2 Years, Month 8, Weeks 2 and 3

Wouldn't be Thanksgiving without some leftovers, right?  These gems were hiding on Josh's phone and they were too good not to share!  Grammy tried out a new 'do on Livi for Thanksgiving.  Although she is getting to be big girl, she still has baby fine hair so the curls didn't really hold.  Next time we'll try a little more product.

Our big girl had her 2 1/2 year well visit. She's topping the charts at 30 pounds, 14.4 ounces and is 37 inches tall (73rd and 77th percentiles respectively).  She also took her flu shot like a pro!  Hopefully, it will keep us from seeing the inside of the doctor's office again for a while!

We also went on our annual trek to find the perfect Christmas tree.  Livi helped to pick out this beauty!  Josh also took to decking the outside of the house with lights.  He had contemplated with scaling back this year until our drive back from our Thanksgiving trip up north.  When we turned on our street, we saw all the decorating our neighbors had done to their houses.  As we pulled into our driveway, Livi saw our house and said, "My house no have lights."  Wouldn't you know, Josh was up on the ladder the next night hanging icicle lights, draping garland, and stringing lights around the bushes.

Livi found her cousin Will's Christmas present we bought on Black Friday.  I'm not sure she knew what to make of them, but they definitely don't look like any of her toys!

Another fun holiday tradition is Jolly Days at the Indianapolis Children's Museum.  First up was a ride down the Yule Slide.  So fun!  I love that she still wanted me to go down the slide with her.  There are so many times we hear, "No!  I do it!" that it was nice that asked me to go with her.

She had a total blast with the rest of the activities at the Museum as well.  I think the only times she sat down were to go on the slide and eat dinner!

The next night, we tried another visit with Santa.  This time, Santa came to visit her school.  While Josh and Livi waited for me to drive down from Fishers, they chilled out in Josh's office.  Livi made herself right at home!

This visit with Santa went better than the first.  She willingly sat on his lap, but smiling was clearly out of the question!

We had some special visitors in town over the weekend.  Auntie Carrie and Miss Sharla were here to celebrate the grown-ups annual Christmas get together.  The next day we all got together so that the kids could exchange Christmas gifts and we had one more opportunity to hang out.  Our crew certainly has changed a lot over the years!

 

Livi has really taken to helping with the cooking, particularly at dinner time.  She really is a a great sous-chef.  Plus she shares my love for the finer things.  While we were adding the cheese to one of the dishes, she said, "Oooh, it's getting yummy now!"

The visit with Santa must have been fairly successful because he stopped by our house early to bring Livi one of her gifts.  Like any good fashionista, Livi knows the importance of stylish footwear.  When you are 2 1/2, it doesn't get much better than light-up princess boots!

Those princess snow boots came in very handy for what was waiting outside for us.  It was our first big snow of the winter and Livi was so excited to play in it!  It was the perfect kind of snow for building a snowman (our in our case a snow lady).  Livi was even excited to help Josh shovel.

After all the fun in snow, Livi took an excellent nap and then we headed out to do some more Christmas shopping.  Who wouldn't like some help from an elf like this?

Oh Livi Rie...I had such high hopes for your school pictures this year.  Prior to picture day, we kept practicing our smile.  When the big day arrived, this is what we got!  That night, I asked her to show me how she smiled for her picture and she said, "I no smile."  Well, at least she's honest!  Josh said when he went to pick up the pictures the salesperson mentioned she was at the school on picture day. She said there were four adults who tried to get her to smile and she simply refused.  But, this picture still makes me smile because it's signature Livi!