Picture Pages

I realize it's been awhile since I've posted anything. It's been a busy few weeks with getting the house ready for Olivia's birthday, spending time with the families, and now a short trip out to Arizona to soak up some sun.

We had a nice little family party on the 17th for Olivia's birthday. We felt very blessed that so many of our family members traveled quite a distance to celebrate the day with us. Here are a few pictures from her party.

Cookies and cream cupcakes, you are my new favorite.

Because she does a lot of sitting.

Pretty sure she likes it.

As far as Olivia updates go, she is as stubborn as a mule and as sweet as cherry pie.  She is walking non-stop and really only crawls until she gets to a wall or piece of furniture where she can pull herself up and walk again.  Yesterday, she mastered going up and down the small step into my parents' Arizona room and has done it at least 60 times since then.  You can see a video of it here along with a couple other videos I have put up in the last week or so.

Tuesday morning, I took Olivia to a pediatrician out here because I was really getting concerned about her Captain Redbeard, especially after finding several dried blood stains on her crib sheet.  This doctor prescribed her two ointments (basically stronger versions of Neosporin and Cortaid) and her face has cleared up so much in just two days.

She's been having lots of fun in the warm weather.  We went to a little Mexican restaurant on a lagoon and she had her first encounter with ducks.  She pretty much spent the whole time pointing to them and calling them Magnum.

                            

I got her a little swimming pool and didn't remember until she woke up from her nap, got into her swimsuit and did a 180 two feet in front of it that she isn't a huge fan of blown-up objects.

So, I deflated the hippo and she eventually got in.  But, man, she looks good in that Liberty of London swimsuit.

Oh, and for those of you who missed the memo, I had a birthday.  Olivia looked way cuter in a birthday outfit than me...

Love That Baby

Walkin' on Sunshine

Lord help us now. Olivia is really moving.

Olivia Walking from Amanda Michelson on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Great day. Great party. Great baby.

Olivia's 1st Birthday from Amanda Michelson on Vimeo.

A Lot of Loveliness With a Wee Bit of Rotten

As we prepare for Olivia's first birthday (say it with me, OH MY MERCY!), I realized that this blog has become more about what we do and where we go (and what we eat) and less about Olivia's little milestones. Which is okay, because it's telling the story of our lives. But, I did want to update you on a few of the new things that are going on in her life.

• A mouth full of teeth - Olivia has 4 teeth w/ a 5th poking through the top
• Ants in her pants - the girl does NOT sit still and her latest thing is dancing, dancing, dancing!
• A love of books - the only time she really sits, besides to eat, is when she is hearing a story being read to her or is "reading" one herself. She's got this new thing she does with a couple of the peek-a-boo books she has where she sort of sighs a surprise when the object hiding is shown. And, she's smart enough to know what to pull back to find it.
• Waddle waddle waddle - Olivia has been walking for the last 3 weeks and just keeps taking more and more solo steps.
• Olympics-bound - Every Tuesday, we go to our gymnastics class up in SLO. It's a load of fun to watch her bounce around everywhere.
• Bye-bye Lypsyl - Hello toothbrushes
• Snoooozin - I won't say what she did last night because I don't want to jinx it, but let's just say things are getting better.

Here are a few pictures I took yesterday. I'll try to take a few at gymnastics today and post those....eventually!

ReeeeCooeeLaaaahh (Ya'll Still With Me?)

Okay, so that last post where I said I would do better about blogging more - well, that was just to keep you from totally hating me. My apologies for being gone so long. And, here's a few more sorries for not taking too many pictures in the last few weeks to post up here. We have been busy though - not to make excuses. Here's a quick run-down of what we've been up to.

--My mom came to visit and helped out a TON with Olivia and cooking and cleaning and shopping and laundry and organizing and moving and...well, you get it. (Forever in her debt.) Seriously, I'm thinking about starting a fan page on Facebook entitled, My Mom Said She'd Move to California if I Got 1,000,000 Fans and then seeing if she'd do it.

-- Olivia tried a new hairpiece and actually left it in through our whole excursion at Target.

-- David and I got out of the house SOLO two times and bought ourselves some pretty new bikes. (And then we tricked mine out with some balloon tires, a new back rack and a hot little basket.)

-- Olivia went for a ride in her new Chariot Cougar 2 and LOVED it. That, or she loved Magnum sprinting next to her.

-- We drove down to Santa Barbara, said goodbye to the sunshine and headed up to the Portland area for the week (and this time we took Magnum).

-- We ate and ate and ate and ate some more. As usual, Irma & Co. had the tastiest food* - from DELICIOUSLY SWEET cinnamon rolls courtesy of Marissa to the SCRUMPTIOUS chicken tamale casserole Debbie made. I'm gonna have to ride that bike all over town to burn off 1/10 of the calories I took in.

-- Olivia got all dressed up to go visit her new cousin Noah and dag.nabbit if none of us took a picture. So, picture two of the cutest babies under the age of 1 locking eyes with each other and pretend that picture is right here. It's even cuter than THIS adorable Mini Holland Lop I've just named Mitzi.

-- Olivia climbed some stairs and then figured out how to go down them backwards. Yeah, she's pretty smart like that.

-- We put together an adorable Easter basket for Olivia (as did Grandma Irma) with toothbrushes, spoons and tons of new books and by the time we got back from visiting Noah, ate and put her down for a nap, Easter was pretty much over and she never "unwrapped" it. It's still full waiting for just the right moment, I guess.

-- We SANRIO'd! See that Hello Kitty bunny in her basket?? Aside from having a mini-heart attack at just the thought of going to a Sanrio store, I contained myself pretty well by keeping my spending spree under $100. Oh, Olivia, I hope you love those little Japanese characters as much as I do.

-- Olivia posed for some pictures for her Auntie Marissa and I have a new favorite.

-- Despite the lack of sunshine, we had an amazing time up in the RAINY northwest. A special thanks to our friends and family up there for always making us feel so welcome and loved.

*I got the recipe for both and if you are lucky and promise to stick with me even when I leave you for weeks at a time, I'll post it with pictures. (Ahhh, the excuses I will use to make yummy carbs!)