Merry Christmas

Olivia Kate {22 Months}

This girl of mine...

She is getting so big!

So full of personality!!
It has been a fun month with our Olivia Kate.

She keeps us smiling,

and occasionally...

wanting to pull our hair out :)

Livvy LOVES to jump!

It is so funny to watch her.

She also loves to dance.

She has some great moves too!

Livvy still has Daddy wrapped around her little finger.

Curtis loves that baby girl.

And she loves her Dad.

He puts her to bed at night.

It's their time together.

I cannot remember if I have shared before,

but she has an obsession with elbows.

Yes, super strange, I know...

When she is tired,

she will says,

"Elbow,"

And you have to pull up your shirt sleeve,

to expose your bare elbow,

for her to hold.

A shirted elbow will just not do.

And she often needs both elbows.
Not sure where it came from,

or why she does it.

And yes, we think it is so weird!!
But, it puts her to sleep.

Every. Time.

There were some BIG changes this month for Livvy!!

I finally weaned her.

Well, almost :)

She is down to just nursing in the morning.

It wasn't easy,

and she is still "mourning" the loss.

But, I am so grateful to be down to once a day.

I am glad to have nursed for so long,

but it was time.

When she started saying,

"other side."

it was definitely time.... TMI!?

And now, she is eating so much better!!

Her favorites are:
Eggs, black beans, avocados, oranges, and yogurt.

Livvy is talking tons.

And pretty clearly.

We love it!!!

She can pretty much express anything she wants.

A few nights ago she and Ansley were playing in her room.

Ansley closed the door,

and I hear,
"Ansley, I tuck in here!"

(She cannot open doors yet!)

Ansley immediately opened the door for her :)

Liv and Ansley have such a sweet relationship!

We love you Livvy Kate!!

Thanksgiving 2010

We headed out to Curtis' parents house for Thanksgiving this year.

I brought my camera,

but sadly didn't take a single picture!?

We had a wonderful time though!!

Eating yummy food,

and enjoying time with a lot of family!

(But we sure missed Wayne and Renee!!)

I love this time of year,

when I reflect on the things that I am thankful for.

A loving husband, who takes good care of his family!

Two beautiful girls.

My supportive and wonderful parents and Curtis'.

Awesome brothers and sisters, both my own, and Curtis'.

Cousins.

Cute cousins for my girls to play with.

Family.

Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles.

Eternal families!

Friends who are always there. No matter what.

My faith and testimony.

A warm, cozy home.

Curtis' job.

My sewing machine... Really, it is my sanity some days.

And so many, many more things.

We are so blessed.

{Olivia Kate 21 Months}

Olivia Kate is 21 months!?

Wow...

I say it every month,

but really!???

She is going to be 2!

Soon.

This month Livvy showed intrest in the potty.

So, we got her a little pink potty.

She has yet to use it.

But, she loves sitting on it.

Clothed or not.

Yes, her foot is stuck in her pants.

One of her favorite things is to talk on the phone.

No idea where she gets that!?

Right....

She loves to call Petch or Grandpa.

And talk, talk, talk.

She is usually not ready to get off the phone when the other person is.

And will say,

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Minute!"

Olivia loves to draw and color.

We are all very impressed with how well she holds her crayons!

Coloring will entertain her for about 5 whole minutes!
This is a LONG time :)

I cannot get over how much more she is talking.

Every day it is more!!!

Repeating anything we say.

This week, she started saying,

"tank tue much"

I love it!!!

She will also say,

"Ansley, where are you?"

She is loving books!

Which I am really enjoying.
We read several books before bed.

And then she takes them to her crib.

I heard her the other night,

"reading" to herself in her bed.

She has been really sweet with Ansley lately.

Wanting to sit beside her.

And hugging her a lot.

Ansley has noticed the difference too!

And she loves it!!

We love you Livvy Kate!!

Halloween

Halloween is not my favorite holiday.

I know... I know...

Everyone loves Halloween.

It just seems like a lot of work to me.

Add rain, and freezing temperatures,

and I am the parent that doesn't want to take the kids out!?

This Halloween was a bit CRAZY!?
Olivia had a darling butterfly costume.

She hated it.

So we borrowed the CUTEST octopus costume last minute.

It was a size 6-12 month, and just fit.

I added a bow, of course :)

Ansley was a pirate.

She wore her costume 3 days in a row.

Dance, school, and then trick-or-treating.

Amazingly it was still clean by Saturday night!?
After attempting to go the mall,

where ALL the stores were out of candy!?
We made the rounds in my parent's neighborhood.

It was a fun night.

But a little chaotic!

Trying to get a picture of the two of them is IMPOSSIBLE!?

See what I mean!?
Love this picture though.
Classic.

At least Ansley was ready!!

Happy Halloween 2010!

Pirate Island Birthday Celebration!

Instead of a big party for Ansley this year,

went to Pirate Island Pizza.

We had never been there before.

It was surpisingly fun!!

It was a nice low key evening with family.

Pirates, Presents, and Pizza!

Olivia enjoying her pirate hat.

Or not...

Clay and his girlfriends!

(Did I mention, Clay is HOME!? and in Utah!?)
Clay and Haley got Ansley a Barbie house!
She LOVES the thing!!

Aw!!

Grandma and Ansley!
Enjoying the yummy salad bar!

Ansley is 6!?

On October 16th Ansley turned 6!?

I cannot believe my little baby girl is 6!!

She is getting so grown-up!
Kindergarten.

Losing teeth.

Ballet lessons.

Talking about cute boys!?

It's all happening too fast!!

My beautiful toothless girl :)

She has now lost 3 teeth.

She still thinks visits from the tooth fairy are the best thing.

Ever.

Well, that and her Barbie house she got for her birthday.

Aunt Haley did a good job!

She is still one spunky little Miss!!

Ansley loves strutting her stuff for the camera.

Or putting on a show for friends.

She models for us whenever she puts on a new outfit.

The shoulder action involved in her model walk is hilarious!

She loves to sing!

Her favorite food is pizza.

Or spaghetti.

She loves Wizards of Waverly Place.

And Hannah Montanta.

She is growing up too fast.

Ansley loves school.

She is starting to read!

She declares everyday is the best day she has ever had.

I love her great attitude about life!
I could not be more proud of the girl she is becoming!!

She is a great sister,

and daughter.

A wonderful friend.

Smart.

And pretty cute too :)

We love you Ansley!!

We are so glad you are a part of our family!!
Happy 6th Birthday!!!

Cornbelly's

Ever since moving to Utah I have heard about Cornbelly's.

Somehow though, we hadn't ever made it there!

Fall break seemed liked the perfect opportunity to meet good friends,

for some fun at Cornbelly's!

It will definitely be a yearly tradition!!

Livvy was a little young for it, but Ansley had a blast!!

What a fun day it was!!

Thanks Brit, Kaylee and Ellie for the invitation!!

And for the pretty pictures :)

Livvy LOVED the big jumping pillows.

But, wouldn't venture too far on her own.

At one point she was toppled over by a little boy.

She didn't even cry!

I helped her bounce on the edge.

Ansley and her good friend Kaylee!
She calls the time that Kaylee lived a few doors down,

"the good ole days!"

We miss Kaylee and Ellie!!

(And Britney and Kevin too!)

Those were good days!!

Ansley had no problems jumping all on her own!!
That girl has endless energy it seems!

A better shot of the Ghost shirt, on my cute girl :)

Ansley and her early birthday present.

My girl turned 6 yesterday,

more on that to come.

But, she is suddenly Barbie obsessed.

Barbie enjoyed all the activities at Cornbelly's :)
I love fall in Utah.

And all the fun things there are here!

Girly Ghost Shirt

Livvy NEEDED a Halloween shirt :)

Ansley has 3 from last year, I didn't want Liv to feel left out after all.

I searched the mall for a cute one.

And left empty handed.

So, I made her a girly ghost one!

Copied from a Gap tee that they didn't have anymore.

I pretty much LOVE it.

And the best part:

It only took 1 hour it took to make!

Now, if I could just teach her to pose for the camera :)

Pink bow, pink hightop. Does it get any cuter than that??

Olivia Kate {20 months}

Our little Liv is 20 months.

Well, she will be tomorrow- but I have time to blog today!

I feel like she has turned into a little girl this month!

It breaks my heart, just a little, to see this girl grow up.

But, we do love watching her learn new things.

Like how she gives the best kisses.

With her sweet little fish face pucker.

And, when she says goodbye, she blows you a kiss!

It will melt your heart.

I promise!

She is always on the move.

Sitting still only for moments at a time.

But, those sweet still moments are the best of all,

because she is usually paused for a hug.

Her talking has taken off even more this month.

I love hearing her saying new things daily.

Like at Gap a few weeks ago,

when she grabbed a shirt off the shelf and declared it,

"Cuuute."

Or when she throws something in the trash:

"Ewww, deguteen" (disgusting.)

When she sees her own picture and says,

"Baby!"

She has loved trying on her new fall clothes.

That is what big girls do!

She will even spin when you ask her turn around!??

And, then she doesn't want to take them off.

She has an obsession with her blue loafers.

Bought by her favorite person,

"Nana" (Our fabulous friend, and taker of the above pictures, Triana.)

She is obsessed, and wants to wear them with everything!

So, when you see her in her cute blue loafers,

and they don't match,

remember I am picking my battles!

She just doesn't seem much like a baby anymore.

Today, she wanted to wear panties!

Panties!!!

She is 20 months old.

She ran into the closet, and grabbed Ansley's panties.

She was yelling, "Ansley," and pointing to them as I put them on her.

It lasted 20 minutes, when I finally wrestled her back into a diaper.

Mama isn't ready for potty training quite yet!

Maybe next month?

We love you Livvy Kate!

Stay little for just awhile longer, please??

Sealed: For time and all Eternity

June 26, 2010 marked the most important day for our family.

Curtis and I were sealed for time and all eternity in the Draper, Utah Temple.

Olivia was sealed to us.

It was such a special day. A day I will never forgot.

A day I will always be grateful for.

A day we waited a long time for.

We were so blessed to be joined by wonderful family and friends.

It still brings tears to my eyes to remember the feelings of the day.

We are an eternal family.

(Picture September 2010 by Triana Ord Photography)

The Tooth Fairy

Ansley lost her first tooth last night!

To say she was excited would be an understatement.

We tucked the tooth into her sweet little tooth pillow.

(Which I should get a picture of, but Livvy is napping right now, in the room with the pillow)

And Ansley reminded me that she wanted a figurine, not just money from the tooth fairy!

Being a tooth fairy is hard work!

Poor fairy had a hard time finding the tooth pillow!!

Don't worry though, she did.

And she left $2, special fairy dust, and a hand written teeny, tiny note!

Fair dust is nice and sparkly. And comes in a pretty jeweled container!

But, wouldn't you know?

Those jewels don't stick very well.

So the tooth fairy had to make some apologies in her note.

Her note read:

Dear Ansley,

Congratulations on your first tooth loss!

Here is some special fairy dust for you!

Oops. Looks like I lost a jewel! Hope you don't

mind.

Love,

The Tooth Fairy

P.S.

I hear you are tooth fairy too!

In case you have forgotten,

Ansley is the tooth fairy!

My Dad and she play this game.

She knew the tooth fairy was real because,

"She wrote in cursive, and even knew my name.

Plus she lost a jewel. And that is something tooth fairies do!"

This morning, when Ansley woke up she was SO excited!

She ran into my room to tell me,

"The tooth fairy is AWESOME! This is better than my birthday!"

On the way to school she called Grandma to tell her the big news!

And what the fairy had left her.

She told her all about how the fairy dust was real!

"I used it in my room, so it didn't work,

but when I get home from school I am going to use it outside.

And I will fly! I have been waiting years to fly!"

I might have some explaining to do after school!

Uh oh...

First Day of Kindy!

Ansley started her first day of school today!

I cannot believe she is in kindergarten!!

She was so excited this morning, she asked me,

"Mom, you aren't just tricking me, I really do get to go to school today, right?"

Ansley is getting so grown-up! It kills me :(

Some days I just want her to stop.

But most days I just enjoy watching the little lady she is becoming.

My little camera ready girl. Always has a pose!

With the backpack. A sweet gift from Grandma and Grandpa Larson!
She's one styling girl!

Is it time yet??

We stopped to pick up Grandma on the way.

She didn't want to miss the big "drop-off"

Grandma cried, I did not.

I was sad though.

Just a little :)

And just a little excited too!

(That doesn't make me a bad Mom, right?)

Ansley LOVED her first day!

She jumped in the car after pick-up, and said,

"School is AWESOME! I don't just like it, I love it! I am going to go everyday!"

Hope she feels that way about school for many years to come!!

Livvy says...

Luh loo.
So cute!

Loose Tooth

Ansley has her first loose tooth.

And she is SO excited!

When she discovered her loose tooth, she excitedly exclaimed,

"This is better than my birthday,

let's call everyone we know!"

We proceeded to make about 5 phone calls.

She wanted to make sure Grandma would

wiggle the tooth, so she would KNOW it was loose.

She told Aunt Haley,

"I cannot wait to see what the tooth fairy brings me.

It'll either be money, or a knick-knack!?"

Haha....

A knick-knack!?

This morning she woke up and told me the tooth more wiggly today.

So now we are waiting for our very first visit from

the tooth fairy.

And I am on the hunt for the perfect knick-knack :)

Ansley's To-Do List:

I am sure most of you read this on FB, but I wanted to write it down

somewhere that I will be able to look back and remember it.

So, here it is again...

Yesterday morning while I was getting ready Ansley came into the bathroom

with a to-do list for the day.

It was drawn in a tiny notebook. And numbered:

1. Go to the park.

2. Make cupcakes

3. Collect sticks to make fairy furniture

4. Go hunting for mermaids.

I really wish that it had been the kind of day where I could have

dropped everything else on my to-do list and completed hers.

I want to be that Mom. (I am not that Mom.)

It just wasn't in the cards though.

We did make it to the park. And we did eat cupcakes at the park.

Brought by a friend :)

A mermaid hunt is in the works.

Anyone want to join in that fun?

18 months

Today Olivia is 18 months. That is a year and half!??

How did this happen? My baby isn’t really a baby anymore.

She is a toddler!

Here is what Olivia is up to at 18 months.

She can make a great “mean” face. But every now and then a little grin slips through

Ansley is still her favorite person. Every morning when she wakes up she points to Ansley’s bed (where Ansley is still sleeping) and says, “What’s that? Ansley!”

She also greets Ansley with a big hug and kiss every time she sees her. Livvy really loves her big sister!!

Every now and then she even drinks from a sippy cup.

But I am pretty sure this girl might still be nursing in kindergarten. Okay I am totally kidding- but it sure feels that way. Any advice on weaning a toddler???

I am open to any and all suggestions.

She loves being outside. And running around! She is constantly pointing to the front door and saying “doutdide” (outside).

She loves my new camera. She thinks she is a photographer. She puts the camera strap around her neck and everything.

And every now and then, she actually lets me take a picture.

And even smiles!! So pretty

She eats every meal with a fork. We are very impressed with her coordination. And what a neat eater she is. She makes very little mess, and wipes her mouth every few bites.

She is talking up a storm. Here are some of her latest words:

elbow

sock

ear

nose

hair

counting- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5!

no

upstairs

here

shoe

Olivia has become a much better napper and sleeper! (YAY!) she takes one 2 to 3 hour nap a day. And sleep from about 8 to 6, when she wakes up to nurse, and typically falls back to sleep until 7:30. Even better, she lays down fully awake without crying!! As long as she has 2 babies, her teddy bear, a blanket, her lovey, and a pillow!

She is wearing size 12-18 months clothes. And a size 3 or 4 shoe.

*edit to add stats*

21lbs (13 %), 31.5 inches (45 %- growth spurt!), and again cannot remember her head circumference, but it is in the 45 % as well. Not such a pin head anymore :)

She loves wearing her bow headbands everyday! She will walk into the bathroom where her bows are kept and point for me to get her one. Then I will put it on her, and she will say “piddy.” She also does a very cute head tilt when we get out of the car and she has removed her bow, so it is easier for me to put it back on her :) Haha! She is my girl. No bow, no go!!

She can point to and say most of her body parts. Even surprising us today with “elbow”

Olivia is such a joy to have in our home! Although we have some difficult days with her, she is quick to remind us how very wonderful she is with an unasked for hug and sweet kiss!

We love our little lady so very much!

Pioneer Day

In an effort to do more fun things with the girls

(because I am pretty sure trips to Target and Gracie Lou's

aren't that entertaining for them),

we got up bright and early to go to the parade in our little town.

We were a little nervous about how Olivia would behave,

but she was wonderful!!

She enjoyed watching the different trucks and floats go by.

Ansley of course made new friends with neighbors

from my parents ward.

They each got an otter pop, and came home

sticky and tired.

There are still festivities tonight.

BBQ and Fireworks!I sure do love living in Utah :)

Daddy and his mini watching the parade.

The start.

Ansley and Olivia watching from "Petch's" lap.
(Ansley dubbed my Dad, Petch, when she was about
Olivia's age. Bet he is the only Petch
out there.)

Livvy would clap and wave at every float.
And dance when there was music.

I am pretty sure if I ever had a tractor it would be pink :)

Happy Pioneer Day!!

Ansley's Umbrella Dress

I read a lot of blogs. Craft blogs. Cooking blogs. Pretty blogs.

It's kind of an obsession.

But, I do find great ideas on these blogs.

This dress was one of them.

It is a Leila and Ben pattern I saw on a blog.

I knew it would be the perfect pattern to modify and make over and over again.

I have already made several of them.

I even convinced a few friends that they needed the pattern too!

It is Ansley's favorite dress to wear.

(I added the pockets, it needed something.)

I also think this dress would be darling with a ruffle all the way

down the middle. Who doesn't love ruffles??

I am pretty much in LOVE with the umbrella fabric. Which I found at

Material Girls. CUTEST shop!!

Wish I could remember the designer.

She is a good little model for me :)
Love my Ansley!!

Fishy Face

Olivia does a pretty good fishy face! Don't you think so too??
(She literally spent 15 minutes trying to copy my fishy face until she mastered it.)