Our Baby is TWO!

Somehow {and I want to curse time for making it happen} this little baby has turned into a full-blown toddler.

To say that time has flown is an understatement.  To say that she is the best thing to ever happen to us would be an understatement too.  Our life has been flipped upside down and barely resembles the carefree life we had a few years ago, but you know what?  I wouldn't want it any other way.  She is truly a blessing to David and me.  And we love her so, SO much.

Much of the characteristics we saw with Olivia when she was younger still hold true today.  She does NOT like to be messed with, she is overly curious, loves the water, is incredibly smart ... and, well, she's pretty darn cute too.

Easter egg hunt -- look at those braids!

She was way more interested in the playground equipment than 

the plastic eggs scattered all over the ground.

Olivia is learning new things each day.  She can recite her ABC's and knows about 5 letters.  She knows the sounds that the letters make and can come up with words that begin with those sounds.  She can count to 14, but her favorite number is four.  {Whenever there are multiples of certain things, she will say, "Four kitties," or "Four babies."}  Thanks to her Nana, she can now sing Jesus Loves Me by heart.  

Olivia is just as happy wearing her pajamas all day as she is getting all dressed up.  But, she definitely loves her shoes!  When her daddy gets her dressed, he lets her pick out her own clothes and accessories - sometimes she comes out looking super cute and other times she is more of a hot mess.

One outfit she LOVES to put on is her swimsuit.  She had a blast this past week in Arizona going to the swimming pool each evening.  Once she was in, it was difficult getting her back out.  We were amazed at how brave she was in the water.  She would jump to David or to my dad and one time she even jumped onto a "noodle" thinking it would hold her up.  Whenever her face went under water, she wouldn't freak out and even held her breath once.  She is a water baby for sure.  {Cue photo overload.}

David is only holding on to her legs - she is using all of her upper body strength to "swim."

Pure JOY!

Look at that brave little monkey!

I would definitely say that Olivia has entered the "two" stage.  She is extremely independent and is not a happy camper when things don't go her way.  It is a blessing in many ways that she is so verbal, but it also works against her {errr, us really} in that she says what she WANTS ... and what she wants isn't always what she needs or should have.  The other day I was pulling out some veggies out of the freezer to fix for Olivia's lunch and she spotted the rest of her ice cream cake.  For the next two minutes, she screamed, "Happy birthday cake!!  Olivia wants some happy birthday cake."  

It also seems that Olivia doesn't forget anything we tell her.  The night before her birthday, we allowed her to open some of the {zillions} of presents and told her that she could open more the next day.  As soon as my mom got her up the next morning, she said, "Presents!"  She has been on a presents kick for the last couple of weeks.  She opened up all of her birthday presents and even helped me open many of mine.  She also had three Easter baskets to open.  {Unfortunately, I only got a picture of the basket I made for her....sorry Nana and Grandma Irma!}

Olivia loves to be outside -- she could swing or chase after bouncy balls for hours.  Today she asked if we could have a picnic lunch outside.  How do you say no to that?  Especially when you have a cute little butterfly table {thanks Grandma and Poppa} to sit at.

She is equally as happy being inside and looking through books.  For her birthday, my friend Jill got her a Little Golden Book called Little Mommy.  I have probably read the book to her ten times.  She woke up today asking me to read it to her.  {By the way, I LOVE having her sit on my lap so I can read books to her.}  Then, I had her read the book to me.  She flipped through all the pages and described each of the pictures...even using some of the same words in the book.  She is like a little sponge!

Outside Windmill Farms with her Nana and Poppy.

These last two years have been wonderful.  Olivia has enriched our lives so much and we couldn't feel more blessed to be her parents.  While these two years have flown by {and I would love to figure out how to freeze time or at least slow it down}, I really do look forward to all that our future with Olivia brings.

My sweet girl cuddled up with me right before the Easter egg hunt.

You may be two, Olivia, but you will always be my baby girl.

Happy Birthday, Baby.

Easter Blessings

Happy Easter from the Michelson Family!

Water Bug

Someone is most definitely enjoying this sunny weather!  And, don't even get me started on her love for the water {or sunglasses}!

Olivia's 2nd Birthday {Party}

Happy 2nd Birthday, Olivia!!  

It's taken me a few days to get the pictures loaded and edited and it's going to take me a few more days to get a blog up documenting how much she has changed in just the last month.  Sadly though, I am painfully aware of how poor a job I did of documenting her party -- I guess I can say it's because I spent a good majority of the time enjoying the good food and the amazing friends and family who were there!

Let me rewind to the night before her birthday... her Birthday Eve.  We celebrated with some presents, a family dinner and a birthday ice cream cake.

Frenchy dog from Uncle Hank and Aunt Patty

Fancy Nancy doll from Mommy and Daddy

YUM!  

{And, it turns out I do like Kit Kats}

Let's pretend she isn't wearing her Poop Happens bib.

{We finally got smart and turned the bib around.}

She was pretty much in heaven with that cake!

For Olivia's birthday party, we did a little Birthday Breakfast with her Besties.  We invited all the usual suspects {Kendall, Avi, Macy, Tessa and Jacob} and their parents and laid out a delicious assortment of breakfast foods.  We had a ton of fruit, donuts, quiche, muffins, juices and mimosas.  We could not have ordered a more beautiful day outside and so we spent a good portion of the party playing with toys and bubbles outside while the men {and Jacob} played round after round of cornhole.

Donut cake courtesy of Poppy

The best gift of all - a birthday hug from Kendall!

I put together another slideshow of Olivia pictures and played it for the ladies and kiddos at the party.  The kids LOVED seeing their smiling faces up on the big screen and sat perfectly still for the entire 10 minutes show.  If you haven't seen it yet, you can see it here.

Olivia was worn out after her party and took a nice long nap.  That afternoon, Olivia Skyped with her Grandma and Poppa and opened the presents that they had sent in the mail.  She got an amazing little butterfly table and chairs, a butterfly net, and butterfly wings.  She also got some of the cutest little dresses from her grandma.  We were so grateful that they were able to share in her special day!

A special thanks to Olivia's friends who came out to the party -- it really made her day to have them there!  And, a huge, HUGE thanks to my parents and David for helping me with getting everything ready for the party.  I gave everyone a list of things to do and they went above and beyond cleaning and prepping everything!

Stay tuned for another birthday post in the next few days!

Fauxlaroids

So, I was just cleaning up the kitchen in preparation for my parents' arrival {T minus 30 minutes!} and realized I wanted to put a few pictures up on the blog so I wouldn't have to do that tonight.  I remembered that all the pictures were the fake polaroid pictures from my cell phone and came up with the word "fauxlaroid" -- get it?  Faux Polaroids.  Ohmygosh, I got so excited, like, I just made up a word that could be this cool new word that people start using.  So, I pull up google to make sure I am spelling both faux and polaroid correctly and think to myself that maybe I should check to see if fauxlaroid has been used before and SURE ENOUGH, it has.  Whatever, I'm jumping on that bandwagon and using it as much as possible!  Fauxlaroids!  Woo Hoo!  Fauxlaroids rock!

One of the best things I've done is put a little mirror by the bathtub - she loves to look at herself {anytime, really} after I've put the shampoo in her hair.  It makes hair washing more of a treat for her!

Come sit by me, Mama.

Gladly!

{Stop the world - there's a picture of me on the blog!}

Happy Thursday from the Central Coast!

If I Ran the Zoo ... or American Idol

Leave it to me to have the busiest social schedule the week before Olivia turns two!  Yesterday we hung out with Jacob and William, today we went to the zoo, tomorrow we have a walking date with Avi and {woo hoo} my parents come to town, we have class on Friday {and I'm in charge of snacks}, Saturday is the Cal Poly Open House {did someone say Tractor Pull??} and Sunday is Livi Lou's SECOND birthday!!  As my sweet little one would say, Holy Smokes!


We had a ball today at the Atascadero Zoo.  It's such a tiny little zoo, but it was perfect for the kiddos to be able to jump out of their strollers and run around.  Sarah was a brave little Mama bringing both of her boys with her.  It was amazing watching us all take care of each other's kids...when one mom needed an extra hand or another set of eyes to watch their little tot, another one was there to help.  I love these moms and their babies and I feel so lucky to have met them and become such good friends with them.

Olivia and Brycen

I just love this picture!  Look at that smile!

Jacob pointing out the sprinkler.

Oh my word - this little one has my heart {and Olivia's too}.  He is just so precious.

Love this - look at Jacob chasing after Olivia.

I swear I have 25 versions of this picture...it is amazing that they all sat there and posed for the picture.

And, now, onto my two cents about American Idol.  Is it me or does Paul McDonald have the WHITEST teeth ever?  He's so yummy to look at.  And, I am not a big Black Eyed Peas fan, but I may be developing  a little crush on Will.I.Am.  He sort of reminds me of Dave Matthews.  That's it.  Two cents, I told you.

Happy Wednesday from the Central Coast!

Oh Baby!

With this new little biscuit in the oven, I cannot seem to get enough of little babies these days.  Whether it is watching {my new favorite reality show} Pregnant in Heels*, checking out baby name blogs, or snuggling up with an itty bitty newborn, I just can't get my fill.

This morning, Olivia and I went up to visit our friends Sarah and Jacob and their new family member, William.  He is just as cute as a button and is good as gold.  {Can I throw another cliche at you?}  He slept almost the entire time I was there and I had the privilege of snuggling up with him for a few hours.  Olivia was SO sweet with him.  I was a little anxious as to how she would be around him - I know she loves to see babies, but she's never seen me hold one.  She was an absolute angel.  She kept pointing out his little eyes, his little nose, his little mouth.  It was so sweet to watch and made me even more excited to have our own little bundle of joy at home.

I snapped this on my phone as soon as we got there - she loved squatting down and checking him out.  She also loved crawling into his car seat and portable swing.  

The "big kids" played {or made a mess of the playroom} while I snuggled up with William.  He was just too scrumptious and at a little over two weeks, he still had that newborn smell to him!

Can you stand all that cuteness?

Since my hands were full, it was hard for me to take pictures with my big ol' camera.  But, when Olivia pulled out Jacob's mini golf club, I had to snap a picture with my phone for Poppy.

She's a natural!

We had a great time visiting with Sarah, Jacob and William.  I actually even feel like we helped a bit - we took up some zucchini-carrot "cupcakes" and some breakfast burritos and I was able to hold William while Sarah fed Jacob lunch and put him down for a nap.  Olivia was so worn out from all the fun that she slept for 2 1/2 hours when we got home.  Let's hope she keeps up that helpful, sleepy streak when our new one comes along!

Happy Tuesday from the Central Coast!

Yummy!

*It sounds like a totally pretentious show, but it is more the clients are pretentious and the concierge, Rosie Pope, brings them down to earth...as best as possible.