Olivia at 18 Months!

Olivia is 18 months today and is 31 3/4 inches tall (49th percentile) and 28.4 lbs (96th percentile). She had a pediatrician appointment this morning, but thankfully didn't have to get any shots. They did stick her toe to get a few drops of blood that they used to check her iron levels, which turned out to be normal. She's really doing great and is so rarely sick that I didn't have any questions for her doctor. Since we got Buddy, she's learned a few new words. Last month she said Mommy, Papa, Sissy and Ball very well. Now, she also can say Baby (which she said before but now it's clear), Buddy (it sounds more like "Bubby" and is SO SO cute to hear) and NO! She doesn't just say no, but NO!! each time she says it! She's very serious! She also can say strawberries clearly too. Ironically she still shakes her head "no" when she really means yes. If asked if she wants something to eat, she will shake her head "no" and then walk over to her high chair, clearly expecting food.

Since we adopted Buddy last month, Olivia has fallen in love with him! She's happy to see CK or I in the morning when we go into her room to get her, but she squeals with joy and laughs as soon as Buddy runs into her room! She also loves to chase after him and thinks it's a big game. However, she also likes to grab Buddy's skin rather then pet him, so we're working on how to be gentle with the dog.

As far as clothes, Olivia seems to have grown really quickly in the past month or so and we are slowly moving into the 24 month/2T sizes and away from the 18 month already! The 18 month tops fit her, except they are too short since she has an ample belly. She gets her ample belly from her serious appetite! She can eat as much, if not more than, Sofia! She really seems to love all foods that we've given her and doesn't seem to have favorites - it's all her favorite.

A few weeks ago she and I started going to My Gym once a week for an hour and she loves it. She spends nearly the entire hour walking up the stairs that lead to a slide and then sliding down, or walking up the slide and then sliding down....she also likes the little trampoline. By the end of the hour she's pretty tired and ready for a nap, so it works out well. She's still a good napper although she tends to have a hard time getting herself to sleep on her own. Her naps tend to be either long (2 hours or more) or less than an hour so she is fairly unpredictable although she always takes one. At night it's another story. She is basically leaping into the crib after CK gives her a bath and dresses her. Oftentimes she won't even let him read a story! She loves her books though, and will spend time either in her room "reading" or bring books into the living room to "read" by herself. She reminds me of Sofia and "reads" nearly every day.

I know I feel this way every month, but I just can't believe she's already 18 months old! She's growing up so fast and is so much fun! We couldn't love her anymore than we do!

Our sweet girl!


Yes, she loves sucking her thumb and rubbing her belly as much as Sofia loves hers


She's growing up so quickly!


And she's off....she doesn't like to pose for photos for more than a few minutes anymore.


Giving -- and getting kisses from Buddy

Go Fly a Kite!

Today after Meeting and lunch, we decided to walk Buddy over to the soccer fields to fly Sofia's kite since it was relatively warm out with a steady wind. We also took along Sofia's soccer ball since she wanted to practice kicking it around. Buddy is such a great walker on his leash and we asked our neighbor to take a family picture of all of us - our first! After, we headed out to the soccer field and CK and Sofia set to work on unrolling the kite and getting it ready for flight. As any good pilot would, CK taught Sofia about the direction of wind and how to use it to the kite's advantage. They soon had it set up and it went up without a hitch! Sofia was so excited! Olivia loved pointing at it and Buddy was content to be outside. CK and Sofia flew the kite for awhile then handed it off to me while they kicked the soccer ball around. Sofia is super excited to get started with her soccer team and I love that she wants to practice.

Finally, we'd had enough of the wind and packed up and headed home. It was a fun outing!


Our first "family" picture with Buddy


Sofia and her Papa talk about the direction of the wind


Getting the kite ready for flight


And off it goes!


Sofia loves it.


Sofia and her Papa watching the kite.....


Olivia, Buddy and I hold the kite while CK and Sofia kick the soccer ball around


The kite


Kicking the soccer ball around

Sofia's Valentine's Party

This afternoon Sofia's class had their Valentine's Party and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Piper's Mom, Bonnie, and Allen's Mom, Casey, and I worked as the room moms who pulled it together, although several of the room moms in the other classes really did a lot of work for us, which was really helpful. We got the room prepared and the kids arrived right on time at 1pm! They were so cute as they walked in and looked around at their classroom decorated with pink and red table clothes and heart paper chains. Since we only had 50 minutes to host the party, we got started right away. First, the kids worked on creating valentine's greetings for troops overseas. After the kids were done we played Bingo using candy hearts as place keepers. Several of the kids yelled out "BINGO" at the same time so we moved on to the grand finale - making sundaes!

Having 17 five- and six-year olds make their own sundaes could create some serious chaos, so we enlisted nearly all of the parents who arrived to attend the party. Bonnie scooped out one ball of ice cream per kiddo and different parents walked around offering multi-colored sprinkles, pink sprinkles, hot fudge and whipped cream! I think everyone wanted multi-colored sprinkles but the girls went crazy for the pink sprinkles! Of course the sundaes were devoured quickly and it was the highlight of the party. As the party drew to a close, Bonnie presented Mrs. Patterson with a Valentine's heart signed by all of her students. She also gave Mr. Chreno a Valentine's gift from all the kids. Mr. Chreno is a Grandpa to one of Sofia's classmates and comes to class every Wednesday to read privately with each child out in the hallway. He also gives the kids special stickers when they do well (Sofia's stickers are always horses). Sofia adores Mr. Chreno and I really credit her incredible reading ability she's picked up in the last six weeks or so to all the work he does. So, we made a travel coffee mug with each child's photo. It was a huge hit and the kids really loved looking at the mug and each wanted to find themselves, of course. We also made heart magnets with each child's photo of them holding a sign that read "Be mine?" to be given to the parents. They really turned out cute and the parents we handed them to really seemed that they liked them!

It was a very fun party and all the kids really had fun. They obviously were very much looking forward to the party and Bonnie, Casey and I think they were all very happy with how the party turned out. Each of the kids also went home with a bag of Valentine's from their classmates and Sofia loved looking at each of them. What a fun day!

Sofia's Happy Valentine's Picture for Mr. Chreno's coffee mug


The party underway


Sofia and Carolina making Valentines for our troops


More Valentines for our troops


Our sweet girl


Bonnie handing out Mrs. Patterson's Valentine's card


Mrs. Patterson - she was surprised and thankful for such a kind card from her kids


Bonnie handing out the gift for Mr. Chreno


Mr. Chreno


Opening his mug - he loved it and the kids loved finding the photos of themselves on it!

Tahoe...for two!

CK had a conference in Tahoe for four days and we arranged with our friends Thelma and Harvey to keep Sofia and Olivia with them while we headed to Tahoe together. Thelma and Harvey have two girls who are very close to Sofia and Olivia's ages and we've all spent a lot of time together so the girls know each other very well. Before we left, I must confess I had my doubts and questioned whether I shouldn't stay behind to be with the girls, but CK convinced me that they would be fine.

It was a great few days and such a beautiful location! When CK wasn't at his conference, we had fun exploring the little town, shopping, eating, etc. We even had a chance to see "Zero Dark Thirty" one afternoon, which was a very powerful movie. While walking one day, we we went past one of those old time photo places where people dress up like they are in a saloon or robbing a bank. On a whim, CK suggested that we do it! It was actually pretty fun although harder than I thought to "look tough" rather than smile at a camera! On the last day, CK went skiing while I enjoyed having the morning to relax. For lunch, I took the covered gondola up to meet him. It was an incredible view going up and we enjoyed a typical ski lodge lunch before I returned to the town and he headed back for a few more runs.

Meanwhile, I'd text Thelma to check on the girls and she told me all was well. I offered to call and talk to Sofia every day, but she said that she'd prefer to talk to us once we're back home since "talking is boring." After we returned we learned that Sofia was actually pretty upset with us for not taking her with us. She had a great time staying with Isabella, since she watched a lot of tv and got to stay up much later than we let her, but she was mad that she wasn't a part of our fun. She's used to always being involved in our trips. Otherwise, both girls enjoyed their time and we had a great time in Lake Tahoe.

Lunch together...without kids!

Heading up the mountain

The view as I head up the mountain

Just gorgeous!

A spectacular view from the lookout platform

Relaxing after lunch

Our view...

CK the ski bunny

Skiing right on the border of Nevada and California

Heading back down

The text from Thelma. CK and I laughed over this one for a long time!

Our Sweet Miss Megan

Just after we moved to Colleyville, we joined Lifetime Gym and I started going regularly and leaving 14-month old Sofia at the gym's child center. The child care was predominantly staffed by young women who were very sweet to Sofia and always offered to hold her if she got sad when I left for my workout. One day, Megan, one of the regular staff who I'd gotten to know told me that she would be happy to babysit Sofia anytime we needed since she thought Sofia was such a sweet, fun girl. A great relationship was born and we've asked Megan to watch Sofia and now Olivia since then. She taught Sofia how to roar like a tiger and put her hands up like paws when she roared, and has taught Olivia how to blow kisses goodbye. The girls absolutely adore her and get excited when we have a date night or other outing and we tell them that she is coming to play with them. Megan has really become like a family member in many ways and we've loved watching her grow up and become an adult. She is absolutely amazing with the girls and is the perfect combination of fun and loving but also makes sure the girls follow the rules. Miss Megan was 17 when we first met her and she's turning 21 on the 15th! I realized I have absolutely NO photos of her with the girls, so I asked her to come to the house dressed up and that I'd take pictures of her with the girls. I really wanted to get some good Valentine's photos of the girls and figured this would be a good way to capture her with the girls.

Miss Megan with Sofia and Olivia - who was dead set against smiling!


Miss Megan and the girls


Sofia and Miss Megan


Olivia and Miss Megan - love her little look


This is what I imagine Miss Megan does each time she watches Olivia....


Sofia and Miss Megan


Love this picture!!!

Our Newest Addition!

We decided to add to our family and think we picked the absolute perfect addition! Buddy, our nearly-2 year old Cockapoo joined us on Friday February 1st and we couldn't be luckier! He's such a great dog and has brought a lot of laughter and smiles to our house since his arrival. I've wanted a dog for years, but it never seemed like a good time, even though CK was totally open to the idea as long as I understood who would be doing the majority of the work (me).

It all started a few weeks before we got Buddy when a friend posted on Facebook that a chocolate lab needed a good home. We visited Rio and he was a great dog, but we quickly decided that the shedding was not something we wanted to deal with, plus, he was a sweet dog but too large (he knocked Olivia over twice just by turning to look at something). Thus, my quest began. Once we met Rio, I got home knowing we needed to add a dog to our lives. However, we'd also decided that a puppy would not work either - all of the girls' toys would be destroyed as well as many other things that would make us crazy. Plus, we agreed that we were done with the middle-of-the-night wake-ups. That left dogs available for adoption and I started searching on the internet. I found myself on Petfinder.com looking for "Cocker Spaniels, Cockapoos, or Labradoodles" and found three dogs that were available - one Cocker Spaniel and two Cockapoos. The Cocker Spaniel was not good with kids and one of the Cockapoos was adopted. So, I contacted "Pawed Squad" in Abilene, TX to ask about "Landon," the available Cockapoo.

After several emails and phone calls, Michelle, the woman who kept Landon in her home suggested that we take Landon home for a weekend to "test him out" before making a decision. She wasn't sure how he would act with young children and didn't want to rush our decision. The girls and I picked Landon up the afternoon on February 1st and by the next afternoon we knew he was ours! He is such an easy, fun, relaxed dog and is great with the girls!

Sofia is very good with him and loves when we all take him for walks in the afternoon. Olivia, on the other hand, tends to grab his hair rather than just pet him. At first he was very unsure of what to do, but now he just endures it and looks at me to save him. I try to be involved with every interaction Olivia has with him to teach her to pet him gently. Also, she likes to hug him, which he really hated before. Now he puts up with it, but I know it's weird feeling for a dog and try to limit the hugs.

We also decided early on that the name "Landon" didn't really fit him and changed his name "officially" to Buddy! Since we've had him he's really come out of his shell and is much more playful than he was the first few weeks. He loves going for walks, is very good on a leash, has been friendly with every dog he's met and doesn't bark much. Oftentimes he doesn't bark when we have company ring the door bell! He loves attention and his favorite thing is to cuddle next to someone on the couch.

He was crate trained when we got him, but since the first night he's slept on a dog bed in our bedroom. After a week or so we also left him out of the crate while we went to lunch and returned to a perfect dog. Since then we haven't put him in the crate and he has been great. He tends to sit on the arm of our couch and look out the windows to 'watch' for our return. Of course, once we return he is SUPER happy to see us! He's a great dog and I sort of feel like I do about Sofia and Olivia - I almost can't remember a time without him! We're so lucky he's in our lives!

Our family picture!


Enjoying our day out flying the kite


Who doesn't love a little wind in his face?


He's such a handsome boy!


Buddy likes to know where we are at all times...


Olivia, Buddy and me


A different view....


Such a sweet boy!