there! I loved how she plopped down next to her baby to wait for her to potty! I guess that's what she thinks mommies are suppose to do!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day Y'all!

Jason and I have never done much for Valentine's Day. Let's be honest....it's a total Hallmark holiday and it just really doesn't mean much to me. Never really has. That being said, we do usually at least give each other cards and maybe a small token of our love for one another. (i.e. This morning, Jason left a note and an ENORMOUS Reese's cup in my car. The note also indicated how he knew I'd be mad that he bought it because I'm trying to lose weight and Reeses are my favorite...and well, the entire candy has over 700 calories!!!!!! I did, however, cut a small slice of it tonight and had it for dessert. Yum).

I tried to get a few pictures of Olivia a couple of weeks ago to make Valentine's Day cards. I made them, ordered them, and DIDN'T RECEIVE THEM!!! I'm SOOOO aggravated! I'll definitely be contacting them for a refund. Supposedly they were mailed last Monday, but it's never, ever taken over a week to receive, especially when I chose 3-5 day. Frustrating!

So.....since I didn't get to mail you guys out any Valentine's Day cards, here are at least some of the pictures we took for her card!

These are the Valentines that Olivia took to school today for her friends.

The bag toppers had a frog on them and said "Hoppy Valentine's Day". Hehe. Soooo cheesy for me! I guess being a mom does that to you sometimes!

I knew everyone would probalby give candy, so I tried to get somewhat healthier (with the exception of the large cookie on a stick)!

This was the "bag" of Olivia's Valentines that they made at school (or most likely that her teacher made). This was her first year to exchange Valentines with her friends! She had some gummy savers and several suckers. I thought the little "bag" made of paper plates was a really cute idea.

Until next year....

Easy Entertainment

Last week, during our 2nd round of ice/snow (luckily only lasted 1 day), Jason decided to take Olivia around the house in a laundry basket. He hooked one of the dog leashes onto it and drug it around the house. He goes FAST too! She loved it. After he was done, she put her babies in it and pushed them around. Who knew? She doesn't really need those rooms full of toys afterall!

What Olivia Eats...

Kelly's Korner did a special "Show Us Your Life - What Your Toddler Eats" on Friday. I'm a couple of days behind, but I still wanted to participate. I so desperately want Olivia to grow up with a healthy view of food and eating a variety of healthy foods. Since she is a toddler, it's almost impossible to get her to eat what I'd like her to eat...or sometimes to just eat anything at all! So, here is a list of thing she will USUALLY eat.

BREAKFAST

(She's a really good breakfast eater)

• plain Cheerios w/banana
• frozen waffles w/ sugar-free syrup or jelly
• pancakes w/sugar-free syrup
• toast with butter or sugar-free jelly
• eggs

LUNCH & DINNER

• 100% white meat turkey dogs (she LOVES them)
• chicken noodle soup (I rinse to reduce the sodium content)
• Yogurt
• Sliced Avocado (will ALWAYS eat)
• Black beans
• lunch meat & cheese (we buy Dietz & Watson deli meat, which are free of hormones, MSG, etc. I figure...why risk it?)
• Chicken-N-Rice (she loves my recipe...one of the few things she eats that the rest of the family also eats)
• Spaghettios - messy and not good for her, but she gets them once every couple of weeks or so! I do at least buy whole grain, not that I'm sure that helps a lot
• Mac n cheese - what kid doesn't love it?!?!?! I try to hid veggies in it. Sometimes she's too smart for me though!

DESSERT/SNACKS

• oranges or clementines
• sliced apples
• bananas
• freeze-dried fruit (see www.brothersallnatural.com. We just found these. She loves it.)
• goldfish
• Cheerios

WILL NOT EAT:

• green beans (fresh, frozen, cooked with bacon...just WON'T eat them)
• Hamburger meat
• Really, not much meat at all (try to give other proteins)
• Carrots
• Shredded Wheat cereal (mommy's cereal)
• Broccoli

Can't wait to read thru everyone else's suggestions/ideas! Maybe there are some healthy things I haven't thought of that she would eat! We are REALLY lacking in the vegetable category!

Snow/Ice Day 4

This is what we woke up to on Friday this week. We were only expected an inch of snow, and we got 3-4 inches. Some parts of the metroplex got 7-8 inches, but luckily we are further west and didn't get that much! Between this week and the 12 inches we got last year, I'm really beginning to question whether or not I live in North Texas!

While I already knew I'd be working from home on Friday since schools were closed, I had thought that we may at least be able to get out for an hour or so. When we woke up to this much snow (and it was still snowing), I knew it would be one more day in the house. We had been trapped in the house all week, and both Olivia and myself have been going a little bit crazy! Talk about cabin fever!

Olivia played with this baby ALL DAY. A good friend of her grandparents gave it to her for Christmas, and she has loved her. She is so sweet with her babies. It just melts my heart. I often hear her in the other room talking to them and saying "I wub you baby". Awww!

Of course, these two are loving the snow! It's much better than the ice we had earlier in the week (which unfortunately is still under that snow).

Grcie, who had apparently been eating the snow.

Jason got off work early on Friday, so I waited to take Olivia outside until he got home. She liked it much better than she did on Tuesday....of course, it was also in the upper 20's or low 30's and she didn't have to be bundled up quite as much as Tuesday, when the wind chills were below zero.

She would NOT keep her gloves on, so I just gave up.

Jason making a snow angel

RUN DADDY!

We gathered some fresh snow and made snow ice cream.

YUM!

She helped stir and had to try it from the big spoon.

Luckily the sun is out today and it's suppose to get to about 40 degrees. YEAH! Olivia and I will be venturing out to at least go to the grocery store! I'm not sure which of us will be more excited!

Snow/Ice Day 3

This is why we're still home. Do you see my street?

It's just one huge thick sheet of ice.

Maybe the forecast is wrong and it will warm up more tomorrow.

I hear it should melt even if we can make it to the mid-20's. I don't really understand that, but they say it's true.


Saturday CANNOT come soon enough.

Snow/Ice Day 2

Technically, it's Day 3, but these are pics from Day 2! According to the news, we are in our 48th hour of below freezing temps and it's not expected to get above until Saturday. All major school districts have been closed due to the icy roads (which means daycare is closed as well). We're expecting more snow tonight/tomorrow morning, but they aren't expecting it make road conditions any worse than they already are. Apparently it's going to be fluffy, good snow and not ice like we just had.

I can tell you that I'm tired of being in my pajamas and I want to go somewhere! I bet stores will be crazy busy this weekend since it will be the first time most people have gotten out in several days. I know we are ready!

As working from home with a 2 year old isn't ideal, I stayed up and worked late last night and then was up again at 5am to work this morning. I'm hoping I can get a lot done while she sleeps! That being said, I should probably go work some more!

Lounging with Bentley. He probably wasn't too thrilled, but she loves him SO much

Olivia loves to play in a drawer where I have paper plates, napkins, etc. We never use any of it...it's just stuff I have on hand. Normally, she will place the plates all over the house. Luckily she is really good about going back and gathering them and putting them away in the drawer. She's a really good little maid!

Anyway, I noticed she was being really quiet and here's where I found her.

How stinking cute is that??? She was setting the table! Not too bad for a kid that just turned 2!

(you can ignore my lack of table decor....I haven't gotten it fixed since the birthday party!)

This girl keeps me laughing. While I'm tired of being on lock down, I have sure enjoyed my time with her this week!

Snow/Ice Day

We had a snow day today, although under the snow there is 1-2 inches of ice. The roads are a MESS. All of the major school districts were closed today and will still be closed tomorrow. Luckily I have a child that does fairly well entertaining herself, so I was able to spend most of the day doing some work. I also have a child that enjoys her sleep. She didn't wake up until 9am and today was also a 3 hour nap day, so I was able to get quite a bit accomplished. We'll see what tomorrow holds...it could be a whole different story!

This morning Olivia kept looking out the window and ooohh'ing and ahhh'ing, so I decided to take her outside for a minute. Now.....it's not just icy/snowy....wind chills are BELOW ZERO. IT'S COLD! So, call me a bad mommy, but this child wasn't cold. Trust me! It took us WAY longer to get ready to go outside than we actually stayed outside. I'm pretty sure we were out there for less than 2 minutes.

Olivia refused to keep her gloves on. She would touch the snow with one finger, and then run over to me saying "Look Mommy! Look!"

See that finger? So sweet!

Oh, I may have failed to mention that she as NOT going to leave that baby inside the house. I guess she thought the baby deserved to see the snow too!

About this time she realized her shoes were "dirty".

She didn't like that at all.

She decided it was time to go inside.

She began stripping down once we got inside.

I told you she wasn't cold!

Leggings, jeans, turtleneck, light sweater, coat, raincoat (for the wetness), winter hat that covered her ears...the list may or may not go on. She was well insulated!

Afterwards, we had a snack.

This was her "cheese!" moment.

I think we'll refrain from going outside again tomorrow! I just hope we don't get too stir crazy!