This and That

I want to collect some of the latest cute things that have happened in our house:

We have a growth chart in the hallway outside of Olivia's room. At least twice a week, she stands in front of it for her to measure me, then I have to stand in front of it and lift her up so that she can measure me - even though I am taller than the top of the chart. Best I can tell, I seem to be maintaining my current height.

We have pretty well blown through the whole learning our colors thing. She decided a while back that it was time to learn them and now we regularly hear about puple, wehwoh, boo, geen and red things all over the house. She also knows pink, black, white, gray, brown and orange, but those don't sound quite as cute when she says them.

We count all the time, okay, well I count all the time but Olivia rarely participates. Recently we were all in the kitchen and I hear behind me one, two tree, for, fie, six. I think she was counting the leaves on a plant, but not sure. Guess all that counting has paid off.

Mornings have become quite the interesting time around our house as Olivia is now waking up at 6 am every morning. Since the gate is up, she happily plays in her room. I walked in to find all her blankets stacked on her book basket, with frog perched on top. Or frog on the changing table with the diaper and wipes out. Or I hear her "reading" books through her monitor.

A long time ago, Olivia time, I started doing my own little version of an attachment activity where I lie on my back with Olivia on her back next to me. I roll toward her and place my cheek against hers then pick her up, roll her to the other side of me and place her back on the floor with our faces just inches apart. Olivia giggles as she looks in my eyes and says "gen" (again). We had not done it in a while, but recently she started wanting to do it again. It has been very, very fun for me.

For several days the chair at the end of the dining room table has been gone, meaning if one were to sit at the end of the table and dangle their little legs over it, it is pretty much like a left field bleacher seat for the television. The other day, I heard giggling and turned around to find Olivia perched as described, just as happy as can be. I absolutely could not keep from laughing as she looked so pleased with herself sitting there.

There have been numerous times that I have offered Olivia something recently and her refusal comes in the form of "I'm fine" like me saying "Olivia, do you want a tissue to wipe off your fingers" response "I'm fine Mommy".

The last few days, she has been singing and dancing like crazy. It is so fun to hear and see.

Eagles 2009

Last year we went to Clarksville to see the eagles twice and posted about it here and here. As opportunity to make the trip was drawing to an end, despite the chilly weather, we made the trip today. No splashing in puddles today, and Olivia fell hard asleep on the way. Once again, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, saw lots and lots of eagles, got a few good pictures and had a wonderful lunch at Clarksville Station with Grammy and Grampy.

One of the coolest moments was as we were driving back into Clarksville from a trip a couple miles north of town. We saw some people looking and pointing to the bluff to our right. We stopped and looked up, nearly directly above us and saw and eagle sitting in a tree with another one coming in to land. They were screaching at each other, and defending the branch of the tree. It was quite cool to see.

Once we were home, I worked on my assignment for my photography class, then took a couple picture of Olivia, who was LOVING being outside in her new coat, despite the cool temperatures.

Then, later she wanted me to pose for a picture with her fake Tinkerbell camera. Fortunately, mine was close by and I grabbed it in time to snap one of her!

A Whole Lot of Blood

but thankfully, no pictures. The day started like any other, Olivia waking up at dawn and beginning the process of destroying her room. An half hour or more later, Mommy and Daddy drag themselves out of bed, let Olivia out of her room and start on breakfast. Some playing and computer time after breakfast, and my tummy is bothering me, so Olivia and I go into my and Daddy's bed so I can lie down for a bit. Daddy joins us on the bed and Olivia starts with her FAVORITE game. Either on the bed or on the sofa, Olivia RUNS to get into the spot usually occupied by Michael or I first and then claims it as "my spot" and refuses to allow us entry. As with the bed this morning, I was on my side and she was in Daddy's "spot". He came and sat on the edge of the bed and they began playing and tickling. I was watching and resting on my side. All of a sudden, Olivia throws herself backward as hard as she can and the back of her head slams me squarely in the nose.

I cry out in pain, stunned for just a second, then sit up and my face falls into my hands and I am crying uncontrollably from the pain. I feel my hands getting wet and hope it is from the runny nose that has plagued me for a couple days. No such luck. My hands, the blanket, my face and hair are covered in blood. Michael gets a huge handful of toilet paper from the bathroom (or maybe it was tissues from the nightstand) and tells me to hold my head back, which I do. He then gets a cold wash cloth and an ice pack. Eventually the bleeding and sobbing stop.

Poor Olivia didn't know what to think. There was blood everywhere and I was a mess. We debated going to the ER or urgent care, but by the time I decided to go and got dressed, I was feeling a little better. Instead, Daddy and Olivia went out for a while and I laid back down (sheets and blankets in the washer) and rested for a while. My nose still hurts now, but no swelling or bruising, so I think I am going to make it.

Lots of New Recipes

If you are looking for some recipe ideas, you might want to check out my Recipes and Reviews blog. I have been working through some tried and true recipes to get the ingredients down and have added them to the blog.

More to come....

Just in Time for the Big Day!

Olivia is talking a lot and I am enjoying the heck out of it. But, one thing this Mommy has dreamed about for four years (that is how long it has been since we started looking into adoption) is hearing my little girl say "I love you". Hundreds and hundreds of other little dreams, but since she has began talking good and a lot, that one has risen to the top of the list.

And, it arrived with a bang. First to Daddy about 10 or so days ago, when I told her as they were saying good-night "tell Daddy: I love you" and Olivia responded with "eeeeiiiiiiwuuuhhhhvoo"The in more recent nights they would shout it back and forth to each other. Nothing, though for Mommy despite repeated attempts. Then, finally, after prompted, I got one a few days ago. It was sweet and we were on the right track! Music to my ears.

Today was the absolute moment though - I am not sure why, but as I was preparing dinner, with Grammy and Grampy and Daddy hanging out with me in the kitchen, Olivia came up to me and said "Hoed ooo mommy" (hold you Mommy - meaning, please pick me up and hold me) with her arms outstreatched. I picked her up and she snuggled into me I kissed her cheek and she said "iiiiuuvvooo" and she nested up against my chest. I wispered "I love you too sweetie" and held her for as long as she wanted to be held.

Photoshoot at the park

These are a few of the photos that were taken with my camera. The professional ones are at:
Creations Photography Studio

Valentine's Day Crafts

So, I am trying to make more things myself. Here are the results of this week's efforts:

This is a tutu I made for Olivia - sorry the color is off. Later I will post a picture of it on her!

Votive candle holders

Snail Valentine's

I also made Rice Crispy treats, shaped them with a funnel into the shape of a kiss, covered them with foil and put a note coming out of them so that they look like Hershey's kisses, but the picture of them didn't turn out, so you will have to just use your imagination!

I am exhausted - I wonder if Olivia is asleep?

Today was a full, fun-filled day! First, the not so great: we started with breakfast at a nearby church - seemed like a good idea at the time, but the food was significantly less than stellar and it was pricey. It got lots better from there.

At the Kiwanis auction, we won a photography shoot with a new photographer in town so we met her at a local park, Olivia played and we and the photographer shot pictures. I do not know if it is like this for other mom's, but every time we have had professional pictures taken of Olivia, it is an amazing amount of work for me! The first time, I held her on my shoulders, head or stomach, trying to stay out of the picture, while they were being shot. One of the funniest from that day about a year ago was Olivia happy as can be sitting on my shoulders with her dress covering my head - you wouldn't know it unless I pointed it out.

Today was no exception - I was climbing all over playground equipment coaxing out smiles, going down tube slides, lifting her up between tree limbs and running across muddy fields of grass. Not that I mind running through the mud or playing on the swings, but it does wear this 40 + mommy out.

Next was a trip to the shoe store for some new shoes for Daddy. Success! (And Mommy found a pair too!) Then home - the original plan was lunch, but someone fell asleep on the way home, so nap first then lunch.

The afternoon brought a round of geocaching with our new GPS. There were a couple in the state park that we wanted to find. We started by parking in the equestrian area which meant horses everywhere. Olivia NEEDED to "seeee" one, so we asked and walked over to touch one of them. Olivia got close, but didn't want to touch it. We found our cache after a nice walk and then went back to the horse. This time not only did she touch it, but she wanted to ride it as well. By then he had his saddle off, so that was not an option. Besides, Jasper didn't look all that thrilled, and for the record, Mommy is decidedly NOT a fan of horses.

After a bit of driving around, we decided to seek out a second cache on the other side of the park. We started down a muddy trail into the woods that lead us to a beautiful creek bed. The GPS was pointing up the very steep hill on the other side of the creek, so I scrambled up it to see what was on the other side. I continued on to find the cache. Daddy and Olivia played in the creek then climbed up the hill as well. Daddy started by carrying Olivia, but after a short distance realized that was too difficult so he just held her hand and up the hill they both went. He said it was absolutely amazing that she just went right up it without faltering. And this was more than just a nice grassy knoll - this was a rock and limb strewn hill cut over thousands of years of water flowing past it with about a 50 foot change in elevation.

We joined back up and began the hike out. I used the time to talk to Olivia about how to find her way out of the woods if she ever gets lost and to marvel at the joy of the moment. An unexpectedly warm winter day that allowed us the opportunity to learn, teach, seek, find, play, splash, climb and be awestruck.

Our day had no specific plans other than meeting the photographer. The rest just happened along. As did the end of the day - while debating supper plans, I called my sister. They were headed to our favorite pizza place so we turned the car in their direction and met up with them. I sat Olivia at the table with pizza and fruit cocktail. She ate for 30 minutes without stopping, fussing, heck, she was barely even looking up from her plate. I have often joked about the danger in offering free food to THIS child under 3 and today was no exception.

Today was a day of basking in the joy of parenting such a happy, curious, loving child.

Hide and Seek

Olivia lured me into my bedroom this evening for a game of hide and seek. This is the first time I have played it with her, so I was just playing along and seeing what she wanted me to do. I said "I will close my eyes and you hide" and covered my eyes with my hand (sorta). I watched her run toward the window, back toward me, then to the window where she stopped and put her face against it and counted "one, toooo, tree, fiy, siks, even, ni" then turns around and runs back to me! A minute or so later, I told her I would count (as she was climbing onto my bed). I counted out loud to ten and looked over at the bed to see her sitting in the middle of it with the blanket pulled up to her eyebrows and her peeking over the top now and then. I "looked" for her then "found" her in a fit of giggles.