Fun Weekend!

This was a really great and fun weekend for all of us.  Friday night was just a relaxing one so we could get ready for the busy weekend ahead.  We got up with Olivia on Saturday morning and got ready for our very different days.  Lee was heading out to Leesburg for his first mountain bike race of the year.  That turned into a walking/hiking/running race since the trails were just packed with snow and ice, but he got to see a lot of friends and had a great time anyway!

   

 

While Lee was outside freezing his patutie off, I was with Maureen at my first Bikram Yoga class.  I can't say I was in love with the experience, but I will go back.  We bought 5 classes in a LivingSocial deal, so I'll stick out the next 4.  The room is supposed to be at least 105 degrees, but it was at least up to 122.  That is a little crazy if you ask me!  Needless to say, I was super excited when it was over!

Olivia and Adam were back at Grandma and Grandpa's house enjoying breakfast and going down for a nap while we were sweating our patuties off!  The kids survived and so did Grandma and Grandpa!  I know those kids gave them a run for their money since they are both so active.  Olivia is crawling all over the place and Adam is running!  Good fun for them!

Olivia and I spent the whole day over at Grandma and Grandpa's and had a blast with them and Uncle Mark.  Maureen and Adam stayed for a bit then headed out to Andy's parents' house for a visit. 

While we were having fun at Grandma and Grandpa's house, Lee and Andrew headed to the Verizon Center for a Monster Truck Show!  Yep, you heard me correctly.......

They went with a bunch of Lee's bike friends and their sons.  Apparently, it was a blast! 

Sunday we got up and had a nice morning playing with Olivia while Lee went to the store to make sure Olivia had enough food and formula for the week in case we get some stupid storm this week.  We were getting prepared for a visit from Nana and Papa!  Lee got back and put the chili on.  He had cooked a pork shoulder last weekend so we had pork chili.  It was delicious!  We had some corn bread to complete the meal.  Delicious!  Nana and Papa brought Connor when they came so he and Andrew hung out downstairs with video games and drums.  It was a wonderful visit and Papa wins the prize for getting Olivia to laugh harder than we've ever heard!  Here's just a SMALL preview of her 15 minutes of laughter!!

Lee got his camera out to snap a few of Nana and Papa with Olivia.  She's just a ham!

That's my earring Olivia!

What a great visit!

9 Month Appointment

Olivia had her 9 month Dr. visit today.  Despite all the crazy weather, we made it there with no issues.  She had to get a toe prick to check for anemia and another routine vaccine.  We also decided to give her the flu shot as well.  She did alright, but cried as usual.  Didn't last long though!  Her appointment was in the middle of the afternoon which made it hard for her to have a nap, but that didn't stop her from passing out as soon as we got home! 

Miss Lauren, Olivia's nurse, was very happy with her progress, as usual!  She's obviously growing, as you can see below.  In fact, her growth chart on Lauren's computer showed her height OFF THE CHART!  I guess we should get her involved in basketball or volleyball pretty early!  She's a growing girl for sure and everything looked great.  Unfortunately, she has my skin.  And for those of you who know me, you know that is not a great thing.  For now, her skin is just super sensitive and is not handling the dry winter weather too well.  We just have to keep an eye on things and keep her skin as moisturized as we can.  Hopefully she'll grow out of this because I just couldn't bare to see her go through what I continue to go through.  It would just be heartbreaking!

Her stats at 9 months old:

20 pounds 7 oz - 78th percentile - up 4 1/2 pounds from her 6 month appointment and up from 51st percentile

30 inches - 99th percentile - up 2 1/2 inches and up from 96th percentile

44 3/4 cm head circumference - 73rd percentile - up 1 3/4 cm and up from 67th percentile

Proof that we have a very growing and healthy baby girl!

It's so hard to believe our princess is 9 months old!  Lee did a casual photo shoot with her on Sunday.  We were going to do her formal 9 month pictures but Lee has been under the weather, so that has been postponed.  Here are a few of her from the other day!  Look for some others coming soon!

Here's a fun list of things she does at 9 months:

*  Talks....A LOT
*  Rocks back and forth on her hands and knees - SO close to crawling!!
*  Eats......A LOT, as apparent in the stats above
*  Plays with so many different toys and LOVES the ones that sing/play music (she is my daughter!)
*  Plays patty-cake!
*  Shows us how big she is....all the time!
*  Dances......this is new and SO cute
*  Has two bottom teeth!
*  Takes wonderful naps
*  Working on the sippy cup.....she's just not so sure yet

She continues to make us smile and our world is just so great because she is in it!  You are so loved Olivia!!!!

Almost There.........

Yes, we are bribing her......Why?  I just don't know!!!

Sneezing

One thing we have yet to get on camera is Olivia when sneezing.  See, it's not just a normal sneeze.  After each one, she giggles!  She thinks it's hilarious and just laughs.  I can't wait to get it on film so everybody can giggle right along with her!

Shopping Cart

Monday was Olivia's first time riding like a big girl in a shopping cart!  We definitely could have done this earlier but Lee does most all of the grocery shopping so Olivia hasn't really made it to the grocery store since she was a little monkey!  I thought it would be fun to post 2 pictures.  One is Adam in his shopping cart debut and the other is our little Olivia!  Fun!

Adam looks as if he is actually enjoying himself.  Trust me, Olivia was LOVING it, but she was SO exhausted from her rough night Sunday.  Here's to more shopping with my love bug!!

Uh Oh......Crawling Soon???

Fun at Dinner Time!

Olivia was hammin' it up at dinner tonight, so I had to grab the camera and snap a quick video.  This girl is just TOO MUCH!!!

Texts.....

Ever since Olivia started school back in July, her teacher Belissa has been sending me random texts from Olivia.  I decided it would be a fun blog post to put up the pictures and the captions that come with them when I get the texts from her.  It is one of the many things I love about Belissa!  Keep in mind, these pictures were taken with a camera phone and then texted to me.  Not great quality, but you get the idea!  Also, Belissa is from Peru and English is her second language.  She speaks very well, but the combination of the language and just abbreviations for texting purposes makes the texts look funny sometimes!  They make me smile every time I get one though!!!

 

July 13, 2010 - "Hi Mommy!"

July 13, 2010 - "Mommy I'm sleeping..;)!!!"

July 15, 2010 - "She is very good!!  Bottle at 2:50, sleeping last 12 m"

August 27, 2010 - ":) HI MOMMY!!"

 

 

 

 

 

September 10, 2010 - "HI!!  MOMMY LOOK AT ME!!  I AM BIG GIRL NOW!! ;D"

December 13, 2010 - "Hi Mommy...i luv u"

December 14, 2010 - "Hi Mommy, I am playing with my friend Vivien...lov u....see u later mommy"

December 17, 2010 - "Mommy i love my outfit...thank u for sharing with me...lov u look at me i m so pretty today...:)"

December 20, 2010

This next one is my favorite.  Olivia was so sick over the weekend, so her first day back to school was Tuesday and I was very nervous.  I was anticipating a call from Belissa telling me she was still sick, but instead, I got this!

January 4, 2011 - "Hi mommy i feel much better lov u dont worry i will be fine <3 :)"

I LOVE getting these surprises from Belissa and hope to continue getting them!!!

Christmas Day

After lunch, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa's house to have even more fun!  To add to the fun, Anne, Maddie and Jim were in town to enjoy Christmas day with us.  Bonus!  Adam was loving his new toys and even Olivia's new toys!  Olivia received a music table from Grandma and Grandpa and it is pretty much the same one he has, so he was enjoying playing with "his" toy!  It was too cute.  After we all got there and got settled, it was time for the Christmas Day Extravaganza!  Oh what fun!!  We were all so spoiled and really enjoyed seeing what everybody bought for the kids!

Olivia had her own little place to sit....the awesome exersaucer!  She LOVES this thing!  Adam wanted to play with her too!

Lee was able to snap some good shots of Olivia with her Uncle Mark and her Great Uncle Jim.  Jim was meeting Olivia for the first time!

So many packages were opened and so many smiles were made!

 After opening all the presents, it was time to feed the kids dinner and put them in the PJs for bed!  But not before snapping some more pictures!

 
What a wonderful first Christmas with Olivia and a fabulous day with the family!!!  On to next year!

Christmas Morning

Olivia's first Christmas was a FABULOUS one!  We had such a wonderful day.  Yes, she is only 8 months old and has NO idea what is going on, but she will appreciate the pictures one day! 

Growing up, we always got a family portrait taken from the stairs before we headed into the package heaven in our living room or family room.  So, naturally, we had to carry on the tradition in our house too!

Obviously, Olivia Hearts Santa!

 After her morning bottle, it was time to open presents!  I'm sure she was SO excited!  :)  I know we were!  She wasn't too good at opening the packages, but she was good at eating them!

Santa didn't bring her TOO many things because he knew so many other people would be buying things for her and he knows how small our house is!  She got a few books, some pajamas and some toys to add to all the fun things she got from Lee's family on Christmas Eve.

Happy Girl!

 What a fun morning we had!