Facing Forward!

Olivia got to have her car seat turned around this weekend. She loves facing forward!

Olivia is 1 Year Old!

Olivia turned ONE today! I can't believe that precious baby girl is already ONE. It is amazing how much Olivia has changed and learned in a year. Here are some facts about our beautiful little girl.

1. Eats all table food.
2. Drinks milk from a sippy cup or straw.

3. Wears 12 month bottoms and 12 or 18 month tops and size 3 diapers.

4. Sleeps about 12 hours at night (usually goes to bed between 8-8:30pm and gets up at 8am).

5. Takes 2 naps still.

6. Olivia has 1 tooth (front bottom).

7. Crawls (mostly regular but sometimes sneaks in an army crawl).

8. Can take 2 or 3 steps between Mom and Dad but isn't walking yet. Cruises along furniture and will stand on her own.

9. Climbs stairs.
10. Waves Goodbye and Hello.

11. Give High Fives.

12. Blows Kisses.
13. Plays peek-a-boo.

14. Says DaDa, MaMa, Hi, Yes, Bye, Night Night, Berkey.
15. Favorite activities include chasing Berkley, pushing her walking toy, riding in Cozy Coup and Wagon, reading books, playing in the laundry, and anything that involves being outside.
16. Sucks her thumb and plays with her hair when she goes to sleep.

17. Points at things.

18. Loves to laugh especially after you laugh at her.

19. Ticklish under her arms, at her side, and by her neck.

20. She is Dancing Machine. She has the funniest dance moves. She wiggles back and forth
while bobbling her head.

Olivia enjoying her birthday cake!

Family Picture.

Olivia riding in her wagon with Makenna and Ayela.

Olivia cruising in her cozy coup.

Happy Birthday Olivia!
Mommy and Daddy love you and can't wait for all the new adventures this year will hold.

11 Months Old

Olivia is 11 months old today. I can't believe that she will be 1 year old in just one month. She is pure entertainment. She babbles and laughs constantly and has started responding to questions. She is still army crawling with an occasional crawl on her hands and knees. She is pulling up on everything and cruising along furniture. Berkley is still her primary target. Olivia can't quite get the standing up by herself yet. She has become very curious about drawers and cabinets and unfortunately Berkley's dog dishes. Olivia loves to "help" with folding laundry and even ends up in the basket sometimes. We have gotten over the bedtime fight of standing up in the crib and she continues to be a great sleeper.

Olivia hasn't met a food that she doesn't like! We are officially done with formula and have moved on to whole milk. We are in the process of weaning her from her bottle. She usually takes a bottle at night and the rest of the time she uses a sippy cup. We still don't have any teeth though, but I think we are very close to getting one or two on the bottom.

Olivia is quickly becoming a big girl. We can't wait to celebrate her first birthday!

Mmmmm Milkshake!

Johnson County 4H Fair

We went to the Johnson County 4H Fair last week to see all the animals. Olivia was excited to see all the animals. She would point at them and get all excited. Olivia even got to pet a couple of them. We saw all the sites the fair had to offer. We enjoyed our trip to the fair with our friends Tracy and Lucy.

Pointing at the pigs.

Keep an eye on the cows while sipping on her drink.

Olivia and Lucy were very interested in the goats. The goats were crazy. They kept trying to eat the stroller, lick Olivia's feet, and reach for Lucy.

Daddy and Olivia at the midway.

Olivia playing in the ducky water game.

We even rode the Merry Go Round.

Olivia got to pet the sheep.

Our busy girls were too distracted to look at the camera but the cow made sure to look at it.

One last up close look at the pigs. They do resemble our dog just a little bit.

A tired girl gets a ride back to the car.

10 Months Old

Olivia is 10 months old today. She is very curious and independent baby that talks and laughs all the time. Olivia says Muma for Mommy and Dada for Daddy and is beginning to respond back to you when ask her questions. Even though she is Miss Independent, Olivia has started to give you those wonderful open mouth, wet, baby kisses. She even gives them to Berkley.

Oliva is eating all table food now. She uses a sippy cup for around meals and snacks but still takes a couple of bottles.

Olivia is crawling all over the place. She continues to crawl army style. We have decided she has no interested in crawling on her hands because she would not be able to crawl with any thing in her hands. When she crawls now, she always has a ball (Berkley or hers), a block, or sippy cup in at least one hand that she carries with her to her destination. She is constantly trying to get Berkley. For the most part Olivia is pretty gentle with her and even gives her kisses . Olivia has learned how to throw Berkley her ball. Berkley has learned Olivia will feed her and it is in her best interest to be friends with Olivia. They will be best friends before long.

Olivia is pulling up on everything. Our least favorite is the crib because she refuses to lay down at bedtime. She is beginning to walk along things. Her newest trick is trying to stand up in the middle of the room by herself. She hasn't quite mastered it so she just looks like she is standing on her head when she tries standing up. She will stand for a couple of seconds by herself without grabbing on to anything or falling. We fully anticipate her walking in the next month. Olivia loves to crawl over to you and blow raspberries on your leg, arm, foot, hand, face, shoulder, or whatever skin you have exposed. Olivia just thinks this is so funny!

Despite her bedtime fights, she is a great sleeper. She still takes 2 naps (1-2hrs each) and sleeps at night for 11 hours. She gets this from her Mom. We couldn't ask for a better sleeper!

Olivia is quickly becoming a big girl and no longer our little baby. She is such a joy and we can't imagine life with out her. We truly have the cutest, funniest baby girl! We can't believe she will be year old in just 2 months.

She loves swinging in her swing.

Olivia squeals with laughter when Scott pushes her around the room on this scooter.

Olivia dances and plays at her activity table.

Just checking each other out.

Instead of sitting and smiling for her picture, Olivia wanted to stand.

Berkey is back. See how Olivia crawls with the block in her hand as she tries to crawl over to Berkley and give her a kiss.

Tired out from pictures.

Lowering the Crib!

We had to lower the crib tonight! I went to check on Olivia as she protested bedtime and found her standing up at the rail! She is getting to be such a big girl! Crawling, sitting herself up from being on her belly, pulling up on everything, standing while holding on to things.....before I know it she will be walking!

She said Yes!

We would like to congratulate Kristen and Cory. They got engaged in Mexico on the beach on June 11Th. We are excited to welcome Cory into our family. They are a great couple.

Now the fun of wedding planning begins!

9 Months Old

Olivia is 9 months old today. She has become such a big girl. She is army crawling and scooting. She also rolls around on the floor to get to things out of reach. You will often find her playing with Berkley. Olivia waves Berkley's toys at her to get Berkley to come over and play. It is cute to watch them interact. Olivia loves swimming and playing in the water. Olivia is starting to loose interest in baby food. During the past week, we have started giving her pieces of real food to gum up. She loves it! She is pretty adventurous and will try just about anything. She has tried peas, carrots, watermelon, black beans, pineapple, blueberries, nectarines, apples, and grapes. Olivia still doesn't have any teeth though. She has started using a sippy cup on regular basis for drinks of water between bottles. One of the cutest things she has started doing is dancing. She bounces back and forth. It is cute to watch her do this in the car with the radio and sometimes she even tries to sing along! She constantly is babbling and laughing. Whenever you laugh, she lets out a big laugh too. Olivia still says DaDaDaDa all the time but we have heard a MaMaMa snuck in once or twice but with no regularity. She definitely keeps us amused and can't wait to see what adventures crawling brings.

9 Month Stats

Weight: 17lbs 13.5oz (33%)

Height: 27.75 in (58%)

Head: 27%

Olivia has found a new interest in her touch and feel books.

Hanging out on the couch!

Attempting to crawl.

Olivia is always performing for the camera!

Happy Father's Day!

I would like to say Happy First Father's Day to my wonderful husband! Thank you for all of your help, love, and support! I couldn't do this without you. Olivia thinks the world of you. She just lights up when she sees you! I see a Daddy's girl in our future.

We love you so much!

Congratulations Ben and Becky!

We would like to congratulate Ben and Becky on their special day! On June 5th, our good friends Ben and Becky married at the Avon Gardens. The day which started out with rain and called for rain most of the day, turned out to be a beautiful sunny afternoon. Everything went smoothly and everyone enjoyed themselves. The bride looked beautiful and the groom tried his best to look good.

Here is Olivia posing for a picture with her Godparents.

Our friend Tester even made it back from Seattle so that Olivia could serve him a glass of champagne, or at least the glass anyway. We miss you Tester.

The newly married couple rocking out at the end of the night. (I'm saving this one for when you have kids or for when Ben tries to run for public office:) )
Congratulations Mr and Mrs Meyer!

Bathing Suit Time!

Olivia in her first bathing suit! What a pose!

8 Months Old

Olivia is 8 months old today. She is an absolute joy and keeps us laughing. She is excited about everything. She squeals at Berkley every time she sees her. Olivia is clapping, waving, and giving high five. In the past two days, she has started rocking and dancing. She loves to eat! Cheerios are her favorite treat. We hope to start on more finger foods soon but Olivia still doesn't have any teeth. On Mother's Day, she started saying "Dadadada". I can't be mad though because it is so cute.

Olivia rolls back and forth but isn't truly mobile yet. Crawling will come soon enough though. I am not rushing her being into everything. She has found out ways to get items out of reach though. Olivia will pull her blanket toward her to get an item that is on the blanket but out of reach. She even tried this trick with Berkley. Olivia tried pulling Berkley to her by pulling on the blanket that Berkley was sitting on while licking her paws. She wasn't quite strong enough though. You do have to give her credit for being a smart girl! We can't wait to see what developments she makes in the coming weeks!

So curious!

And excited!

A New Ride!

We moved Olivia out of the baby carrier and into her regular car seat today. She was getting so heavy to carry in the carrier. She was very excited to try out her new ride!

You don't realize how much your baby girl has grown until you compare pictures. This picture was taken at the hospital the day we brought her home. It was the first time we put her in the baby carrier. The picture below is from today. It was the last time she rode in this seat. I can' t believe how much bigger she is and how different she looks. I find too cute that she has the same expression on her face in both pictures.