4th of July Happenings:

Nothing too exciting happened in the Mickelson family yesterday.

We didn't do fireworks.

We didn't go to any parties or host any parties.

We didn't have fancy red/white/and blue desserts.

Ect.

But we did spend the day together quietly relaxing. (Sort of!)

And that to me is the best way to spend any day.

Here are a few pictures that show what we did.

Michael had to work. Sadly. But he was home by around 12:30 pm, so that was nice. Anyway while he was gone, Olivia and I cleaned the house. We vacuumed, disinfected and wiped everything down, steamed the floors, dusted, and scrubbed the bathroom. It was quite the project. But so nice to smell the nice clean smell of Lysol and a freshly lit sweet pea candle.

We of course did lots and lots of playing and reading.

Did 4 loads of laundry.

Made banana bread.

This little darling did a lot of fussing. I think she might be teething. She honestly did not let me put her down for one second. Fussy babies are just so much fun:)

I decorated my cute little fireplace. I still have a few more ideas, but I am loving it so far!

For dinner I made a rotini salad and attempted to cook steak for the first time. I must of gotten a little carried away with the seasoning because my boy made the nice comment that he thought he was eating a salt lick haha. Apparently, I am going to have to work on the art of seasoning.

After dinner we put this little doll in bed for the night. (She sleeps about 10 hours straight now!) Yay!

And then we went to turn on the Bachelorette and found out that they were playing the same episode as they did last week. So that was a bit disappointing. But it turned out okay because I spent the rest of the night talking and cuddling with my boy. And pretty sure it doesn't get better than that!

We feel so blessed to live in America and enjoy all the freedoms that we do. We are so grateful for all those who have and still do serve our country.

9 months!

 This crazy girl is now nine months.

I can hardly believe it.

We are loving all the new cute things she is learning to do. 

But at the same time I don't want her to grow up. 

I just want her to sit in my arms like a little baby and sleep.

But we all know that never happens even when they are newborns.

 Let me tell you a bit about this little spitfire. 

*She has about a 10 second attention span. No joke. You give her a toy and she of course gets all excited and plays with it, but after about 10 seconds she throws it and wants something else. I'm not going to lie it gets quite exhausting entertaining this child.

* She hits now. I have no idea how she learned but I can not tell you how many times I have gotten whacked in the face. Oh ya and she bites too. She's kind of a vicious one.
*She will not drink out of a sippy cup or bottle.  She only drinks out of a glass like we do.
*She loves to eat but only when she can eat the same thing as us.
*She loves the movie Finding Nemo. Whenever I set her in her little play saucer and turn it on she starts jumping and squealing with excitement.  She will even randomly giggle during the movie.
*When I talk on the phone to Michael and start laughing at something, Olivia will start laughing too.  She loves to be a part of everything.
*She loves to play pat a cake.  She wants to do it pretty much all day.
*She is a momma's girl.  If I am anywhere to be seen she wants me to hold her and will latch onto me like a little monkey when someone tries to take her.  The other day, I set her on the ground and started walking away and she seriously flung her little body forward and latched onto my leg haha. It was hilarious.
*She loves to be read to.
*She hates to sit on or touch the grass.
*She loves music. Pretty much any kind.  But she definitely has her opinion on what songs she likes and doesn't like. She will start crying when she doesn't like the song that is playing and when we change it she stops.
*She hates being in the car.  Her max is 1 hour TOPS.
*She is only ticklish when she wants to be. And she only smiles when she wants to.  She is a pretty serious baby.
*She sticks her tongue out all the time and loves to suck on her upper lip.
*She loves to stand up and hold onto either our hands or a chair or couch.
*She loves mountain dew. (Only a few little tiny sips). Michael introduced her to this and every time she see that green can she flips out.

I could probably go on and on but I will stop for now.
We love her cute little personality.  Not a day goes by that she doesn't put hundreds of smiles on our faces.
We love her so much.

 

Way TOO easy key lime pie!

So I am not kidding you when I say this is SUCH an easy recipe.

But more importantly it tastes absolute amazing.

No joke.

So here is the recipe for anyone looking for a way good summer treat!

5 egg whites beaten

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup keylime juice (It takes about 3-4 limes depending on size)

1 (9 inch) graham cracker crust either homemade or store bought

1-2 teaspoons of lime zest (I would probably say 1 1/2, it just depends how limey you want it!)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Separate the egg whites and beat them like crazy.  They will be quite fluffy by the time you are done.  Next add the 1/2 cup of lime juice, the sweetened condensed milk, and the lime zest.  Mix until combined and then transfer to the crust.  Bake in the oven for 15-25 minutes.  You want the fork to come out clean but the consistency should be kind of like a cheesecake.

Let cool.  I put mine in the refrigerator. When it is cool or when you are ready to eat it put whipped cream on it and you could top it with some sliced limes just to make it pretty.  But what's the point of making it too pretty if it is just going to get eaten in 5 minutes!

Gotta LoVe the picture updates!

We've had a CRAZY week working with our little Olivia on sleeping through the night. Can I just say that I thought I was stubborn, then I met Michael and now we have Olivia and I am not joking in the slightest bit when I say she is seriously the most stubborn little person I have ever met. After 9 days, she will sleep about 10 hours. But she is still skipping naps even though she isn't ready and still SO stubborn about actually falling asleep. Sometimes it takes 3-4 hours for her to finally fall asleep. At least we are seeing improvements and we will keep working on it cause that baby seriously needs to sleep. Of course for her sake and definitely for her mother's. I still love her though. SO MUCH.

Well I attempted the unimaginable. Running. I seriously am out of breath when I take a jog up the stairs so I was pretty sure that I would not make it to the top of our hill. (That's how you feel when it has been over a year since a good workout). However, I am proud to say that I did run a mile! With absolutely NO stops. Well I did have to walk up the hills. There were only 2 though. I am so proud. Sadly I haven't run since. I can tell it is going to be hard to get back into the exercising every day mode.

Michael and I were able to attend my cousin Rachel's sealing in the Salt Lake Temple. It was beautiful and she of course was stunning. I will have to post a picture.
(The picture is of Olivia and me at her reception. Little Olivia definitely was a trooper (a very fussy trooper) being in the car going back and forth from here to SLC and back and then up to Bountiful and back again.)

We were lucky enough to have Michael's little sister Sarah come stay with us for week. It was so so nice to have her here to help with Olivia. I was actually able to get things done. Sarah kept busy with Olivia and the twins the whole week. We were so sad she had to leave but definitely hope she'll come back soon!

Two cuties.

Olivia attended her first birthday party for her darling little friend Samantha. She is my cousin's little girl. It was an adorable party and just so cute to be with Olivia at her first birthday party even though she had no idea what was going on!

One night, I sort of did some spying on these two. Michael was reading Olivia the book Go Dog Go. The cute thing about it was that Michael LOVED this book when he was little and had the whole thing pretty much memorized. He would read it in the cutest voice you have ever heard. Oh my gosh I really am going to have to say it is by far the cutest thing I have ever seen. Well when I did the spying I noticed that he was reading it to her the same way he read it when he was little. I really did about die.

Hanging out in the shade! I love her little lip.

My boy and I were able to have another romantic night out. It's kind of nice to have built in baby sitters, not going to lie. We went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner mostly cause my sister just got a job there. We had been there once before and weren't that impressed but we decided to give it another try. Well it was AMAZING. A bit expensive but SO much better than the first time. Lucky for us, Sophia can bring home rolls anytime she wants. They pretty much are the best. After we played some basketball. 7 on the line and 1 on 1. I beat Michael a few times! Barely. He might let me win but I like to think he doesn't. He is sweet enough to let each of my shots be worth 1.5 points and of course he lets me foul like there's no tomorrow. He really plays amazingly considering the fact that I am pulling on his arms and pushing him every time he tries to shoot.
Playing basketball together is currently one of our new favs to do together.

Our little sweetheart.

Love her.

Just the 3 of us!

She is getting so good at standing up now. Of course she has to hold on to things. Ahh I am so sad she is growing up but I love watching all the new CUTE things she does every day!

My perfect one:

“He’s not perfect. You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect. But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can. He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break. Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect for more than he can give. Don’t analyze. Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there. Love hard when there is love to be had. Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy that is perfect for you.”

-Bob Marley

Oh my gosh isn't that seriously the cutest quote.
I love looking up quotes. Especially the ones about love.
Because love is just so dang cute.
But seriously, isn't this quote just so true.
I mean my boy makes me laugh countless times a day.
He doesn't quote poetry. But he does write it.
Very romantic.
He does make me think twice.
All the time.
(I struggle sometimes in the smarts department).
I definitely smile when he makes me happy.
And
I definitely get upset when he makes me mad.
Or sometimes when I am just in a bad mood.
(I have even been known to throw a few things).
I really try not to do that though.
Being in love isn't always easy and neither is being married.
But knowing that I have my guy that is perfect for me in everyway for forever and ever.
Makes everything so worth it.
And lets be honest
So much fun.

So happy she is his:

Olivia is one lucky girl to have him as her dad.
Seriously.
He really is the best.
We love you Michael.

A date and just a lot of cuteness!

Now that it has finally warmed up, summer has been wonderful.
Olivia is growing up just way to fast.
However, we love watching all of the new little things she does every day.
Michael and I have decided to start going on dates again.
Sadly, it's been months.
It's just a little hard to get out of the house alone when you have a little one.
So we did and it was so SO much fun.
I already can't wait until the next one.
(We did of course miss our little Olivia).
It's impossible to forget about that little spunky girl.
Anyway here are a few pictures:

Olivia has started making the sound ba. So we decided to buy her a ball to see if we could get her to say her first word. Now this is a bit hard for me I'll have to admit. I would rather my little girl's first word be mom or doll however a first word is a first word and it is an exciting moment. So I will try to be happy with whatever cute word comes out first!

She LOVES popsicles. so much. Every day around 3-4 pm we go outside and share one of her juice popsicles. I think we both look forward to this every day!
(I let her hold it herself for the picture, just because it is cute. But usually I try and hold it. I have serious issues with the stickiness.) This will probably change I know.

Now for the romantic part.
For our date we went to Inn and Out.
Love that place.
And then we went bowling.
I am so sad to admit that I lost both games by quite a lot.
I guess it's a good thing because our date ended well. (It may not have if I'd have won.)
Just saying.
But we'll go again and I am sure I will waste him.

After he played this stupid putting game.
It really was stupid.
Seriously pretty much impossible to get the ball in the hole.
Then we played air hockey.
He beat me again 0-7.
Embarrassing I know.

Our little sweets in the jumper. She is so dang cute in it. I just love her little chunker legs. I really just want to squish them.

Whenever we sit her by this toy to play the first thing she does it reach out and grab the phone.
I'm pretty sure she is going to love to talk.

You probably saw the video of her on my facebook doing pat a cake. Well if you want to know her favorite thing as of now, it's playing that. She hits her little hands together pretty much all day long. No joke. Sometimes Michael and I spy on her (creepy parents I know) when she is in her crib and she is just laying there clapping her little hands together. It's the first thing she does when she wakes up and the last thing she does before she goes to sleep. She even does it when she is frustrated. It really is the cutest thing.
She really is a little smarty pants because I didn't really even play it that much with her. She just all of a sudden started doing it.
Crazy girl.
We are working on other fun action rhymes so we can mix things up a bit!

She is starting to get ready to crawl. I can tell. But not yet and I am totally okay with that!

Can I just say I love her.
And I love my boy.
Oh and we are loving having Michael's little sister here this whole week.
Especially Olivia!

Pictures for daddy:

So my boy has been up in Washington the past few days.
Visiting his family and golfing.
We've missed him like crazy.
Olivia and I.
Yes even our 8 month old baby girl knows he's gone.
Her little face lights up when she talks to him on the phone.
And
When we are in bed she will sit and stare at the doorway.
Waiting for him to come through or play peekaboo.
It's so very cute.
But sad at the same time.
He's coming home tomorrow and we couldn't be more excited.
We love you and drive safe Michael.
Tomorrow can't come fast enough.

(She was not a fan of the grass. In fact she pretty much hated it. I am lucky I got these pictures. She's definitely just like her daddy.)