The Dixie Stampede

We have been working on Olivia sleeping in her room all night by herself almost all summer.  With the baby coming, we need her in her own room!  She had a chart and she got 1 sticker for staying half the night and 2 stickers for staying the whole night.  Every time she got 10 stickers, she got to pick out something from the Dollar Tree.  When she got 50 stickers, she got to pick a place to go.  Her choice?  The Dixie Stampede!  She picked up a brochure for it the last time we were at Dollywood and has been obsessed.  She finally got 50 stickers (yay for progress!) and we headed to Pigeon Forge last weekend.  Mamaw was able to meet us there. 

Anxiously waiting:

It was the first time Michael and I had been there, too.  It was pretty neat.  I had read ahead of time that there aren't utensils for eating, so I packed some plastic forks and knives.  Every time our waiter walked by us, he called us "cheaters," ha!

This next picture cracks me up.  Do we look excited to be there or what?

We did have a really good time!  Now Olivia only gets a sticker if she stays in her room all night by herself.  It's about 50/50 right now, but she starts out every night in her room, which is a huge improvement!

We got a Pottery Barn Kids magazine in the mail this week that showed some little girls in Halloween costumes.  She immediately picked the one she wanted (a winter fairy princess) and became obsessed with looking exactly like the picture.  The model has very curly hair and she wanted curly hair.  So, we decided to try rag curlers one day after her bath.  They're really easy- I cut up one of Michael's old t-shirts into strips, then used a pencil and the t-shirt strip to wrap up all her hair.  Apparently, her hair holds curls very well:

She had school that morning and you should have seen her flounce in there with her curls!  Now she asks to curl her hair after every bath.

5 month preggo pic:

This picture was taken 2 weeks ago and I can't believe how much bigger I am now!  Olivia isn't the only one growing, ha!



The Birthday Party

Olivia decided on a cowgirl birthday party this year.  It was actually pretty low key, but we had a really good time!  We had lots of visitors:  Mamaw and Granny Stills drove down and brought presents, including a sand box!  Then Dad and Tammie came down a couple of days before and helped me get the house ready (thanks again!):

Then Mom and Lilo came and helped decorate, get the food ready, and throw together some last minute goody bags.  Miss Priss was beyond excited:

Luckily, someone that works with Michael makes cakes and made these adorable ones for the party:

Michael fired up the grill and got the burgers and hot dogs cooked.  We had way too much food!  Before long, it was time to sing and blow out the candles:

She had a little trouble with the last one:


Next, was Olivia's favorite part:  presents!

After presents was my favorite part of the night!  Let me introduce you to the "Swamp Donkey:"

Our neighbors kids were asking for a horse.  Dennis decided this was much more practical!  He had a friend weld the top part onto a trailer, then bought 3 saddles.  Pretty neat, right?  No worries, they were going slow!

Why was this my favorite part of the night?  Because look who got talked into riding:

You know I got a video (although short):


Who needs a bounce house when you have a swamp donkey?

We moved the party inside as it started getting dark and Olivia broke out some of her gifts:

We had a great time!  Thanks to everyone for helping us celebrate our little girl!

In other news, she had her 4 year well visit Monday.  She was 39 inches tall, which was the 40th %! Highest ever for height.  She was 31 pounds, which was 23rd %.  She's getting up there!

Four

Hard to believe, isn't it?
Our baby is FOUR.  Good thing we're having another one!

We had a little photo shoot this morning.  She is much more cooperative now, since she loves having her picture made!

Does this look familiar?

She's grown a little!

We're having a cookout/birthday party Saturday.  She is so excited! 

I found a cute idea on Pinterest that I started this year.  It's 20 questions on your birthday.  I'll ask her these questions every year, then put it together in a book for her 18th birthday.  Here are her answers this year:

20 Birthday Questions

Olivia, Age 4

2012

1. What is your favorite color? Pink and Purple

2. What is your favorite toy? My bicycle

3. What is your favorite fruit? Grapes

4. What is your favorite tv show?  Diego

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch?  Corn

6. What is your favorite outfit?  My shoe shirts.

7. What is your favorite game?  Candyland

8. What is your favorite snack?  Carrots

9. What is your favorite animal?  Giraffe

10. What is your favorite song?  Twinkle Little Star

11. What is your favorite book?  Diego Saves Christmas

12. Who is your best friend?  Sadie Belle

13. What is your favorite cereal?  The marshmallow one (Lucky Charms)

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside?  Play + ride bikes

15. What is your favorite drink?  Lemonade

16. What is your favorite holiday?  Valentine’s

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night?  Blankie, bunny, and pillow pets

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?  Oatmeal

19. What do you want for dinner on your birthday?  Hot dogs

20. What do you want to be when you grow up?   A sister

Fun!

Last weekend we rode the Chattanooga Duck Boat.  These were used in WW2 as land/water vehicles, but not in combat.  They are very slow, ha!  It was pretty neat to ride through the streets, then drive straight into the river!

Olivia was a little apprehensive at first:

They offered to let her drive the boat (if that gives you any idea of how slow we were going!), but she wasn't into it.  We learned quite a bit about the history of Chattanooga and the Tennessee River.

It was a really neat evening!

Our little deer friend is getting braver:

It would probably let us feed it, if Olivia didn't get so excited when it shows up.  She either beats on the window, or yells "Look at the deer!"  It's not a fan of loud noises, ha!