This One's For You

My little baby girl. I miss you so so much. This is mommy's first time away from you for longer than a 5-hour period of time. And it's hard. So so hard.

I stayed pretty strong and only cried a little when we left. And cried once more this morning when I saw your beautiful face and heard your cute little squeal on the computer. It's hard not to wake up to your smiling face and kiss you and hug you and listen to you babble all day long about whatever is on your mind. I miss reading your nighttime story and tucking you into bed. I miss so many things about you - I just want you to know....

But I'm having a really really great time with your daddy. We have heard a ton of great music and seen a lot of interesting people. We witnessed the world's greatest undiscovered dancer last night - Someday I'll teach you the moves I learned from her !!! We have eaten a lot of greasy but tasty food and drank more beer than I've had in the past 9 months. We are just out having a great time  - something that we have needed for a while. I know we both miss you like crazy but I am so glad we are doing this. We have to keep our relationship refreshed and strong so we can be great parents to you...

You are having a wonderful time with Nana Renae and for that I am thankful. You are so lucky to have her as your Grammy - she loves you so very much! And we are lucky that you adapt and that you have a schedule you can always count on. You have been a little angel baby so far - Just one more day to go. We spent some time with Grandma Sandy and Grandpa Den and they love you very much, too!! You played with daddy's old panda bear who is bigger than you and you cuddled him and loved him - too cute! You will get to see your Uncle Tom and Aunt Teya, Chy and Tiff today...We don't see them enough so I'm excited for you to spend some time with them!! And Uncle Mitch came down to see you today as well. And all of them love you mucho, too!
Do you see a trend here? There are so many people in your life that love the crap out of you and you are only 9 months old! You will always be surrounded by people who love you no matter where you are because you are the most loveable little girl in the world!!

We love you  and miss you and will see you soon little Punkin!!

L.A.Z.Y.

Oh my - It's been almost a month since I posted. Well, 20 days a least and that's close enough to a month. My sis is giving me a hard time about it, so I am putting down the excuses and picking up where I left off.

Libby is doing great - like always. She is still clinging to the stroller and the couch and our legs to stand / walk. We have been working with her on standing without holding on, and she's getting better. I think her record is 10 seconds! But as soon as she realizes she doesn't have anything to cling to she squats down...she doesn't really fall; just squats down or reaches out for our hands. She can totally do it, but she's just chicken. Completely surprises us, too because she's not afraid of anything. The girl will dive head first off the couch or climb up and sit on the open dishwasher door when we put dishes away. So why is she so afraid to stand? She will get over it in time. Just like her daddy says - All it's gonna take is for her to want to get from here to there and have nothing to hang on to between the two. She'll do it and then think she's super special and super cool (which she is) and she'll be on her way.

She has become a cling-on as of late. She cries and cries and cries if she's not being held. But apparently this is only at home...she must know it tugs on her daddy's heart strings to see tears run down her face :)

We believe she has a Mexican boyfriend because she has been practicing rolling her "r's" and it is hilarious. Not sure where she learned it or how she figured it out, but it's pretty cute! She has also added "nananana" and "uh" to her vocabulary. The "uh" is used when she wants something. She kind of jumps and says "uh. uh." as she does it. I hope she starts picking up on the sign language we have been teaching her for so many months. That way she can sign instead of yell and scream! I make her sound like a little terror, huh? But she's not. She's so sweet.
She is coming into a cuddly stage. It's only when she's tired or sad, but she will now lay her head down on our shoulder and snuggle up for a quick minute. I love love love it! And she gives kisses on command. Just ask her for a kiss and pucker your lips and she will dive in. But be careful because she's a frencher. hahaha!

Well I need to get back to work here...I was on break, but break time is over.



<3 YA!!

Another Step

Take a look at the newest STEP in Olivia's life...

And a couple of days later...

heeheeheehee...how much do you LOVE that?!

I know I have said this so so many times, but this little girl is such a fast learner. Her daddy and I can hardly keep up with her!

She is still babbling up a storm and starting to laugh more and more. One of her most favorite things is kisses from Fletcher! She giggles and giggles while he licks her little face - It's pretty darn cute :)

She is forever saying "dadadadadada" Libbers loves her daddy!!

I made her her first protein for dinner last week. She had ground turkey mixed with sweet potatos. It wasn't her very favorite, but she didn't spit it out. This week she had ham and zucchini and strawberry yogurt. These things she is really really enjoying.

Her hair is getting really long in the front. I guess you would call those bangs, huh?! Long enough to put barretts in - so pretty!

KK...It's time for bed...love you all!



Hey there, strangers! It's been a while since we stopped and said hello! This has been a really busy and fun month for us. Josh has been traveling a lot and working really hard so the weekends have been filled with family time. Olivia is still babbling up a storm, crawling around chasing both us and the dogs, and getting into everything within her ever-growing reach. She started teething again a little over a week ago, but nothing's popped out yet - I'm sure it will be a while.
She has pooped on the floor twice in the last month!! The first time was in the early morning hours while I got ready for work....I almost kicked the dogs butts because her turds looked exactly like theirs :) I guess maybe we shouldn't let her run around diaperless, huh? But who wants to wear undies all the time? Noone, I'm sure!
She looooves dog food, but she doesn't do what you would think she would do...there's no eating involved. She just grabs a handful and drops it on the floor, grabs another handful and drops it on the floor. She just likes to make a mess for us to clean up. She sure makes a point to keep herself under close watch - we can't our eyes off of her, and I know she likes it that way!
Naptime has continued to be a struggle, but after today, we think we might be making some progress. Will keep you posted on that.
She is really starting to enjoy our book reading time at night. She will sit on daddy's lap and listen to him read an entire book - she loves looking at the pictures and turning the pages. It's a great wind-down activity for her right before bedtime. I hope the trend continues!

Well I will let you enjoy some videos and pics of the little love-bug!

PICTURES!!!

Learning to stand

Me and Daddy

Being cute in my toy basket

CHEESE!

Big girls don't sleep

Pretty Blues

Playing with blocks from Aunt Katie

More fun with blocks!

Spitting is Fun!

Super Sweet

Baby Anxiety

This little munchkin of ours is a very friendly little gal, but these days, she wants to be friendly from a distance.
I guess she is at that age where separation and stranger anxiety set in. She breaks my heart every morning and afternoon when I leave her at daycare. She cries and chases after me all the while sporting the best pouty lip you have ever seen and tears pouring down her face. She makes it hard on a mama, that's for sure!

She is also starting to get weary of strangers. Where she used to just reach out to whoever came near, she now holds back until she can give you a good once over (or more like a good 5 minute over). Once she intensly stared you down and plays bashful for a couple of minutes, she is pretty much good to go and will love the crap out of you.
Grammy and G-Pa and Uncle Brod and Krista were here over the weekend and Olivia was not too sure about them at first. Of course, she did warm up and have tons of fun playing and eating ice cream and all that good stuff, but it took a few! I guess that means we don't see everyone enough...have to work on that one!

I will post some new pics later for ya!

She Knows What She Wants

Well I don't have any pictures to post at the moment because I'm not at home, but I wanted to write a little about the newest developments we are experiencing...

Do you all remember the sweet, even tempered child that once was? Well she is still sweet. But rather than even tempered, I would lean more towards mild-to-moderate tempered!
Libby has always known what she wants, and has always been determined to get it.  Even if that means climbing up doggy steps to get cell phone or crawling on top of a tiny baby or underneath a bouncing baby in an exersaucer - she is going to get it! And I love that about her - She has no fear...which I know is because she has no understanding of the concept of danger or consequences...but I still love it - she is not a timid child. So these days are consistantly filled with constantly watching over her. No more leaving her in the living room while I go down to do laundry or anything more than 12 steps away because trust me, she will find SOMETHING to get into!!

As far as her temperament goes, well let's just say she found her voice. She can scream - we all know that - but now it's not just screaming for fun, it's screaming to twist mama and daddy's heart into giving in to her every want and need. But mostly want, because she always has what she needs :) If you walk by her and don't pick her up when she wants picked up she puts her face on the ground and yells. If you tie her down in the high chair and she doesn't want to be tied down she screams at you. If you take something important away from her, she screams at you. If you try to get her dressed/undressed and she wants to play, she screams at you. Are you getting this?? Do you see what's happening here?? She is getting too big and too smart! She is learning about manipulation (and I hate that word because it sounds negative, but that's what babies do). She is searching for what makes us give in to her.
She is going to have to keep trying....screaming doesn't bother me....maybe if there are real tears and a pouty lip, but not just plain old screaming!! I've got too much patience for that :)

She is really still a very sweet girl, though, even amongst all the screaming. She is learning to cuddle (when she's not too busy) and she is happy to see us when she wakes up and when I pick her up from daycare and when she spots us around the corner in the kitchen or bathroom or wherever - always full of sweet sweet smiles. She gives slobbery open-mouth licky kisses on the cheek and laughs when the dogs run around her. She loves the breeze on her face and the sun when it shines. She loves bathtime and rubber duckies and splashing around. Olivia loves life and she is just trying to figure out how to get the best of the world into her hands...and I love her for that!