Trip To Wisconsin - Part one!

On Friday November 16, we flew to Wisconsin to hang with my dad for 8 days and celebrate Thanksgiving!! Hurray! We had a great time....needless to say we were a bit worried about how Olivia would do on the plane since she hasn't been on one since she started walking. I bought lots of new activities and snacks but she did so well that I only needed to pull out a couple of things... she was more interested in pulling the cap on and off my water bottle.. go figure? ha!!

We spent the first day relaxing and exploring my dad's house that he is renting from a friend. It is an old farmhouse and so cool... it sits on 2 acres and is very cozy. Olivia loved running from one room to another and especially playing with my dad's 14 years cat, Lucy. We spend some time outdoors playing in the piles of leaves even the temperature was about 35 degrees the first day we were there... she really enjoyed it!



On Sunday, Chad and I were two of the luckiest people on the planet as my dad had scored 2 tickets to the Green Bay Packer game!!! We got to get away and spend the whole day together and drive up to Green Bay to see the now 11-2 ( stupid Cowboys) Packer team play . It was AWESOME!!! Lambeau field is definitely all that is cracked up to be and then some.... but what made it the most fun were the fans... they were CRAZY!!! The man sitting behind me decided half way through the game that the hat that I was wearing was lucky ( the Packers were winning ) so he played with the tassel on top of my head the entire rest of the game.... hahahahaha! Luckily he was very nice ( probably due to about 8 beers) and was just in great spirit cuz his team was winning. The weather was beautiful ( by Wisconsin standards)... about 38 degrees , clear and sunny. We were bundled up and had brought in blankets so life was sweet... Oh, did I mention we sat on the 50 yard line? Unbelievable... Thanks to Todd ( my dad's friend ) for the AMAZING opportunity to see Green Bay play!!!!



More about the rest of the trip in my next post.... :-)

Halloween

So, after our trip to Disneyland we got home, rested for a day, then one by one started to come down with the stomach flu. Good times, I should say not... Chad is still in bed recovering after he finally came down with it today...blah. BUT, in between that time , Olivia had a good day and that happened to be Halloween. *sigh*.

So, we put on her goldfish costume and it was immediately met with tears and frustration. We quickly learned that a quick bribe ( a whole sippy cup of milk!), was enought to set her down the sidewalk to candy heaven. We honestly didn't think that she would be into the whole thing but she suprised us once again by marching up to each doorstep and grabbing at the candy like she was an old pro.

She lasted about 8 houses... then promptly sat down to examine her bootie.

We let her taste 4 m'm's and then the rest went to us. A good reward for suriving the whole ordeal. :-)

Happy Halloween!!!

First Trip to Disneyland!!

A week ago we took Olivia to Disneyland and California Adventure for the first time! We went with Keenan, Jen, Hadley, and K.C. and had a fabulous time. The first day we went to Disneyland. Olivia LOVED it. She went on all the rides ( well, except for the roller coasters..). She loved waving at the pirates on Pirates of the Caribbean and she really enjoyed Nemo's Submarine Voyage where she kept saying "Buba-Buba" for the bubbles floating past our little window. That night we all stayed at the Paradise Pier Hotel adjacent to the Disneyland Hotel and the next day we went to California Adventure ( unfortunately without K.C. who got sick that night.. poor Jen had to drive him home at 1 am in the morning... :0(. We all had a nice time and are hoping to do it again next year.. without any illnesses... :-)

Fall Fun!

Today, Jen and I took the kids to a farm in Moorepark to pick out some pumpkins. It was soooo much fun. The weather was perfect , about 70 degrees and breezy, the sun was shining, and we all got lots of fresh air. Olivia LOVED playing in the pumpkin patch. She patted the pumpkins, hugged the pumpkins, talked to the pumpkins, and sat on the pumpkins. We picked out three to bring home.. that we will eventually carve a couple days before Halloween. We all had a great time.







I also decorated the house for Halloween. I made some fun ghosts and hung spiderwebs all over. Olivia's new love is running outside to greet the "ghosties" whenever she has a chance. I think that she is learning to love Halloween as much as I do!


xoxoxoxo

Happy Birthday Cassie!

Today is our sweet dog Cassie's birthday! Well, we don't really know when her actual birthday is cuz we got her from the pound 7 years ago.. but at the time the vet thought she was about a year old sooooo.... we consider her birthday the day we brought her home. :-)

So she is 8 years old...

She is Olivia's best buddy, our protector, and a dear companion.

Happy Birthday dog!!

xoxoxoxo

Curls, Cookie Dough, and various other things...

Sorry it has been sooo long since my last post... life has a way of getting in the way of things like email, blogs, and mommy down-time.. Ha!

Olivia is just barely starting to get some hair... at least we think that's what it is... I mean we really wouldn't know seeing as she has been bald since birth. Anyway, in the bathtub is where it tends to grace us with "its" presence. ha! It gets pretty curly when it's wet....and that's when it looks the most red too.. so cute!


I spent Friday and part of Saturday morning whipping up some "pumpkin chocolate-chip bars" for my MOPS ( Mothers of Pre-Schoolers ) group that I belong to at Malibu Presbyterian Church. All the mom's baked some goodies for the bake sale that we held tonight at the Harvest Festival. (I'll post about that next..) Anyway, Olivia definitely wanted in on that action so I let her lick a beater for the first time. She sat on the floor in the kitchen and just licked her beater like nobody's business...and when she finished the first one she didn't hesitate to ask for the second one.....when she was finished she tugged on my pants until I would crouch down and then she threw her arms around me and gave me a hug and kiss. Mommy was the hero for making those yummy cookie bars.

By-the way.. .the recipe is on Martha Stewarts website and is the easiest and yummiest fall treat to make!!



Tonight Olivia, Chad, and I went to have dinner in Malibu with our friends Jamie, Todd, and little Rachel and then we all went to the Harvest Festival at the church. It was so great. They had food, a blue-grass band, games, and the thing that Olivia loved the most : a petting zoo. Chad thought she might get a little spooked by the animals but she absolutely loved it...she threw her arms around a very nice sheep and gave him a huge hug.. she tried to kiss a couple of pigs.. and then she stared at a llama in the next pen. She also was very fond of trying to put her hands in the animals water bucket... yummy. Anyway, she was so gentle and nice with all the animals...what a relief to know that we are teaching her the right way to be gentle with all creatures. Whew..! It's nice to see the fruits of your labor pay off once in a while. After the petting zoo, she enjoyed eating a chocolate chip cookie and dancing to some blue grass music... unfortunately , my camera ran out of batteries right before she started dancing. Oh well....








That's all for now.... hopefully I won't have to wait as long before my next post!!! xoxoxoxoxo

Lemons!

Chad, Olivia , and I went to Cheesecake Factory in Marina Del Rey last weekend and had dinner... it was so nice. We went early (around 5 pm) to beat the crowds and got a great table outside. Olivia flirted with the people at the next table and fed almost her entire dinner to the pidgeons , but... she was happy and not screaming .. so great for us.. not so great for the people who don't like pidgeons..

Anyway...

At the end of the meal , she started to get a little fussy and noticed my lemon wedge in my water glass. I thought " What the hell, we'll see if she likes it". Her first taste was what you would expect... a very sour face, but after that she polished off both Chads' and my lemons. So funny.

The next day she had wicked diaper rash....maybe not such a good idea.

We are clearly first time parents.

xoxoxoxo

Hadley the Great!

Many of you know my 5 1/2 year old niece Hadley. I decided to write a little blurb ( with my sister-in-law's permission) about her since she is just about the funniest person I know. She just started kindergarten this last week and already antics are ensuing...

The kindergarten class baked a gingerbread man on Tuesday but when the teacher took them to check on it...SURPRISE! It had ran away...hee..hee.. Well, when I picked Hadley up from school that day ( I watch her and K.C. on Tuesdays), she informed me that " It's not just a cookie Auntie Miss , it's a REAL gingerbread man. " She then let me know that SHE would be the one to find it and was sure that it was somewhere on the school grounds.. so cute.

Recently , Hadley, K.C. , Olivia and I were on a walk up to the park when Hadley spied a dead mouse laying on the sidewalk. "Auntie Miss , is that mouse dead?" Yes, I said. " Auntie Miss is that mouse in heaven?" Yup, I said. ... *silence* ( Silence with Hadley is never good). "Auntie Miss, if that mouse is in heaven, why is he still laying on the sidewalk?" Oh, boy. think, think, think! "Well, Hadley , his soul is in heaven, that is just his body on the ground". Hadley studys my face.... "Yes, you're right."

Whew... I passed the test. :-)

I love her mind. She is constantly making up games and inventing stories. She is a dedicated artist.. each picture is worthy of the refrigerator and/ or a museum for that matter.

Most of all, she has a good and grateful heart. This is not an easy task when you are 5. She constantly plays with Olivia and never ceases to tell everyone she meets all about her baby cousin.

Here are some pics from the past and present of my dear sweet niece. :-)

xoxoxo

Naps?

Why is it that on the day you REALLY need your little girl to take a nap, she doesn't want to...but on the day you have nothing to accomplish she sleeps for 3 hours and you are dying to wake her up?

*sigh*

by-the-way... i'm listening to the tired baby fussing in her crib who won't fall asleep and take her nap.

Blah.

Olivia One Year Old!

A whole year has come and gone and with it our little baby.... Olivia is now a full blown toddler! She walks like toddler, eats like a toddler, and definitely has tantrums like a toddler. ha! She says ( in her own way), "mama", "dada", "dog", "duck", "hi", and her new favorite "done". She is no longer walking but running to wherever she wants to go and is beginning the "climbing" phase of her career which has us a bit worried... She is cuddly and lovie and never ceases to please us with kisses and hugs on a regular basis.

We are ever in awe of her growth and new wonders and looking forward to a new year of "kid-dom" in our household!

xoxo