Biting My Nails...and a Spoiler Alert

It has been a busy week over here and I am only slightly freaking out that it is already Wednesday and we are leaving Friday for LA to (fingers crossed) meet up with our friends from Indiana who just welcomed the most adorable little girl into their family.

Internet friends, meet Baby June.

And then we leave for Christmas in Hawaii 2010 on Saturday.  I have so much left to do before we leave. And of course I have taken on extra things to do before we leave - like hand-making a toy for Olivia to play with on the plane(which I swear I am doing once this quick post is up), making little gifts for Olivia's friends, attending a craft night at our friend Katie's store (tomorrow night), and going to a pitch-in pot-luck on Friday for our baby class.  Not to mention the things that need to be done before we leave - packing, laundry, sending cards and gifts out.  And, did I mention our dog-sitter arrived a day early?  Tired yet?  I am.

This morning, knowing I had a few errands to run in SLO, we hit up our favorite Wednesday morning hot spot, Boo Boo Records.

Sucking up to the teacher, Heidi.

Macy is our resident "interpretive dancer."

Well, as I headed to the coffee shop before Boo Boo, I realized that I had left my wallet at home.  So much for those errands.  We came home and packaged up some gifts to be sent out and Olivia decided she wasn't so much a believer in the old motto "Tis better to give than receive."  

She cried and cried because she wanted to open one of the gifts we were putting in the box to send.

I managed to get a few things done during Olivia's nap time and then headed back up to SLO once she was up.  I swear I jinxed it because just a couple of days ago I bragged about how much easier it was shopping with her.  Let's just say by the 3rd shop, she was over being in the stroller.

She sure looked cute at the start of it though!

We've still been opening a book a night and she is really enjoying the opening part.  I'm so glad we have done this (even if she does think every present belongs to her) and I am really looking forward to the years to come where she will also be captivated by the fun stories.

Monday night...

Tuesday night...my little LoveBug

Tonight...

I wanted to share a couple of the things that I made for Olivia's friends and my new mom friends.  I am so fortunate to have such a great group of ladies to hang out with.  I never realized the importance of having other moms as a support system - I was perfectly happy spending my days with just Olivia - but it has been such a blessing for both of us.  

That being said, a couple of these things are also things that a few of my favorite readers are also going to be receiving in their Christmas packages.  I apologize in advance for spoiling the surprise.  (If you think you are one of them, skip ahead a few paragraphs!)

Bakerella's Cowgirl Reindeer Cookies

(She's not lying when she says to PACK IT IN)

Honestly, I think I made the most perfect mix for the babies and for the parents.  Olivia and I have listened to each of them today in the car.  One of the songs is Zooey Deschenel's cover of "Baby, It's Cold" from the Elf soundtrack.  While we were at the store I started singing the song, but not really knowing all the lyrics I basically kept singing dah dah dah dah to the tune.  Olivia chimed right in with me and sang the same thing.  But, of course she was coming in a few seconds after me, which is EXACTLY like the song.  We were doing our own little duet.  I'm not kidding, I thought someone was going to come up to us and compliment us on how great we sounded - it was that incredible.  

I stole a couple pictures from the SLO parade off of my friend Sarah's facebook.  She captured a little Olivia and Jacob smooch session from that night and I just had to pass them along to you.  What a moment to capture on film!

Puckered up...

...and pulling him in for the kiss.

(What a time for the flash to decide not to work, but at least she got it!)

Now, I'm off to start on Olivia's play toy and make a list of the gazillion things I have left to do.  

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!