Olivia's 6 Month Photos

On Olivia's 6 month "birthday" I took her to JC Penny to get some photos of her on her own. I actually had a Groupon for a photo shoot at JC Penny and had no idea they even had a photography studio but was very pleasantly surprised by the results. Luckily, Olivia had enjoyed a 40 minute nap from the time we dropped Sofia off at school and the entire drive to her photo shoot, so she was in a fantastic mood for her pictures and every one the photographer took shows a great big smile! They are so cute and other than her ears, she looks so much like Sofia in photographs! I actually don't think she looks a lot like Sofia or has a similar personality when I am with Olivia, but in photos she really looks like her big sister!

One of my favorite photos is a hand-colored photograph of my Grandma holding my Mom when my Mom was about 1 or so. It was hand-colored by my Grandpa and I've been told that process is really very difficult. It looks fantastic and so I tried to have the photographer take a similar photo of Olivia and I. I don't think I resemble my Grandma, but I do love that the photo looks similar. I also wanted to get photos of Olivia wearing a few of the outfits my Mom made, including the beautiful hand-stitched dress Sofia wore home from the hospital. It looks amazing on Olivia and I loved the photos that were taken. Also, I brought along the pink blanket that Olivia's Great Grandma made for her and had photos taken with her sitting on it as well as looking out from under it. I also included one of the first knit outfits my Mom made for Sofia that she wore at 6 months too and it looks just as cute on Olivia.

Here are some of the photos:






Olivia looking out from under her blanket and wearing the outfit Mom made


Sitting on Great Grandma's blanket





This is what I see every morning in the bathroom mirror (although neither of us are as scrubbed and dressed quite as well)


The attempt to replicate the photo of my Grandma and Mom


Olivia plays with her feet a lot, so I'm happy the photographer captured this shot. So cute!


I asked the photographer to take this shot that looks very similar to the one of Sofia at 6 months

Olivia at 6 Months

Our little girl is growing fast and still such a pleasant, smily baby. She's so happy and just goes with the flow, unless she's tired during the day and then she'll fuss a bit before she falls asleep (she almost never does at night). She's really loving eating solids and actually gets upset when we are eating and she isn't and will fuss until she gets something she can eat too. I made her a lentil and veggie dish that she seems to love and have given her little bits of soft crackers and tiny pieces of bread and it all goes down. She's also had banana again and it seems to be agreeing with her now. She's still a great sleeper, after a little hiccup in Florida when she would wake up every few hours at night - how exhausting! She's now sleeping again from 6/6:30 until 5:30am or sometimes later and then goes back to sleep until 7:30 or 8am. At night she sucks her right hand thumb and falls asleep easily, even though during the day she either falls asleep without anything or her pacifier. Either way, she's not missing out on any sleep!

She still doesn't roll over although she often rolls and sleeps on her side and I just haven't been giving her enough tummy time to promote her rolling over. She loves to sit up and watch her sister play and doesn't fall over very often now. If she does fall over, she is happy to play with her feet. She's just a generally happy and smily girl. She's also happy to go to a stranger and doesn't cry for me (yet) when I leave her in someone else's arms - like at the gym day care.

This morning she visited Dr. Hopkins for her 6 month check up and he was very pleased with her growth and development. She got three injections and one oral vaccine but handled it like a champ. She cried for maybe two minutes and then was fine! Amazing! She's 26" tall (61 percentile), weighs 15lb 6oz (38 percentile) and has a head circumference of 42cm (37 percentile). It's pretty surprising since Sofia was in the 95 percentile at 6 months. She's getting big so fast though and we're trying to enjoy it all since it really does fly by.

Our big girl at 6 months!


Olivia's close-up


Our pensive little girl


Getting bigger next to her stuffed animals


All smiles!


Love those adorable baby feet

Olivia's First Tooth!

Yesterday we felt the start of Olivia's very first tooth! While we were in Florida she started waking up in the night every few hours, which she's really never done since she was a few weeks old and her gum looked like it was ready to sprout a tooth. Sure enough! She's getting her right bottom tooth first although it seems her other bottom tooth may be coming in soon as well since she's constantly gnawing on anything she can get her hands on. I must confess that it made me a little sad to feel her tooth and know that she's growing up and this is the last 'first tooth' I'll feel....but, it's also exciting to know that she's growing up and we have so many fun adventures as a family ahead of us!

Olivia is sprouting a tooth!

Heading Home

On Wednesday morning we loaded up the Baron and headed for Texas. It was a fun trip that went by very quickly, as it usually does. Sofia and Olivia loved visiting their Grandma and Grandpa and spending time on the farm and we look forward to the time when Olivia can really enjoy it as much as Sofia does by riding on the Gator with her Grandpa, playing in the sand, running around the field and visiting the hanger with her Papa. The trip home went well, although with the head wind we had it took over 6 hours, although CK's three co-pilots all took naps so it didn't seem quite that long.

Olivia and her Mommy settle in


Olivia helps her Papa fly


Sofia playing with Olivia


Nap time!

More Fun at the Youth Fair

On our way to visit CK's Grandma again, we decided to stop off at the Youth Fair for another visit. When we arrived the first thing we saw was a camel and his owner offering camel rides! Of course Sofia was up for it so she climbed the platform and hopped on his back. As she was being led around, we could hear her talking away about something, as usual. From there, we visited the petting zoo which had a few great displays and hands on areas to play, as well as an assortment of animals. After touring the tent, Sofia's favorite was to play in the bin of corn and make up stories. CK visited with his friend Hugh so Sofia played in the corn and visited the animals for a while. After, she saw the bungee bouncer and desperately wanted to go on it! Since she was the only kid around, the guy let her stay on it for a really long time which she loved. She's such a daring girl.

Riding around on the camel....and talking up a storm


She looks perfectly content on the camel!


A close-up


Holding the baby goat at the petting zoo.


Playing in the corn - her favorite part


The bungee swing!

Visiting the Youth Fair

On Monday night we visited the Youth Fair, where CK showed hogs and steers for 4-H when he was growing up. He said it looked exactly the same from when he was a teenager showing animals and it was fun to see a part of his past that was such a fond memory. We reminisced about 4-H, raising and showing animals and saying goodbye to them (I showed steers for 4-H for five years). It made for a very fun night and a great way to introduce Sofia into a world she hasn't been exposed to yet. CK's friend's daughter had a steer at the Youth Fair, so we visited her before her time in the ring and then found a good seat to watch the judging. It really brought back some great memories for both of us.

Papa and his girl in the show arena


Mommy and her gal


Boiled peanuts - a Florida staple. I'd never even heard of them before having them with CK one of the first visits to Florida together. This batch was a little over-salted.


The showing begins!


Samantha in her weight class


Sofia meets Samantha's steer. He wasn't nearly as interested in meeting a little kid as she was in meeting him.


Samantha's ribbon!

Olivia Meets Her Great Grandma

Aside from spending time with Sofia and Olivia's Grandparents, one of the main reasons we wanted to visit Florida was to be sure that CK's Grandma could meet Olivia and Sofia could spend time with her Great Grandma again. At nearly 91 years old, she's in good health, continues to live independently and has a lot of good stories to tell. Unfortunately, Olivia was pretty sleepy which means she only wanted her Mommy to hold her and was fussy each time we handed her to her Great Grandma. We did manage to get a few good photos of them together and also returned another day for a visit and Olivia was in a much better mood. We had very fun visits with their Great Grandma and look forward to more visits during our next trip.

CK, Olivia and her Great Grandma


Olivia and her Great Grandma


Sofia, in her "Princess" dress with her Great Grandma


Great Grandma and the girls


This is the best - such a sweet photo!


CK and his Grandma!

Belated Valentine's Day with Grandma and Grandpa

Just after we arrived, Sofia and Olivia got to open Valentine's presents from their Grandma and Grandpa. What a treat!! Sofia got a popcorn bowl - one of her favorite things to do with her Grandma is to have a "popcorn party," so this will come in handy! She also got a new Valentine's plate, a Thomas Train movie and some fun craft projects and cute drinking straws. She was so excited for her new goodies, especially the Thomas Train movie, of course. Olivia was equally spoiled and received an adorable cupcake outfit that I can't wait for her to grow into, a cozy hooded towel and a pink monkey that is a huge hit! She played with the monkey the rest of our visit and is completely entranced by him! It was such a surprise and the girls are so lucky to be spoiled by their Grandma and Grandpa!

Grandma giving Sofia and Olivia their gifts


Sofia diving into her bag of goodies


Thomas Train!


Olivia and I about to open her gift


Olivia "reads" her card


Olivia and her new monkey!

Fun at Grandpa and Grandma's House

On Saturday February 18th, Sofia, Olivia and I flew to Florida to their Grandma and Grandpa's house for a few days of visiting and relaxing. Of course, they loved all the attention from their grandparents and had a fun-filled few days. Sofia pulled out all of the Thomas Train goodies and all the other toys tucked away in the guest closet and completely took over the living room. She spent hours playing with everything and thoroughly enjoyed herself. Her absolute favorite thing was a crown, "Princess" outfit, and two sets of dress-up shoes she got from her Grandma and Grandpa. She wore the shoes everywhere and soon had terrible blisters on her feet from the plastic straps, however, that didn't stop her from wearing her new "princess" shoes!

While there, CK, Sofia and I spent some time driving the tractor around the farm picking up tree limbs that were blown around by strong wind. It was a clear, sunny day when we went out and it ended up being a lot of fun. Of course, Sofia loved it and was sure to wear her crown throughout the effort. Meanwhile, Olivia enjoyed some one-on-one time with her Grandma and practiced sitting up and playing with her toys.

The toys come out!


Green Beup Beup and "Princess" Sofia


The three of us on the tractor


Sofia and I drove the tractor while CK picked up tree limbs


Sofia and Green on the trailer with the limbs and Spanish moss


Sofia and Grandma watched a Thomas Train movie that they gave her for Valentine's Day. Sofia was completely glued!


Sofia and her Grandma. Sofia is wearing her current "favorite" dress that her Grandma sent her a few weeks ago. She's also wearing her new Princess shoes.


Olivia lounging in the living room


Such a happy girl!


Olivia and her Grandma and Grandpa


Grandpa and Grandma with both girls.