Part Two- Holidays with the Wallaces!

Christmas Morning we drove from my parents house to Adam's parents house in Aptos. She was SO excited to see "Grandma Tiger" and "Papa Bob"! She had the most amazing fun opening more presents! Grandma set up such a cute little bed for her (complete with a Frozen blanket). Our visit with them was full of so many fun activities! She even let grandma braid her hair!

One of Olive's favorite things we did was visit the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She LOVED it there! It was so stinking crowded there, but we managed to see all the animals! She would SQUEAL while watching the otters play! She loved watching them swing from a dangling rope, and hide in big buckets. She loved them! She also loved the penguins, and still talks about them. I'm so glad she got to share this experience with her grandma!

She was tired by the end of the day, but I had to get this picture! :)

She also got to meet her new baby cousin, Madison! At that point she was like six weeks old, and she's absolutely adorable!!! We held and cuddled with her and enjoyed visiting with her and Aunt Erin and Uncle Kyle! She remembered Erin from July, when she came to visit, and she was thrilled to see her! Olive is already looking forward to next Christmas when she can play with her baby cousin again!

Proud Auntie Mimi with Beautiful Madison!

Reading stories with Erin!

We also got to take Olive to the Redwoods! We went to Henry Cowell park, which is minutes from the High School where Adam and I met, and Roaring camp. It was a little chilly out that day, but we really enjoyed the nice walk through the redwoods with our "fairy" daughter. She ran through the forest, climbed on the trees, and enjoyed the whole day. It's just amazing watching her see all these things for the first time. She was a little scared because she thought the "tree caves" might have bears....

In the end, we had an amazing trip! It was so nice seeing our families and spending time with each one of them! Olive still asks on a daily basis when we are going back! Hopefully, it will be this year!!

Holidays in California- Part 1

Oh boy! Another year is over, and a new year begins. This past year has gone by so fast, its not even funny. I swear, this time last year I was rocking my baby, feeding her a bottle, and putting her in her crib. Tonight she will go on the potty, climb into her big girl bed, and read stories with us. She's talking up a storm, and seriously saying some funny stuff. This girl is growing up so fast, and I just love every little phase (except maybe teething ;) )There are just so many wonderful things about this age. She is so much more independent, although that can be extremely frustrating too. She demands to do something "all by herself", and then cant do it yet, and then cries. So... that's a ball of fun too. She loves playing dress up, which is pretty adorable. She got a princess Elsa dress and runs around the house singing "Let it GOOOO!"

Here are some favorite quotes of hers right now....
"Don't take my boots, or your a naughty girl" (said her friend Dalia)
"This room is RUBBISH!" (referring to her uncle John's messy room)
"I never want to play ever again" (said when mad about something)
"I want to stay in the bath forever!" (said in the bath tub)
"Your a good mommy" (said to a teary mom this morning)
"I love my daddy"
"Papa is my husband" (uuuh...?)
"Mango is my best friend"
"I am hungry for SLEEP" (said last night in bed)
"Don't stay up too late" (What she says to us after we tuck her in)


So, we went to California for the holidays. We were gone for 2 weeks, and we had a blast! I look back on all these pictures, and I am just amazed that we did all this stuff. Olive REALLY had a great time, and even though she was completely overwhelmed and exhausted at times, she was in a great mood most of the time... There were a few fun "2-year old moments". Here is our trip, play by play.

The flight out went well thanks to the amazing invention called the IPAD. She loved flying and wasnt at all affected by my panic attacks during take off. We flew into SFO and got our rental car, which Olive called "our red car" for the whole trip. We stayed with our amazing friends Carolee and DJ, aka "Caroleejay", and their super sweet dog Audrey Podrey. Olive was obsessed with her. While in the city she went to the nail salon for her first mani (painted "frozen colors"), went to the park, and Benihanas of course.

We also spent a couple of days with some of my friends and their wonderful daughters too. SERIOUSLY.... I didnt get a single picture of Rachel and Deborah and their amazing daughters!? We had a wonderful time hanging out and playing and chatting. I seriously miss them everyday. Also, missed seeing Jamilla due to illness :( Hope to see her next year.

Then, off to my parents in Coarsegold Ca. Olive LOVED it there! She loves pugs, and my parents had 2, and adopted a new one while we were out there, so that was very special!

While visiting, my sister and her adorable family came down to visit too, and we went to dinner (Happy anniversary mom and dad!), and a children's museum. That museum was seriously fun, and I've never seen Olive play like that! She pretended to be just about everything, and smiled the whole time! Her big cousin Garrett was so cute and helped her get changed and played so well with her. Her other cousins Walker and Owen also had a blast! What a fun day! I think her favorite thing was pretending to be a chef. She was very busy cooking and saying things like "I better put the pizza in the oven", and "its almost ready!"

Grammy took her shopping, and Olive loved being super girly with her!

Christmas eve came, and she was so stinking excited for Santa to come. She kept asking how Santa would get down such a small chimney. "He too big for THAT chimney!" She calmed down when papa told her he will just come through the door. I read her The Night Before Christmas, sand her Silent Night, and she slept like a baby.

In the morning it was the most magical thing seeing her excitement when she saw her new scooter! It made Christmas  so magical again for me. It was just a wonderful morning with laughing, family, presents, and happiness. She just loves her papa, grammy, and uncle John. Her new pug family gave her many kisses, and we were off to Adams family!

Santa brought her a new scooter!

Grammy got a trumpet, and Olive liked it too!

 Stay tuned for part 2.....