Major Mommy Guilt!

....so every thursday Olivia spends the day with my dear sister-in-law Jen and her two kids. ( my 5 year old niece Hadley, and my 2 year old nephew K.C.)... well, this morning as I was about to leave their house and head to work ,Olivia, for the first time, started crying and reaching for me as I turned around and walked away. It felt like my heart was about to break into pieces. My only comfort was that I know how much she LOVES Jen and the kids so i knew that after I was out the door ( and she couldn't see me anymore) that she would be o.k. I wish that I could have peeked inside somehow to see that she was smiling again...Jen told me later that she stopped crying almost immediately after I left... Whew... what a relief. Still, I really wanted to be with my baby, not on my way to work... blah.

Anyway, I know all you moms out there can relate and I'm sure that I will get used to it...but man did I have mommy guilt today!

Ok... now I feel better... nothing a little venting couldn't cure. *sigh*.

Playin' some music!!

Olivia usually serenades us daily with many of her musical talents.. here is a sampling of her new favorite activity!

First Father's Day!

Chad celebrated his first Father's day on Sunday! He is such a wonderful "da-da" ( as Olivia calls him)....he interacts with Olivia in a way I never could have imagined... so gentle and sweet. We went to brunch at "The Inn of the Seventh Ray" in Topanga Canyon with our dear friends Jamie and Todd and their little girl Rachel ( 4 months old). The brunch was FANTASTIC with lots of Vegan and Vegetarian food but most importantly the babies were on their best behavior. Olivia really enjoyed the fresh pineapple and the penne pasta. We were seated in a private little gazebo overlooking the entire patio area... what luck! The weather was gorgeous too... very cool and breezy.

We celebrated the rest of the day with some napping in the afternoon and then a nice walk in the evening before putting Olivia to sleep for the night. It was a great day!

A Day at the Beach!

Olivia had her first true "California" day at the beach last Sunday! Since my dad was in town from Wisconsin we decided it would be fun to drive down to Orange County ( about an hour from us) and go to Newport Beach ( one of Chad and my favorite spots). The day was perfect...it started out cool, foggy, and misty and then by noon the sun came out and it was the perfect temperature with a slight breeze. We found a great spot to lay out our towels and put up our umbrella. Olivia didn't know quite what to think at first...she loved squeezing the sand between her fingers and sure enough a couple handfuls ended up in her mouth. (we are still finding sand in her diaper....hee..hee.). She really enjoyed pouring the buckets of COLD ocean water all over herself and laughing... it was such a joy to see her doing something that Chad and I love to do. I'm sure that we will have many more beach trips to come this summer..:-)

A visit with Grandpa!!!

My dad came to visit from Wisconsin last week and Olivia loved playing and spending time with him. We took a bunch of day trips including Olivia's first beach visit to Newport Beach ( I'll blog that next). We spent lots of quality time together and were very sad when he had to head back to the land of cheese. :-( We miss you Grandpa!

Olivia Month 9

Olivia can stand-up! She can crawl! She can fly!... Oh wait.... maybe not that last one.....

With every day, there is a new achievement....so it wouldn't suprise us if she did just take off and fly one day... ha! She is such a good baby and thrills us constantly with her all of her new skills.

She now weighs in at a healthy 20 lbs, is 27 inches tall, and is in the 100% for head circumference....we are convinced the last stat makes her a genuis... :-)

At least that's what we thought until she ate another lint ball off the carpet... *sigh*

Playing with my friends!!

We had our dear friends Robyn and Travis ( with their son Bryce- 14 months) and Jamie and Todd ( with their daughter Rachel-3 1/2 months) over for dinner and dessert on last Saturday evening....Olivia and Bryce played pretty well together ( Rachel is still a bit young, but she'll catch up soon enough)... although Olivia acted like a tease...handing Bryce toys and them putting right back into her mouth. He was such a gentleman, he never protested.
Then later they took a bath and it was hilarious to watch them interact. They were so adorable... mostly Olivia just wanted to stand-up and show me her pink lizard but eventually she figured out that someone else ( Bryce ) was in the tub with her.... then they splashed a bit together... Fun!!

Friend Test!!!

Create your own Friend Test here

Memorial Day!

We went out to Palm Springs for Memorial Day weekend and had a great time! The temp was nice a warm all weekend and we did a TON of swimming and playing. On Saturday we hosted a small gathering of high school buddies at Ginny's house. It was so nice to see everyone...we all noshed on chips and dip, BOCA burgers, watermelon,veggies, tater tots, and a yummy layered dessert (pecan crust, cheesecake layer, chocolate pudding layer, cool whip layer) that my sister brought! It was so great to visit and catch-up on each other's lives. We also celebrated my cousins' birthday and Chad's dads' birthday on Sunday and Monday. It was a very busy weekend but SOOOO much fun. Olivia is becoming such a great traveller and quickly fell into her normal routine at Gamma's house. She enjoyed playing with her cousins and her friend Gracie Rose and enjoyed many a hug and kiss from Grandma and Papa James too!!! There is nothing like family!!

Our first Harvest!

Our vegetable garden is well on its' way to becoming very productive... here is the first product of the season... a giant, yummy zucchini! We also have tomatoes and yellow squash growing as well... more pics of those to come as they ripen! Yeah!