Little Harrison's birthday:

Harrison's 8th Birthday:
I just have to tell a cute story about this little boy. On the night Olivia was born he of course came up to visit. He seemed so excited about his new little niece. Well when he got home, my dad was making dinner and Harrison was sitting at the table with his head down. My dad of course asked him what was wrong and this is what he said, "I am sad that I am not going to be the baby of the family anymore dad, Olivia is now." Isn't that just so cute? My dad of course told him that he would always be their baby and that Olivia would be Isabella's baby. I just love little Harrison so much and I am so glad he is my brother.
P.s. I can't believe he is already 8, I still remember the day he was born!

Michael, me, and baby Olivia went over to my parents house around 5:00 pm. I was planning on making Harrison's cake since when my mom makes cakes they never turn out. Well, when I got there I saw 2 baked cakes in their pans sitting on the stove. I of course went to go check them out...and guess what? There was something wrong. I could tell they were just not going to come out of the pan easily. But I tried anyway, and it wouldn't. Seriously the cake was stuck to the bottom. My mom claims that she sprays the pan but I don't know. Anyway, I decided just to throw that cake out and completely start over. Luckily, this time it turned out! Little Olivia thoroughly enjoyed herself sitting in her bumbo on the counter watching all the action!

Harrison decided that he wanted to go to Pizza Pie Cafe for dinner. So here is the whole crew minus my mom who is taking the picture.

She of course sat on the table occasionally having a little sip of water!

My boy and me. (And Winston in the back) My boy seriously struggles when it comes to picture taking. He really doesn't take them seriously. It takes a lot begging on my part and sometimes I am just not in the mood:)

With the birthday boy. Oh my gosh, I just love that little turtle.

What we've been up to:

I've had quite the busy week as far as scrapbooking goes. I finally finished a scrapbook for Michael and I that has notes and cards and just things we've done in it. It was quite the process especially with a cute as can be clingy baby. But it's done so on to the next one. I swear the journaling and scrapbooking never ends. Anyways, I of course still managed to get some pictures of our sweet one.

I try and go into work at least once a week for a few hours to help my dad with all the secretary stuff. It's so nice because my mom will usually come with me and help out with Olivia so I can get some stuff done. Sometimes this works, but most of the time I end up holding her. She really only wants me. Little stinker. It used to be easy to hold her while I worked but it's getting to the point now where she reaches out and grabs anything in front of her and either rips it up or puts it in her mouth. Well lately, we have discovered Olivia's love for books. Seriously she will sit on your lap and listen to you read for a good amount of time. I think she enjoys the books so much she forgets that mommy isn't holding her!

Watching the Bachelor together. Well Olivia doesn't really watch. Right now she is just looking at her dad. (Her hair looks kind of blonde in this picture..weird cause it's not.)
P.s. Finale on Monday. Yay! Even though I already know who he picks.

So we decided to give the bath another chance since sometimes it is a little bit more convenient than the shower. Well she loved it! Yay for baths! I posted a video of her below. She really started enjoying it when we incorporated a bit of the shower!

So we finally got around to getting mine and Olivia's passports. It was quite the adventure especially because we had to have Michael there with us. (Apparently some people try and leave the country with their kids without the other parent knowing.) We had to walk back and forth from building to building filling out info and taking pictures. But we have them! Olivia loved the walks outside. Seriously, she couldn't have been happier.

After the whole passport ordeal we were hungry so we decided to go to a Salvadorian restaurant we spotted on the way to the County Building. By the way there are lots of good restaurants in downtown Provo. Anyway we ordered pupusas which are tortillas filled with cheese, beans, pork, or combinations of these things. Michael talks about them all the time so I was really excited to try them. They were really good and the fact that they were only $1.60 made them even better. My family was there also, and they loved them too! Olivia loves loves being the center of attention as long as mommy or daddy are holding her...so much so that she skips naps and sometimes get so tired she can hardly keep her eyes open. She fights so hard to keep those little eyes open so she can be apart of the excitement. Well today with so much going on she was of course awake but towards the end of lunch she just put her little head down on my shoulder and closed her eyes. Never seen anything like that from her. It was glorious and so so cute.

Our little one.

Going for a little walk in the buggy.

Love her so much!


Here is the video of her in the tub:

Our first walk:

Yesterday, Olivia and I decided to go on a short walk (to the mailbox) to see if Michael's phone had come. I put together her stroller, bundled her up, and out we went.
She LOVED it!
We don't get out much so I can't even begin to explain how much we both enjoyed it.
It made me so excited for warm weather. I am just sure we will be doing these walks everyday!

Our future golfer:

To be honest, I am not a fan of golfing. (No offense golf lovers out there)
But seriously I hate it.
I think it is:
#1: Way too time consuming. Seriously if you want to play 18 holes it is like goodbye 6 hours.
#2: Costs a lot of money. I mean by the time you buy a golf glove, towel, covers for your clubs, clubs, a bag, golf balls, tees, buckets of balls, rounds of golf (or passes) etc you're pretty much broke. Plus it's like 30 bucks down the drain at the very least every time you play a round. And during the summer golf lovers really could go multiple times a week. Personally I'd rather have a cute shirt.
#3: It's boring. Really, what is so exciting about whacking a golf ball? Oh and even worse than playing is watching it. Oh my gosh so boring. However, I will admit that I do like to play Tiger Woods golf on Play Station, especially when I beat Michael.
Anyway, sadly my boy is a one of those golf lovers.
Seriously, he loves it.
So even though I really do not like it, I still think it is cute that he wants to teach little Olivia how to play. So I bought her her very first set of golf clubs. Luckily this set was only 5 bucks! Hopefully in the next year she will be swinging these things.

We got it!

We finally were able to get Olivia laughing on camera. Let me tell you this has been quite the process. Seriously she has been laughing quite a bit now, but whenever I take out the camera she stops. Little stinker! I hate how the blog limits the size of video I can upload. This video is too big so I posted it on facebook!

Also, one year ago today we found out we were going to have our little Olivia! I can't believe it has been 1 whole year. Crazy. We are so glad she decided to join our family. We just love her!

Phone:

I think little Olivia loves talking to her daddy on the phone almost as much as me!

Sundays and missions:

The past few Sundays we have started a little tradition. My mom asked Michael if every Sunday he would read parts of his mission journals and share his stories and experiences with the family. Everyone loves it, including me even though I pretty much hear about his mission every day. Seriously I don't think a day has gone by that I haven't heard him at least mention it. I'm not going to lie, sometimes I get a bit annoyed. But as I continue to hear the stories and all about it, it helps me understand why he talks about it so much. To be able to dedicate 2 years of your life to serving not only God but others is an incredible experience, one that I know changes you for the better. I am so glad he is willing to share his experiences with us. I sure am grateful to him for serving an honorable mission. I know it has and will continue to bless our family.

Here are some pictures of yesterday's storytelling:

A few pictures and a video:

I just love the sleeping pictures.

She is getting so good at holding onto her toys. She sits and spins the steering wheel and tries to grab onto everything. It's amazing how much she has progressed in just one week!


Okay so usually when I do this to Olivia she laughs SO hard but whenever I do it and try to have someone video her she just smiles. Little stinker. I will try and get a good one of her laughing!

Safe:

Last night, Michael and I were relaxing on the couch watching an episode of Hannah Montana while little Olivia was sleeping soundly in her swing. Well right when you thing it couldn't get any better it gets worse. The power goes out. For some people this might not be a bad thing, but for me it is terrible. I really do not like the dark. It just freaks me out especially when I know I can't turn on the lights even if I want to. Well our little Olivia isn't a big fan of the dark either, (we sleep with a lamp on at night) so of course she woke up crying. Michael went and got some candles and I just sat cuddling with Olivia. When he came back with the candles Olivia couldn't stop looking at them. She loved the little flickering light. As we sat there mostly in the dark telling ghost stories, I thought to myself how lucky I was to be cuddled up next to my boy and baby and feel completely safe despite the creepy shadows and pretty much darkness. I'm just glad I found someone that I know will always be there for me and that makes me feel safe even when life gets dark.

Just a cute picture of Olivia right before her shower.

Valentines Day celebrations:

On Sunday, we drove to Provo to get Michael's brother Stephen to come to a family Valentines Day dinner. Our little Olivia decided that she liked sucking her thumb. She sucked it the whole way back and ever since then she has really enjoyed her thumb! I guess that's a good thing.

Olivia still has pretty bad stranger anxiety. She definitely is still a mommy's girl. However she does pick a few friends that she will allow to hold her. Apparently Uncle Stephen is one of them! I think she likes that he speaks Spanish to her. I'm sure it reminds her of her daddy!

Our little family.

We definitely did not want to leave out this little girl on Valentines Day so we decided that we would be her Valentine. We gave her a cute little toy hanger thing. She loves it!

Playing with her new toy. She likes spinning the things on the sides more than the actual hanging toys.

It might be hard to see in this picture but the reason why I love it so much is you can see her little blue eye very clearly. I just can not explain to you my joy of having a blue eyed girl. I have always told Michael that I hope our kids get blue eyes like him but I was pretty sure that they would end up brown like mine. Well apparently his genes pulled through!

I made this spice cake and decorated it all cute for Valentines Day. I am not going to lie I was quite impressed with its outcome. Especially since it was my first one!

My sweet Valentine bought me this chocolate bar. Can I just say that it seriously is the best thing I have ever tasted. He bought me one right after Olivia was born and I loved it but sadly could not have another one because of our little one's sensitive tummy. Let me tell you...I really thought about this chocolate bar every day. Well now that I have one it is all I can do to not eat the whole thing in one sitting. But for my sweet girl, a small square a day will have to do for now.

My favorite gift from him was these two pairs of jeans. I have been wanting a new pair of jeans for months now. Well apparently my sweet boy does listen because he surprised me with these jeans from Bohme (seriously the cutest store). Love him.
I gave him some cute love coupons
Oh ya and happy 1 1/2 years of marriage to my boy and I!
There is no better way to celebrate Valentines Day than sparkling cider, chocolate covered strawberries, dinner while watching The Bachelor, cute little gifts, and most importantly spending time with my two loves.
I hope everyone had a happy Valentines Day!

Deans List:

I would like to congratulate my boy on receiving a special letter from BYU.

(I typed this for you Kelly)
It said:
Dear Michael Mickelson,
I am writing to congratulate you for earning the right to appear on the College of Humanities Dean's List because of your outstanding academic performance during Fall Semester 2010. You should know that the only students whose names may appear on the Dean's List in our college are those whose GPAs are ranked in the top 5% of the college for the given semester while taking a minimum of 7 credit hours
You have obviously worked diligently to earn this distinction. The effort you have put into your studies will reap benefits far exceeding the knowledge you have gained in the classroom. The study habits necessary to achieve such an academic record will assist you in many aspects of your life, now and in the future.
I hope that you have felt that your studies in the College of humanities have helped you in your spiritual growth, and that the opportunity to study at the feet of scholars who have solid commitments to the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ along with their academic credentials has demonstrated to you some of the ways in which secular learning can be integrated with and support your own spiritual development.
In recognition of your discipline and hard work, I invite you to attend a reception on Friday, February 11th from 8:30 until 10:00 am in the Dean's Conference Room, 4010 JFSB.
I wish you the best of success in your future studies. We are proud to have you represent us in the College of Humanities at BYU.

I am so proud of him. Yay for 4.0s!!

And of course picture of the day:

Love her.

Private:

Well now that we have our little girl and are constantly putting up pictures and everything of her I thought it would be a good idea to make our blog private. We don't want any creepers creeping around. So if you want to view our blog just leave your email and I will send you an invitation! It will be a few days before I actually change it.

Cake Boss:

Besides The Bachelor, my boy and I have another favorite:
Cake Boss.

The only bad thing about this show is that it makes you crave cake and pasteries.
So much so that you will do anything to have them.
Well that craving was very strong for my boy and I last night.
So after a late night cake pickup at the store I made a spice cake with cream cheese frosting.
AmAzInG!
I of course would prefer chocolate but because of our little one's sensitive stomach I have to be creative in my dessert eating.

My cute boy holding our yummy cake!

As good as cake is, it definitely doesn't even compare to this sweet girl!
We love her.
Especially her toad tummy and her silly crazy eyes.
She's still learning how to control them.
We love her giggles and little whining sounds.
She's precious.
She has started grabbing things with her little hands.
It's so cute.

A trip and pictures...

Just found out that on May 21st we are going with my family here:

Sandos Resort right outside of Cancun.
So excited!!

Picture of the day:

Talking and smiling at her uncle Winston
It was precious.

I just love this picture.
Her thumb is so tiny!

Watching the Superbowl.

P.s. Very excited for the Bachelor tonight!

4 months...

Our little doll is 4 months old!

She weighs: 12lbs 7 ounces- 24th percentile
She is 1 foot 11.5 inches (23.5 inches)-22nd percentile
Her head is 40.8 cm-45th percentile
What a cutie!

She had to get more shots. Sad. My boy couldn't stand to watch. He said it would make him cry. It really is the saddest thing ever.
Today she is still pretty sore which does have its benefits. She's even more cuddly than normal.
I love that.
The doctor said she is very strong. When she sat her up just to look at her, Olivia just stood right up!
Apparently we can start the baby fruits and vegetables if we want. I don't want to yet though. Because that means she is growing up.

So this picture is definitely a favorite. I wanted to take a picture of her all bundled up in her car seat, but apparently the camera scared her a little bit because she just stared at me with this exact expression for at least a minute!

I'm pretty sure Olivia's most favorite thing in the world is her nightly shower. Sometimes if she's lucky she will get one in the morning too!
The second you put her in there she makes the most content little faces. She only makes these in the shower.
She not only loves the feel of the water running on her back but the taste of it as well. She will tilt her head back to try and get the water in her face and then slurp it off our arms and shoulders.
This little one is absolutely precious.
We are so glad she is ours.