Our Late Night!

Today, Olivia had a great day! She got to go see Great Grammie C and play with the bag of little rubber duckies! I'm always amazed that she remembers where they are. She also knows where to find the brass bell and the flashlight!

Then Olivia came home and took a whopping three hour nap! Mom even got a chance to get an hour nap in! After Olivia's big nap, we decided to go to the mall and have Olivia measured for her very first pair of real shoes! Up until now, she's been in the soft Robeez and Pedipeds. She really thinks she's big stuff in her big girl shoes!

Below are some pictures before we went shopping! Olivia loves her new Bounce & Spin Zebra! She gets on and has so much fun dancing/riding to the music!

Below you can see how long her hair is getting! Her little curls in the back are just so cute!
The pictures below are from after we came back from shopping! Olivia was wired! After a good long nap, this girl was ready to go for a few more hours! She stayed up until 9pm! She is usually begging to go to bed at 7pm. So, this was a very late night for her! She was also up late last night (8pm), because she was at her friend's 2nd birthday party! This girl really lives it up on the weekends!

The picture below is Liv playing with her Legos. Aunty Marcy & Uncle Truck (as Julia refers to him), got Liv these for her birthday. She was overly impressed with these tonight, as we built the big tower, Olivia exclaimed "Oh WOW!" Then she giggled when it toppled over! She is just so much fun!

I thought that this shot below just shows her personality perfectly! She is always smiling and showing off her big blue eyes!

And back on the zebra!
She finally started to wind down when she grabbed her book!
She winded down by reading with her feet up on the couch! This girl has so much character!

Olivia is going shopping!

Olivia loves to play with my purses...actually one in particular. This is a purse that Cindy got me in the Philippines. I'm not sure why, but Olivia is obsessed with this purse!

On Thursday she was playing with it, and she was evidently going to go shopping, because she went to the back door and waved bye bye! She was cute! Wanna come with me?

Busy, busy, busy!

We have been very busy lately. This past weekend, Travis went to the State game, and then we had 6 yards of fill dirt delivered for our landscaping. Luckily my dad came over with the tractor, and it only took us about 30 minutes to move most of the dirt. It would have taken Travis and me a couple of days to do that by hand.

In other news, Travis is leaving Progressive Insurance. He accepted a position with AutoTrader.com as an Advertising Consultant. He's looking forward to his new role and a nice short break in between new ventures! Of course, his break will consist of renting a dumpster and gutting our basement. Sounds like a fun break to me! :)

Well, here are a few pictures of Olivia from tonight. She is so much fun. Every day, she does something new! She's really getting good at signing. She knows how to ask for her water, her milk, food and tell us when she's all done! This has been very helpful! She's also adding a lot of new words in all the time. She knows Shadow, mama, dada, night-night, bye-bye, no-no, yes, hi and hello. She's just so much fun!

This is what happens when you let a 14 month old decide how much cheerios she wants! The girl dumped the entire box onto her tray! We just had to laugh. She seemed very proud of herself.


Luckily for us, Olivia has taken to reading like her Grandparents and her Aunt Kate. She loves her books, and reads them all the time. Lately she's been into Clifford. She's always surprised when she finds the Big Red Dog!


Givin' some lovin' to her big dog! Rusty just loves it when she cuddles with him!

These next few pictures, were just some bright afternoon light coming into our house, and I just decided to take a few shots of Liv, and they turned out pretty cool!

This one, I really like! I can't believe the sharp shadow behind her, it's cool!
And, the crazy bathtime fun! She's loves baths!
And, last but not least, Olivia showing off her new bunny towel. She just loves the bunny!

I deserve this...

We've had a busy week....and yes it's only Wednesday! I got a call on Monday that Liv wasn't feeling well at daycare, so I left work to go get her and after a trip to the doctor's office and a trip to the hospital for a chest x-ray, it was determined that Olivia has pneumonia. The worst symptom that she had was the inability to breath well. She wasn't wheezy, but almost like she couldn't catch her breath. After some antibiotics and breathing treatments, she is doing great! Travis stayed home with her on Tuesday, and I did today. She really seems fine, but I want to have her home for one more day, just to be sure. So, tomorrow, Grandma Cindy is coming to spend the day with Olivia. I'm sure that they'll have a lot of fun...I know we did today!

Here comes the part that I deserve. You know how every woman is told by their mother, "I hope you have a child just like you!" Well, my grandma told my mom, and along I came....punishment served! Well, my mom said this to me many times, and now I'm getting mine. Yes, Olivia looks just like Travis, be she completely has my attitude and strong will.

Her new favorite thing to do is to stand anywhere that she should be sitting, on the couch, in her chair, in the bath, etc... We tell her over and over and over to sit down! She just smiles at us. We swat her...she just smiles at us. We take away the chair (which is where she breaks this rule the most) and she throws a mild fit, and gets over it. Then when she gets the chair back...she does this all over again. Yes, I know...my mom is smiling...and yes, I deserve this!

Here is Olivia this morning, showing off her cute Gap fashions! She's also started to really take her blanket with her everywhere.

Below is the smile I get when she stands in her chair, as if she's really proud of herself!
This is the chin held high...."I can do it because I'm a big girl" pose.

Shaking her head no at me as I tell her to stay seated.
Smiling, just laughing at her chair and how fun it would be to stand in it, one more time!
Below is the look just as she drops to the chair, after standing in it, like "What?? I'm sitting!"

This face just says "Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah!"
Ohhh...check me out!!! I'm a bad little lady! Breakin' the law, breakin' the law!
I'm sure it didn't help with me and my camera. But it was too funny. If you come by sometime, you'll get to see it! She loves to test us in front of guests!

Phase I - A work in progress

As promised, here are some photos of our weekend of labor. We laid the landscaping block this weekend. Next weekend after the MSU football game, we (meaning Travis & Chris) will replace two basement windows - making them large enough to get out of, if needed.

Then the weekend after that we will have our fill dirt, top soil and compost delivered. Then the planting will begin. I'm sure I can convince my mom and Aunt Marcy to help in the planting...they love digging in the dirt!

Anyway, below are a few before and after shots:BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

We're still here....

Well, going back to work really limits my blogging time! I have put in a lot of hours at my new job, and am really loving it! I have met some fantastic people that I know will enrich my life. I've learned SO much in this short three weeks. I've also re-learned the value of comfortable shoes! Since I really haven't had much need for anything but my flip-flops since late June, I forgot that shoes can be so restricting. But I'm getting used to wearing them again!

I'm just putting in a few random pictures of the little lady that were taken over the last few weeks. Here is Olivia at bathtime! When Daddy gives baths...Liv gets to sport the faux hawk!
Here is Liv helping Daddy vacuum! She really likes the Dyson! With me working so much, Travis really pitched in and took care of everything! He's the best!
Here, Travis is teaching Liv to vacuum the house...one less chore for him to cover! Liv's expression was actually when my mom walked in the door! She always gets so excited to see her Grammie! This warms Grammie's heart...just a little!
This picture might be a little washed out, but I just love her smile here! She is always so happy! On another note, she did get two more teeth in (just as I was heading back to work), she now has four on top and the two lonely, crooked ones on the bottom! She also got a little sick on my second week back to work (great timing Liv!), and my mom took a day off to take care of her and Travis' aunt, Roseann came down for the day to take care of our lady! I'm so thankful to have so many family members around who are all so willing to pitch in to help us! Much thanks!!!

On a side note, Travis and I were very busy this weekend putting in landscaping...well, the first phase of it! We installed landscape block...four pallets...which equals 504 blocks...at 26lbs a piece! We moved over 13,000 pounds of block this weekend! Yes, we are sore...yes we are taking drugs! I'll post more pictures later this week. Next, we have to have dirt delivered....yards and yards of dirt! Then I'll call upon my mom and Aunt Marcy to come and plant! It looks so much better already!

Back in the saddle again....

Well, this marked the beginning of a new phase for us! I went back to work on Monday! I've really enjoyed the last month and a half off (Thank you LaSalle Bank)! It really was a great time. Liv and I got to spend a lot of time together, and I will never forget watching her take her first steps! I'm so grateful that I got this opportunity to enjoy the summer with my girl!

But the fun is over and it's back to work! As most of you know, I accepted a job at the University of Michigan. I'm only on day 3, but so far, I'm really enjoying it! And now that I'm getting a better grasp on what I will be doing on a regular basis, the more I think that this job is perfect for me!

Well, before our lives went back to normal, we took a quick trip up North to visit Travis' Dad and Sue. We had a great time and are already looking forward to a longer trip in the fall (our favorite time of year)!

Here is Liv's first experience with the Great Lakes! Here she is testing out the water in Lake Huron!
Immediately she wanted to get into the water and play!
Here is the little lady running around in her Grandpa's HUGE garage! She thought that this was fun! Notice her T-Shirt...it's from Grandpa Fred & Grandma Sue - it's a Lake Superior State University Shirt!

Here is Liv and her Grandpa, Dad and Great-Grandpa watching her enjoy the nice day!
Olivia and her Grandpa by the big rock!
A picture of the three of us with the big rock!
Olivia with her Dad and Great Grandpa!
All the photos and excitement really wore Liv out!

Pictures with Grandma & Grandpa!
Liv really enjoyed playing at Grandma & Grandpa's house! Grandma got out some Tupperware and spoons for Liv to play with. She had a ball!
Liv kept trying to give the spoon to her Great-Grandpa!
Olivia with her Dad and Grandpa Fred.
Four Generations! Great Grandma, Grandpa Fred, Liv, Travis and Great-Grandpa!

Olivia also enjoyed looking out the back sliding glass door and the front door!
Playing Jenga/Dominos with Grandma! When you're 1, you can play Jenga and Dominos together!
Olivia talking on Grandma's phone! It's amazing how many calls she got!
Showing off her Lakers shirt!
Smiling with Grandpa!

We can't wait for our next visit!