rett has olivia this weekend. it's been a beautiful day so far so he took her to the park. i'm somewhat devistated that i missed her first time in a swing but i'll get to take her soon. they swang, took a ride in the stroller and "played" with the ducks. he said that she was interested in the ducks. i'm glad they had a good time! he emailed me these pics. she looks like she loves swinging! but it wore her out!

check out my new ride

jenny and john got olivia this ride/walk toy for christmas. i've been waiting to drag it out until i thought she was ready for it. so, monday night was the night. i get the box out of her closet thinking i'll just open the box and it will be ready to go. wrong! this thing had to be put together. the directions used words like axel and chasis. who in the heck knows what that is?!?! after about an hour and some stripped screws i got the thing put together. i never could get some of the screws all the way in (probably b/c i stripped them) (that is the right word, huh? when you use the wrong screwdriver head thingy and it "strips" the heads of the screws so that no screwdriver will work on it...) so i hope it doesn't fall apart when olivia is riding it! i'll have to keep a close eye on her for the first few times! as you can see, her feet BARELY touch the floor; really, just her toes and possibly the balls of her feet touch. so, i really just pushed her around for a minute or two. she does like all the "bells and whistles" though!

jackie got her the "interlocking letter mat" for christmas (i don't really know what it's called) so i also put that together this past weekend. well, i put most of it together. if i did it all it wouldn't fit in her room! ever since i put it down she's loved playing in her room! i thew some toys down and she discovered her book shelf and now she's a happy girl! monday afternoon she played by herself for about 15 minutes while i did the dishes and cooked. it was wonderful! during this i found a new use for our monitors that i'd basically quit using...now i use them to make sure she doesn't kill herself while playing by herself. if i heard a crash i knew to go in there! for the record, only one crash happened that day!

a little of this and a little of that

we've had a very uneventful and lazy weekend. just the way i like it!

last weekend i took crystal garcia's photography class. i learned so much! yesterday we had BEAUTIFUL weather so olivia and i headed outside for a little photo shoot. let me say, i am not a professional at this and don't intend to be! also, olivia was on hour 4.5 without a nap so she wasn't as cooperative as i'd hoped she would be! out of about 80 pics these are just some of the FEW i got of her smiling!

this morning we went to church. when i got to the nursery to pick her up the sweet ladies told me they took olivia to sunday school! really, a 9 month old going to sunday school? but, they said she loved it! i wonder what they did??? maybe olivia will tell me all about it once she starts talking! ha!

and for the really big news..... olivia is now pulling up/standing! wow! she just started crawling a couple of weeks ago. this is going by way too fast!

a couple of funny pictures

sometimes i just sit and laugh. things olivia does are probably not all that funny to others but to me, they are priceless.

and this is what happens when olivia goes to visit her daddy. he neglects her and she falls asleep in her jumper. bad daddy.and this is what olivia does at night now. she's in to everything she can get in to! i'll count my blessings; she's easy to keep up with right now! i don't normally let her roam free in nothing but a diaper but it happened this night...

note: rett is not a bad dad - that was an attempt at some sarcastic humor. i'll take humor however i can get it these days... :)

9 months old!

disclaimer - o had just woken from a nap hence the crazy bed head. i tried the bow to mask the problem but...

these monthly birthdays just sneak up on me! today olivia turned 9 months old! as you can see from the pics; the days of putting a piece of paper beside her is OVER. just not an option anymore. so, from here on out we'll just do pics in her crib and rocker and leave the "birthday sign" off!

olivia is growing so fast! she's crawling; eating great; laughing; talking; playing and loving life! i introduced "biter biscuits" tonight. she loves them. we finally figured out that she'll eat the sweet potato flavored puffs but not any of the fruit flavored ones. so, independant feeding here we come. i want to start introducing table foods but i'm worried b/c she still has NO teeth. so, suggestions are welcome!

thanks for the sweet comments on my bangs. yes, this is a new look for me. i cut them about 3 weeks ago and am still getting used to them. it's strange; i haven't had bangs since possibly junior high. maybe high school. i can't remember. regardless, it's been 10 - 15 years! so, having something in my face all day every day takes a little getting used to! it's my new look for my new life!

up next; olivia's first valentine's day!

real snow day!

i just LOVE snow. it makes me happy. one of those simple pleasures in life. these were taken this morning about 8:30. it clearly snowed throughout the night and was still snowing when we took these.

olivia's "rat tail up front" is getting longer... poor baby! i try to keep it pushed to the side but her hats/coats make that hard. oh, for the day when she can wear a bow everyday!!
what did you do on your snow day???

2 more firsts!

i was thinking just the other day about how olivia's year of "firsts" will soon come to an end. there wont be another first christmas or first thanksgiving or first trip to the mall... at least for the time being we can still celebrate the small things in life; like "firsts"!!

olivia's first sink bath; tuesday night. i don't think she enjoyed it nearly as much as her "real" baths!
olivia's first time to wear leopard print shoes! :) yes, i know they don't really match but shoes keep her socks on her and so she'll wear them, matching or not! she just started wearing shoes on a daily basis this week so her options are limited until i can find a few more pairs that fit!
olivia's first snow - today! i had her sitting on a trash bag b/c i didn't want her to get wet! is that "trashy"?!?! from what i can tell it's STILL snowing outside!

dr. visit and 100 post!

olivia had her follow up appt today. her ears and lungs are good to go! that's the good news. the bad news; she has thrush caused from the antibiotic to fight the ear infection. the worst news; she also has the stomach virus. fun fun. it's not been TERRIBLE. i can see where it could be worse. so, we're still laying low for a few more days but then i think we'll be clear of all infections/viruses. we combined this follow up visit with her 9 month appt; she's now 18 pounds and 9 oz. the nurse didn't do her length or head circumfrence; i guess b/c she didn't know we were combining the appts. i'm not devistated about that but would like to know. dr. khanfar said to olivia as we left, "i don't want to see you back until your 12 month visit; i see you too much!" i agree!

to celebrate my 100th post here's a few pics over the past week. just snapshots. nothing to write home to your parents about but fun nonetheless!

time to batten down the hatches

olivia started crawling this past week. oh my. and, she loves electrical cords. what am i going to do? enjoy these videos. watch them in order. once i got her distracted from the electrical cords she did great! please excuse me in the background; it's like i'm calling a dog!