Where has my little girl gone???

Lately I see less and less of my little girl, and more and more of some stranger! She looks relatively the same. A little taller and more mature in the face... but overall, she looks like my Olivia! And honestly she does act the same! :) But, there have been just a few things that have happened in the last few weeks, and it's hit me like a ton of bricks that she is really getting big!

She knows answers to questions about things I had no idea she knew! Just today, when we were on our way to dance, she asked me, "Mommy, what does that E mean?" It took me a second to figure out what she was asking about. But she was pointing to the compass on my rearview mirror. I told her it meant east. Not 2 seconds later we turned and she says, "Now we're going south". I had no clue she knew directions! She is always spouting off addition, albeit simple, but sometimes it's 3 numbers, like today. "Mommy, I know what 8+2+1 equals". I'm not saying she's a genius, I'm just saying that she did not learn that from me! :) Sadly, I have not worked with her like I should be! And she loves spelling out words and writing! She could very well be a greeting card writer one day with all the cards she's written her friends and family!

Don't get me wrong, there are definitely areas we need to work on, riding her bike being one of them!!! This girl is not adventurous that is for sure! But she is definitely sweet and getting to be so big!

Two weeks ago we went to her elementary school to register her for kindergarten!

More and more often she wants to make her bed... with no help. And let me tell you, it takes everything in me not to "correct" it! I really have to learn to not be a perfectionist!

And she loves to feed Jack! She is so good about helping me out! She will feed him, play with him, and try to carry him, which he is not so crazy about! His body weight is more than half of hers!

I could eat them they are so sweet!

And maybe one of the things I am most proud of her for is not sucking her thumb anymore! A couple of months ago we started weening her from her thumb. :) And slowly but surely, and without ANY argument or crying, she is off the thumb!!!! It was so simple and she was so great about it! Of course there had to be a prize at the end, and she chose to get a pet! A fish! It is all her mommy and daddy would allow! Hey, she's got to start somewhere! So, at the end of March we headed up to Petco and Rose came home with us! She is a lovely addition to the family! Before I know it this little girl will be heading to kindergarten and her mommy will sit and sob and wonder where on earth the time has gone! I sure hope our summer goes by slowly!

Mimi's Visit

While Denny was off playing in Vegas this weekend, we had our own fun here at home! Mimi came out to spend some time with the kids and to keep me company (and sane)! The weekend went by so quickly, I can't believe it's over!

Yesterday after the gray skies lifted, we ventured outside to find sun, warm air, and no wind!!! Olivia decided she wanted to swing while Mimi sat outside with her. I had come in to do something and when I returned outside, this is what I found!

I laughed so hard! My sweet 90 year old grandmother had gotten on the glider and was swinging!!!! She is amazing! I laughed so hard!

Since everyone was swinging I decided I had better bring Jack out to participate.

He really loves to swing!

If Mimi knew I had posted this picture she would not approve, but I just had to share our fun!

Liv has really gotten to be very good at swinging by herself! Yay!

Swinging wore out Mimi and Jack! He is one tired pup!

Mimi got some good snuggle time with her main squeeze!

We love having Mimi out and truly enjoy the time we get to spend with her!

Easter

We had a wonderful Easter weekend! Denny's brother Ryan was in town with his girlfriend Nicole, so we were able to visit and spend some time with the two of them, which is always fun! Especially for Olivia! She loves both Ryan and Nicole, so her Easter was complete!

Olivia with her basket Easter morning.

A new slinky, what fun!

Jack and his basket.

Modeling one of his new hats from the Easter Bunny.

Again, we had a cold Easter! And this year it was wet too. So we had to move our hunt indoors! It is the first year we've actually had to hunt inside, and it was not near as much fun, well, for me. I don't know that Olivia could have cared less, she's not the outdoorsy type anyway!

Doesn't Jack look like he's thinking, "Well, is this it... guess I'll just sit here in a puddle of drool while my big sister rakes in the goods."

Jack is ever so curious as to what his big sister has received in her eggs!

She was generous enough to let him play with one of her eggs!

Finally... all dolled up for church! We had an awesome service at church and were so happy to have Uncle Ryan go with us!

My sweet princess!

She is such a big girl it just kills me!

Liv and her favorite person!

Yea!!! A family picture! Thank you Uncle Ryan!

And a final pic of the two cutest kids on earth! ;)

Who knew it could be so fun to match two different sex kids!

Hippity Hop Hop, Hippity Hop Hop

Easter's on it's way!!!


Like all holidays when you have kids, you start celebrating Easter several weeks before the actual holiday! At least Easter is one of the holidays that is truly worth celebrating weeks before! It usually starts with the coloring of the eggs, then there is the school party, and the many hunts, maybe a picture with the Easter Bunny, although not for us, but you get the idea!


A couple of weeks ago Olivia was dying to color her eggs, so we let her have at it! She did a great job, doing most of it by herself! She and Denny had fun making some different designs on the eggs and then she put some Hello Kitty stickers on them! Egg dying kits have come a long way since I was a tyke!

Concentrating so hard!

On Wednesday, Olivia had her Easter party (and hunt) at school! They made foam eggs, with stickers and glitter glue, and ate cupcakes!
When we got home Olivia had a package waiting for her! Gigi had sent her 2 fun pillowcases, some cute socks, and this super cute dress (a big thank you to Mrs. Amy who made it!). Olivia was so excited for the dress she demanded to wear it the very next day!

Thankfully it was warm out Thursday! She even let me put her hair in a ponytail so she could wear the ribbon that Mrs. Amy had sent with the dress! Everywhere she went that day she told everyone about her new dress!

And here is our own little Peter Cottontail! We have a cute little bunny that "lives" in our backyard. Here is where we usually find him! I'm not sure how much I'll be loving this little guy when he starts eating our flowers, but with Easter around the corner, he sure is appropriate!

Denny, Olivia and Jack at our neighborhood egg hunt. To say it was windy would be an understatement! And I have no idea what Jack is so enthralled with!

And a failed attempt at a family photo, hopefully tomorrow will be better!

Jack is Eight Months Old!

On April 7th, my precious angel turned 8 months old! The older he gets, the faster the days go it seems! It has been a big month for this little guy though, he's had a lot of firsts!

He started the month getting his first tooth! Shortly followed by the 2nd one. Both on bottom of course! And he is drooling again like a madman, but I don't see any top ones that seem to be on the verge just yet. Which I really dread. I remember those put Olivia in quite a bit of pain. And like his older sister, he just wants to be close to his mommy when he gets a tooth! But I will take the cuddling any way I can get it!

We've actually had a lot of cuddling this month. Not only has he gotten two teeth, but he also got his first illness... a stomach bug no less! Poor little guy! It was so sad to see him sick. Unlike most infants, he was actually throwing up. Thankfully it only happened a couple of times and he got over that part of it quickly! But for about 2 days, he just wanted to be held. He is such a sweet boy, I could just eat him up! He will just sit in my lap and do nothing, or talk, or whatever... so laid back... so different! ;) But I am completely enjoying that side of him!

His other big accomplishment is feeding himself! Wahoo!!!! He now eats Cheerios and Puffs all by himself! And he loves both of them!!! And on that note, this boy has turned into one BIG eater. I know by the looks of him one would think he's always loved food. However, this has not been the case. Prior to about a week or so ago, he could have given or taken his bottle. But I changed him over to ready to feed formula and now he devours his bottle! He is eating a ton AND not spitting up!!! I really should have tried this stuff a very long time ago! Anyway, he is now eating us out of house and home!

He's not close to crawling really... he will scoot around in a circle, but no forward or backward movements just yet. It may be awhile! Did I mention he is laid back? ;)

Here are just a few cute pics from this last month!

Such a happy boy!

Do these jammies make my legs look big???
Success with the Cheerios!!!
Aww.... I LOVE this little boy!

All curled up with his burp cloth and ready for bed!

But he's still got one more smile in him!

Disney On Ice

Olivia had quite the ending to her spring break. We did the Kelly Miller Circus on Friday evening and then Saturday morning went to Disney on Ice at the American Airlines Center! Last year we saw High School Musical on Ice and Olivia LOVED it, she talked about it non-stop afterwards asking when we could go back. This year it was Mickey and Minnie's Magical Adventure or something like that! They basically told brief stories of several of their movies. It was good, and the AAC is so close and easy to get to. I forget just how easy it is to get downtown since we are right off the Tollway! I think we made it down there in about 30 minutes, parked right next to the building and walked right in! It truly couldn't have been easier! If I had remember from last year, I would have taken Olivia just myself! But maybe next year!

Olivia liked the show, although I have to say, not quite as much as she like HSM on Ice. But it was still well worth it and fun!

Here's our attempt at a picture in front of the AAC - at least Denny's looking at the camera! ;) And like last year, we had to splurge for the $10 snow cone!

Jack was great during the show! He hung out in Denny's lap most of the time. Towards the end he got a little fidgety and fussy, but he was very good overall!

The Lion King

The Little Mermaid

And fianlly... Peter Pan - AKA Tinkerbelle

(I really think they should call the movie Tinkerbelle, that is pretty much the only reason it holds the girl's attention!)

The Circus

So, here I am, behind yet again on blogging! But I have a good excuse this time! We have been a little under the weather around here, but more on that later!

First, here on some pictures from the Kelly Miller Circus we went to over spring break with our good friends, the Martins and the Smiths! This circus comes to Frisco Square every year, but this is the first year we have been. Denny and I, not being such a huge fan of the circus to begin with, were a little underwhelmed. :) But Olivia enjoyed it and that was the whole reason we went! And of course it was good to hang out with our friends!

Me, Julie and Carrie

The whole gang!
Olivia and Kennedy waiting for the show to start!

Me and the kiddos - for a change Olivia cooperated and Jack did not! :)

This guy was pretty amazing. My palms were sweating just watching him!

The girls watching in amazement!

I also had a picture of the elephants, but I accidentally deleted it on the post somehow and am too lazy to completely start over. So you'll just have to take my word for it that there were 3 elephants that performed! ;)

Stay tuned for another update very soon!