start spreading the news!

olivia made the daily leader for the first time! no name recognition but definately a picture. i got so excited when jackie emailed me and told me that a coworker brought me the paper after lunch. i immediatly started thinking about where i would store it after i cut it out. my mom and grandmother (probably more so my grandmother b/c my mom just didn't have the time while raising 3 kids!) always cut our pics out of the paper and saved them. needless to say i put "keepsake box" on my walmart list tonight! sorry about the poor picture quality. i had to take a pic of the paper and it just wouldn't come out real well.

we're in the bottom left photo - in the middle

she's the baby standing in front of me (in the middle).

you really can tell it's us in the real paper!

crazy but FUN weekend!

whew! i'm beat! yesterday evening my sister's and i took olivia to the peach fest pet show. it was about a bagillion degrees so we only lasted about an hour. the pets were cute but not THAT cute!

this morning olivia participated in her first athletic contest. let's just say that she is her mama's child! she just stood there like "i'm way to pretty for this"! never took a step at the diaper derby! but, congrats to hudson wilkerson for winning his age division!

at home before the race

pre-race pep talk!

at the starting line

and the race is over. look who's still standing there!

then, this afternoon, we went to hudson's first bday party! it was fun!! emery and i went to high school together, work together, were pregnant together and now are raising our kids together! i don't know what i'd do without her. man, she's been my right arm on certain occasions this past year and i can't thank her enough!!

peek a boo

hudson, emory napper and olivia - o didn't dig the jumper!

between all of this the a/c repairman has been here TWICE today. yes, the new unit wasn't working properly. on this last time he showed me what he found and how he fixed it so cross your fingers... if it breaks again i'm going to go on down to their office and SIT THERE UNTIL THEY FIX IT. i'm also considering giving them my electricity bill that's sky high right now!

every morning olivia digs around in my makeup bag while i'm putting it on. she'll pull something out and throw it. again. and again. and again. there's this one brush she likes to chew on. it's an older eye shadow brush i don't use anymore. i didn't realize until too late that she was chewing on the "wrong" end. oops!

it was hot on father's day...

let's start with my last post. i had olivia saturday morning while her daddy took care of some things. we went to the farmer's market, children's shop and beehive. a fun morning shopping with my favorite little girl! rett came to get her about 11ish and i let her give him his father's day gift. she actually carried the gift to him! that was fun to watch! she gave him a photo book of her first year with pictures of just him and her. if i had to brag i'd say it turned out pretty cute! and i didn't even have to leave my house to buy it!

sunday i woke up and my air was out...again. 4th time since may 1st. lovely. so, i turn it off and get dressed for church. i go and come back. it's been off now for about 2 hours. surely it's had time to "unfreeze"... wrong! i turned it on and about 15 minutes later it was 2 degrees hotter in my house! so, back off it goes. well, if i'm going to sweat i'm going to get a tan while i do it! off to the pool... back about 1:30. turn air back on b/c it's now been off about 5 hours. temp raises another 2 degrees in a matter of minutes. at this point i'm crying b/c my gut is telling me this isn't good. a call to dubach air & heat and the news is, in fact, bad. my a/c is DEAD and has to be burried. there's no saving it. as he's telling me this i tear up. one, b/c it's hot and two, how in the heck am i going to pay for this!?!?! poor man. had he known he was getting me on his day off he probably wouldn't have signed up to be on call on father's day!! well, this morning my a/c was replaced and i can now enter my home. i stayed at emery's for 2 nights and can't thank the wilkerson's enough but i sure am glad to be home!

b/c of the a/c debacale we had to cancel our father's day plans with my dad. the whole fam (minus jenny b/c she had to work) was coming to my house. well, i wasn't going to be here so they opted to not come! we'll be celebrating this saturday while they're here! so, happy belated father's day, dad!

i got "olivia's baby book" in the mail last week and i love it! i'm so glad i did it. i will continue to print each year of her life until my blogging ends! what's so great is i didn't delete any posts. the book contains EVERY post from her birth story through her 1st bday party and doc appt. it has recipes, trips, happy and sad times. everything that happened her first year, good and bad, is in this book. surely one day she'll really appreciate it!

we've got a full weekend planned with the peach festival and a birthday party. stay tuned for olivia's debut in the world of competition!

repeat pics so you may just wanna skip this post

whew! it's been a semi-crazy week. but it's coming to an end and ending with a weekend spent laying out by my lonesome. i'm taking olivia to the farmer's market sat morning while her daddy does whatever it is that newly separated fathers do when they ask the mother to keep the child. i'm excited about that b/c i haven't been this year and have really been craving some fresh tomatos! then, pool time by myself. people often ask how i do that all day by myself. it's not hard! it's "my" time. my quiet time. time for me. i savor every minute i spend tossing in the HOT sun. i read a page here and a page there. i get in the pool; i get out. 4 hours is about my limit. but what a limit it is!

so that was random. forgive me. i've had 2 margaritas tonight! i hosted our bunco group tonight. i fretted for a few days about what to serve when emery gave me the idea to do a salad bar. it was perfect. let's be real. it's too hot to actually cook! so, salad bar and margaritas. it was a lovely time had by all...i hope!

olivia turned 13 months on tuesday. sadly, i have not one photo. so, here's a photo of exactly one year ago tuesday. lord have mercy she's grown!

and here's a pic of her at some point over the last week.

so, have a great weekend. tell your fathers you love them!

these days

what's olivia up to these days you ask. let me catch you up.

she clearly needs a haircut but i just cant quite do it yet. maybe later.

she's drinking only from sippy cups. cold turkey is the way to go!

she loves playing outside. i wish i loved it as much. do you know how hot it's been??? heck, we're not even in the "hot" portion of summer yet. i'm just going to melt... but, you gotta do what you gotta do; even if it involves melting!

she's pitching fits. teething doesn't help this. she's up to 3 to 5 teeth (i can see 3 but i feel more...all on the sides - she doesn't like me digging in her mouth!) and there is one in the front (more of a side front tooth) that just broke through. fyi - this was a $5 dress from walmart that shelley monogrammed for me! gotta love a bargain!

we've been pool rats this weekend. it was fabulous.

as previously mentioned the teething is starting to get old! i need to count my blessings and thank God that it's happening pretty quickly. at least she's not dragging it out for months! she's not terribly cranky but it's obvious that she's in some pain. just this weekend she became loveable! if i'm sitting in a chair she reaches up for me to hold her. i'll sit her in my lap and she's content for several minutes. it's sweet. she got her 12 month shots saturday. that was fun. she only cried for a minute but dang! those things better be worth it! we made it to sunday school today (to bad the teacher wasn't there - i obviously need to read my emails a little better!) but had to skip church. she just can't go without a nap and she won't sleep in the nursery b/c there's so much going on. now, i did forget her paci (that she ONLY takes at nap and bed time) so they didn't really try to put her down but i can ALMOST guarantee that it wouldn't have mattered. but, we made progress by just going to sunday school. hope you all have a great week!

little hippie

dancing in the yard! she definately doesn't get this from me; i would never dance in the yard. :) notice she's holding her bow. she figured out how to pull it out...

she's on the run...

...and headed straight for the street. what am i gonna do when she gets older?!?! i will not raise a street walker. i will not raise a street walker. i will not raise a street walker!

i had my first experience with holding her hand today. as she was making her run for the street a car was coming. the car slowed down and i grabbed her hand and held it while the car passed. now, i never would have allowed her to actually go into the street but you never know... it was sweet.

as you can see she pretty much walks fulltime now. rarely crawls. only when she's really tired. so, i guess i have a toddler now. YIKES!

random acts of kindness

this week kelly over at kelly's korner did a post on random acts of kindness. this is something that's always had a special place in my heart. however, i realize that i do not practice it enough. however, several weeks ago jackie and i did this and it was so much fun! we were shopping in shreveport and jackie had a coupon for gap. it was an emailed coupon and when it was scanned it would tell you how much you got off (it was a surprise). here's the kicker - there was no limit on how many times it could be scanned. she used it and got 15% off! then, i used it and got 15% off! there was a lady behind me that looked like she could use some savings so i asked the clerk if we could just keep passing it on. she agreed; as long as it would scan she'd accept it. so, i looked at the lady behind me and gave it to her. i asked her just to pass it back when she was done. i have no clue how much she saved or how many people got to use that coupon. but, i left there feeling so happy that i saved someone a little bit of money. it's the little things in life that make me happy. i also love sending quick little "pick me up" emails to friends that may be going through a rough time. in dealing with my divorce i learned that a short and sweet email from a friend means more than most ever think it could. come to think of it; they don't have to be going through a rough time. it's still fun just to send a quick note letting them know i'm thinking about them! i need to do THAT more often!

have a great weekend!

old friends

this will be short and sweet. i had a great friend several years ago. i'm ashamed to say that we let our friendship grow apart. but, you know you have a true friend when you don't see or speak to that person for 5 years and then have lunch and pick up like no time had passed. julie, i had a great time at lunch today and hope we can do it again! aubrey and olivia will be fast friends! i hate i didn't have my camera with me and all of my old pics are on a disc in a closet but you haven't changed a bit! i'm so excited to renew our friendship!