Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas! I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday! We sure did! It has been very busy for us the past few weeks as all holidays are in our home. I took LOTS of pictures during the Christmas festivities! Olivia was a very lucky little girl and got soo many things! She has a complete wardrobe in size 18months (which we still dont exactly fit into quite yet!), so many baby dolls, legos, a big farm, a car, stuffed animals, books, a few Little People sets, bath toys, a purse, a tea set and lots of other toys! So much so that we have stored about half of them away to pull out in a few weeks when she gets bored with the ones we opened! She actually opened many of her gifts so that was cool. She had a great holiday! We spent it with many of our family and friends so it was really nice.

In other news, she had had 4 more breakouts since Thanksgiving. We took her back to the allergist who said that we need to write down what she breaks out to and bring in the package. It is something she is eating, but we can't quite pin point what? At least so far the reactions have been mild and only involving a rash. She has been battling a cold/sinus infection for most of this month, so that has been fun! lol She has learned to run and now chases Emma. Its really cute. She is having fun each day and getting so big! She was up to 21 pounds 13 ounces at the allergist, although we don't know where she puts all of her food?!?! She still eats constantly!

Frankenmuth

This past weekend, Chris and I took Olivia to Frankenmuth. We went with Aunt Mel and Uncle Chris. We walked around Bronner's, which was VERY busy! Olivia kept pointing at these lighted bulbs that were hanging all over the store from the ceiling...so Chris bought her one to use as a nightlight in her room. She LOVES it. Wakes up every morning and points going, "Whats this?". While in Frankenmuth we all had the chicken dinenr. Olivia was really good through dinner and loved everything!

She is getting soo big and already acts like such a big girl. The transition away from the bottle didnt phase her at all. She loves to look at books and be read to. She is very independent and doesn't like to play with you. She prefers to play in the play room with Emma now.

My Baby is growing up...

No pictures this time...sorry :( . I have been kind of slacking on the pictures. I had really great intentions of taking some on Thanksgiving and didnt even get my camera out of the diaper bag!! We have been very busy trying to keep up with Olivia these days! She is into EVERYTHING!

First thing is that Olivia climbed out of her crib the other day!!! All by herself, there were no toys near here or anything!! I can't believe she figured out how to do that already, she is only 13 months old!!! So we have lowered it down to the last level and I am really hoping that this will hold off the toddler bed for a couple more months!! Wish me luck with that.

I am officially trying to "de-baby" the house. Olivia is on her second night bottle free!! WAHOO!! She's doing great so those are all packed up and ready to store! All the baby toys are packed up, and the baby clothes... Now we just need to get rid of the pacifier (soon...springtime), diapers, and the crib (but like I said I can wait on that!!!)

She is starting to talk more and say things (or attempt to say things). She says, Mama, Dada, Baby, PaPa, ball and still "gog". Her newest is "whats this?" while holding or pointing to something. (She points at EVERYTHING) Its funny because it doesnt sound like "whats this" it sounds more like "oh shit" and she repeats it about 20 times per item!

All in all we are enjoying her, she gets funnier and cuter everyday. And I almost forgot to say that this kid can EAT!! Thats all she does...eat, eat, eat, ALL.DAY.LONG! For breakfast she eats a breakfast bar, a WHOLE banana and sometimes still wants something else! And so far she is not picky either, she will eat almost anything you give her! Just have to keep an eye on her...she got hives from Thanksgiving dinner. Not sure what was in it that made her break out but we will be keeping an eye on that! Will post pics next time!

Halloween and Other Happenings

Ooops! It appears time has gotten away from me. Been quite some time since I have posted an update! Halloween has come and gone...She had soo much fun dressed as a ladybug. We did go trick or treating to a few houses and got some candy. And I even let her eat some of it!! Note to self: 1 year olds are not AT ALL interested in carving pumpkins!!! lol the pic is decieving! Aside from Halloween we have been really busy. Trying hard to stay in touch with everyone and getting things done. I have been working alot. Olivia has 2 new teeth, on the bottom for a total of 8. She is walking/running all over the house. She loves playing with Emma. Her favorite song is the Black Eyed Peas, "I Gotta Feelin" and she will dance to that everytime she hears it. The past week she has done nothing but eat. I mean that too....today her and her friend Dominic polished off an ENTIRE can of Gerber crunchies! (cheese puffs) She is getting bigger and cuter by the day! We are down to 1 bottle a day. She is also suddenly becoming more attached to her "blankie" which at this point she has a few different favorites! We have even been lucky enough to enjoy some time outside as we have had a handful of 60 degree days. Other than that she is her same cute, quirky self!

Olivia's 1st Birthday Part 2

Olivia's real birthday was on October 16th. To celebrate we went to Red Robin for dinner with Great Grandma, Aunt Mel and Uncle Chris. They sang to Olivia and brought her a sundae. It was cute. The next day we had her birthday party. Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate. I did a ladybug theme and went a little crazy. It was fun and I am glad I did. However, she will not be getting parties like that every year! She got some really fun toys and clothes, and a very special baby ring. Oh yeah, and a quad from Mom and Dad! She tore into the black part of her cake, and well you will see what happened. End result was a rash from the dye in the frosting!

On Monday she went for her 1 year checkup. She weighs 20 pounds, 2 ounces and is 19.5 inches long! (remember she started at 6 lbs, 8oz, 20.5 in.) so she has progressed good! She is still on the small side of the spectrum tho! She is hitting all of her milestones appropriately and doing well! She had two shots and did good with them.

Also this week Aunt Sara took Olivia's 1 year pics. They turned out soo well! Sara is really getting good at it! Check them out at:

http://saramckeephotography.wordpress.com/2009/10/21/cant-stop-editing/

Olivias Birthday Part 1

Olivia had her 1st of two birthday parties today at Grandpa J and Meme's house. Loris family came over to celebrate Olivias birthday with her. She had so much fun being the center of attention! She looked adorable in her tutu with her wand and all. She got lots of cool things to play with. She got a ride on Giraffe toy, 2 new babydolls, 2 supercute outfits, blocks, and diapers! Her favorite part I think was the cake! She didnt waste anytime eating it! She stayed pretty clean for the most part too. She still needed a bath for sure, but i have seen a lot worse damage done! She loved digging in and tearing that cake apart!! YUM! She was so cute. I cant wait for her big party next weekend. There will be lots of friends and family to share this special day with us! I cant believe that it has already been a year since she was born. Where does all the time go??

Relay for Life and Pumpkin Patch

This past weekend was a really busy one for us! We went to Relay for Life on Saturday. It was really cold but Olivia still made it around a couple of times. Afterwards she went to Grandpa's and Mimi's while I went back. I ended up staying the night and everything. We had a lot of fun and raised a lot of money for a cause that is dear to us. We are looking forward to next year!



The following day we were invited to go to Kreeger Farms to the Pumpkin Patch. This was a LOT of fun!! There was a lot for the kids to do. The wagon ride out to the patch was rainy but it let up and we were able to get some good pics and good pumpkins. Olivia loved all of the pumpkins and was excited watching all of the kids. We will be making that a tradition of ours each fall!

In other happenings we are just busy, busy, busy. I have been working a lot as well as keeping up with school. Olivia is now a full time walker!! She is into EVERYTHING!! And loves to be independent. She has developed such a funny little personality and is soo much fun to be around. I have been busy planning the perfect birthday and am really excited for her party that is coming up! I cant believe it has already been a year!