Part Two- Family Visit

Part Two: Visiting the Family

This was such a long trip, and as you can tell from the first week's pictures, it was a very busy trip. By the time we got to our first family stop, we were already pooped and overtired. Olive handled it all well, and was super excited to see new things and people, but we paid for it at night. She's usually a really good sleeper, but not during this trip. This made it super hard on us, but we made it through. I have new sympathies for people who struggle with sleep at this age. 

First stop: Adam's parents! They live in Aptos, overlooking the whole bay. It's just an amazing view that Olive cant really enjoy or appreciate yet, but she did enjoy other views... the dog, the clock, grandpa's chair, and new toys! Olive is a huge animal lover, and is so gentle and sweet with them all. Adam's parents dog, Bessie, was no exception. Olive would giggle as she fed her Cheerio after Cheerio! Bessie, who usually kinda hides when we visit, was out watching Olives every move, in hopes of getting another snack. Olive was fascinated by Adam's dad's wheel chair. She would make the hand sign for the wheels on the bus going round and round. She gave grandpa some hugs and high fives! Her two favorite things she did there were: One, swing on the swings at the park, and two, Play hide and seek with "Grandma Tiger". We would all run through the house, hiding, giggling and chasing! She LOVED this!!!

Adam and I on a sunset walk

One amazing sunset.

Despite the crazy look on her face, she was so happy to be swinging!

The Billingsley's

Here Olive met two puggy boys what she also fell in love with. My parents have two pug boys, who was so sweet and gentle with Olive! Olive loved running about my parents house, playing with them, the ornaments on the tree, and all the toys over there! She loved seeing my family too, although got stingy about loving on my dad sometimes. She loves him and thinks hes funny, but not because of his jokes! (hahah I love you dad!) My parents live in the mountains just outside Yosemite! Their cute house is nestled in the woods, and Olive enjoyed exploring and searching for the cat. 

While we were there, we couldn't resist going to Yosemite. I had never been there, and I really wanted to go. It ended up being a long car ride for Olive, who got grumpy in the car, but it was well worth the headache. I had seen pictures of this place, but being there in person was amazing. I hope to go back one day and hike around and see it more. Our trip was short because our toddler needed it to be (It was also FREEZING). I managed to snag some good picts though!

My wonderful mama!

My sweet man

Half Dome!

Grammie showing Olive how to make snow balls

My sister, Bekka, and her family joined us for a nice afternoon of food and silliness! Her 3 boys are growing up so fast, and its always nice to see and hug them! My mom make her delicious clam chowder. I made some seriously yummy chicken enchiladas, and we ate a lot! Bekka and I sang our "White Christmas" song, Olive and Owen took a bath and ran around naked together (haha one day that will be so embarrassing to them both). It was just a wonderful time enjoying family! I wish I took more pictures of this part of the trip. I think I was just so tired.

"Selfies with Aunt Bekka"

The last day of our trip we visited with Adam's sister and her husband. Erin and Kyle were so welcoming and its always nice to see them. Im sure we were all kinda grumpy at this point, but they didnt kick us out. We spend the day at the San Jose Discovery museum, where Olive ran all over the place "discovering" so many things. She loved it, and it totally wore us out.

We made it home at midnight on Christmas Eve. Everything was closed, and the only thing in our fridge was leftovers from Thanksgiving... no joke. Luckily, my mom sent us a lovely basket of meats and cheeses, that Adam and I pigged out on after a super long day of travel.

What a trip huh? Reading all this makes me no longer wonder why I am so tired the past week. I am literally in bed right now and its not even 7:30! We LOVED seeing our family and friends! We also doubt we will take a trip that long for a while. Its been a week since we got back and tonight was the first night Olive went to bed at a normal time. Merry Christmas everyone!!!

Sixteen going on Seventeen

Oh my my my Olive is growing! She is doing so many new things, its hard to keep track! She had her shots this past week, which are never fun, but she made it through fine. Lately I feel like she really understands everything I say, and loves following directions (Ill take it while I can...) She loves helping me do things, and loves being a big girl!

Physically:
She is 24.5 pounds, 31 inches high. Her hair is almost touching her shoulders. She has 12 teeth. We are waiting for her canines. She can FULL RUN now, and loves to do it! She practices jumping and walking on her tip toes. I have no clue where she learned that, but its adorable. She climbs up everything, and is still pretty fearless, which makes me super nervous! At the park she goes down the slide all by herself now, and LOVES it. She is wearing 12-18 month clothes, and size 5 shoes.

Emotionally:
She is a full blown toddler and seems like she is totally bi-polar! One second she is giggling and laughing about something. Then, Screaming "NOOOOOO!" with full eye tears and body falling to the ground, then, back to giggling about something else. It's a complete roller coaster!!! I do my best to just stay calm and let her do her toddler thing. Overall though, shes still a very happy child! She is very attached to both Adam and I right now. She doesnt want either of us to leave her. She gets upset when he has to go to work, and asks about him through out the day. She likes video chatting with him while he is gone, and is excited to see him in the evening.

Socially:
She is a busy girl who plays by herself, but loves watching others around her playing too. She is very friendly to her "friends" and really enjoys being around bigger girls. She copies what they do, and they love playing with her. She loves to read stories. Right now she is really into books that have flip up doors in them. She loves looking at books with a lot of detailed pictures. She points out the words she knows, and says "uh oooh" when something is wrong in a book. Its cute. She loves playing with her babies, her cars, and blocks! She loves stacking!

Verbally:
She has her way of communicating thats for sure! She probably says a couple dozen words now. She sometimes puts two words together, like "Mama, NO!" or "Hi Baby!" She loves saying "up" and "down", "hot"(and blowing on it), "hat", "no!", "ok!", "ball", "bahboon" (balloon). She makes most animal noises, although some are not the "traditional" sounds. She just started doing the elephant sound and makes a nose with her hand. Cute.

She loves eating, singing songs, reading books, and kicking the ball around outside. She is amazing in everyway and I love watching her grow!!

She loves playdough!

First pedicure!

In the backyard watching geese!

A day in the Gardens

Fall has begun! I am really looking forward to seeing the beautiful season changes here in Pennsylvania! Last weekend we took a little day trip to Winterthur Gardens. Its only about a half hour drive, and its a really nice place! They have a childrens "Enchanted Woods", where they can run and play in nature! Olive just loved it! She was all over the place, learning and growing. She had a little runny nose, which you might see in the pictures, but it didn't slow her down one bit.

She loved seeing the huge Koi fish! They came right up to us and let us touch them!

There was a giant bird "nest" with these wooden eggs. She tried to sit on them.

She loved the little houses! 

Daddy plays "patty cake"!

Everything was so exciting!

She's really into walking backwards to sit in chairs now, so these chairs were a HIT!

The mushrooms shot out a wet mist!

Walking over the troll bridge with daddy!

What a GREAT day! We got a membership there, and they have year round events, so I will be posting more about this beautiful place!!

Pumpkin Patch Kid

Today we headed out to a local pumpkin patch! I know, its not quite October yet, but it was a beautiful day! Olive didn't quite know what to think. She kept calling the pumpkins "apples", which, if you think of it, is pretty smart! 

Bad mama put her in a DRESS! I didnt realise that pumpkin plants are pokey and can hurt! OH well, she didnt mind too much. Note to self, pants next time.

She thought it was fun to sit ON the pumpkins!

After she fell off the pumpkin, we got this good shot.

She kept trying to pick it up!

She kept making the "RUUUUM" noise of the tractor, and was completely enthralled.

It was very important to her to push this all on her own. Shes really strong. 

She loaded up her baby pumpkin...

The ground was full of hole and spikey things, so she prefered holding on to dad.

What a great day! I cant wait to cut these orange apples open and make a huge mess! 

Fourteen Months

Well, were a week shy of fifteen month now. Time is moving fast than ever....

Fourteen month Olive goes to Storytime in her "Kitty dress"!

Olive is just growing into such a little girl! Everyday I see more and more of her hilarious personality! She makes me laugh, I mean, BELLY laugh, daily. She really loves to laugh, and tries to turn any situation, into one full of laughter. I wonder where she gets this from..? She is doing this funny thing where everytime she takes a bit of food she makes this loud "GGGRRRROAR" and then makes chopping noises. I just love this.

Shes RUNNING. I have to move fast to prevent her from falling of something dangerous, which can be super exhausting.

She eats CONSTANTLY, and loves food. She eats pretty much anything I give her. Her favorite foods are: mushrooms, Amy's veggie Enchiladas, ham, and berries. She also loves the occasional potato chip! She still loves her almond milk in the bottle too.

She loves people! We took her to a party today, and she was just smiling and interacting with about anyone would would agree to. Ive started taking her to the childcare at the YMCA while I work out, and they LOVE her in there. She seems busy and happy to play with different toys.

She really enjoys watching Daniel Tiger on Netflix. She loves the songs and waves to him. Its cute.

She loves going on walks with us around the block. She watches for dogs, bunnies, trucks, motorcycles, and other kids. She lets me know if she sees any of these.

She has started saying "no" and shaking her head. She also equally says "yep". She mostly says "no" to the dogs when they hound her for food.... She thinks its hilarious to shake her head when I ask for a kiss. Then, proceeds to kiss EVERYTHING else she can... just not me. Picture of me? yes... just not me. Hilarious.

She loves reading books. Her favorite is probably Goodnight Moon. She loves pointing out where the mouse is. She also likes Dr. Seuss, and any book full of pictures.

Olive sits in her chair and reads.

OOOOh baby, is she obsessed with babies. She is starting to have a little collection of them too. She hugs them, kisses them, rocks them, feeds them, and makes them dance. She lays them on blankets and gives them bottles. I tell her she is such a good mommy.

Shes quite the helper these days too. She follows directions pretty well, so if i tell her something like... "bring me your plate so I can give you more food", she does it. She helps me take care of the dogs too. She finds their dog food bowls so I can feed them. She carries out the clean poop bags when I take them out, and then hands them to me when one of them poops. She also alerts me when lucy has fallen somewhere and needs help. I hope this trait stays for a while.

She also loves her daddy. This girl is a daddys girl. She LOVES him. Seriously. She loves to play with him, but also snuggles and kisses him too. Shes a lucky girl to have such a loving daddy. He is the best.

Olive and Daddy being cozy after a long day of making this room messy.

Shes still interested in the potty, and will occasionally do something on it. She is aware and tells me when shes pooping or when she has peed in her diaper. No rush here, its a huge process and were at the very begining.

She is such a fashionista!

Playing with play-doah