The Fashonista

Little Miss Libby is, as the saying goes, 15 months going on 15 years! She is really starting to develop her feminine side. She loves her baby dolls - she feeds them and gives them rides on her Ollie Horse. She hugs them and kisses them and just loves them to death.

She loves getting new clothes. We were at Kohls the other day buying her some jammies and she saw some with Monkeys and said to her daddy, "Please? Please? Please?" while she passionately rubbed her belly (sign language for "please"). She got new shoes the other day and wants to wear them all the time. She says, "Shoes,mama, Shoes!" and prances around the house thinking she's a super-cool cat.
She is really starting to like getting her hair done up pretty. We do ponytails and piggytails and she feels so cute when it's done. There's no screaming or crying or whining while I do it.

Bathtime is getting much longer and more entertaining. She crawls around and slides on her booty saying "wee, wee, wee". She keeps herself warm by pouring water on herself with a cup. She washes her bath baby and other bathtoys with her washcloth and last night she was even scrubbing the tub!
Speaking of "wee, wee", have you seen that commercial on tv with the pig that rides in the car or the newer one where the pig is on a zip line and he's saying weeee, weeee, weee? Libby stops dead in her tracks when that come on and she laughs and laughs at that silly pig :)

There are a couple of new babies at daycare that are just 2 months old, and Libbers loves them, too. She talks to them and sits by them and asks the babysitter questions (in gibberish) about them. We're hoping it gives her some good practice for life to come! She did show a little of what we're in for the other day: Stacy (the babysitter) was feeding one of the babies and her assistant was feeding the other. Libby was in the bouncy chair drinking her milk...this is a rule - they have to sit when they have a cup of something to drink - well as soon as Stacy sat down on the floor with the baby, Libby got up and stood in front of her shaking her cup around and laughing at Stacy. Basically saying, "hahah - you can't do anything because you're feeding the baby, so I'm gonna break the rules and do whatever I want!" Little stinker!

She had her 15 month checkup on Tuesday. She's only 22lbs and she's 30" tall. I was smart this time and took a cookie in with us so after she got her shots she would have something to make her happy. And it worked!

Little Tiny baby is doing really well, too. The heartbeat is low (like 130s and 140s) so I think that means it's going to be a boy? Just a couple more months and we will know! Baby is growing well and moving around a lot, so the doctor is happy. I've gained 23 lbs, too!! That's one lb more than I gained my whole pregnancy with Libby. Looks like I'm on track to gain the 30lbs doc said I should gain. BLAH! Let's just hope it comes off as easy as it did the first time!!

I guess that's all I've got for now....Talk to you soon!

Being tickled by Mama

Crawling out of the doggy kennel

Cool in my shoes

Goofball!

Daddy's Little Peanut



The Videos Finally

Moves like Jagger

Bathtime Fun

Puppy Walk

Picture Time

GGGGGRRRRRR....BLOGSPOT VIDEO UPLOADS ISN'T WORKING RIGHT NOW, SO ALL I'VE GOT TO GIVE RIGHT NOW IS PICS!

Looking just like Oma Renae on "Ollie" rocker that Opa Hopp made:)

Gettin' her own Snack

Came out with Blueberry muffin mix

Eating Ranch Crackers with Uncle Nate

Grandma Sandy, Libbs and Grandpa Den Cheesin' it up

Christmas Morning!

Libbs on her first Horse ride!

She takes good care of her baby dolls

Rockin' the Bathrobe

Catch up

I understand it's been 2 months since I've updated this. I'm blaming the 2nd child :) Who has me so tired at night that my poor husband has to hang out alone almost every night after 8 or 8:30!

Last time I wrote, Libby was going through a whiney phase. Thankfully she's over that - for the most part anyway. She still gets that way, but it's not all the time. She has come SO far with her language skills in the last 2 months it's really unbelievable. She still uses her few signs, but she actually speaks a ton of words and it seems she learns a new one every day.
She always tries to be polite by saying "please" when she wants something. She can point to almost all of her little body parts when you ask her to. Her favorite is belly, which she will randomly show off with a huge cheesy grin - Too cute! She's starting to repeat family members names, and she recognizes the faces of her grams and gramps and aunts, uncles, cousins.
She understands pretend play, which is really mind-blowing to me. She pretends to feed her baby dolls with her new kitchen she got from Santa. She brushes their hair (and ours) and makes them "pretty" with a blush brush I gave her. She brushes her teeth - no water or toothpaste, she just holds the toothbrush up to her teeth and shakes her head.
She is learning to blow kisses and melted my heart the other morning. I dropped her off at daycare and she sat down to play with something and ignored me when I told her goodbye. I kissed her on the top of the head and started walking out. When I got to the stairs she stood up and said, "Mama! Mama!" It sounded so urgent; I turned and asked her "What baby?" And she blew me a kiss. It was just too darn sweet!
She loves her puppies, and all of her new toys from Christmas.
She loves playing rough with daddy, jumping on him and slapping his belly and getting tickled. She scratches his back for him and hugs and cuddles with him.
She continues to love to read books. Over and over and over again. The girl eats pretty much anything - knock on wood! Cheetos and cheeseballs and anything cheesy continue to be on her favorites list.
She only gets a bottle at night - the rest of the day she uses a sippy cup. I can't even say we weaned her from the bottle, because she never really cared where the milk came from  - a boob or a bottle or a cup - just as long as she gets some.
Libby is only 3 months away from being a big sister. There are times when I feel guilty that she's going to have to share us; that we're going to have to share our time and attention with another child. But I know it's going to be really great and she's going to be a super big sis! It may take a while to adjust, but she will grow to love the little one and I'm sure she will be a great role model and have a friend for life.
It's hard for me to imagine that I can love another as much as I love her, but Josh assures me I can and I will so I hope he's right! He usually is :)

This year has been one of so much change and so much growth. Within myself and our family. It has been the best and most complete year of my life. I love and appreciate my husband more than ever - he really keeps our family together and takes the best care of us. It hasn't been easy all of the time, but we have worked through the adjustments and changes and come out stronger than ever.
Our daughter is really amazing and she teaches me so much more than she will ever know until she has kids of her own. It's so hard to express all that she means to me.
I hope I have shown them both that they are #1 in my life and that I have done for them as much as they have done for me in so many ways.

Here's some pics to start...the rest are on my computer at home (not that I'm blogging at work ;) I will get another post up this weekend with more pictures and some videos.....

Whiney Wilma

I sometimes don't realize how I post about all of the goodness of our baby. She is a bundle of goodness, but let me tell you  - - lately, she's testing our patience!

The past week has been a little trying for mommy. Olivia is a little smarty-sign language user, which I was sure would be so great because it would cut out the whining. But guess what? She STILL WHINES! She just does it while she's using her little smarty-fart signs!!! She stands in the kitchen crying the cry with no tears and slapping herself in the mouth to get food or squeezing her hand to get some milk. Or she stands at my feet or next to the couch and holds her arms up in the air whining for me to pick her up. Typically she can stand at my leg and yank on my pants and cry all she wants and I can tune her out and sing a little song (Not that I ignore her or never give her what she's asking, a.k.a. demanding). But this week it just seems out of control.
My wonderful mom witnessed some of the whining over the phone the other day and she just thought it was hysterical! So I was totally hoping this is a short-lived phase (like 1 week) but then i decided: No. I hope it lasts another week, so when Libby is at Oma and Opa's house for the weekend my dear mother can witness and then see how funny it is :) Although I'm sure they will just hold her and give her her every desire and won't have to witness a thing! Love you guys!

I think a lot of this has to do with the recent time-change. Olivia is such a creature of habit and is very set in living on her schedule, so even though it was just an hour change, it has thrown her whole world into a life of chaos and confusion. We have tried to ease her into it, but she wants to eat at 5pm because she thinks it's 6. And go to bed at 6:15 because she thinks it's 7:15. And wake up at 4:30 am because she think's it's 5:30. Trying to explain to a baby that the time has changed and she has to wait an hour is horribly and utterly impossible! She just cries even louder and looks at us like we're morons. It's Thursday now and she's finally starting to get there...hopefully by the end of the week (tomorrow) she's got it figured out.

"We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and shut up."

"Children are gleeful barbarians."

So that's what's new this week. ..It might be frustrating and it might be annoying, but it's part of who she is - at least for right now. It's kind of like golfing: You can hit 10 terrible shots and want to quit the game and drink a beer, but all it takes is one great shot and you're back in it to win it. All it takes from Olivia is a sweet smile, a pat on the back or a little dance and we forget what we were even frustrated about. (Still might be nice to have a beer though!)

I'll do anything for a Cheet-O!

So I got some Cheetos for Libby last night when I went to the store. If you didn’t know – she LOVES Cheetos! I showed her what I got and she got all excited and twirled in circles and squealed and was just super-excited.

So I did the sign for “Eat” and gave her one. Then she wanted another, so I did “more” and “eat” and guess what? She signed them both back to me! It was so darn cute and she kept doing it everytime she was ready for another one. When she does “eat” she slaps herself in the mouth – HILARIOUS! I will have to get a video of it to share with all of you.

We are loving watching her use all of the things we have been teaching her. It's very rewarding to me and I know Josh is loving it, too! It will make her life easier to be able to communicate instead of just whine for everything (which she still does a lot :)!

Grandma and Grandpa V got her some books for her birthday and she really likes the ones with no words – just pictures. We go through the pages and point at the animals and say what they are and what sounds they make. She loves this game! So when we get to the monkey, I always  say, “Ooh Ooh Ooh, Ahh Ahh Ahh” like a monkey, you know? Say it - you'll get it...

Well yesterday she started doing it back. But her just goes “Ahh Ahh Ahh.” LOL – She’s a funny little stinker. We pucker our lips like a fish on the fish and she is sooo intrigued by it. She tries to do it but instead just smacks her lips together...at least she's trying!

She is also obsessed with the dog book from Oma and Opa Hopp. She has torn out all of the “pop-up” pieces and broke the binding because she has read it so many times.

The potty chair she got for her birthday is not so much a potty chair to her as it is a foot stool or a bouncing pony ride. She uses it to climb and she sits on it and bounces up and down. Strange, right? But she loves it none-the-less.

She is forever carrying around a stuffed animals – a puppy or a bear or an octopus…a little nurturer she is going to be. She squeezes them and kisses them and just loves them all to piecesJ I DO hope she loves her little sister/brother just as much!

On Her Own Two Feet

Well, everyone...She's done it! Libby is a little walking tot :) By the 2nd week of her trying to keep up with the kids at daycare she was walking like a pro and she hasn't crawled since! It's been a few weeks, but I still love to watch her and am just amazed at how fast they pick up on things. She practically runs across the living room sometimes - she's a little boogier.
She's starting to talk more - she says "Puppy, baby, bye-bye, hiiiiii, dada, mama" Quite a list for a 1-year old. Yes, that's right! She is ONE YEAR OLD! It's hard for me to believe it's been a year, but then I feel like she's been in my life forever. Olivia is such a blessing. Love her soooo much!
We had a birthday party for her - much of the family came down to Des Moines and we opened presents and ate cake and ice cream - just had a good-old-time! I was surprised at how she loved to be the center of attention. She's never really been that way in a crowd, but she sure was enjoying it. She all kinds of great presents. Books and dolls and stuffed animals and clothes and a potty chair...lots and lots of stuff.
We got to Skype with Aunt Katie and Uncle Mike so they could watch her open her pink Oopsie the Octopus that Katie made her - that was fun to be able to do that - thank goodness for internet!
Thanks to everyone for everything - it was a really special day.

Other than that, things are going along pretty smoothly. We are getting some work done on our house which is never fun and trying to prepare a little for the next baby's arrival. Our ultrasound is on the 16th, so I will hopefully have a fun post sometime after that. I am just starting to feel the little tiny baby move around - - seems like it's going by so quickly! I'm sure April will be here before we know it.

We had Libby's one-year pictures and new family pictures taken yesterday. It will be 2 weeks before we get them, but I will share as soon as we do. I hope they are cute! Daddy loves his little baby too much and gave in on buying a little stuffed puppy for her that day. She decided it was best if she held it in many of the pictures. It actually is probably a good thing - if we're going to try to depict who she is at 1 year old, then it shows how attached she is to fuzzy little stuffed toys!

Anyway - here's some recent pics for you to enjoy. Talk to you soon - take care!