Lemonade Stand Photo Session

A while back, I won a Lemonade Stand mini photo session from Brooke Richardson Photography's Facebook contest.

Olivia wasn't fond of the grass and Naomi was more interested in playing with all the other awesome toys in Brooke's backyard than in playing with the lemonade stand or getting her picture taken.

But, through all of that, Brooke still managed to snag some great pics of the girls.  She was calm and worked well with the girls.  The lemonade stand and props are super cute!

Here are my favorite shots:

 

First Day of MDO 2013

This year both of the girls are in a Mother's Day Out program at a church near our house.  It is the same program Naomi went to last year and in fact Olivia is in Naomi's old classroom with one of her former teachers.

Naomi had a rough first day - cried at both drop-off and pick-up and refused to go potty the whole time.  You heard me right; she didn't want to be left, she didn't want to go home at the end of the day and she held her pee from about 8:30 am until about 2:30 pm without having an accident.  Suffice to say, having to pee that badly, she was grumpy and didn't nap either.  (Update since I'm publishing this so late and backdating again: She has since adjusted really well.  No more crying and after several weeks, she finally started to use the potty at school - she really did hold it the whole time for about the first month or two of school.) 

Olivia had a good first day.  I really don't have much more to say about it.  Dropped her off smiling, picked her up smiling, and that's about it.

Here are some pics.  It was really hard to get any good pics.  Get together and smile was clearly not on their to-do list for the morning.  

Naomi trying out her new nap mat and loving it

The girls sitting together (about as smiley as it got)

We are so over it!

Olivia's Birthday Invitation

I love Olivia's First Birthday invitation and coordinating thank you notes AND I love that I made them myself.  For the invitation, I scoured the internet for inspiration on design and wording and then busted my rump on Publisher to crank out my own.  For the thank you notes, I was inspired by some thank you notes that my friend Katy bought from Erin Condren.  I loved the wording idea so I tailored it a bit and put it on the same background as the invitations.  I took my Publisher files up to a local printer and had them printed and cut down to size.  I am so happy with the results!  

PS. I have misplaced the Thank You notes in the move, so as soon as I find them, I'll send them out.  In other words, if you're wondering where yours is, it'll arrive at some random point in the future.  Sorry, Olivia's mommy got a little in over her head in the latter part of the year. 

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!