2 Years, 5 Months, Weeks 2 and 3

Our little reader has a thirst for knowledge!  She continues to love books and being read to!  After we read some books over and over and over again, she knows them by heart.  She's also more than happy to read it to you!  Grammy came with us on our recent trip to the library to get some new books. Livi found another copy of a book we had just returned and insisted on reading it for us.

Grammy was nice enough to come back again the next day so Josh and I could go to the Michael Buble concert (swoon!).  She and Livi had a lot of fun.  Grammy always teaches her important things.  She now knows that red means "stop", green means "go", and yellow means "sloooooow down."

After our long walk up to the library, it was time for a nap. But first, Livi had to make sure she got her friends all settled in and comfortable.  She's so considerate!

 

What's better than swinging?  A double swing at Gymboree of course!

The next weekend we headed to a fun fall event at the Gymboree store.  Livi decorated an owl with feathers on the eyes.  Not everyone is as blessed as she is to have such long eye lashes, but she's always full of helpful ideas.

Later that day, we headed to our good friend Isabella's 2nd birthday party.  The food was very yummy and Livi had a blast playing with one of her bffs.  Livi wasn't exactly cooperative when we tried to take some posed pics of the girls, but they did have an awful lot of fun playing together.

Who's ready for fall?  This girl!  She looked so cute dressed up for church in one of her new dresses that Grammy Banks made, that I have to admit even I'm ready watch the leaves change and brace for some cooler temps!

Who hasn't felt like this when they have woken up before?  Do you also ask to watch Cinderella?  If not, may be you should because it certainly seems to perk Livi right up!

Labor Day Weekend and 2 Years, Month 5, Week 1

What's better than the weekend?  A long weekend of course!  It feels like our last few weekends have been so busy that it was kind of nice to have some time just to chill.  Of course we did have a few errands to run.  Livi decided she was going to make herself at home at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I think the best part was that she took her shoes off before she climbed into the bed!  We've trained her well!

Most weekends also include a Daddy-Daughter-Doughnut-Day.  Josh and Livi make a doughnut run to Taylor's to get a variety of tasty treats.  But Livi's favorite is their jelly doughnut...she has just a little bit of trouble keeping all the jelly in her mouth!

After all that sugar, it's time to tackle the chore list.  Livi offered to help with the mowing.  She did a pretty good job!




















Another perk of a long weekend is getting to sleep in, stay in pjs a little longer, and just veg out.  We did all that and let Olivia watch "Cinderella" for the first time.  Oh my word, it was love at first sight!  She loved the music, the dresses, the animals.  The girl is hooked!

Ferris strikes again!  By the end of our fun, long weekend Livi was just not acting like her usual self.  Josh took her to the doctor on Tuesday morning and while he did put her on an antibiotic, by the time they made it the waiting room Livi had a lot more pep in her step!  She also found the energy to return to wrecking havoc in the living room.

Time for another weekend (another perk of a long weekend - a shorter work week!)!  First stop, the new Hobby Lobby.  Ah, a crafty girl's dream!  Of course, the first thing Livi spotted was the Disney Princess fleece material. She is now the proud owner of a yard of it.  Perhaps we have finally found a back-up for her beloved pink and brown blanket (b/c heaven help us if anything ever happens to PBB!).

The UIndy Greyhounds had their first home game this weekend.  Livi was so excited to cheer on the Hounds!  She also loved running on the track and hanging out in the student center.  It was a little surreal to see her sitting on a bench outside of the library with my name (and Auntie Carrie's) on it.  I never thought that when I donated to "The Seat of the Century" campaign that one day, my daughter would be sitting on it.  Ah, memories!

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?