does this heart make my butt look big?

i love o's new pj's! well, i love her too but that goes without saying! :)

kindermusik was much better tonight. o actually walked around a little and participated in most of the activities. i still think that i enjoy it more than her but i could tell she liked it a lot more this week! i'm so glad we signed her up for this!

coach's show

tonight was the first coach's show of the season. you know what that means....FOOTBALL SEASON IS HERE!! i met jenny and missy at the show tonight. i was a little worried about how o would do considering she's known for her early bedtime but she did GREAT! since going to 1 nap a day her bedtime has slowly been pushing it's way back. she's now staying up til about 7:30-7:45. it was perfect!

before leaving for the show she had a meltdown and i'm still not sure why. i was talking to her about taking her picture and she just hit the floor!

ok, mom, just 1 picture...

she loves fried pickles!

she really enjoyed me letting her "roam"

jenny, o, me

we may make this a weekly activity. it's already loud in there b/c of the show going on and everyone in there is paying attention to the show so they don't really notice a child roaming the restaurant! it's a win/win!

girls day

yesterday i went with a group of girls to shreveport for painting with a twist and then dinner afterwards. it was so much fun! i've been wanting to do this for a while and finally bit the bullet. i will go back!

jackie & julie

molly, lindsey, me

getting started

almost finished

my masterpiece

had a blast!

after painting we headed to oyster bar for dinner and drinks. we kinda lost track of time and somewhere between 2 1/2 and 3 hours later we all headed home. you gotta love a place that doesn't rush you out!

fabulous girls day!!

no more paci!!!

i just wanted to document that last night we (rett) took away olivia's paci. from all accounts it went much better than expected! we had both been dreading this. but, the paci causes all sorts of "orthdontal" problems and given my history in that dept she didn't need any help!

here's a quote from rett's text last night letting me know how it went:
"she did have a look of shock or absolute terror when i put her down and she couldn't find her paci. she never cried though. i almost died looking at her sad little face."

so, olivia, you did it! you also still slept through the night only waking about 6am to cry for a very short time and then went back to sleep.

such a big girl! :)

future picasso

so, i was a tad vague in sunday's post about our playdate. our playdate consisted of making presents for a few upcoming dates that we needed presents for! today was that day. today is rett's bday (it's also reynold's dad's bday so they made presents too; emery just wanted the footprints for herself!) and olivia needed to get him a present. in lieu of spending too much on something he probably wouldn't appreciate a friend gave me the idea to have olivia paint something. PERFECT! so that's what we did!

from left to right - o's work, reynolds' in the middle and hudson's on the right

i think she had fun doing it; i did! it was MESSY so the baby pool was necesary to clean up the aftermath. and that's why the kiddos weren't wearing clothes! no need in ruining a good outfit! just an fyi - both hudson and reynolds ate some paint so it's apparently non-toxic as they are just fine!

and here she is presenting the gift to him. i hope he appreciated it. something like that would mean more to me and anything olivia (rett) could buy me.

my plan was to give the other to my parents for grandparents day coming up next month. but... sorry mom and dad. i decided i wanted her first masterpiece! we'll come up with something just as great to get you! :)

i do think her "original" piece would be super cute framed in my bedroom!

kindermusik!

we had our first kindermusik class today! it was a lot of fun! i didn't take any pics there b/c a certain little girl wouldn't leave my lap but i'll fill you in on what went on b/c i want to remember this time.

this was before we left. this is her "purse". i guess she's seen me pick mine up a million times and now she's mimicking me!

there are 5 in our class. 4 girls and 1 boy. all of the other kids are 2 or real close to 2 so o is definately the youngest. she didn't "get" what all was going on but that will come! she wouldn't leave my lap until about the last 10-15 minutes. and even then she'd run back every 20-30 seconds to, i guess, make sure i was still there.


as for the actual class we sang, played with instruments, balls, toys and scarves. she got the scarves and balls. "throwing" them at each other. she's good at throwing things! she also really liked the bubbles. wouldn't reach out to them but smiled and laughed a little.


a slight meltdown happened at the end of the class. she saw my camera in my purse and went straight for it. i told her "no" and redirected her and she went face down on the floor. that's her m.o. it's so funny but also slightly embarrasing. my only solution is to get down on her level and tell her, "no, we don't pitch fits." and then i pick her up and either leave or give her something else to play with. any other suggestions are welcome.


i'm so glad we're doing this. hopefully in a few weeks she'll be used to going and the other kids and will get into it more. i was a very shy child and she's showing me that she will be the same way. hopefully my plan of making her interact with others will work! surely it won't backfire on me....

support TEAM JAKE

my two sisters, one BIL and dad are running this year in the st. jude race in memphis in december. so, here's my push to get YOU to support them! :)

last year's runners - john, emily, jackie & rett

first, this race is HUGE. we had a great time last year supporting jackie, john, emily and olivia's dad. this year the whole fam is going back (i haven't decided if i'm going but the rest of the fam is) and jenny and my dad are joining in on the fun. they'll be running the 5K.

olivia last year at the race - if we go then i'm sure she won't be this easy to keep contained!

i don't have to tell you about st. jude. hands down the best hospital in the nation for pediatric cancer. all money from this race goes to support the hospital and research. year in and year out TEAM JAKE is in the top 5 of fundraising teams. go HERE to read more about TEAM JAKE.

starting line

go HERE to read my little sister's plea. if you feel led to donate then please do so. this is so very near to her heart. she would greatly appreciate it.

here are a few other things the team is doing that you could easily support:

**selling $20 fox's pizza vouchers for the big daddy pizza. you give her $20 for the voucher and then whenever you want (it doesn't expire) you call it in and go pick it up! these pizzas usually sell for about $18 so $2 of every one sold goes to TEAM JAKE. they are good for the monroe and ruston locations.

**on oct 2 they are having a pancake breakfast at the applebee's in monroe. tickets are $5.

(all donations are tax deductible!)

so, if you know someone that's been kicked by pediatric cancer then this is a way you can help! it's so sad what these kids have to go through but from what i hear they are some of the happiest kids you'll ever meet. and it makes them and their families even happier to know that YOU support them!

fun playdate!

we had a fun playdate today! hudson and reynolds (and their mama's) came over this afternoon for some fun in the sun! i can't share too much of what we did (in due time...) but here are a few shots!

there is a reason none of them have on actual swimsuits! i promise!

our saturday - no pics

EDIT: i couldn't stand not having any pics! so, here!

these stairs are for my parents dogs-so they can get on the furniture. o likes to use them to!

father/daughter shot at his bday celelbration

i'm beat. to beat to come up with a better title for this post! ha! let me remind you that today is saturday. i set my alarm this morning for 7 am. (WHAT???) yes, 7 am so i could get up before o and shower and get mostly ready. i let her roam every morning while i shower but doing it with her contained is so much quicker! why, you ask, am i telling you this. well, this is a post about our day and that's how early i had to get up to get this day started and i DO NOT like getting up early on saturdays!

we had a baby shower in w'boro to attend that started at 10 so i knew i needed to leave shortly before 9. i did good! we were on the road by 8:30 (thanks to me getting up before o!) the shower was fun but it was time for o's nap when we left there. this week we moved o to one nap a day and so far it's worked well. i'm so thankful to finally be at this stage b/c now it's easier to plan our days! i headed to my parents to drop o off (they were keeping her for the afternoon so i could run errands) and then headed to monroe. i spent a lovely day at the mall (now i remember why i quit going there), target and happy days. i've never been to happy days but have always heard what a good job they do on the free carwash when you get an oil change. thought i'd try it out. well, i got in the wrong line and i couldn't turn around so i had to pay for a carwash and didn't get my oil changed. boo!


after all that we ended up at jackie and brock's for my dad's bday celebration tonight. brock grilled some yummy steaks! now i know that o likes steak! she couldn't get enough! she has good taste. :)


i really hate that she had such a full day and i didn't take one picture. i left my camera at home and didn't realize it until about choudrant. i wasn't turning around then!



so just to get a couple of pics in this post (b/c i hate posts without pics) here are two outfits that i got in today and i'm super excited about them! i ordered them from a ragsland party and they turned out better than i imagined! if you're not familiar with ragsland check them out at http://www.ragsland.com/.

she's ready for "saints sundays" now!

this one has a big sash in the back that ties into a bow and is ADORABLE! i'm probably going to monogram it in chocolate brown. i don't like to limit her outfits to one holiday (except for a christmas and easter dress) so her's won't have presents on it.

sorry for the most random post ever! just wanted to document our day!

dr visit and fun friday night!

this morning i took olivia to her 15 mth checkup. i just love dr. khanfar and am so glad i chose him. he always calms my (mainly obsurd) fears.

hanging in the waiting room

stats:

25 lbs

31 1/2 inches

18 1/2 head circumfrence

75% in all catagories. that's right folks, o gained 4 pounds in 3 months. that's crazy to me b/c aren't they suppose to slow down when they start walking?

could NOT get her to look at me for anything!

we talked about her lack of speech. he said that at 18 mths if she's still where she is (only says mama and uh-oh) then we will consider speech therapy. i know it's not a hearing issue b/c she follows commands and whatnot. i know she'll talk when she's ready and once she does i bet she doesn't shut-up! ha!! we also talked about certain auto-immune diseases that run on both my and rett's side of the family. and what i thought might be a splinter in her foot is actually a wart. what baby gets a wart??? i left there feeling certain that i have a healthy little girl!

i should note that she does not like being weighed or laying on the exam table. she almost cried while being weighed and she shed some aligator tears while on the exam table. i think it may be the paper on both the scale and table. maybe the crinkling sound scares her? i'm not sure but it was SAD and FUNNY at the same time. dr. khanfar said, "angel, you aren't suppose to cry at well checks!" he always calls her "angel" and i love that!

tonight i had some sweet friends over for dinner. em, eric and hudson wilkerson and hillary and reynolds carter came over to play and eat. we had a great time with the kiddos. o doesn't know how to act around those boys! they rough and tumble and she's dainty and quiet!! finally, towards the end of the night she "got into it". if you can get her to laugh you'll hear the sweetest sound!

her newest "trick"

olivia and hudson

reynolds and hudson

whew. the week is almost over!

omg. i've been physco crazy this week. only monday night was "normal". i've been running and gunning ever since! but lots of fun has been had!

last night (wednesday) i headed to monroe for courtney's 30th birthday celebration! courtney is 1 of 2 of my oldest friends. she and sarah have been around for as long as i can remember! it's good to have friends like that. they keep you grounded b/c they knew you when you were an awkward jr high kid (well, we've known each other for much longer than jr high but you get the point!) haha! but this is about courtney's bday! she turned 30 and we celebrated! the surprise party was held at waterfront, a restaurant in monroe. side story - i've been eating here for as long as i can remember but i've never ordered the shrimp rahkee. OMG. why have i not??? it was devine! ok, back to the story - so this was a surprise party. there was a large gathering of folks involved and we had a grand time! ben, her bf, did a great job putting this together and the cake was really good to!

the bday girl getting surprised!

me and the bday girl!

sorry court, this is a terrible angle but the only one i got!

then, today, i drove back over to monroe bright and early this morning for a continuing ed class. that was LOADS of fun. sorry, no pics. then, a nice lunch with courtney and stacey, another w'boro native, at a new sushi place in monroe. had fun girls!


i came back and my bunco group decided to go out tonight instead of playing. so, we enjoyed a fun night at RAW. this is my favorite restaurant in town. so, yes, i had sushi for both meals today. at least what i got was somewhat healthy - no cream cheese or fried things involved!

clockwise from bottom left - meredith, tara, miranda, beth, lots of cowboys we didn't know, lindsey, emery, me, hillary

i've got a busy weekend planned with olivia so we should (barring any fit throwing) have a great time! her 15 mth apt is tmrw morning (in monre, so yes i get to drive over there 3 days in a row), then having friends over tmrw night, baby shower sat, dad's bday celebration sat evening and then church on sunday! o was promoted last week but she wasn't there for it. maybe she'll like her new room better than the nursery. everyone please say a quick prayer for that!! :) stay tuned for updates on our fun-filled weekend!

visit to gg and pops!

o went and spent the weekend with gg and pops this past weekend. from all accounts they all had a good time! they said she was perfect but they also admit they're not as young as they used to be! ha! i can tell from the pics that o had a blast. she doesn't normally get to play with dogs smaller than her or run "free" for days on end! they went to the bank and met my dad's peeps. it was time for o to meet them. afterall, she did win their halloween costume contest last year! (this year she will be defending her title!) maybe since they've met her in person they'll be even more inclined to vote for her! :)

on the ride down. mama doesn't normally let her chew on her bows! of course gg lets her get away with more!

playing outside in the 100 degree weather

playing with big and max

they made her work for her trip! here she is cleaning out from underneath the couch! :)

very typical - happy with food in her hands!

look closely - big has his tounge stuck out - i'm sure some lovin' went on this past weekend!

i'm glad they all had a good time. i'm sure o will love spending time in the 'boro growing up! maybe they'll let her sit under the desk at the bank drivethrough and eat as many suckers as she'd like. i remember doing that as a kid!!

todays bite

the same kid bit o again today. this one is worse. i'm not happy. the sitter talked to the kid's mom today but for some reason i don't think it matters. if it happens again i'm calling the kids parents!

this pic doesn't do it justice. it's bruising and there are "scrape" marks where he apparently wouldn't let go.

please excuse the mosquito bites. poor o can't catch a break! apparently i let her play outside a little to long yesterday b/c she has 3 mosquito bites on the same arm that the kid keeps biting. maybe the kid is a vampire...

olivia got bit. and found a hole.

it happened. olivia was bit (is that the right use of the word bite? it just doesn't sound right...) today at the sitter's. i was naive to think that we'd get through these years without that happening. it didn't break the skin and is barely visible. it apparently didn't hurt too bad; she didn't cry. that a girl! i had a chat with her about biting back. stand up for yourself!! :)

the weather FINALLY gave us a break today so we went outside to play after work. it wasn't 112 outside but it was pretty humid. so humid that my camera lens stayed fogged up. i had to keep cleaning it with my shirt!

olivia played for a little bit in the yard and then found the front step. she wouldn't leave the front step!! seriously, i called her, sang, made a complete fool of myself and she wouldn't budge.

this is why. there are 4 little holes in our front step. i have no clue what they are from. she was digging in it and having a grand time!! she was filthy!

and then she cried when i drug her back inside. sorry, olivia, but mommy was hot!