Olivia's First Birthday Party

For Olivia's first birthday party, we had a small family gathering at our house.  We wished Olivia a Happy First Bee-Day with a little bee themed party.

In my efforts to not schedule the party during one family member's vacation, I inadvertently scheduled it during another family member's vacation.  Go figure!  And, Olivia was having a bit of a reaction to her vaccines, but she still gave us some good smiles.

Naomi had a blast at Olivia's party and can't wait for her party.  Between fun in the backyard, cake and hijacking Olivia's presents, she was in heaven.

The Decorations:

The Birthday Girl!  

Backyard Fun:

Cousin Ally loved playing with Naomi and helping her slide.  

(Note Cousin Aiden's face plant move in this series of pics.)

Cake Time: 

Olivia wasn't to in to that cake smash type of idea, but she happily had a few bites off of the fork.  

Presents:

Naomi helped Olivia unwrap her presents.  Then, she hijacked the little doggy that Olivia got.  

Love this little tushy!  

Naomi and Alli giving the puppy a check up 

Aiden hugging on Olivia 

Post Party Outtakes

Olivia - 1 Year Old!

Stats?
Weight: about 19 lbs 11.5 oz (25%)
Height/Length: 28 in (10-25%)
Head: 44 cm (10-25%)
Clothing Size: 12 Months and some 12-18 Months 
Diaper Size: Size 3
   
How is she sleeping?
We put her down for bed around 7:30 and she usually sleeps until about 7:30 or whenever she hears Naomi get up.  We generally don't bother with a morning nap other than what she snags in the car.  She goes down for her afternoon at about 1:00 at the same time as Naomi, but how long she sleeps is erratic.  I'm hoping for some improvement in this area when she really, truly outgrows the morning nap and will hopefully be more open to a longer nap. 

How is she eating?
We stopped nursing this month and are fully on the sippy cup; it was a smooth and easy transition.  One of the only good things about having poor milk production is that it is easier to wean.  As for solids, we are still trying to pretty much just cut up anything we are eating into little bites as appropriate.  She usually does pretty well and seems to like a wide variety of food (except for one week where she got into a funk and wouldn't eat anything other than baby cereal). 

Doctor Visit
Everything checked out great.  She is on her growth curve, so that's all good.  We discussed the issue Olivia is having when trying to walk - she takes a giant step with her left leg and the right sorta just doesn't seem to quite know how to follow.  I figure she'll grow out of it and so does the doctor since her crawling is even so for now it's just a watch and see thing.  I just wanted to be sure that I mentioned it, just in case.  She got her toe pricked and barely reacted, just kept smiling, much to the staff's surprise.  She got 4 vaccinations and was a champ.  Wailed until I picked her up and by the time we got to the checkout desk, she was happily standing at the table playing with the stickers.  I'm so blessed by Olivia's happy disposition.  (On a side note, Naomi was a champ this visit as well with everything from the waiting room, to Olivia's exam, to her own little mini-exam, etc.)

What new tricks does she do?
She alternates between army crawling and standard crawling.  She is still pulling up on anything she can get her hands on.  She is a novice cruiser.  This month she has been having a blast playing peek-a-boo.  She seems to have a few baby versions of words like daddy, mommy, cat, thank you.  She's still a little fish.  She has a freakishly strong grip (seriously, it's not just me; I've had friends comment on it).  

General Observations?
We are up to 6 teeth and I project 8 soon.   
We still aren't sure what color her eyes will be; so far, they're hovering at a blue green color.  
The jury is still out on her hair as well.  She is finally getting some and depending on the lighting it can look redish, blondish, or light brown.  So, we will just have to wait and see.  
We still bathe the girls together most of the time. 
Naomi goes back and forth with this sister thing.  Sometimes she likes her, wants to play with her, wants to tickle her, wants her to join us in the "midnight zone" or wherever, wants to make her happy, etc.  Other times, it's not that way and usually involves a lot of yelling, crying, and the word no.  We are working on that as I'm sure we will be for the next 17 years... rest of our lives. 

And lastly, I can't believe that my little baby bee is one.  I still don't think it's really hit me yet. Oh, and did I mention?  This is the most ridiculously happy baby! 


Until next time... Enjoy!  

Trip to Anaheim - Disney's Photo Pass

When you go to Disney, they have what is called photo pass.  When there is a Disney photographer present at a character meeting, you can collect their photos on a photo pass card and you have the option to buy them later.  I normally feel like these types of things are a rip-off.  However, I thought their photographer did a great job and captured some moments that we just didn't get.  Our next trip to a Disney Park will definitely include purchasing these again.  :)

Here are some of the best ones -

Trip to Anaheim – The Flight Home (Monday)

The flight home actually went much better than the flight out, although my fellow passengers and flight attendants might view it differently.  I had prayed fervently for the kindness of strangers on this trip and for God to put the right people in my path to help me as I knew that I would need some logistics help.  My prayers were most definitely answered.  

While Brian went to work in the morning, I got everyone up, dressed, fed, and finalized our packing.  I was ready to walk out the door when he arrived to pick us up and take us to the airport on his lunch break.  

This time we allotted plenty of time before our scheduled flight and arrived at the airport about an hour and a half or so before our flight.  We got checked in and got our luggage checked.  Once again our seats were not together (yep, Naomi and I were seated several rows apart) and the baggage check woman said that we could talk to the gate agent and she would contact someone to switch seats with one of us ahead of boarding.  Brian pretty much had to say goodbye when we got to security.  Luckily, it wasn't nearly as busy as DFW and the TSA agents were much less abrupt (the advantages of a regional airport vs an international airport).  When Naomi once again wanted to play with the trolleys, these TSA agents played along and let her "help" move them around.  What a difference that made!  I could have hugged them all!  She walked through the metal detector on her own while I walked through with Olivia.  I got us all put back together and headed to our nearby gate.  

We were so early that there wasn't a gate agent there yet - awesome!  So, I asked Naomi if she wanted pizza or nuggets and we headed off to order a pizza from California Pizza Kitchen.  While we were waiting for it to cook, we went to the family restroom a couple doors down.  Note:  I love family restrooms!  Naomi seemed willing, but got a little potty-shy once we got in there.  I got her potty seat up there and deployed the stuffed Magic Mickey.  Mickey went and sat on the potty, so he could "go" and I let her know that she could hold him while she went potty if she wanted since she had earned enough "potty stars" for him.  It worked, and I got a successful trip.  :)  

Then, we picked up our pizza and headed to our gate where the agent had just arrived and was setting up.  After talking to her, we pulled up a piece of floor and had a little pizza picnic.  Naomi had a great time and enjoyed her pizza.  She entertained everyone by dancing around with Magic Mickey and throwing him into the air.  I was so glad to have him!  

As we boarded the plane a very nice gentleman (also a Dad) offered to collapse my stroller for me and carry a couple little things to our seats which were about 8 rows behind his seat.  Awesome!  Got the girls settled in and ready for take-off.  I was seated next to a nice, business man and I immediately felt badly for him and having to be seated next to us.  I remember the days when I flew regularly for my job and how much I honestly hated having kids on my flights.  

Take-off was again uneventful - the girls had no problem with it.  The flight was actually during nap time so I was hoping that once we got all settled, the girls might just nod off.  Well...eh...it almost worked.  :)  Initially I got us all set up with some Mickey and a little vanilla goldfish snack.  It went so well that I even stopped to take a quick picture...

After that, I snuggled Olivia up and got her to fall asleep.  Woot woot!  When I saw the drink cart approaching, I thought, "hey, I think I can actually manage a drink".  Oh, hubris, how you rear your ugly head.  Things went well for a while.  I got Naomi a little water and myself, a diet dr pepper.  Of course Naomi wanted sips of mine, so she got one tiny sip for every cup that I filled from the can.  We had successfully drank everything and I was waiting for the flight attendants to come back around to collect the trash when it happened.  Naomi spilled a cup of melty ice.  Between Naomi crying and some of it possibly getting on Olivia, Olivia woke up.  She was NOT happy about it.  For the record, Olivia is not a great napper even at home, so this would pretty much be the end of nap time for her.  Unfortunately she was still really tired and grumpy.  For the rest of the flight, she alternated between, full on banshee screaming, light sobbing, and happy playfulness and would move through those cycles un-predictably.  I offered my nearby passengers ear plugs.  I got lots of sympathetic looks and a couple of offers of help.  The flight attendants offered to help.  I thanked them for their kindness and explained that she was just really tired and that there wasn't much they could do.  I stayed calm.  I got one look that looked mildly annoyed and I mouthed, "Sorry" with a sheepish look and I thought, "Yeah dude, I get it."  I don't recall being outwardly rude to anybody with kids on a flight but I certainly had rude thoughts.  I feel bad about them now and I've made a vow to pay it forward.  When I get to a phase in my life where I'm not traveling with my kids and I see someone who is, I will help them or at least smile at them.  

Anyway, Naomi fell asleep.  Seriously - she's a pretty heavy sleeper.  Unfortunately when she sleeps, she is prone to accidents, so that cushion got replaced after our flight.  She woke up when the flight landed and everything went okay.  I waited for everyone else to get off the plane first and then got off with some help from the flight attendants.  

On my way to baggage claim, there was a family from my flight who complemented me on how well I handled the flight.  That was so good to hear.  We had a little mishap going through the revolving door to baggage claim in which Naomi set off an alarm.  Ooops!  With some help from another kind woman, I got them both through and was promptly greeted by more of my fellow passengers, a group of women.  They also said that I was managing wonderfully and they were impressed with how calm I was through everything.  Again, so good to hear - the opposite of how I had behaved on the flight out.  :)  They then helped me get my bags.  

So here I am in Terminal A with a car that is parked in Terminal C - yippee!  I locate and get on the appropriate bus to transfer over to Terminal C and the shuttle driver helps me get on with all my stuff.  As we are riding to Terminal C, I realize that I don't remember which gate we flew out of and consequently which of the two stops I needed.  I frantically call Brian who can't find the info in his email either.  At the first stop, I explain to her the situation and she offers to just wait while I figure it out - more kindness of strangers.  I eventually locate the old boarding pass (so glad that I hadn't thrown it away), and discovered that the first stop is the one that I need.  She helps me off and I proceed to my parking garage.  

Note, at this point, I am traveling at Naomi's dawdling, play with my Trunki speed.  I'm patient... rushing her will only stress all of us out.  Even if we get to the car faster, I will be so worn out from the futile struggle that it's just not worth it.  Naomi has a tantrum about crossing the street; she doesn't want me to carry the Trunki and hold her hand, but riding her Trunki across the busy airport street is just not an option and while she seems fine with the explanation, the act of picking up her Trunki causes her to come un-glued.  

Again, I'm calm.  I try to figure out where the elevator is in the parking garage (we didn't use one on the way in, but being single handed, I needed it this time).  Again, some nice ladies went inside to find out for me and reported back that there was not actually an elevator in the parking garage.  Therefore, there was no way for me to get to my car with everything and everyone on my own.  About this time, Naomi decides that an acceptable compromise is for her to push the stroller across the street (with my help of course).  Hallelujah, tantrum over.  The ladies, who were waiting for their ride, helped me get everything in the car.  They also complemented me on how well I handled Naomi's tantrum.  Note: I am not always good at handling her tantrums.  I'm really working on modeling appropriate emotional responses, but frankly sometimes I just want to yell my little head off too.  

We drove through ChickFilA for a little something to eat and head home to sleep it all up.  The next morning, it was up and at 'em for my 9:30am Jazzercise class and back to our normal routine.  Wake up Naomi!  

What a great trip!  While it had a rocky start and it's fair share of challenging moments, we made a lot of great memories, learned a lot of lessons, and got to see God's faithfulness at work through the kindness of strangers.  That being said, I don't see us getting on another plane for a little bit.  :)