No Title, No Brain Power

We've had an exhausting week. As you can see Josh and Livi were chillin' out in the living room. Josh with his skittles and Livi with her remote, they both just crashed on the floor after dinner last night.

We're practicing walking, and Livi is officially standing un assisted. She was stading momentarily (like for a couple seconds) but now she'll stand for quite a while before she eases herself down onto her bottom. We pulled out the stars to see if she'd take a step for them (her favorite) but alas she's just not stable enough.

She's starting to catch on to the presence of the camera. The girl is only 9 months old, and she already has more pictures than some celebreties. Which reminds me, if any of you are interested in location photos for your children, my husband has some weekends open in September. He can also do studio work, so let us know if you need any family portraits. Anyway, you can see that Olivia's already learned to give Daddy "the eye" when she's 'done' with the camera.

As much as she wants to be, she's not quite a big girl yet. She passed on her sippy cup to drink water out of daddy's water glass. She LOVES drinking this way, and every time water hits her mouth she gasps like it's taking her breath.

Sorry for the randomness of this blog. It's been a brain draining week, so I'm out of wittiness (forgive me blogger). Hope everyone has a nice holiday weekend. Josh and Livi are spending the day together at home tomorrow. I'm sure we'll have more stories for the weekend.

Playing Hard to Get

Come Here You!!!
















A Little Closer!!!!!!





















Come back here, you!!!!















Gotcha! Ssssmmmoooccchhhh!!!!

Luke, if you're reading, close the blog!! You don't want to hear this.


Okay, No one told me having a girl would be so difficult. I mean I was shy around boys until I was 20! My girl is only 9 months old, and she's already chasing the boys - or at least this boy!!!

Olivia was intrigued by Davis this weekend. He came to our house for a baby shower for baby Derric, and Livi just couldn't get enough of him. Actually, I think that she scared him a little. She just kept grabbing him and pulling him in for the biggest kisses she could offer. I don't know whether to be glad that she has good taste, or mad that she's so aggresive with the boys?!?

By the end of the day, Davis was definitely ready to go home. He'd had enough of Livi and her affection.

I guess I've got to start instilling morals in this girl ASAP!!! Someone might think she's a flirt!

When it's Hard Letting Go, Kisses Make it All Better

Before I begin, I must admit that this is not my typical light-hearted blog. I write these words while fighting back tears. Through much thought, much struggle, and much prayer, I have decided that it's time to wean Olivia. For those of you who haven't breastfed, you may think that I'm being a bit over dramatic. But for those of you who have, you know the closeness that only a mother and her child can feel during that very intimate time.

I felt weird asking Josh to snap a photo of us, as I've never allowed a camera near us while we're nursing. However, I couldn't allow our last feeding together to go undocumented. As soon as Josh left the room, I sat holding my daughter with tears streaming down my face. It's so hard for me to think that 9 months ago we were both eager to get to know one another. Neither of us knew what we were doing, but we both learned together. Today we are pros, and alas it's time to grow in a different direction. I just never knew that it would be so hard to let go of such a special time that only she and I share.

We've been very blessed with our breastfeeding experience. I've been fortunate enough to have a very encouraging and supportive husband. My employer has been more than understanding in accomodating my pumping schedule. And I have amazing friends who were there to advise me and encourage me when I felt like throwing in the towel. It has been an amazing experience, and I'm going to miss it sorely.

As Livi's tummy got full, she reached up with her hand and touched the tears that were streaming down my face. She looked up at me and gave me the biggest toothy grin I've ever seen. Then she started dancing in my lap....it was obviously not bed time. So together, we headed downstairs for a little more wind down time. As I sat with her on the sofa, I just couldn't stop crying thinking about how much she had grown and how blessed I am to have her and Josh in my life. Then she reached up and cupped my face in her hands, and she gave me the biggest kiss she's ever given. Mouth wide open - you guys know what I'm talking about. She planted one right on my face and just would let go. And of course...the tears kept coming! I knew that she was telling me that everything was going to be okay! How's that for life - your 9-month old daughter comforting the over-emotional Mommy!

Have I told you guys how much I love this little girl.

How was I so lucky, to get a girl like you.
You fill my heart with joy in everything you do.
I love your little smile so sweet and your little grin,
My love for you is deeper now than it's ever been.
God must know me pretty well to know that I needed you.
He knows I'm in love with you and everything you do.
So sleep little angel, Mommy's here so rest your little head.
And when Mommy sleeps your Angels will come to stay right side your bed.

Pretty as Pie

Hello All, I hope that everyone had a great weekend. We certainly did. Olivia and I spent Saturday afternoon shopping and then we took cousin Mel Mel out for her birthday dinner. It was a fun-filled day, but Olivia was definitely ready for bed when we got home.

Sunday was nice. This is a picture of Daddy and Livi before church. Olivia got many compliments on her bonnet. She got this bonnet when she was 20 weeks gestation....that's right, before she was even born. Her Aunt Linda gave her this bonnet the day that we found out that she was a girl.

Sunday evening was the highlight of our weekend. Mimi and Pop invited us over for dinner, and we ended up watching old home movies. It was kinda scarry. Josh got to see how much of a country girl I really was when I was younger. And my brother....we needed a translator just to understand what he was saying!! It was fun taking that walk down memory lane with my family. I just wonder what Olivia will think in 28 years when she looks back on her childhood home movies!!!

9 Months & Still Growing

It's hard to believe that 9 months ago being a mom was still foreign to me. Everyone said that time would pass quickly, but I never imagined that it would go so this quickly. I said in my last blog that I would update everyone on Livi's 9 month check-up, but first let me tell you how we spent her 9 month birthday.

Since it was this past Sunday, of course we started the day off at church. Our children's ministry just had a major relocation of classrooms, and Sunday was our first day in our new home upstairs. The classrooms are absolutely amazing, thanks to Mr. Derrick and his great visions! Our kids are spoiled!!! This picture is of Olivia crawling through the mat tunnel in her Sunday School class. After her friend, also named Olivia, went through, Live deamed it safe and declared it her hangout.

After church, we went to my grandmother's house and Olivia got to see lots of family members. Pop, of course, kept her smiling most of the time. My grandmother is a dear old soul that lives for Sunday afternoons, when she slaves away to cook a huge feast for her kids, grandkids, great grandkids, and yes, even one great-great grandkid (and one more on the way). Bless her heart for doing it for us. I'm so thankful that she and Olivia know each other!!! They are both very special people to me.

After Granny's Olivia, Aunt Squeaky, and I went to the mall. We just walked around and window shopped. In fact, we didn't buy anything!!! Well, we did buy chocolate at the Godiva store!! ;o) We then took Aunt Squeaky to Bugaboo Creek Steakhouse and had dinner together. Olivia did great, she shared the bread with us. She tried some chicken fingers and some baked potatoe, but was perfectly content with the bread - and of course her baby food. This picture is the two of us at the restaurant. As you can see, we had a really great day!!!

Aunt Squeaky and Livi posed for the final 9-month birthday picture and we finally went home. It was a long day, but it was fun. Happy Birthday, baby girl!!! Mommy & Daddy love you!!

Now, to update you on her appointment. She's doing great. She weighs 16.2 pounds and is 27 inches long. She's in the 43rd percentile for height and 8th percentile for weight. Dr. J said that she looks great and is progressing great. He was impressed to hear that she was already eating yogurt (thanks for the idea Angela) and that she was feeding herself. She got her finger pricked to check for iron, and she didn't even flinch. She did have to have a shot, and we both cried like babies (at least one of us had an excuse to cry like a baby). But I'm happy to report that she's a healthy 9 month old ball of fire!!

Side Note: Aunt Squeaky, AKA Aunt Bre, was given that nickname by Daddy because she's so high pitched when she gets excited.

Fresh Air Never Felt So Good

Sorry, guys. No pictures today. Josh and I have been so tired these past couple of weeks, we're almost in bed before Livi. So by the time we do get her in bed, there's little time for blogger.

Last night we decided that we all needed some fresh air, so we brought out the stroller and went for a walk. It was such a nice evening. Olivia just loves looking at everything. She was enthralled with the birds that were flying overhead, and she just stared at everyone that we passed. It was nice for Daddy and I to get some excercise and for Livi to feel the wind in her hair.

We also stopped by the Haskell's house on our walk. We got to see Kristina, Amber, and Livi's favorite new friend - Choco (their new puppy.) Of course, Auntie Lynn-Lynn won Olivia's attention immediately. She's just so annimated, no wonder she's a great mom. Immdiately Jennica asked Olivia where her nose was and she showed her with her hand, then asked again and Olivia grabbed her nose!! I need to take Mommy classes from this lady!!

This really isn't much to write home about, and I'm sorry that I don't have a picture. I need to update everyone on Livi's 9-month appointment, so hopefully I can do that tonight.

I hope that everyone has a fantastic Thursday.

The Long Lost Aunt and the Evil Cupcake Uncle

Aunt Mary and Uncle Micah came to visit this past weekend. Olivia doesn't get to see them that often, so she's a little shy at first (as you can see). It didn't take her long before she was showing off all of her new tricks.....and then......




Uncle Micah ate a few of Mommy's lemon cupcakes. Livi kept eying the yummy treat until Uncle Micah teased her with a taste. Mouth opened wide, she leaned it for a sweet treat, but alas, Daddy intervened and said no! Ahhh Shucks.




But as the night went on....and Uncle Micah kept eating lemon cupcakes....Olivia's attention was never diverted. She kept a close eye on the prize, never letting Uncle Micah....or his lemon cupcake...out of her sight!!!!

We love you Aunt Mary and Uncle Micah.

(This story has been dramatized for effect. Let the record show that Uncle Micah never really let Livi taste the cupcake, so he's not really the Evil Cupcake Uncle.)

Who knew Independence would be so Messy

Let's see, how do I get these in my mouth?

Here it is!!! Yummy carrots!!!

More ended up between my legs than in my mouth.

Olivia has gained so much more independence recently. She loves to feed herself, and gets frustrated if I butt in and try to feed her pieces myself. She loves carrots, green beans, and bananas. Needless to say, every meal time is now served in the most formal attire: Huggies Supreme Diapers and a big smile required. (No shirt, no shoes, no problem.)

I love that she's feeding herself. It actually gives me about 20 minutes to get Mommy & Daddy's dinner ready. But of course, I always step in at the end and make sure that she has a full tummy.

She's also started using a sippy cup. She'll drink formula out of it, but the most successful attempt was pear juice. She gulped it down very quickly. Finally! I thought that she'd never get the hang of it!!

Home (almost) Alone

Aug. 4-6

Bethany left Livi at home with me on Friday. We had tons of fun.

Olivia, without any prompting from daddy, tried to have her first climbing experience up the staircase. Mom was none too happy when she found out. I don't blame her considering the staircase is now fair game to Livi and we'll have to run that way every time we see Livi crawl out of visual range in that direction.

Livi continues to crown "white paper objects" as her #1 pick of toys - be it baby wipes, Kleenex, tiolet paper, junk mail, dishcloths - the kid can play with the stuff forever. Toilet paper doesn't hold up well against her brute strength as you can witness in the pictures. The dishcloth fares better and she takes it along when she can. It's funny to see it get snagged under her foot as she crawls and she has to figure out why she keeps stopping.

The little explorer is discovering new places in the house. Up under the high chair she hung out for a while, then tried to eat scraps of food that she'd left on the floor from previous feedings. Note to self: clean floor after every feeding.

A lot of my family has the flying gene, but Livi might not have inherited it. My own piloting experience was with one cardboard airplane, Lucie Annica, that I made for Kristina, Bethany's goddaughter, a while ago. I tried to put Livi in a shoebox and fly her around thinking she'd be as thrilled as Kristina was.......I didn't get one smile, just a perplexed look and a baby bolting (as fast as babies can bolt) from the box after the box landed and the safety belt light went off.

Saturday was sleep in day.....for daddy. Mommy and daddy were sleeping soundly when the baby alarm woke us up. It's an unspoken rule that whoever is making the most movement in bed usually gets up, because there's no faking that you're asleep. Well, I made some ruckus to get the hot covers off me, but that didn't stop me from rolling over to go back to sleep. Mommy finally got up, letting sleeping bear daddy stay in bed. We laughed about it later when I told mommy I was waiting and hoping she'd get Livi. We love you honey - it's just that your alarm goes off a little early on Saturdays.

We all spent the day Saturday relaxing. We went into town, dropped mommy at work, and went to Target, where Livi got all kinds of compliments. (Now I'm not one of those parents who thinks there child is perfect and the best thing since sliced bread - but Livi's close:) But seriously, a lot of people did comment on Livi's blue eyes. I found out for the first time that strangers with kids really do just stop and talk to each other about their kids and so on. This is a very interesting social phenomenon. We stayed out late, shopping at Michael's, where we ran into little Luke (boyfriend number "I lost count"), brother Kade and parents Angela and Steve. I took Olivia around and we ended up in the fake flower section where Livi ran her fingers through all the muli-colored plants.

Sunday, Livi stayed home from church. She'd had a little coughing fit and a sniffly nose. Dad stayed at home with her and we played in the living room until mommy got home. We had another shopping trip, my first to the new Dawsonville Wal-Mart, where mom took Livi around and I geeked out in the electronics section.

Mommy bought more scrapbooking stuff. She actually set up shop in the fine dining room. She's still got the savvy shopping chops - she bought a matching table cloth for the dining room table, to protect it from the industrial work she'll be doing with all the cutting, gluing, measuring, color-coordinating, and hair pulling with the scrapbooks. More power to you sister. I'll just do the photos. Josh

A World of Fun

We had a fun night tonight. Despite having a tiny cold, Olivia was in the best mood. She, Daddy, and I had a blast playing after dinner. She absolutely loves her new activity table. It has so much stuff to do that she never gets bored. (That's good for Mommy & Daddy too.) Her favorite part of the table is the ball slide. Even though she won't drop the balls down the chute, she loves for Mommy to do it. She just smiles every time she sees a new ball pop out of no where.

Who would have thought that parenthood would be so wonderful. I can't imagine one second of my life without my beautiful little Livi. Mommy loves you, Princess!!!

Baths and peekaboos with momma

This is my very first blog ever! I'll look back 20 years from now when blogging has taken over the world and remember that I got started on my baby's blog. Well tonight, Bethany proved moms do it best. She took over my duties at bathtime and made it so much fun for Livi that our baby would probably tell me she prefers mommy's baths if she could talk. Livi went to town on the bubbles and tried to catch mommy's washcloth waterfalls pouring down in front of her. Truly priceless.

Peekaboo time was an even better show. Baby spread her towel above her head with her two little hands and got a well-deserved "peekaboo" from momma every time the towel came crashing down. Her little toothy grin made us audience members laugh all the more. Daddy had Aunt Squeaky (I mean Breanne) and Cousin Mel-Mel to share the night with momma and Livi. Ahh, these are the memories......See ya. Josh

**Uncle** Rob & the Evil Chocolate Lady

Tonight Livi, Josh, and I met our good friends Amie & Rob for dinner. When Olivia was just a couple of months old, we met Rob and Amie and Rob wouldn't even touch Olivia. He was terrified. We told him that he couldn't have the "Uncle" title until he held her. That same night, while the boys were watching the game, Aunt Amie gave Olivia her very first taste of a chocolate brownie. Daddy had a fit, and has called Aunt Amie the Evil Chocolate Lady ever since.

Well, tonight Rob finally earned his title as Uncle Rob....and Olivia flirted with him all night. She kept playing peek-a-boo with him from behind our drink glasses. And I think that Rob may have been flirting with her a little bit too.....watch out Amie!!

We had a blast Aunt Amie and Uncle Rob!!! You guys have a safe time in Orlando, and tell Mickey hello for us!!! Can't wait to see you again.