2 Years, Month 4, Week 3

Twas the night before preschool and all through the house, Mommy was panicking at the thought of how quickly her little girl was growing up!

How can it be that the first day of school has already arrived?!?  Granted it's just the beginning (preschool), but I can't believe she's starting school.   To help deal with my disbelief, I coped the best way I know how, shopping and Pinterest!  While I was shopping for her a dress for her first day of preschool, "Haven't Met You Yet" began to play just as a I came upon the dress she is wearing in the pictures above.  I took it as a sign and proceeded to the register to buy it right away (while of course getting choked up).

When the big day finally arrived, she was fairly willing to pose for lots of pictures holding my Pinterest finds.  She even seemed excited about heading to preschool.


















The preschool Olivia is attending is at her daycare, University Height UM Children's Center.  So, she's fairly familiar with the location and stopped by to meet her teachers last week.  She walked up to the door proudly wearing her princess backpack she picked out and flashed a big smile before we walked in.

That is until we got in the door!  Once inside, Olivia was not so sure about preschool!  She often has some trouble adjusting to going back to daycare full time or when she moves into another room.  This time she needed a little extra reassurance that every thing would be okay.

Since Josh usually does pick up and drop off, I was glad that I got to meet at least one of Olivia's teachers, Miss Marsha.  She was very nice, answered my countless questions, and explained a little bit about the program.  Even though Olivia was crying when I left, I know she was in good hands with Miss Marsha and Miss Jill (her other teacher).  By the end of the week, she was eagerly sharing stories of her adventures at "pretty school."  I'm hoping they are working on some school readiness skills because Livi was also insisting on wearing jewelry and trying my shoes on because "they match my outfit."

As we got settled back into our regular routine of preschool and work, we also got back to running errands in the evenings.  Livi volunteered to help hold Tinker's leash when we went to pick up more of his food.  I don't think we've seen Tink get that kind of work out in a quite a while!

That weekend we traveled to the Region.  Papa and Grandma also had an extra special house guest - Papa Pigg!  (Livi came up with this name for him all on her own and it rolls off the tongue much easier than Great Grandpa Pigg!)  She took about 5 minutes to warm up to him and they were fast friends once again.  Papa was also teaching her to say "that stinks" in Polish while changing her diapers.

We managed to sneak in one more trip to beach during our visit.  Unfortunately, the water "closes" at 6:00 when the lifeguards leave for the day, but Livi still had plenty of fun in the sand!

When we got back from the beach, Livi and Grandma had a little after dance party.  They were rocking out to Jimmy Fallon and Robin Thicke's version of the (slightly) cleaner "Hey Hey Hey Song."

On Sunday, Josh, Papa, Papa Pigg and Livi went to Papa's work picnic while Grandma and I went to a bridal shower.  Face painting, snow cones, and Cheetos - what more could a kiddo want on a Sunday afternoon?

2 Years, Month 4, Weeks 1 and 2

Sigh, this week marked the end of my summer break.  Summer breaks have always gone by quickly, but now they seem to move at warp speed.  We did manage to pack in quite a bit of fun over the summer though!  Since we kicked off the summer with a play date with the Abraham girls, it seemed only fitting that we have one more with them this week.  Again, I'm so thankful that all of my good friends who were pregnant at the same time I was also had little girls! 

Livi has also been test driving vehicles when she goes to the store with Daddy.  I would've pictured her as more of a convertible kind of girl, but whatever make her happy!  She usually does march to the beat of her own drum!

Daddy also finished a pantry for Livi's ever growing kitchen.  She was pretty excited to have somewhere to store her dishes.  I am also happy to not be tripping over those dishes any more!



Livi and Daddy also had one of their famous Daddy Daughter Date Nights while I enjoyed a Girls Night Out with some of my gal pals.  Livi enjoyed her favorite "cheese soup" and some cuddle time with Daddy.  It was a great evening for everyone!

Should we be concerned that when went out for lunch, Olivia headed straight for the bar?  At least she didn't try to order any thing!  After that, we removed the temptation by going to Steak n Shake for dinner and capped off with a trip to Target.  Josh decided to help control the impulse purchases by finding a cart that was big enough for the two shoppers in the family.

Unfortunately for Josh, they don't have those carts at the mall!  Olivia does like to accessorize, but we didn't go too crazy with our purchases!

Grammy arrived the night before I returned to school for the first leg of the baby-sitting duties.  And she brought quite the present with her - a wagon!  Olivia loves it!  She likes to ride in it and pull it too.  We may have finally found a more attractive option than the stroller (which Livi often insists she does not need)!

Grammy and Grandma Sue traded places mid-week for baby-sitting duty.  It is always nice to have both of them here when I return to work because it's one less thing I have to worry about and it helps to ease my working mom guilt.  We finally made it to the last "Animals and all that Jazz" of the summer at the Indianapolis Zoo.  The weather was awesome and since most schools were back in session we practically had the place to ourselves!

Gymboree had a special event on Friday with the Carmel Fire Department.  Olivia was a little hesitant of the trucks and the firemen at first, but by the end she was eagerly crawling into the driver's seat with her friend Kendall and ringing the bell.

In a moment of "well you don't see that every day!" we had some special visitors in our neighborhood over the weekend.  Some of our neighbors were hosting a wedding and a horse and carriage were waiting for the bride and groom.  We live in a pretty suburban area, so it's not too often that we see animals beyond dogs and cats on the street!

Go speed racer go!  Livi got an early Christmas present from Papa and Grandma, a purple Schwinn tricycle.  She's still working on figuring out how to peddle, but hey what good are grown-ups for than to push her up and down the side walk while she rings the bell?  Where is the time going?  Next week, she starts preschool!