It snowed, so we played!

It finally decided to snow enough for us to take Olivia out to play.

So we bundled her up in lots and lots of layers of clothes.

Including the very snowsuit I wore when I was a baby!

We got a little sled for her and went out back to send her down sledding for her very first time.

I went first to make a path.

And to make sure it wouldn't be too fast.

And then it was her turn.

Here she is.

Isn't she just the cutest?!

Yay Olivia!!

So in love with those cheeks!

She was a little scared of the snow.

She did not like to walk in it by herself.

Only if we held her hand.

But one thing she did LOVE was eating it!

She sat like this for the longest time shoving it in her mouth.

(Don't worry this snow looks dirty, but I made sure to only give her the fresh snow).

I love the back of her in this snowsuit.

It makes me laugh so hard.

As always, thrilled to be outside!

And walking on the sidewalk, not the snow!

I love my little fluffy puffy girl.

She's the best!

Just a few tidbits.

Random life happenings for us.

I still work around 20 hours a week.

Michael will also be working for my dad on the days I don't work for the next 2 weeks.

Extra money, woot!

I still enjoy my Monday Bachelor night, even though this season is definitely not a favorite.

Our Monday schedules are definitely arranged so that all is settled down by 6:57 pm.

I'm not even kidding.

 I really enjoy the commercials or kissing breaks as Michael and I like to call them:)

Michael and I have become huge Uno players again.

We play at least 2 sets of 3 games every single night.

We've also been taking advantage of our built in babysitters, since there is only 2 months left.

Tuesday movie nights, dinner dates, and treat runs.

It's really a blast.

Where to begin with Olivia,

She's a real hoot.

New words: star "tar",  and stuck "stu", toes "tozzz", mail "mai".

Recently she's decided that she is not a fan of sad, soft music.

Michael just randomly started singing a song about a light house (EFY) and her little lip just started quivering and she let out the saddest cry you've ever heard.  

Really if you sing the abcs in a soft pretty voice she just bursts out bawling and in that very same minute you can start happily singing the itsy bitsy spider and she is dying of laughter.

Yep, sometimes we just have no idea what is going on in that cute little head.

I justify my time spent on Pinterest by meal planning each week off of my food boards.

And doing my workouts 3 times a week from workout plans on there.

So grateful for tax returns.

Just found out that we are not selling in Santa Monica but in Santa Clarita!

We're still fairly close to the beach so no worries:)

Even though our lives are a bit crazy and up in the air right now, I am just so grateful for Michael.

He makes me laugh every single day and it's just so wonderful to be married to my best friend.

And I'm of course so grateful for my Olivia. 

She makes everyday an exciting adventure.

I can't even begin explain how much being her mom means to me.

It's simply the best thing ever.

Doing her little nose scrunch.

And now it is a beautiful smile.

These are the squishy hugs and wet kisses I get every single day.

Oh how I love her.

Giggle bellies.

If you haven't heard of the giggle bellies and you have a small child, it's time.

Michael's aunt introduced them to me a while back and I of course showed them to Olivia.

And she loves them.

The music is so fun and all the little characters are so colorful.

Some of them are a little creepy looking haha.

But I don't think Olivia feels the same.

She will honestly sit and watch them for about 20 minutes.

Which is a record in her books.

Right now we just watch some of the songs on youtube.

But for Easter we plan on buying her the dvds.

It's one of those quickly turn on things when there is a freak out.

And immediately she becomes a happier baby.

She's learning new words and all the cute little children songs at the same time.

I'm a fan.

And of course Olivia is too!

Her messy hair.

Ahhh I love it so much.

I think it is almost long enough for pig tails.

Yay!

 

Ready for bed.

Aren't ready for bed babies just the best?

I love this little one when she is all clean and smells of the heavenly baby lotion and oil.

Oh my gosh.

And I freaking just want to cuddle her close in her soft little pajamas.

Don't get me wrong, I love this little one at all times of the day and night.

But there is something about right before bed that just makes me want to squish this little one and kiss her plump rosy cheeks forever.

I love my baby girl.

But I must stop talking about her and looking at this picture because I am extremely tempted to go into her room and just wake her up!

But she needs her beauty and good mood sleep.

So I won't.

I'm thinking I'm still going to go take a little peep though:)

Love moment.

 

Tonight, while reading this with Michael, I had one of those butterfly madly in love moments.

The your so dang hot moments where you can't take your eyes of them.

It was wonderful.

And made it kind of difficult to focus on reading.

I kind of just wanted to stare.

I am just so happy that 2 1/2 years later, I still get the little love flutters in my stomach.

Oh how I love being in love with my boy.

Olivia.

Let's talk a little bit about her.

And some of the new things she's doing.

*Lately, she laughs and cries at the same time. A little strange right? But it is hilarious.

For example, I will lay her down to change her diaper and she will start crying and within a matter of seconds that cry turns to full on busting up, and then back to crying and so forth. 

It's quite entertaining:)

*She's obsessed with socks ("das"), and shoes ("sooz"). She loves to put them on and play with them.  She tries very hard to put on her own socks. And is getting close. She also loves to put on me and Michael's shoes and then try to walk in them. We'll just say that doesn't work well for her!

*She loves going places. Whether it is outside to play basketball ("ba") with dad or to uncle Emerson's basketball games, the grocery store with mom or grandma "ma", taking the garbage out or really anywhere that isn't home. In the morning when the twins and Harrison leave for school she always latches on to them hoping that they will take her with them. When they leave, she always runs to the front door crying. She's an adventurous little thing and just loves to be out and about and apart of everything.

*Her new favorite bath toy is her duck ("du").

*She absolutely loves candy. And will always be seen doing the sign for it.

*She loves to help clean, do laundry, and vacuum.  She loves putting things away in her laundry basket even if it isn't clothes!
*She says boom, "boovs"  bye bye "bye byes", turtle "tuts", yucky, "by spitting and making a grossed out face, Jesus "jes" or "jezus", cheese "cheeze", duck "du" door "dor", stairs, banana "nan" or "bbbb". And loves to repeat the last word that you say.

*One of the first things she gets into is my wallet.  She loves to empty all my cards out and play with them.

*She loves babies and little kids.  And will do the rocking motion with her hands and say, "MMMMmmmm" whenever she sees a baby or someone talks about one.

"She loves to give her little squeeze hugs all the time.  Sometimes when I lay her down to change her she holds her little arms up and I go down and she gives me just the longest squishiest hug. She also makes the same little "MMMmmmm" sound.

It makes my day.

She is getting so good at understanding everything I say to her. And although she is speaking sentences she makes it very clear to us what she needs and wants.

She is learning things so quickly and I can tell she is watching everything everyone does so carefully.

 Which means I better start watching myself:)

We love her so much.

I can't imagine where we'd be without her.

She is such a sweet little joy that we get to love every second of every day.

I'm grateful for her and for her spunkiness, hilariousness, independence, hugs and kisses.

She makes those not so good days, perfect days.

She glares now.

 Recently, our little Olivia has decided that she likes to glare at anyone that doesn't do exactly what she wants.

Or if she is getting into something and we say, "no no Olivia."

We get the face.

And we seriously just bust up.

I don't know if we will ever be able to punish this child when she makes a face like that.

We just can't take her seriously.

She does it all the time and we can't get enough of it.

Sometimes we will say "no no" just to get the face.

I know we are such teasers.

But it really is the best.

Where this child learned to glare, I have no idea:)

A very happy Valentines day.

Let me just start off by saying.

I absolutely love Valentines Day.

I just love the heart sugar cookies, the red, pink, and purple, the valentines, and overall having an official day just to celebrate love.

But mostly I just love knowing that I have my very own valentine.

And that he's mine forever.

It's pretty romantic.

And let me just tell you, I absolutely LOVE my valentine.

He is just the cutest.

And made my day the very best.

I'll tell you what we did in pictures:

My boy took us to Kneaders for breakfast.

The all you can eat cinnamon french toast with strawberries and whipped cream is to die for.

(You can tell it is morning by the looks of Michael's hair!)

Me and baby girl.

She is saying cheese by the way!

 What is Valentine's Day without chocolate right?

Well this little chocolate bar is the best ever.

I could eat 10 of these and not get sick.

Thanks Michael!

Daddy giving Olivia her rose.

She didn't really like it though.

She started hitting it.

And then started crying.

Sad.
I think she was in a bad mood.

Cause a while later, she wanted to smell it.

Funny story:

Michael went to a flower shop to get Olivia and me a rose. When he asked the lady for 2 roses wrapped separately, she was like, "oh you have 2 valentines?" Michael said, "yes, their names are Isabella and Olivia." The lady looked kind of surprised, so Michael said, "they are for my wife and daughter." And she was like, "Oh my gosh! I did not think you were old enough to be married, let alone have a baby!"

Haha, oh my gosh. 

The 2nd time in 4 days that Michael has been mistaken for a highschooler!
That makes me laugh.

Us girls with our pretty roses.

Olivia handed out her valentines to everyone.

She was so cute about it.

And would actually hand one to each person with just the cutest smile, but then start doing the candy sign after and reaching for it.

I don't think she liked giving away her favorite candy. (Smarties).
Apparently it's time to start teaching her about Indian giving.

Remember last post how I talked about Olivia giving the best squeeze hugs?

Well here she is giving me one.

Ahhh, I just love them.

The night finished out with Michael's final 2 presents to me.

I simply must share both, however I am sure some will laugh at my first one.

But seriously to me, it is the very best present ever.

If it actually happens:)

So, ever since I was 6 years old I always said, I will name my first baby girl Clara.

And I continued to say that until I got pregnant and we found out it was a girl. There was never any question as to what her name would be. It was always Olivia.

And I absolutely love that name, but I still want a baby Clara.

The sad thing about this is, that Michael really doesn't like it.

AT ALL.

And has told me from day one that we will not name any of our girls Clara. 

And that we would find other names that we both liked.

Cause we do have a pretty decent list.

But I just still can not stop thinking about that name. 

I  love it.

So....for valentines day, Michael told me that after a lot of thought and because he just loves me so much, he had decided that he would let me name our next girl (if we have one) Clara.

Yep best present ever!
I just love how well he knows me.
Even if what I like is a bit cheesy:)

Late that night he took me to see the Vow.
I really really liked it.
And I really really liked laying in his arms holding his hand the entire time.

It was definitely a very happy Valentines day.
Oh how I love my boy!

P.s. Not to worry, Michael did not walk away empty handed. Being the very generous wife that I am, I walked through wet mud to purchase him a gift certificate to golf.
Yep, he was dang excited.
And just loves me so much.

Sleeping beauty.

Every night, we sneek in at least once just to get a quick peek at our sleeping beauty.

Sometimes we find in her in just the cutest positions.

I think what we like about this most is just looking at our beautiful baby sleeping so peacefully and realizing what a precious blessing she is to us.

And that she's ours.

And that we get to be her mom and dad.

I am so grateful for this.

So grateful for everything this 16 month old baby has already taught me.

She has started giving just the very best hugs.

She wraps her little arms tightly around your neck and squeezes.

I could seriously get them all day.

The best part of this perfect hug is knowing that she knows I'm her mom and that I love her more than anything else.

And that she loves me back just the same.

Pre V-day.

The little sweets dressed in red for church.

(Sorry about the blurriness).

Helping mom make sugar cookies.

(We tried substituting Greek yogurt for the shortening.)

They tasted amazing.

So excited for Valentines Day!

Baby girl love.

Sometimes there are just those days when I can not stop taking pictures of this girl.

Her silly and so very cute facial expressions are just the best things ever.

She loves the outside more than really anything else.

And could probably play out there all day.

Lucky for her it has been such good weather here that she can even go out with out a puffer coat.

She loves jumping on the tramp (oh her little jump is the cutest), playing soccer (her little kick is just the cutest), throwing the ball, running around literally nonstop, and trying to find doggies and birds.

Here are some cute pictures of this crazy one. 

Some are very silly.

But vintage Olivia.

I know I say this all the time.

But I'm grateful for this baby girl.

She really is our little sunshine.

And just makes everyday a beautiful day.

St. George getaway.

Where to begin.

It was just simply wonderful.

Except for the leaving Olivia part.

I will admit that I burst out bawling as I carried her downstairs to say goodbye.

And it wasn't just a few tears.

It was full on sobbing.

Oh my gosh it was only going to be for one night.

But really it was so very hard.

But I did it.

And off we went.

We made the 3 hour drive down to St. George.

Checked in at the hotel and decided to do a little shopping.

At the "outlets".

I was disappointed in the few stores that we went to.

Maybe we didn't go to the "actual" outlets.

I don't know but maybe it was beneficial cause no money was spent:)

Except for at the Rocky Mountain chocolate factory.

$15 dollars, in a matter of seconds.

Glorious.

Then it was off to Olive Garden.

I think we were the only young ones there haha.

My favorite was the strawberry mango drink.

It was heaven.

Then back to the hotel.

And off to the hot tub.

Now that was romantic.

It was outdoors and I didn't even get cold walking out.

Then it was chocolate covered strawberries, massages, movies about giant alligators, and then finally bed.

Going to sleep together in an actual bed!

(Currently Olivia occupies our room so we are out on the couch.)

Let's just say I don't think I fully appreciated my soft bed until now.

9:30 am rolled around way to quickly.

And it was time to checkout and head to the golf course.

18 holes, 4 1/2 hours, some great shots, someone asking Michael if he played on a high school team HAHA, they thought he was 18, oh gosh I can't really handle that, the nice warm sun, but most of all being with my boy made for a a perfect morning/afternoon.

And then it was time for the drive home.

Which seemed like forever.

Probably because I was SO VERY excited to grab my baby and give her the longest hug ever.

We are grateful to my parents for the getaway.

It was so very fun to have some time just to ourselves.

But I'm not going to lie, it was weird.

I kind of felt like something was missing the whole time.

We both jumped out of the car and booked it into the house.

I got her first:)

She gave us long hugs that night.

Tight ones around the neck.

It made me realize how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband and a perfect baby girl to hug and love every single day.

We were bad at taking pictures, but here are a few:

I look cold in this picture.
But I really wasn't!

Oh my hottness.

Major sun in the eyes.

Thanks love for spending a perfect 1 1/2 days with me!

Her new potty and a few other things.

 

Well we bought this little one her very own very mini pink potty.

And it is just the cutest.

The little squishy seat is just perfect for her little bum.

Don't worry the potty training has not yet begun.

However, we want her to start getting used to sitting on it and such.

So she gets to every night before her bath.

This whole potty training thing will be quite the process I'm sure.

So I'm starting young.

Yay Olivia!

On a few other notes.

Blogging has just not been happening.

It's been pretty busy here.

Working, cleaning, lots of Olivia time, cooking, sleeping and all that stuff.

But we are all as happy as can be.

Olivia loves all the daddy time she's been getting.

I like earning money.

But not the leaving Olivia part.

We really miss each other.

But only a few more months!

Oh and you should just hear the little one speak.

She loves to imitate and say the last word of every sentence that you say.

It's pretty adorable.

Tomorrow my boy and I leave for our getaway.

The overnighter in St. George golfing thing.

We're pretty dang excited.

I think it is going to be hard to leave our little snoop.

But it will be so fun to just be together.

Him and I.

So stay tuned for the pictures.

Oh and Olivia is sending out Valentines this year.

Cute huh?!