Play Days & Pioneer Girls

Well, I guess you could say I am improving a little bit because at yesterday's play date I actually took TWO pictures.  

Oh, did I fail to mention that none of the babes were really paying attention to me?

I'll keep trying.

This is pretty much my life when she's in the car seat.

I finally figured out how to use the self-timer on my camera and got the first family shot we've had in a few months.  Not too shabby.

Sportin' my Indiana shirt from Katie.

Olivia and I stayed home all day long and it was awesome.   {Remember how fun our car rides are?}  Tomorrow is the first day of October and, oh boy, I can't wait to pull out the Halloween decorations.  Christmas is most definitely my favorite holiday of the year, but Halloween pulls a close second.  I think it is because there really haven't been any fun holidays since Easter {and by fun I mean full of candy} and because I get to be crafty {and I looooove being crafty}.  

Anyway, back to us staying home...I got Olivia to actually sit for a picture for about two seconds.  I love how serious she looks in this and the way she is holding onto the chair.  It reminds me of those old-fashioned pictures with the men dressed in war uniforms.  I just had to antique it a little bit.

And those boots!

Doesn't she look like a little pioneer girl?

 Normally I put Olivia in her sleep sack and we read a few stories before nap time, but today she literally fell asleep in my arms in her dress and her boots.

Is there anything sweeter?

Tonight before bed, we took out some of Olivia's flashcards {that she is OBSESSED with}, spread them out on the ground, and then asked her to bring us each of them by name.  She did so awesome!  There were over 20 cards on the ground and she could find each one.  She is right smart, for sure!

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!

Happy Birthday, Doug!!

Okay, so it is not really Doug's birthday.  I facebook stalked it and we have about six more weeks until the big day, but Doug totally loves it when my blogs are full of pictures (ahem) and this one is going to be!  So Happy Early Birthday, Friend!  ;)

The heat has finally subsided and the weather could not be more perfect!  We are LOVING the warm afternoons and nights that we don't typically get even during the summer months.  The few days of intense heat we experienced make me extremely grateful that I don't have to deal with what seems like endless weeks of hot, hot weather (especially when carting around a tiny tot) like we did in Indiana, but boy do I miss hanging out outside on those warm summer evenings.  We are some of the lucky few who actually have air-conditioning in our house and we broke down and cranked it on Monday night.  We ended up babysitting Gabby on Tuesday and Olivia was in heaven with another dog in the house.  Add to the fact that we were also cat-sitting Kinleigh and it was as close to having her own petting zoo as she's going to get for awhile.

This one popped over to see if he could hang out inside our house.

Sorry Charlie.

Kisses for Gabby.

How scared does she look?

That's the way to get in her good graces!

Seriously...Gabby was SO happy to see David when he came home from work.  

She was giving him her bedroom eyes.

And, Olivia stepped outside and was pretty much ready to go back in. 

 It was too hot for this baby!

We got Meow Meow this little toy and we take it over each time we go to visit.  Olivia loves to wave it around and she looks like a cross between a rhythmic gymnast and a lion tamer.

And, yes, our house always looks this clean.

{Don't you want kids, Doug?!}

We've taken some nice bike rides the last couple of afternoons.

What, not everyone uses their water bottle holder to store a Chelada beer?

Budweiser and Clamato.  Google it.  It's disgusting in a can.

Magnum has enjoyed being able to sniff lots of new places.

Can you tell she put those on herself?

This girl loves to read.  Each night she has ridden in her little Chariot and read her books aloud.

{I love her to pieces.}

And she LOVES her boots.

A little playground fun never hurt anybody.

Would you believe that I still have more pictures to put up?  I think I'll save those for tomorrow.  Doug has probably overheated by now anyway.

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!

Bah Dah Bah Bah Bah...I'm Lovin' It

The combination of a 100 degree day + a dead car battery discovered after frantically getting everything ready for a 10am playdate + AAA not locating my info and me not locating my card {thank you Acura Roadside Assistance for coming to my aid} = driving to McDonald's {necessary to recharge my battery, ahem} and picking up this little bad boy. 

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a good shot of her these days?  Between the bruise on her cheek, the snot coming out of her nose, and the beads of sweat dripping off her forehead, I'm surprised this picture is as good as it is.  

She does not sit still.  I'm serious.  I feel like some people say that, Oh my baby is always on the move.  He's always playing with different toys.  But, I have seen some of these babies in our classes and they DO SIT.  Olivia does not.  In this picture, her butt only RESTED on her chair and then she was up wanting to see the BABY on the back of my camera.  She has ADD like it is nobody's business.  I seriously get one thing cleaned up while she is tearing into another.  Today I tried to outsmart her and closed off her play refrigerator by putting a yardstick in between the two handles.  All that did was make the two compartments open at the same time AND add to her interest in it.  She doesn't even sit when she takes a bath.

She seriously goes back and forth from one end of the tub to another.  But, Lord Have Mercy, will you LOOK at those curls.  This heat has brought out the best in them.

Hoping for cooler temps tomorrow.

Happy Monday from the Central Coast.

My Sunday Smiles {Volume 11}

I've spent the weekend as a single parent while David has been off on a boys' rejuvenation weekend.  {Sounds like an oxymoron, right?}

Olivia and I have had a lot of fun, but have stayed inside most of the time since the temperatures have been in the 90s all weekend.  We have been oh-so-crafty, but are waiting to show pictures until later since some of our handmades are gifts.  So, basically I have been productive while Olivia has made the playroom {and the rest of the house} look a little something like this.

I took these videos a couple of weeks ago, but haven't put them up here yet.  She is such a smart little baby, but obviously only wants to show it on her terms.


Oh, the Things She Knows from Amanda Michelson on Vimeo.



Showing Off from Amanda Michelson on Vimeo.


This week has been the start of the new Fall TV seasons and I stayed up entirely too late Friday and Saturday nights watching Parenthood, Grey's Anatomy, Private Practice and Project Runway.  The new season of Dexter starts tonight and we are having a little Dexter get-together.  I can't wait to see how they pick up after the shocker from last season's finale.

Alright, so I started this post around 3, it's now 10:45 and I have stayed up entirely too late watching Dexter and trying to remember past episode details.  Hence, my abrupt ending.

Happy Sunday from the Central Coast!

Getting excited for our Hawaii trip!

Skippity Skippity Skype

So, any other moms out there have a little trouble getting going in the mornings?  We sure do!  Our Friday classes go from 9 to 11:30 which is a really long time for a 17 month old, especially when you add in a 30 minute commute beforehand.  We don't always make it there right on time...like this morning where Olivia woke up crying at 4am and let's just say I wasn't really enjoying waking up again at 7:30.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the class though, so I will gladly trade the hectic mornings {and the disrupted nap schedule} for lots of fun when we get the babies together.  The schedule for this class allows us to have a 30 minute baby-free block while another mom is watching our child along with their own out on the playground.  I wish I could take more pictures during the outside playtime to show the utter chaos that goes on, but it is HARD WORK watching two babies who don't always want to play the same thing in a sea of 3 classrooms worth of toddlers.  It's loads of fun and all the other moms are so great.

After Olivia's nap, we had lunch outside since it was such a beautiful day.   Olivia was more interested in hooking the straps of her high chair together than eating.  See all that corn?  Apparently Olivia only likes eating corn when it is on the cob.  Same thing happened tonight with her meatballs for dinner.  She REFUSED to eat the ones that were cut up, but went right to town on the one that was whole.  This baby and her quirks.

Uncle Rhino leaves for Paris tomorrow so we had to get a little Skyping in before he left.  He captured some of these screen shots and I am in love with them.  I almost love his expressions as much as I love hers.

Do not be afraid of that knife!

Be jealous that we still have AMAZING strawberries!

Pretty sure she likes loves him!

We also had a little fun with La Photo Cabine before dinner.  She loves photobooths about as much as I do!

A Boo Boo and a Bottle

We went to Boo Boo Records this morning for Music Time.  Olivia loves it.  She just bops all over the place interacting with all the other kids. This girl is not afraid of anything!

I know this picture is out of focus, but I snapped it as quickly as I could.  Olivia ran over to see what this mom was taking a picture of and then kept saying Baby Baby over and over again.

Tonight while I was making dinner, Olivia was playing happily in her kitchen drawer of sippy cups, bibs and plates.  When I went to put her jammies on I noticed that she had put all four components of her bottle {that were separated in her drawer after being washed} into her crib.  I chuckled and showed David and then filled up her bottle with water.  {I used to put a bottle filled with water in her crib at night, but hadn't done it in the last week or so.}  I handed her the bottle and she took a few sips from it.  About 15 minutes later I went to find the bottle so I could put her down to bed and I couldn't find it anywhere -- I looked in her crib and sure enough she had thrown it in.  I have NO IDEA how she got it in there because it can't squeeze through the slats.  She's got some skills I guess.

I saw her do this with her Pack N Play when we were up in Palo Alto a couple weeks ago.  I unpacked her bag and pulled out her little lamb lovey, handed it to her and she went and put it in her portable crib.  I've got a smart one, I tell ya.

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!

Paper Pinwheels and Shirley Temple Curls

It has been craftastic around here lately. {Fall is in the air!!} David and I are planning a little Halloween party for Olivia and some of her friends and my mind is about to explode with fun party ideas, games and decorations.  I am making a pinwheel garland for our fireplace and I think I have already made enough pinwheels to line the block.  I think I may be addicted.

Here's a little sampling...

Last Saturday, we went over to Santa Barbara to meet up with another couple for lunch and then headed over to the zoo for a little bit.  It is so great having a membership there and being able to stop by whenever we are in town.  It's a great way for Olivia to burn off some energy before we get back in the car.

Of course I couldn't resist a little Pinkberry.

{But, seeing as how Olivia never.sat.still at the restaurant, THIS was my lunch.}

Look at those curls!

I love this little Hippo dress that our friend Diann got Olivia for her birthday.

And those Baby Legs...

Fashionista!

Normally I don't really get into birds, but these guys were fun to watch.  And their feathers are just gorgeous.

She was calling for the gorilla to come out.  And it worked!

Yesterday afternoon, we met up with Sarah and Kendall for a walk on the beach.  It was such a beautiful day out.  I only got one picture since I was juggling a toddler who didn't want to be in her stroller and a dog who thought he was King of the Playground.

Happy Tuesday from the Central Coast!

{Breaking out the fall boots!}