Coming Clean

I've been keeping a secret, and it's time I came clean...




Numero dos is scheduled to arrive sometime around Christmas. We're so excited!!

Orlando Day 3: Universal Studios and Harry Potter

Thursday, before we caught an evening flight home, we just had to check out the recently opened Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, so did everyone else in the greater Orlando area. There was a mile long line just to get into the Harry Potter area of Universal Studios. They told us it would be a three hour wait. Sue (aka nicest mother-in-law ever) volunteered to wait while we took Olivia to Suess's landing. It turned out only to be 1.5 hours, but still. Once we got in...there were more lines. Lines for rides, lines for shops, lines for butterbeer. But it was really cool, despite all the waiting.

Jon and Liv in front of Hogwarts.

The Hogwarts Express

The Butterbeer Barrel.



Despite the look on her face, the butterbeer is definitely not alcoholic. And it's good. Kind of like cream soda with a butter toffee foam on top.

The whole fam in front of Hogwarts.

On the Caro-Seuss-el. Pretty sure Livi likes Suess's Landing better than Harry Potter. No offense to Harry Potter fans. :)
Waving "Hi" to grandma.

Playing in the water area.

It was a fast and crazy trip, but it was totally worth it!

Orlando Day 2: Pool Day!

Since, thanks to Sue, we were staying at the amazing JW Marriott Resort, we spent day 2 relaxing at the pool. Olivia's favorite part was the lazy river, which she floated no less than 4 times.

She loved her baby float. Though the kiddie pool was shallow enough for her to crawl and sit and splash!

Eating at the poolside restaurant. Mmmmm...

Olivia made some friends at the pool. They made her laugh.

Thanks so my sister Maria's recent blog post, I was totally craving sushi, so we went out for some in the evening. Olivia tried it for the first time, and was a big fan!

Piggy Back Front

Piggy Back Back

After Olivia went to bed and Sue finished up with her conference for the night, Jon and I went on a real date!! We went to the City Walk and got dessert. Grandma's are the best babysitters.

Orlando Day 1: Magic Kingdom

Sue had a conference she was attending for work in Orlando this week, so we decided to crash her hotel room and head down for some summer fun.

We hit up Disney's Magic Kingdom on day one of our three day whirlwind adventure. Here are a few pictures to tell the tale...

Cinderella's Castle

Livi and her mama (with a bit of the Mickey topiary in the background)

Hydrating. Olivia did not fall asleep AT ALL while we were there. NO NAPS! And she was cheerful all day. I couldn't believe it! Must have been the magic of Disney...

Teacups. This might be my all time favorite of the trip. Somewhere there is a classic picture of Joy as a three year old in a tea cup. I think this one is almost as cute.

In line for Dumbo.

Daddy and Livi riding Dumbo (someone got claustrophobic during the 45 min wait and stepped out of line...)

Olivia in her 3-D glasses for Mickey's Philhar-Magic. It might have been my favorite part of the day. She kept grabbing for the 3-D images that floated in front of her. SO cute!

Cheeser grins on the carousel. LOVE that girl!

West Virginia

* This is one of four new posts, so keep scrolling!

As previously mentioned, while Jon was away at a conference last week, Olivia and I escaped the loneliness of our house by visiting Lisa, Bill & family in West Virginia! It was a five hour drive to Lewisberg, and Olivia was remarkably well behaved. (Except for sticking her fingers down her throat and making herself vomit. Gross. She is a a face discovery stage. She has also started picking her nose. Awesome.) The camera battery was low and I failed to bring the charger, so I took very few pictures, and didn't even get one of Lisa and I, but here are a couple I DID get. We had a great time, and Olivia absolutely LOVED getting to play with Lisa's boys. Thanks, Lisa and Bill, for hosting us, cooking for us, taking us to the lake, and most of all, putting up with teething!

Olivia and Sammy were snuggle buddies!

Lisa with Olivia at the lake.

Baby float!


Water baby.

Father's Day Steps

Today, in celebration of her awesome, wonderful, kind, patient, selfless dad, Olivia decided to take her first steps! It was so unexpected that we definitely did not get it on camera, and she so surprised herself that she was nervous to repeat the feat, however, she took three steps on her own right into my arms! It was amazing! Jon and I were both walking on air afterward. It is incredible to watch your children learn and grow! My baby is turning into a little girl!!!

Swing Set!

I've been meaning to post these for awhile. Jon is amazing, and was up to the challenge of designing and building our own swing set. All the kits are not only super pricey, but they also tend to be much too large for our tiny back yard. He spent ALL day Memorial Day building it! Here are some pictures of the process and the final product! Olivia absolutely LOVES it!!
staining the wood

building the frame

marking & drilling holes

watching daddy do all the work

digging a hole on one side so the swing set is even

putting the crossbar on the frame

Sumner (Livi's friend) testing it out

loving it!

Thanks, Jon for your hard work!! This is an awesome addition to our backyard!!

Gummy Grin

Found this picture of Olivia's hilariously cute gummy grin. Can you see why I'm going to miss it?

She's got 'em!

Olivia and I just returned from a wonderful trip to West Virginia. We visited Lisa, my college roommate, and her family. We had a blast playing with them, and I don't know what Olivia is going to do without Lisa's boys around to chase her, tickle her, and entertain her. The only downside was the nightly screaming. But I am pleased to announce that my little gummy grinner has not one, but two little teeth. They are adorable, absolutely officially teeth, and very sharp. I'm a little sad that her gummy grin will never be quite the same, but mostly I'm excited for her. Way to go, gummy grinner!

Just so cute!

I just can't get enough of my baby girl. She is at such a fun age, and she is so cute! See for yourself...

Terrible Mother

Last night Olivia cried herself to sleep. Screamed/cried. I felt horribly guilty about it, but I didn't know what else to do. I tried to rock her and comfort her, but she just kept hitting me! Hitting? She's only one...oh boy. I felt even worse when she awoke at 4:20 this morning with the same scream-cry. At that point I caved and cuddled her back to sleep in our bed. Then today I saw what just might possibly be the bud of a little tiny tooth starting to poke through. Now, I really can't say I trust myself in these matters. Ever since she was six months old, when she's gone through a fussy period I have thought she was teething. I have given her teething toys, teething tablets, and when she was feverish, even the occasional tylenol. But since she has reached 12 months, and still doesn't have teeth, I have stopped even thinking that teething might be the reason she's fussy. So last night, she didn't get any of that special teething treatment. Who knows if it's for real, but it sure looked like a tooth to me. My poor little girl.

Don't talk to strangers?

Today the washing machine repair man came over. To repair the washing machine. Anyway, Olivia smiled at him as he entered, and then we showed him down the basement laundry room and left him to do his thing. Awhile later, he came up to ask a question, and when he headed back downstairs, Olivia started crying. She was suddenly attached to him! When he finished the job and left, she cried again, and we had to stand at the door waving bye-bye to him for five minutes! He probably thought we were crazy. How am I ever going to teach this girl not to talk to strangers?

10 Year Reunion

We took a trip to Michigan this past weekend for my 10 year high school reunion. It was a great trip, and the reunion was definitely an interesting experience (though I have to admit, not quite as awkward as I had anticipated.) We drove 6 hours to Akron, Ohio Thursday night, stayed there, and then drove up to Michigan on Friday morning. We went to Frankenmuth, a German town that I have always loved, visited with the Bergers (she was Young Women's president when I was a laurel), stayed a the Boling's house (and had a GREAT time!), saw the Howards, drove around Holly, had a get-together with HS friends at the Prechowski's house, went to the reunion, ate at Big Boy, and attended the Fenton Ward sacrament meeting. It was a wonderful whirl-wind trip, and I loved it. It still felt like home, even though I haven't been back in SIX years. Here is some photo documentation of the adventure.