such a diva!

on our way home from our flying trip to monroe this afternoon olivia decided it'd be fun to spit her water back onto herself instead of swallowing it. needless to say she had to be changed. i didn't have plans to go anywere else so i just threw her in som pj's (i've got to get some good grunge clothes for her - i've realized that leggings and dresses aren't always easy!) we were playing in her room and she spotted this pair of shades that she's had for several months now but has shown no interest in. until today! she had to have them....and her bracelet.

and then i decided that pizza sounded good for dinner and didn't want to change her. i was THAT mother. i took her in johnny's to pick up pizza in pj's.... but don't fret; she took the shades with her! an older lady in there just laughed so hard. it really was funny! she was walking around in there with her coat and shades... and it was pretty dark in there; i have no idea how she saw anything!

merry christmas!

our christmas started thursday evening when we got to w'boro. santa had left a gift on gg and pops door for olivia! it was a special elf!

then we went over to the anders' to play with david scott. then back to gg and pops for dinner (shrimp salad; yummy!!) and a few more presents and playing.

friday morning we had our family christmas. o got lots of goodies! pj's, dvd's, toys, a play tent/tunnel thing (that i'm gonna have to figure out how to put together!), a wagon and lots of candy/treats!

then the extended family and friends started showing up and a great, fun day was had! we had fried deer, mac & cheese, and rice & gravy for lunch. then a mere 4 to 5 hours later had our traditional gumbo and salad. lots of dips and desserts too! i ate way too much!

probably 1/4 of my family

she LOVED flying down the ramp! i didn't know there weren't hands on her at all times until after this started. she only went off course twice and was saved each time!

our friend jodie's little girl, anna claire. i wish i could post all these pics. olivia was like, "what is this thing in my lap!"

finally about 6:30 i decided it was time to head back to get ready for santa!

rett arrived about 7:45 and we had to wake olivia up! normally that's a no-no but today was special! she had a BALL! she saw the grocery cart first and went for it! she LOVES her new babydolls and stoller. she will rock her babies, pat them on the back, kiss them. it's the sweetest thing! she's a natural! i made a breakfast casserole and we ate breakfast and then played a little while longer. from me olivia got a band in a box (another big hit), an american girl bitty baby, alphabet magnets and a few books. she was just in the best mood today; 90 to nothing all day long! and i don't think i've ever gotten so many pics of her smiling in one day! the pure JOY she expressed all day was so worth all the work i put into this christmas!

i can't believe i'm posting this but everyone looks rough on christmas morning, don't they? :)

the triangle from the band in a box

playing with her alphabet magnets

she put her baby in the "buggy" and went to town!

this picture makes me so happy. she was just thrilled all day today! such a sweet girl!

i'll cut my picture posting off here but i have about 200 more very cute photos from this christmas! hope you all had a great day!

christmas crafts

i can finally post this since all involved have received thiers! i always buy a few ornaments for certain people every year. this year i decided to get crafty b/c i wasn't digging what i was finding in the stores. i saw this on another blog (mojoy) and had to copy it. i hope olivia's grandparents, great grandmother and daddy loved them!

i have almost 200 christmas pics to sort through but i'll be back later tonight for our official christmas post. it's going to be a long one!

catching up before christmas

i'm so ready for christmas to get here. i keep imagining olivia on christmas morning being all misty eyed b/c she soooo happy but i have a feeling it's not going to be like that! maybe next year!

so, my good friends merideth and montana FINALLY had their baby girl last week so i took them dinner last night. molly is just a precious little girl! i can't wait for her and olivia to be great friends! holding and "playing" with her made me long for another little baby. maybe i shouldn't go visit them anymore! haha! quick story - so a while back (maybe several years ago) montana went on a golf trip with a group of really random boys. one, pj, had a pretty severe drug problem and the drugs had really messed up his sinus. he had a horrible deviated septum (i have no idea if i spelled all that correctly) and could push his nose all the way into his head. how crazy is that?!?! drugs are BAD, people.

a lady here in town was painting plates for christmas so i got one for myself! i've been on the lookout for the perfect "cookies for santa" plate since last year. just never found the RIGHT one. (this mind-set could also explain why i haven't had a tree topper in several years...) i just love the way it turned out!

and lastly, rett made cupcakes for olivia to take to daycare today. their little party isn't until tmrw but since i'm off work she won't be there and he wanted her to participate in some way. i'm thinking she quite possibly had the cutest cupcakes there!

we're leaving tomorrow afternoon for the 'boro. can't wait to spend time with the fam enjoying the holiday!

cookie decorating (or eating...whatever)

i wanted o to decorate cookies this year. i'm not sure why. she is a little young but i thought it would still be fun. and it was. it was also messy! but i think she, hudson and reynolds had fun and that's what counts.

now, the baking of these cookies is a different story. next year we may just have plain old slice and bake cookies in circles. i'm no baker and don't want to be!

hudson was more interested in eating the cookies; reynolds did a good job putting sprinkles on his and o was pretty reserved until she got a knife full of icing. then she was all over that!

overall i think it went over well but will probably be much better next year! thanks hillary and emery for joining us! we had fun!

19 months old!

i'm a little late on this post but so be it. i didn't even do the "official" monthly photo in her rocking chair. ahh. i'm slipping. o turned 19 mths old on wednesday and we had her 18 mth check-up that day.

stats:

26 lbs (75th %)

32 inches "tall" (50th %)

18 1/2 head circ. (50th %)

she got a GREAT report and i'm thankful for that.

she was just in the BEST mood wednesday morning! the lighting in these pics is aweful but i couldn't resist this sweet/happy face!

this age is just so fun. it's also kind of frustrating but the good, by far, outweighs the bad! i mentioned most of her new "tricks" in my post this weekend so not a whole lot to report there. her speech is picking up; she has about 2-3 new words per week, on average.

she will wave and say "hey" much more enthusiastically than saying "bye bye". i think it makes her sad to say bye! she still sleeps about 12 hrs a night. she recently started letting me rock her for a few minutes before bed and that just melts my heart! she is still somewhat reserved around strangers but that's a good thing! she's really getting into babydolls. when i pick her up from the church nursery she either has a baby or is pushing one in the doll stroller. i've been waiting for this day since she was born. i'm so excited to see her play with babydolls! something tells me that she's gonna be pretty excited on christmas morning!! :) speaking of christmas - o got a gift in the mail earlier this week so i let her go ahead and open it. she'd rip a piece of paper and run it to the trash can. then another piece and straight to the trash can. i think christmas morning may take longer that i originally thought - especially if she insists on throwing the trash away as she goes. but, hey, who am i to complain about that?!?!

i'm finishing up my shopping this weekend, doing a "craft" (what has gotten into me???) and then sunday 2 of olivia's friends are coming over for a cookie decorating playdate. who knows if this will work and if it doesn't it's ok. i'll just have a lot of undecorated cookies to eat!!

this too shall pass

it finally happened. i'd been waiting on it while also thinking that we may skip it all together. we hit the terrible 2's in public and it wasn't pretty. our kindermusik class was cancelled tonight so i decided to take olivia to christmas in the plaza at tech. (yet another kid friendly activity that tech does all for free - pics with santa; jumpy things; build a bear, cookie and ornament decorating, food, computerized charicatures (sp?), etc...) i loved this event when i was in college so thought it'd be a great idea. well, o now has a mind of her own and apparently thinks she doesn't have to mind me. she now refuses to hold my hand in public or to follow my directions.

here's a recap of our experience:

*arrive and pitch fit b/c i carry her across the street instead of letting her walk.

*go in and pitch another small fit b/c i want to hold her hand in the crowd.

*find santa and take a great pic by kevin beasley that i probably won't get b/c we ended up having to leave.

*chase o for a few minutes. i gave her a little freedom to "roam" with me closely behind and maybe that was a bad idea...

*try to buy a shirt but o wouldn't stand still long enough for me to fish out my wallet so leave that line.

*watch kids in jumpy. let her touch it and watch for a minute to make sure this is what she wants to do. she leads me to believe she wants in. i take her shoes off and put her in. before i even have my camera out she's screaming and wants out. but thanks to the little girl in there that helped "the crying baby" out safely!

*head to chick-fil-a (b/c free food at a college event scares me!) and pitch fit b/c i hold her to keep her from running off.

*get food and find table. obviously no high-chairs at a college dining hall.

*she sits still long enough to eat 3 chicken nuggets and then sees my lemonade.

*the short version - i didn't get anymore lemonade.

*head out and pitch another fit b/c i poured out the lemonade to prevent it from being poured out in my car.

i had to resist a spanking in public. i don't know the rules about spanking in public (other than it's extremely tacky). and i've never done time-out so that's not an option b/c she doesn't know what it is. how sternly can you speak to your child in public about their behavior? HELP!!!

so, unless i'm ready to discipline in public i think our outings may be cut short. but i can't quit taking her out all together. then there are no opportunities to learn how to act in public.

this is the only pic i got of the night. this was obviously after she decided my lemonade was better than her milk. and being the terrible parent i am i'd rather give it to her than have her cause a scene. again, i need help...

can anyone suggest a good book on disciplining/parenting a toddler?

and all of this is probably my fault. when we're in controlled public places (football games, basketball games, places where i know a lot of people) i don't make her hold my hand every second and let her roam for a while (hoping to wear her out!) hind sight's 20/20. that was obviously a bad decision. i know that this is just a phase and it will pass. i just hope it passes sooner rather than later!

it dawned on me today that o said her first 2 word phrase this weekend. "i eat!" hmmm... it counts though! it's also kind of appropriate. my grandfather used to say that at breakfast we planned lunch, at lunch we planned dinner and at dinner we planned breakfast. good family times!! have a great week!

who dat?!?

let me preface this post with an apology. this is 3 days in a row i've posted all with picture overload. sorry! i find this blog therapeutic and after the day i've had i find it necessary!

the day couldn't have started better. o slept until 8 am and then was just an angel before church. after church we had lunch and then about 12:15 i put her down for her nap. she was SCREAMING by 12:30. she's NEVER done that. so, i rocked her and put her back down. that didn't work. so i got her and thought we'd both take a nap and put her in my bed. nope. not having that. she was up and not going down. ok, no biggie. she goes without naps at my parents house some and is in a fine mood. we'll just go with it. well... it was not fun! ALL DAY LONG she whined, cried, layed in the floor if i told her no. there were glimpses of good as you'll see in the pics below but don't let the smile fool you. these were taken during a very small section of the day!

o's got several new "tricks" i want to document before i forget.

*she'll run to her highchair or to the cabinet where i keep her food and say "i eat". i assume this means "i'm hungry" b/c if i don't giver her food she pitches a FIT! and she does it all day long. guess growing girls need lots of food!

*if you ask her a yes/no question: "uh-uh" means no and "noooo" (said in a super cute drawn out voice) means yes. in case any of you babysit for me anytime soon, you'll need to know this!!

*she loves bags and needs one everytime we walk out the door. normally it's her diaper bag and b/c the strap is at an appropriate length for me it's way too long for her. but that doesn't stop her! she drags that thing out the door and into the car and holds it for the ride!! this adds several minutes to us loading up in the car b/c that bag is kinda heavy for her...

*she'll pick up anything with a strap, put it on her shoulder, blow me a kiss and walk to the door. i guess she thinks she's going somewhere!

these past few days i've so enjoyed seeing her do all this. i just laugh out loud at some things she does!

for today's pics:

great pic minus the eclipse bottle

so i thought i'd take the bottle and she wouldn't mind. WRONG!!

at one point i had a chat with o about santa watching her and she was being bad and he didn't like that. he wanted her to be good. i asked her to apologize to santa for being bad. she picked him up, laid him down and junped on him!! i nearly died. really???? :)

the pail has a strap so it becomes a bag!

and don't you love her "who dat" outfit! most appropriate for the win today!

children's museum

went to the children's museum today with emery and hudson. had a blast! not sure why this post is underlined...