15 Months, Week 4

It's back to school (aka daycare) for Miss Livi!  I loved being home with her this summer and then having Grandma Sue and Grammy Banks taking care of her for the last two weeks.  But, Livi needed to get back with her peeps.  She looked so tall (and skinny) when she posed in front of the door before heading out!

We are lucky that Livi is in great hands when we can't be with her during the day.  She has wonderful, caring ladies who look after her and even style her hair!  One of the ladies from the newborn room, Miss Debbie, captured a few pics on Livi's first day back.  It makes me happy to see her smiling, playing, and having fun with her friends. It also makes me laugh to see Miss Independent trying to open the door by herself!

Before starting off another week, we went to church and out for dinner.  Olivia is starting to actually use the crayons and coloring placemat that the waitress brings to help pass the time.  Of course, when that gets old she finds other ways to entertain herself.

Olivia is still loving her class at Gymboree.  Perhaps we have a future gymnast on our hands!

15 Months, Week 3

This week it was Grammy Banks turn to watch Olivia. Olivia has been battling a cold/allergies this week, so I was very glad Grammy was here to stay with Olivia!  She was not only in great hands, but she also got to sleep in and take extra naps (who wouldn't like that!).

Plus, Grammy has a very funny sense of humor.  She knows that Josh and I are addicted to checking the webcam in Olivia's room when we are away.  So she decided to have some fun with us.  Look at the note she left in Olivia's crib one afternoon...it says, "Mom & Dad, Have kidnapped Grammy.  Heading to mall...armed charge card.  Love, Olivia :)"

Olivia has picked up a new trick when she's trying to get attention.  Let me tell you how pleased Josh is about "Olivia gone wild"!

I think he'll keep carrying her around like this for as long as he can!  At least when she's distracted by accessories she can't lift up her shirt!

We're still trying to ease back in the routine of everyone getting up early and getting ready.  Clearly, Olivia is not a fan of the early wake-up call and I can't say that I blame her!

15 Months, Week 2

This week I went back to work.  It always makes me sad to leave Olivia, but I have a job that I love and I know I have been called to help other kiddos.  Also, this week Olivia is hanging with Grandma Sue and next week with Grammy Banks.  It's always a bit tricky getting back in the groove so it's nice to have the extra help!

While she still can, Olivia is taking advantage of sleeping in.  On Saturday, she slept until 9:30!  When she woke up, we went to Gymboree and then grabbed some mini-donuts from Taylor's on our way home.  Sounds like a good day to me!

That night, she went out to dinner with Grandma and Grandpa while Josh and I enjoyed an evening out by ourselves. A win-win for everyone!

While Grandma Sue was in town, Great Uncle Jim came for dinner. I won't share the pics of the Olivia initiated after dinner dance party, but I think you can see by these smiles that everyone had fun!

Look at our big girl! Olivia still went to daycare one day this week and the ladies managed to get a ponytail in her hair!  No easy feat I'm sure and even more shocking, she left it in!  I can't believe how grown-up she looks!

15 Months, Week 1

Holy growth spurt, Batman! Today Olivia had her 15 month check-up. She has grown an inch and a half in a little under 3 months.  She's now weighs 22 pounds, 3.2 ounces, is 31 inches tall, and has a head circumference of 46.6 centimeters.  The nurse practitioner noted that Olivia seems very well adjusted socially and is a little ahead of the game motor-wise. 

We are starting to make some progress with getting hair bows back in her hair. Obviously, they look adorable but her hair has gotten so long she actually needs the bows to keep the hair out of her eyes!

Olivia and I have been enjoying our last week at home together before I return to work full time. I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone by! It has been so much fun and we have done so much. It has been so hot that we have spent a lot of our time at Gymboree. She had a great time at music class playing her "steel drum" and singing w/one of her favorite teachers, Miss Eileen.

 

We also got to fit in one more meet-up at Orange Leaf with the Abraham girls! It always cracks me up when they realize that the other one is there. I'm not sure if they were trying to hold hands or fist bump. Either way, it was adorable!

We also capped off the week with a family class at Gymboree with the Galyens. Once again, I was reminded of  how difficult it is to try and get a good picture of three kiddos at the same time. Oh well, they were having fun!  Olivia continues to be smitten with Spencer!  Don't tell Josh that Olivia had a boy in her room and they were hugging and holding hands!

14 Months, 4 Weeks (Part 2)

Before summer break ends for me, we were able to sneak up to the Beachtowns of Michigan for a few days.  Our first stop was in St. Joe.  Livi enjoyed some yummy ice cream, but I'm not sure what she thought of the pirate statues on the street!







































After St. Joe it was onto our hotel in Muskegon, the Shoreline Inn. Check out the view from our room!  It was so pretty and relaxing.  Olivia quickly made herself at home on the big bed and in the swimming pool.

The next day we went to visit one of Josh's favorite sights, a light house. Even though Olivia feel asleep on the drive there, I think she had a little bit of fun once we got there.  She especially liked ringing the bell!

That afternoon, we hit the Pere Marquette beach.  It was such a pretty beach!  And just what we needed to relax!  Olivia had so much fun splashing in the water and building sandcastles with Josh.
 

And what better way to end a great family day than with a nice dinner on the  lake. I know there will come a time when Olivia will refuse to be seen in anything remotely close to what I'm wearing.  So until then, I am loving wearing coordinating outfits!

Just because you are on vacation doesn't mean you can't eat healthy! Olivia has really been loving fruits and veggies these days. Even though tomatoes and bananas are not Josh's favorites, Olivia is a big fan!

After one last dip in the hotel pool, it was time to head to Valpo to go and pick up Tinker from Grandma and Grandpa's.  Olivia continued to show her excellent tech skills by programming the GPS.  We tried to squeeze in one more beach day by hitting the Dunes.  Unfortunately our fun was cut short by a storm that blew in.  Oh well, it was still a great little getaway!

14 Months, 4 Weeks (Part 1)

What a week it has been!  Olivia had her first stomach bug.  Ugh, poor thing!  She couldn't keep anything down and looked so scared.  It broke my heart.  To add to the fun, Josh caught it too.  Thankfully, I somehow managed to avoid it.  Someone had to stay healthy to take care of the troops!

I am happy to report they both made a full recovery by Sunday morning!

Olivia also got to meet her Uncle Paul!  He deployed shortly after she was born and this was the first chance they had to meet.  She doesn't always do well with new people, but she instantly took to him!  We were sad that we didn't get to see Aunt Miranda and cousins Will and Amelia too, but were so glad we at least got to see Paul.

Olivia also got her first American Girl doll from the Kinter Fam, a Bitty Baby! She is very much smitten with her new dollie and loves to give her big hugs.

Check out our little helper!  She has started helping me keep the pretty new floors Josh and Grampy put in clean.  She may not always like sweeping and mopping so I'm taking advantage of it while I can!  She is also an excellent assistant at Home Depot.  She takes their motto, "You can do it; we can help" very seriously!

And we can always count on her for quality control...she and Josh stopped at Steak n Shake to surprise me with a milkshake.  She of course needed to sample mine before I did to make sure it tasted okay.