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!

The Office rules!!

Hurray for Jim and Pam! Great episode...sucks we have to wait until September now... oh well.

Oh by the way... if you are thinking that Creed is just getting weirder and weirder go to :

http://blog.nbc.com/CreedThoughts/

Pretty funny.

Bagels and Bathtime

Olivia enjoyed her first bagel on Mother's day! She ate about 1/2 of it and then proceeded to babble at it and then throw it....she has a pretty good pitching arm. I also caught a few pics of her during bathtime...her favorite time of day. xoxoxo

Mommy and Me

I was and am so thankful for my first official Mother's Day....there are no words to describe what it feels like.. sometimes pictures tell a thousand words...xoxoxo

Things on my mind...

1. The beach... i wish i was there today. It is about 90 degrees outside and dipping my toes in the ocean would feel really good ...

2. Chad...he has a committee meeing next tuesday to set a date for his graduation and i'm praying that he finishes all that he needs to so "they" can see how hard he has been working.

3. Veggie chips and blue-cheese/pecan dip. ( so yummy...*sigh*) I love dip!

4. The Office ... last weeks episode was definitely in my top three all time favorite episodes..if you noticed Dwight's flier, it had a 1-800 number on it, thanks to my stepdad for copying it down ... call the number.. you will die laughing!

5. "Should I stay or should I go" by the Clash.. it was playing in my car on my way back from lunch.

6. Listening to my baby say "GA!" for the upteenth billionth time...and being so pleased with herself like it was the first time she had said it...so sweet.

7. Those poor people in Kansas and Oklahoma who lost their homes in the tornadoes..some people out here in Cali are thinking about you. :-(

8. My muscles ache from "Kwando" class yesterday.. this mommy is out of shape! agh!

xoxoxo melissa

Olivia Month 8

The eighth month was full of suprises! Olivia learned how to move, push, pull, and open things.... she is developing "object permanance" which means if she sees you go into another room she does not automatically think you have dropped off the face of the earth. She loves peek-a-boo and other hiding games and is consistently following Cassie around the house. (Luckily Cassie is a really good sport). She learned how to pull herself up and is always looking for new ways to get into mischief...we thought we had baby proofed pretty well ...until this month! xoxxo

Come play with me!

I had to put Cassie outside because the carpet cleaners were coming to clean the bedroom carpet and Olivia could not figure out where Cassie was until she spotted her outside the back door....she immediately crawled over to inspect and attempt to figure out why her buddy was outside...Chad and I both think that she calls Cassie "Ga" because that is what she says over and over everytime she sees her... :-)

Baby crackers?

Ok, so I know that these teething biscuit/baby cracker things are supposed to be a good distraction for babies... but they really just create more work for the parents......

Stinker!

Olivia was a real " stinker" this weekend!! She learned how to pull up onto her knee's and then yesterday we came around the corner from the kitchen into the living room and she had pulled herself up to the coffee table and was banging on it with her hands! She squealed in delight with herself when she saw us and then promptly fell backwards and hit her head...tears did flow but were quick to stop when mommy showed her how to do it again....we didn't have time to capture it on camera but I'm sure soon we will... :-)

Palm Springs Weekend!

We spent a nice long weekend in Palm Springs with our families from April 12-15th.... we took Olivia swimming for the first time and she just adored it! We are looking forward to taking her to the beach this summer when she can really have the "true" California experience!

Finally some Easter pics...

On Easter we went to the Hollywood Bowl where Bel Air Presbyterian has their Easter services. Since Chad's brother is now a pastor there we thought it would be nice to check out their Easter service and also cuz our niece , Hadley, was going to sing in the childrens' choir! ( In the pic with all the kids on stage, she is the one in the middle with the pink dress and white sweater!). When my mom asked if she was nervous to sing on the big stage in front of all those people she said, "No, cuz I'm singin' for the Lord!". A pure " Hadley-ism" to say the least. ... :-)

After Easter Services which were VERY nice ( we brought brunch with us and had 3 boxes between the two families), we came back to our house and watched Hadley and K.C. hunt for eggs... ( Olivia is a still a bit small for that tradition!)

It was a great Sunday!

Counting all of my blessings...

In light of what has happened at Virginia Tech, I would just like to write that I am so thankful and grateful for what I have in my life : a loving husband, beautiful daughter , and caring family and friends.

It is so hard for me to understand why and how something like that massacre could occur but I know that somehow it must be part of God's plan. I pray that the families and loved ones of those students and teachers can find peace in their hearts and have the courage to move forward with their lives.

I hope that the media does not continue to focus on the killer but instead choose to honor those whose lives were cut short by his hand. It seems as though the last few days we have learned a lot about "him" but not of the 32 people whom he killed...

Anyway, I wish all of you good health and peace in your hearts during these troubling times... count your blessings, I know I have. xoxoxoxo

Melissa

Olivia Month 7

Olivia is really showing us her personality! March was the month of change...she started solid foods, really mastered sitting on her own, and is now scooting ( or "army crawling" ) around the house now. She says "ba-ba-ba-ba" which is her word for everything and still really enjoys being outside or playing with her cousins. Nothing seems to daunt her and she is curious about everything, from mommy's glasses to Cassie's feet. Her sense of "Taste" is her way of accepting or not accepting most things....which is good for things she likes, not so good when it is Daddy's socks...:-) We look forward to everyday with the anticipation of what she will discover next....xxoxoxo

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Here are some pics of our little good luck charm!

Olivia Month 6 !!

Olivia is six months old ! She can sit up on her own ( although she falls down like a drunk) and is starting to eat some solid foods ( which by the way aren't really "solid".) She is still a VERY active little girl who loves to constantly play with her toys or be outside watching the world go by.. she still hates her naps but loves to cuddle with us every morning in bed. We are still in awe of what a beautful soul she has and how the tiniest things make her completely happy.. i.e. a nice wet kiss from Cassie!! ha!!