Christmas 2009

By Olivia:

Mommy said I should tell you about my Christmas, so here goes! Mommy has been really excited for a few weeks about Christmas. She put up a big tree right in the middle of my playroom! It looks really neat and I like everything hanging off of it, but Mommy didn't like for me to take all those things off. She put a gate around it so I couldn't get to it! Not very nice, Mom.
When I woke up Thursday, Mommy said it was Christmas Eve. She and Daddy took me to a place called The Wildlife Experience. Mommy said I had been there before with my cousins Maggie and Aubrey, but I don't remember. It was really neat! Daddy kept telling me the animals weren't real, but they sure looked real!




Daddy helping me get a closer look at some vultures:



We were walking thru where the fish live, when I saw fish on the ground, swimming right beside my feet! I thought it was really neat and I chased them around for awhile. You can't see the fish in the pictures, though. Daddy said the flash on the camera makes them disappear? I think they're hiding, because Mommy was taking so many pictures!





We had a really fun time! When we got home, Mommy made a big ham dinner. My favorite part was the mac and cheese. Mommy loves it when I hold my fork in one hand and eat with the fingers on my other hand. Anything to make Mommy happy!



Mommy let me open one present that night and it was crayons for my bathtub! I wanted to use them right away, so Mommy let me take a bath. It was so much fun, I made the bathtub look beautiful.
I woke up the next morning and when I got downstairs, there were presents everywhere! It was really neat, but I was hungry! I didn't want to open any presents until after I ate. Mommy said that would change soon. A girls gotta eat! Mommy made Monkey Bread for breakfast and it was delicious! She said it would be our tradition on Christmas. Then a few hours later, she said I maybe shouldn't have so much sugar first thing in the morning. Hmmmm.



Here I am checking out my presents:



Pretty neat, huh?





After breakfast, it was time to open!





I wanted to play with all the toys when I opened them, but Mommy wanted to open all our gifts first. Shew, that was a little frustrating for me, but I finally agreed. Every time I opened a gift, Mommy would tell me what it was, then say "Yay!" So, I started saying it when I opened gifts. Mommy and Daddy thought it was funny.



Daddy loved taking all my toys out of boxes and putting them together for me. Mommy thought it was funny for some reason.



I got sooooo many nice things from my family in Tennessee! I can't wait to see them in January to thank them:





Mommy let me wear my pajamas ALL DAY. It was awesome! We had a nice day playing with my toys and hanging out in our pajamas. Mommy finished another hat for me:



Seems like I have alot of hats....
I got to wear this cute dress to church yesterday:



And that was our Christmas! How was yours?

Anniversary and Santa Saga...

Today is our 4th anniversary. If someone had told us on our wedding day that in 4 years we would be living in Colorado with a 16 month old, we would have thought they were crazy! However, here we are and thinking things turned out pretty well!

Flashback:







Fun!

Since I was off Saturday (for the first time since October- and someone asked to work for me that day!), we decided to take Olivia to Bass Pro Shop. Why, you ask? Because they have lots of stuffed animals, a huge fish tank, and a Santa Wonderland where you can get a FREE photo with Santa. Getting ready to go see Santa:





Unfortunatley, everyone in the greater Denver area had the same idea! We got there around 1:00 and discovered they were handing out times to come back for your photo with Santa. The earliest time we could get in was 6:30 that night. Needless to say, we didn't take that time! Olivia did enjoy the fish and stuffed animals, though. Here she is on the way home:



I ended up taking her to see Santa at the mall. There's a whole village set up, with a boardwalk, fake snow, lights, the whole works. She loved walking around there and looking at everything. When we got to Santa's "lodge" and she saw him sitting there, she froze. There was someone in front of us, so she watched that little boy get his picture made. Then I picked her up and sat her on his lap. Big mistake. She lost it, arching her back, SCREAMING, and trying to get down. This was the result:



Needless to say, I got the smallest package of that picture! I was trying to video at the same time and this is all I could get:



Poor thing. We had to run to the mall again today, so I thought we would try it one more time. This time, she wouldn't even let me put her down to walk around the boardwalk. The closer we got to Santa, the tighter she gripped my shirt. When she started whimpering, I decided to join her in the picture. She still looks scared, but at least she's not screaming!



Olivia has 3 people she wants to wish a Happy Birthday to (a little late!):

Her Mamaw:



Her cousin Taylor:



Her cousin Aubrey:



Hope you all had a great day!

We finally finished our Christmas shopping today. Now, to fight the line at the post office...

"Showing Off" video. What good is a blog, if you can't show off your child every now and then? Wait, I think that's the whole purpose of this blog... :)




This video cracks me up. I was working on naming body parts with Olivia and Avry. The funniest part is at the end, when Avry tries to sit on my lap:



They are so funny!

Olivia's Bag o' Bread

We went a few weeks with Olivia not eating much. She snacked here and there, but didn't really eat like she used to. It showed at her weight check Monday- she gained 1/2 ounce in a month (up to 16 lbs., 1/2 ounce). Well, that all changed this week. She eats all.the.time. BUT, she wants to play all the time, too. So we end up fixing her something to eat, she'll take a few bites, sign that she's "all done," get down to play, and sign "eat" 5 minutes later. It's a slightly frustrating process. We don't want her to be hungry, but we do want her to eat enough at meals.
Anyway, I was putting up dishes Wednesday, when she walked in the kitchen. She pointed to the top of the counter with an "uh, uh, uh." Her way of telling me she wanted something. I had no idea what she was pointing at, so I picked her up and she went after a Ziploc bag of rolls from dinner the night before. I gave them to her and you would have thought it was the best thing she ever put in her mouth. She carried that bag around for an hour, reaching in every once in awhile for a handful of bread.









Guess she's going to be a carb girl (like Mommy!).

We've really been working on signs with her, lately. She's at that age where she knows what she wants, but can't communicate to tell us. It leaves her very frustrated (and whiny!). So, we're watching her Baby Signs DVD as much as possible and using the signs with her. She already signs "all done," "more," "eat," "drink," and "baby" appropriately. She signs along with almost all of the DVD, but those are the ones she uses the most right now. I hope she picks more up quickly and we can avoid some tantrums!

Here she is signing "all done"



Fun stuff!
It has been terribly cold here the past few days (the high today was 14). We've been letting the dogs in a little earlier than usual, much to Olivia's delight. She still loves the dogs:



We're ready for some warmer weather! At least out of the teens... Have a good week!

What I've been working on...

My knitting projects have led to the opening of an Etsy shop!

Here's the link:

C.P. Hats and More You might recognize some of the names of my hats!

Why C.P. Hats and More, you ask? The C.P. stands for Cutie Patooty, but I also have boy hats for sale. I thought the name Cutie Patooty might not get noticed by Mommies of little boys, so I shortened it.

If you haven't discovered Etsy yet, have fun! I LOVE Etsy. Every item is hand-made or vintage. It's a place where anyone can have a shop and you can find all kinds of great items. Remember Olivia's pettiskirt?




It's an Etsy find. Sooooo, go look and have fun!

Thanksgiving and Tree Trimming!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our friends Yarelys and Steve, their little boy (Caden), and Steve's parents. I'm happy to report my dishes turned out much better this year. Last year my sides were a disaster! Well, my sweet potato casserole was a disaster again this year, but it tasted OK!
Just for fun- Thanksgivng 2008- so small!



Olivia had a great time playing with Caden:



Caden even stole a few hugs:





Olivia left lots of fingerprints on their glass table:



Playing Peek a boo with each other:



We had a great time!



Lots of new toys to play with at Caden's house:



I started putting away leftovers when we got home that night and noticed that Olivia was missing. She had been playing in her playroom, so I called for her and heard a giggle from the direction of the laundry room. She had found the container of marshmallows I had given her earlier (healthy, right? I had to give her something to keep her occupied so I could finish cooking!). I'm not sure if she hid them before we left or what, but for whatever reason, she thought she had to hide in the laudry room (with the light off) to eat them. Isn't she a bit young to be "hiding" when she knows she's doing something wrong?! I love how she brought her paci and cell phone with her:





Yarelys and I went to the Moonlight Madness Sale at the Outlets in Castle Rock (about 15 minutes South) that night. Talk about Madness- WOW. We only made it to one store (Gymboree, of course!). We got there right at 10:00 p.m. (when the sale started) and it was packed. We had to wait in line for an hour and 20 minutes just to check out, but I got some great deals and cute clothes for next year (and this year!). The lines were long in every store, so we headed home after Gymboree.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're moving right along to Christmas! I found a 7 1/2 foot pre-lit Christmas tree on Craigslist for $50. LOVE Craigslist! Olivia was more interested in taking off each ornament as I put them on:





She lost interest before we finished, but seems to like the tree. We ended up putting the baby gate around it, though. I'm afraid she'll knock it over!





It was fun to decorate with her and I'm excited for Christmas. We have another busy week planned!



This is usually what her hair looks like in the morning:



And I have to share this video. Avry was with us Wednesday and they were playing together really well. Avry was pushing Olivia in the stroller around the island in the kitchen. I was working on a pumpkin pie when I heard them open a drawer in the island. Every cabinet in our kitchen has a baby latch, but not the drawers in the island. I use them frequently and can usually keep them away pretty easily. I could have stopped this, but I grabbed the camera instead. So glad we bought the jumbo box of sandwich bags at Costco!



They are so funny! Have a good week!

Things I said I would never do as a parent...

We've all said them. Or I have, at least. "When I have kids, I'll never ______ (fill in the blank)." I have a whole list of them, so here you have it. Things I said I wouldn't do:

1) "I'll never..." Co-sleep. Yes, Olivia is still sleeping in our bed. She was starting out in her crib for a few hours, but that went downhill when I started working at night. She knows Daddy won't let her cry too long!
2) "I'll never..." Google every "symptom" I think she has, self-diagnose her, and call her pediatrician to confirm.
3) "I'll never..." Have the pediatrician on speed dial.
4) "I'll never..." Have a house over-run with toys. Ha!
5) "I'll never..." compare my child to another. This one became a little too hard when I started watching Avry. They're only 2 days apart, of course I compare them!
6) "I'll never..." let my child make a mess while eating, then take pictures and share them on the internet...

*****************WARNING************************
Pictures of kids covered in food below! I used to think these pictures were gross, until I took some of Olivia. I honestly never thought I would let her get this messy, but with spaghetti, what else can you do? Avry was here, too, so I stripped them down to their diapers and let them go.



Not too bad starting out...



This pic is blurry, but I had to post it. I gave them spoons, but they quickly gave up on them and Olivia decided the noodles were too slippery for her fingers, so she just stuck her face in the pile of spaghetti. I probably won't be telling her to eat with her hands too many more times!



Since they were a mess anyway, I gave them a Zumerz (yogurt), too.





Olivia made a much bigger mess than Avry, although Avry held her own!



The last picture is me trying to keep them corraled in the kitchen while I made a path to the bathroom. Not easy with 2 toddlers! I finally sacrificed my clothes and picked both of them up and dumped them in the tub. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves. I can't wait to try finger painting when it warms up!