Baker Time

After almost 2 month's not seeing our BFF's the Baker's we headed to their place for a very late Christmas celebration. It may be one of the last times that all the girl's get to play before we throw a boy into the mix.

The girls play so well together most of the time. Yes, they are toddlers and have their moments of not wanting to share toys. But they are so darn cute! They played outside for awhile before it go to chilly and we herded them to the playroom.



Baby Leah



Being good for the moment. :)



In the past this picture would not have been taken. Olivia is obsessed with this car and always goes straight for it when we are over. However Caitlin loves it just as much and wants to join Olivia in the seat. In the past Olivia would scream and cry when Caitlin would try to get in, but today, today we have this. Olivia just jumped in closed the door and sat happily with Caitlin by her side. Progress people!

My big girl drinks out of a juice box without making a mess! You go girl!

We had dinner, the girls had dinner, we talked and talked, and exchanged gifts. It was a beautiful night that ended with the girls drawing with markers (may or may not have been a wise gift for Caitlin) on a big pad. Olivia was covered with marker on her hands, feet, pj's, and face (thank goodness they are washable). When her and I were laying in bed that night she showed me her hands proudly and said, "marker", "yes," I said. To which she happily responded. "Nenny!" (Jenny), I asked her if, "Nenny did that?" and she smiled and said, "did it!" Made my night, sorry Jenny!

Saturday Snow

Did you realize that on Saturday afternoon it snowed right here in Orlando?

OK so most of you did not get to whiteness the fluffy-white-smell-good stuff, yup smells like Baby Powder. Olivia slipped off for a moment and found the baby powder in our room (yes, our bad for leaving it with-in her reach) and by the time she boldly came out and threw the open bottle at Ben's feet it was too late. He turned to look at her and her powder covered body and immediately called me over to see this sight...

How can you possibly be upset by this? We couldn't yell at her but stood there and watched as she played in the pile of powder outside our room.

 

Little footprint evidence.

Soup or 'Poup'

One of our favorite things to do is to listen to how Olivia pronounces words. Most of the time she gets them right but then the others she is close. Our favorite is how she pronounces soup...'poup'.  Cracks us up especially if we are out and she tells the waitress that she wants 'poup'!

Susie Is In the Building

In the last couple of weeks I have taken on a few projects that I wanted to do with Olivia but didn't have the time. I have made a dozen burp cloths, a baby blanket, and one wall item for Benjamin's room. Besides all the projects I have had going on for one of my best friends baby shower. So Ben now calls me Susie (home maker). My next projects are to make curtains for his room and a few more blankets for him and Olivia.



I can't wait to make more of these, it was so simple.



Super Easy Project



20 Months

My little girl is growing up literally right before my eyes. Her little face has changed so much in the last 6 month's, I just can't stand it.



Showing off her new Eeyore for Papa C.


Along with that her personality has gotten larger then life, she is a demanding little one. Her favorite's are, "Sit Down!", "Lay Down!", "Move!" accompained by shoving you, "Go Away!" usually when she is pooping and wants privacy, and "Oakey, Come Here!"!!! Sometimes it is still hard not to laugh when she is shoving you out of your side of your bed, but I hold my ground and tell her it's my bed! I have just about lost my big maternity pillow (the one that surrounds you and is oh so amazing) between her and Oakley I'm not sure who sleeps with it more.

Taking a nap wrapped in my maternity pillow.

Since Christmas she has become obsessed with coloring and wants to do it all the time. Unfortunalty she has not learned that we only color on appropriate surfaces. She still colors on the table, floors, and clothes. But just to watch how she concentrates on what little masterpiece she is making is so adorable. I have kept almost everything so far and am going to have to break myself and throw some away. However thanks to pinterest I have found a great idea of taking photos of everything and putting them in a book. So I can have them forever.


All bundled up to go with Daddy to get breakfast.

12, the magic number of how many teeth she has in that mouth of her's. When we were breastfeeding we called her Shark Mouth for the motion she was supposed to make. Now we can call her Shark Mouth for a different reason. She has 8 front teeth and 4 molars and don't stick your fingers in there they are sharp. Thankfully she hasn't gotten into the biting phase except for 2 seperate occasions where she bit my stomach. Wow that was painful and she left marks.


Look at all those teeth!



19 Month's

Olivia has had quite the busy month, between Thanksgiving, all the Holiday festivities, Christmas, and the New Year. We sure soaked in every little bit we could.

Unfortunately we also had to squeeze in there time for Olivia to have her blood drawn. At her 18 month appointment Ben was given the orders for her to have her blood taken through what he was told was going to be a finger prick. So he bravely took her one afternoon while I was at work since it seemed like that would be easy. Until they called her name and put the turniket on her arm. My poor baby had to have it done on one arm and when they couldn't get blood they did the other arm. Oh how awful but I am so glad that I wasn't there.

My poor baby came to visit after her terrifying experience!

Olivia loves her big Elmo and wanted to watch her cartoons with him one morning.

 We finally are able to get her to sit in the cart while we grocery shop. When she knows we are going all she says is, "Brive, Brive!" The picture below was the first time that she got to "Brive" the cart, she was THRILLED!!!

 Olivia has a new obsession and that obsession is stickers. She loves to put them everywhere, I am constantly finding them around the house. Thankfully they don't stick to much because she puts them on and takes them off so many times. While I was getting ready for us to run some errands she decided to entertain herself by sharing her stickers with Oakley. Surprising to us he just sat there and let her put them on and off for about 15 minutes. He is really getting used to her wanting to play with him more. She always calls him at bedtime and wants him to "lay down"! The other morning they were chasing each other in and out of her room, and all I heard was him barking at her and her laughing at him. We couldn't have asked for a better dog.



Sorry for the super late post since next week she will be 20 weeks. I will have many more updates since she has changed so much in the last month. I can't believe we are 4 month's from her 2nd Birthday!

30 Weeks {Benjamin}

30 Weeks

I can't believe that today we hit the 30 week mark yesterday and we only have 10 more to go before we meet this little guy. I am looking forward to seeing his little face for the first time and seeing who he looks like. Right now I am just sure he is going to be a soccer player, because he is so active and constantly is kicking and punching my insides. I am hoping that he is head down by this point and I am pretty sure he is but I will ask Dr. P on Wednesday when I go for my check-up. Good news is I feel great, a little more tired but no sickness, not to many growing pains or swelling. I have begun to experience Braxton Hicks in the past couple of weeks and as not pleasent as those are I know its just practice.

This past Friday Ben and I spent a little over 3 hours at the lab getting my 3 hour glucose test done. It wasn't as bad as I remember it being with Olivia. Although when I saw one of the technicians walk behind the counter I prayed he would not be taking my blood. This guy was over 6 feet tall, had arms bigger then my thighs put together, and looked like he should be in the NFL. So when they called me back I anxiously waited to see who would be coming into my room and there he came. You have to be kidding me, his hands are as big as my head how is he going to draw my blood. But I sat holding Ben's hand, not looking at what he was doing, and gave him warning that I was a big baby when it came to this. Before I knew it, it was over and he was making me drink that crap! The man was so quick but only left a little needle hole. More then I can say about the lady who did it the next time and blew my vein. So he did it 3 times and all I have are 3 little holes in my left arm and I have a big bruise in my right. 10 points to big burly guy.

Over the weekend I have begun working on one project that I wanted to do with Olivia but working in retail over 40 hours a week just didn't leave me the time. Cloth diaper burp cloths, we learned our lesson with the dinky ones they sell in stores they aren't big enough to catch anything. So I bought a 12 pack and went to work. I have 5 completely done and several pre-made just waiting for sewing. I may have to make one for Olivia since she wants to wipe her face with them. Back to the fabric store for her's.

                         Finished                                                                  Work In Progress

 







Well, with only 10 weeks to go you would think that we would be mostly ready for this little guy to arrive right? Haha not a chance here is the list of things that we still need to do.My goal is by March 1st they will all be crossed off:
-Clear out his room
-Paint the walls and baseboards (hopefully done in the next week)
-Order the furniture (which will be done by Feb. 1, its all picked out)
-Order bedding (part of it I ordered last week so that we could use it to pick out paint colors, it came yesterday and was the wrong one so it's going back today.)
-Finish the burp cloths
-Make a blanket (I did this for Olivia)
-Get our room set up for him
-Reorganize the kitchen cabinet to add bottles and things back in
-Find a diaper bag big enough for 2 kids (Yikes any suggestions???)
-Buy a lamp and shade
-Find wall shelves
-Still need to get him a baby book
-Make yarn letter (I have had the stuff to do it for 4 months now)
WOW a little daunting, especially since I have known what I wanted to do in his room since I was pregnant with Olivia. Now to get a move on!!!

      Gator Game Day Outfit                                        

 
I stopped by Babies R Us one day after work 2 weeks ago to pick up the cloth diapers and stopped by the clothes to look. I couldn't help myself with the amazing sales they were having. I got the little man 2 pair of shorts (the Kahki shown on the left are one and the same pair in navy), 3 hats, 2 pair of shoes (black and white ones shown above), a onsie short outfit, and a water shirt for $15!!!! Each item cost $2 or $1, such a bargain shopper! How could I help myself?


We have a very busy month coming up between this TO DO list and baby showers (not to mention  concerts, Valenitine's Day, and birthday's, one of which is MINE). One of my best friends is due within days of us so I have been helping to plan her shower which is the weekend before ours (and they are in 3 & 4 weeks). Yikes can you see my list growing as I speak type?

A Holiday Reflection

I know, I know I have slacked on the posts this last week (ok over a week), but it was for good reason. I was spending 2 glorious weeks off with my little Princess and my Hubby along with our families. It was precious time that I will never forget. Everyone was in great holiday spirits and soaking up each moment. There was baking, shopping, lots of breakfasts, lunch meetings (not the kind you get paid for :)), family dinners, and oh the holiday's!

Olivia's second Christmas has come and gone but it was amazing. She may not have sat through Christmas Eve Mass, but I did for her. It is one of my favorites and one I hate missing. The songs, the decorations, and everyone all dressed up in their holiday finest (except the women in front of us who choose to wear shorty shorts, sweater, and boots...God doesn't want to see what he made). While I sang inside Olivia played in the large Nativity scene outside, hey at least she was playing with Jesus.

Christmas morning our little angel slept until almost 8:30, allowing us to enjoy tea, coffee, and a little breakfast. We had 3 Christmas' and many meals with our families, it was heaven. Of course Olivia was spoiled by everyone and Santa. She even broke in her new fishing rod from her Daddy and caught her very first fish.

We enjoyed a quite after Christmas week around the house playing with all of the new toys and checking out the malls a few times. Ben got to go diving and fishing on New Year's Eve then we closed the year with our tradition Kobe's dinner. Instead of parting it up this year we spent a quite night at home just the 3 of us. When I say quite I mean by 10:30 our house was silent, no TV, no stirring mice, just 3 tired people tucked in tight.

But just because the 2011 ended quietly doesn't mean that 2012 began the same way. We spent New Year's day with my family, playing with more new toys, taking a few naps, and enjoying the traditional sauerkraut and pork (it's good luck and yummy). After which Ben and I headed to Jacksonville to attend the Gator Bowl on Monday. I would say our year is off with a bang and should prove to be another amazing year!!!

Hello 3rd Trimester

I have lots of catch up blogging to do, but today I am going to start here because I am now 28 weeks along with only 12 more to go. It also welcomes the 3rd trimester, which may bring back the fatigue along with other fun times.

27 1/2 Weeks

I started my day with an early visit to the doctor's office for my first now bi-weekly appointments. Everything is going great, Benjamin (yup we decided he will go by Benjamin) was at a strong 142bpm's and I only gained ONE pound!!! Yes and that was over both Christmas and New Years, go me! Within the last week I have started experiencing Braxton Hicks again, what a lovely feeling and began with hand swelling. Other then that so far so good. I did however fail my glucose test (yes, I failed the first one with Olivia as well) so in the next few days I have to go SUFFER through the 3 hour test.

I still can't believe that this year I will welcome a son into the world and go from a family of 3 plus Oakley to a family of 4 plus Oakley. What a great year this will be.

Next appointment will be at 30 weeks on January 18.