Eleven Months

Eleven months old this week! Olivia is growing fast and we have started planning that big one year birthday party! Lots of new changes this month!

She is eating all table food, no more baby food for this girl! And, she is quite the little beggar, too! She is eating everything in sight. The only food she will not touch is peas. We can't get her to try any cups. I have tried several types and several different drinks off and on for months, but she is extremely attached to her bottle.

Olivia is standing alone. She can go from sitting to standing all by herself in the middle of the room. No  help is needed from furniture. She thinks she is "so big" and claps her hands every time she does it! Olivia is also walking along furniture and can walk with someone holding her hands. It will be just a few short weeks until she takes off on her own! Then we are really in trouble! That is because this girl has no fear! She has no problem with throwing herself headfirst off of furniture. She tries to climb on and over everything, especially trying to get what she wants. She tries to climb out of her high chair and the grocery carts. She is our little daredevil and will be the one standing on her toes so she can ride the roller coasters at Walt Disney World!

She has started putting together a few syllables to make meaningful "words." Mama and Da-da are definitely said quite a bit. We hear "uh-oh" a lot! She will even say "ee" for Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

She is such a blessing to all of us and we love her so much!

Disney Cruise Line in Texas!

The Disney Magic® is currently sailing out of Galveston, Texas. That means Mickey Mouse is only a five hour drive away instead of nineteen! We just got back from a quick four night cruise. We took six of our top agents from our agency, Off to Neverland Travel®. Hannah loved having six "aunts" around and we loved getting to know each of them a little better. We also got some work done, too! :)

It was a quick trip but definitely a blast! This cruise was just a teaser for our longer one in a few months. We are already counting down the days!

Love that Daddy! Absolutely love this picture!

Little Princess Cinderella

Pirate night

Hannah looks so old in this picture!

Ten Months

It is hard to believe that we will be celebrating Olivia's first birthday in just two months!  This year has flown by.  She grows and changes everyday.  Olivia is such a little ham.  She is always making silly faces and sounds especially if she knows it will make you laugh.  She loves her big sister and gets so excited when she sees her.  Of course, her first word is da-da and it isn't just babbling.  She purposely calls Chet, Da-Da, when she sees him.  She loves her Da-Da and tries to "escape" the living room multiple times a day to visit him in the office.  Hannah is trying so hard to get her to say her name, and, of course, Ma-Ma only comes out when she is mad.

Olivia is pulling up and beginning to walk along the furniture which means a new level of the house must be baby-proofed!  She loves to climb and can pull herself over small boxes and obstacles.  She is always on the move!  Putting her in the chair is the only way I could her to stay put for a few minutes!  Her new favorite game is taking a small ball, throwing it across the floor and chasing after it.

She still doesn't have any teeth but is currently cutting the four front ones!  Olivia has suddenly decided that she loves table food and is quite the little beggar.  She would much rather have what is on someone else's plate than her own and isn't afraid to go after it if it is within reach.

Such a sweet, precious girl!

Christmas Morning

The weeks since Christmas have been a bit crazy between traveling to Midland and the other three people of this house passing the stomach bug around!  We are all finally well and beginning to hit our groove this new year.

We had a wonderful Christmas!  Santa came to visit the girls, bringing Hannah an American Girl doll and Olivia received a baby-sized play house.  We even had a white Christmas by the end of the day.  The second white Christmas in four years.  Crazy Texas weather!

Olivia loves her playhouse and plays in it almost every day!  

She didn't hesitate to check it all out Christmas morning.

Merry and Bright!

Nine Months

Little Livi-Lu turned nine months old this week!  She has grown a ton this month and thinks she is as big as her sister!  Her face is beginning to look more like a toddler than an infant although she still doesn't have any teeth.  Hannah was about the same age when she got her first tooth so I am not too concerned.

Within a few days of crawling, she decided that wasn't enough and started pulling up.  She is everywhere and into everything.  She loves to explore and hide under our kitchen table.  Olivia loves to chase after our robot vacuum, but isn't too thrilled when it bumps into her.  

Olivia has decided that she is much too busy to take naps during the day.  Most days, she'll only sleep for no more than an hour.  She is generally calm and easy going until she gets hungry or sleepy.  She is still very much a Mama's girl, but is doing much better at entertaining herself at home and not needing to be held all day.  Olivia is finally at an age where she and Hannah can entertain each other for awhile!

We are excited about her first Christmas next week!

This expression reminds me so much of her big sister!

More Christmas Fun

Christmas is less than a week a way!  This month has gone by so fast!  In some ways, I am ready for it to be here, and in other ways, I could use a few more weeks.  We have been having fun each day celebrating the season.  One day, Hannah took a list of items from our church's food pantry and went shopping for others.

Hannah has also asked multiple times when it is going to snow.  Unfortunately, living where we do that most likely isn't going to happen!  So, we had a snowball fight with giant campfire marshmallows!

Hannah also had her class Christmas party and program at school last week.  She did a great job at the performance.  Definitely a ham dancing and singing! She has come a long ways since she cried if she saw us from the stage.

Yesterday, we met some friends at the Gaylord Hotel to walk through the ICE! Exhibit.  It was a lot of fun and freezing!  The room is kept at 9 degrees.  Thankfully, the provide the big blue parkas since we aren't really prepared for that kind of weather!  

Hannah loved the exhibit since it was themed to the Madagascar movies and loved the big ice slides.  Olivia thought it was great, too!  She spent the entire time snuggled against my chest in her Ergo carrier with the parka wrapped around us both.  She was so cozy and warm that she took a nap!

We also purchased the pass for Hannah to go sledding down the snow hills.  The picture is a bit blurry since I was using my phone that day.  Hannah is on the end.  She sledded ten times, each time with a big grin on her face!

After ICE!, we headed over to Rainforest Cafe to eat with our friends.  Such a great day!