HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY OLIVIA KATE!!!

Baby Girl,

Today you are one year old.  It is so hard to believe that it has been a year since you entered this world.  Where has this year gone?

 

When we brought you home from the hospital your daddy and I would fight over who got to hold you.  We both wanted you all the time but mommy won most of the battles. I love the feeling of your soft little cheeks next to mine.  I loved to watch you sleeping peacefully on my chest or in my arms. 

 

Since the day we saw your little heart flutter inside me, you have brought us such joy to our lives.  Since you were born you've been such a joy to our family.  Your demeanor is perfection.  I love to watch you giggle and get excited over the smallest things. 

You have grown and changed so much over the past year.  You went from a tiny, sleepy, little baby girl to a little tornado.  Nothing is safe and you have to explore everything! Your a nosy little girl who wants to be in on all the action.  You make a beeline for every open door, pull yourself up on every table giggling the entire time.  You are fearless.  When you get ahold of something you are not suppose to you grin so big and have the funniest giggle.  You are so happy doing things you are not suppose to! I love watching your personality take shape and seeing you grow into a little person. Just try not to grow up too fast! :)

 

You're smart, funny, energetic and so incredibly beautiful.  You have the biggest smile and it lights up a room - and our lives.  Everyday I thank God for the miracle of you!  .

You love to laugh and smile and no one is funnier to you than your big brother.  You adore your brother and he adores you.  He loves to play peek a boo with you.  He sings to you when you get upset.  He is always the first to run to you to get you when you get up from your nap.   I think you will be lifelong friends which makes my heart full!

One of the hardest things about being your mommy is knowing that I cannot always protect you.  But I can promise you this:  I will always put your life before mine.  I will always encourage you,  be your biggest advocate, supporter and fan.  I will always protect you.  I will always tell you the truth.  I will always listen.  I will laugh with you, cry with you and support you in whatever you choose to be.  I pray that you will be wise and defend the good in life.  I pray that you will never lose your confidence and that you know that you are so beautiful and grow to love yourself and know that at the end of the day having a beautiful heart matters more.  I will forever cheer you on as you dance and stumble through this life.  I am so honored to be your mommy. 

I love who you're already becoming at just 12 months of age.  You make me so proud each and every day and just when I am certain that I couldn't possibly love you more, you make my heart nearly explode. 

You're everything I could have imagined you would be a year ago and so much more. 

Happy Birthday my beautiful baby girl!  You're an amazing little girl!

I love you to the moon and back!

Love always,

Mommy

Olivia is 11 months old!!!

I seriously cannot believe that my baby girl is already 11 months old!! In less than a month we will be celebrating her first birthday! I cannot believe how fast this year has went by.  She is growing and learning something new every day. She is such a joy to our family.

Here is my baby girl at 11 months!

 

She is seriously the sweetest little girl ever!!  I could eat her up with a spoon!

Here is what Olivia is up to these days!

*She is pulling up on everything and starting to reach out to other things like she is wanting to take off.  She started pulling up on August 1st. 

*She will stand by herself briefly.  She loves to stand at all times.  I have a feeling once she takes off walking there will be no stopping her and she will be on the go all the time.

*She LOVES baths! She can be fussy and I take her clothes off and walk into the bathroom and she immediately gets happy.  She knows where she is headed and she loves it.  She loves to splash and because of this mommy is usually soaked from head to toe after her baths.

*She loves to play but she will not sit and play with only one toy.  She has to get to everything around her. Always on the go! She is very active!

*She has been shrugging her shoulders since right after she turned 10 months old.  It is the cutest thing ever.

*She shakes her head no no when I tell her no.  It is so cute!

*She LOVES music and loves to dance! I have never seen a little one as little as her that loves to dance as much as she does.  We may have a little dancer on our hands.

*She loves to play pat a cake! It has been her favorite for a while now.  She will now do all the motions that go along with the song.  Sweetest. Thing. Ever!

*She is trying all kinds of food these days.  She loves to feed herself her Gerber puffs and the lil' crunchies.  So far she is not a picky eater.  She is still not a big eater and we are still working on juice.

*She is trying to get another tooth. I can always tell when she is teething because she gets really restless at night.  She tosses and turns a lot and doesn't sleep sound when she is teething.

*She is such a joy and is so much fun to play with.  She is very independent and loves to do things herself even at such a young age.  She gets frustrated at times because she cannot do something.  She really thinks she is bigger than she really is.  :)

*She is such a loving little girl.  She loves to give hugs.  She loves everyone!

*She is still a huge mommy's girl and I love it.  She has to be around her mommy all the time.  I love that she follows me around the house, pulling up on my legs for me to take her, saying "mama mama mama"

I guess that is all for her 11 month update!

Olivia has such an awesome personality and the biggest, most adorable laugh ever!   I just love her to pieces! She is such a blessing to us all. 

Here are a few more pictures of my precious baby girl.

 

 

Happy 11 months Olivia Kate!!!

September 20th will be here before we know it!

Meet Scout!

Brayden and Olivia have a new puppy!  Meet Scout aka Scoutie! 

 

 

Brayden is in LOVE with him already! We were  determined to get a inside dog but at the moment an outside dog would be so much better for us.  We are in the process of building a house so we are staying at my dad's for now until our home is complete.  His house is small so we decided it would be best to wait on and inside dog until we move.

 

He is such a good little dog.  I was worried that he would keep us up whining the night we brought him home but we never heard a peep out of him. 

Brayden named him Scoutie (Scout) His sister watches Strawberry Shortcake and I believe that is where he got the name.  The week before we got Scoutie, Brayden and I were outside playing and he was pretending to play with a dog.  Saying "come here boy....wanna play ball?"  I knew right then that it was time to get him a dog to play with.  These two are going to be big buds!

 

Here is the video of Brayden playing with his pretend dog. LOL

 

 

 

I think Scout is going to be a great addition to our family!



Olivia is 10 months old!!!

How can it be that my sweet baby girl is already 10 months old!! It seems like this year has flown by and I feel like she is getting bigger by the minute!

Here is my sweet gal at 10 months old!!

*This month she finally had her well visit check.  For some reason we are almost a month behind schedule.  So for her 9 month well check she was actually 10 months old.  At 10 months and 1 week she weighs 19 pounds 3.5 ounces and is 29 inches long! The doctor said she is perfect and right on track with her development. 

 

*She is in 9 month clothing and still some 6 month sleepers if they are long enough.  

 

* This month Olivia also enjoyed her first 4th of July! She really enjoyed the fireworks and they didn't seem to bother her one bit!

 

 

 

*We also moved to Kentucky this past month!  Back to my hometown!  I am excited to start building our home and get settled.  Both of my kids were so good while I packed.  We had movers that packed up some of it but I am very OCD so I basically did their job for them!

 

Olivia helping mommy pack up the house

 

* She is into EVERYTHING!!!!! I never had to worry about Brayden at all but Olivia is a totally different story.  She is such a nosy little girl and has to figure everything out.  She definitely keeps me on my toes. 

 

* She knows the meaning of NO and 9 times out of 10 she will listen but there may be tears involved. She is already working on the pouty face. :)

 

*She is not a big cuddler.  She has to be in the mood for it or be very tired.  Needless to say, if she is in the cuddly mood I drop everything for it because she is not that way very often.

 

*She LOVES her toys and gets so excited when she gets something new.  I have never seen a little one at her age get so excited over new toys.  It is adorable to watch.
 

 

*She is still doing the army crawl.  She will get on her knees and then stops and drops to her belly and takes off.  I am beginning to think that this will be the way she will crawl until she walks. 

*Her top two teeth are coming in and boy have they caused some fussiness.  They started coming in right after she turned 10 months old. Her top left tooth started coming in at 10 months and 2 days ad the right one at 10 months and 5 days. Bless her heart, she cannot seem to get any relief no matter what we do  These top two teeth have caused some restless nights for all of us.  She doesn't stay awake, but she wakes up fussing and then goes back to sleep and does it again and again throughout the night. 

 

 

*Her favorite thing is to play on our bed or in her crib.  She loves to play in the blankets and pillows.  Here she is playing in her crib one night before bed.   

 

 

 

* She loves music.  She also loves to be sung to.  I was laying in bed one morning and I heard both of my kids on the monitor so I just laid there in bed listening.  They were playing with each other and then Olivia started to get a little fussy.  Brayden started singing his ABC's to her and she stopped fussing.  Melted my heart.  He knew just how to calm her down. 

 

*She jabbers all the time and gets her little finger and points like she is telling every one something important.  So cute!

 

*She loves to give kisses.  Now anytime I put her in front of the mirror she will give herself a kiss! It is too cute!

  

*She absolutely LOVES her brother and wants to be around him all the time.  I love to sit back and watch them interact and play together. 

 

 Here they are riding in Brayden's car together.  They had a blast together!

 

*She is really trying to pull up this month. She will be pulling up in the next few days!

*She is still not a big eater and I am beginning to wonder if she ever will be.  It is not that she is picky she just doesn't eat a lot.  She still only takes about 5 ounces of formula.  She loves all the food that we have tried so far.  We have introduced mashed potatoes, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, fried green tomatoes,  cucumbers and she loved it all!  I think she will love all kinds of food just like her mommy!

 

I guess that is all for a 10 month update! Here are a few more pictures of my baby girl!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy 10 months baby girl!!