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.

My favorite night:

I'm loving Mondays now.
Mostly because of this show.
My boy watches it with me which makes it even more of a treat.
I like Chantel, Ashley S., Emily, and Lisa. (Even though he hardly talks to her. I just think she's pretty.)

And then...
we have this sweet girl.
Who pretty much is the highlight of my day everyday.
Of course her dad is too.
Anyway, we had our home teacher over. After his lesson he decided to give the prayer himself. Now that I look back I think he was inspired to ask himself to say the prayer because I don't think Michael and I would have been able to and this is why...
Our little Olivia tooted right smack in the middle of it. And it wasn't just a little one. I'm afraid the home teacher may have thought is was Michael or me. He finished his prayer acting as if nothing happened while Michael and I had our faces buried in our hands because we were laughing so hard. I even had a few tears in my eyes. What mature parents we are, I know. Sad. But I think toots will always be a laughing matter in our home.

A photo shoot:

This poor little girl has been front and center in hundreds of photographs pretty much since the second she was born. I am not sure if I should call her poor because really she has to be something special if someone wants to sit and take pictures of her all day. I am so happy I have my baby girl. Photo shoots and dress-up are common activities we do during the day. Sometimes I change her clothes in the middle of the day, not because she had a leaking problem, but just because she really is my little doll. Here are some sample photos of one of our photo shoots. I think she is starting to enjoy them!

Loving our baby girl

I can't even explain to you how much fun it has been to have our baby girl. We are so in love with her. We have loved getting to know her little personality which for such a little person she has quite the strong one. I think she's a good mix of her mom and dad. Yikes!
This little girl knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. Even if it means fake crying and coughing!
She has started to imitate me a little bit which I love. I make this little sound with my lips (hard to explain) anyway and she will do it right back!
Yesterday, I was blowing on her tummy and she let out a little laugh. It was the cutest little hahaha I have ever heard.
And one of my favorites...
She gives kisses. When I tell her to kiss me and bring her up to my cheek she opens her mouth and puts in on my cheek. Oh I just love it!
Anyway, here are a few pictures!

We bought her a bumbo chair the other day. Seriously best invention ever! She looks so cute in it because she is still so small. She loves being able to watch everything going on. She is really good about holding up her head but she still gets a little tired sometimes so she doesn't sit in it for long. Hopefully in a few weeks she will be ready for a longer sitting!

We started her on rice cereal! Her 4 month isn't for another few weeks but I thought we would start her on it anyway. She nurses pretty much all the time. So I worried that my milk just wasn't enough for her. Anyway, she loves it. She only eats 5-6 little spoonfuls but she will open her mouth and try and lick it off the spoon! Even though she has been eating rice cereal she still nurses a lot. It must be more of a comfort thing.

Snuggled up in her swing!

Snuggled up in her mom and dad's bed! Bad I know.

Just a cute happy face!

Favorites:
Our little Olivia is not a very social one. She definitely is picky about who gets to hold her and for how long. She pretty much always wants her mom. However I think she has found herself a little friend who she seems to just love and will seriously let him hold her forever. Whenever we go over to my parents house or when we go my dad's work he will come up to her and start talking to her. She immediately gets the biggest little smile on her face and just starts flopping her arms and legs around with excitement. She loves talking to him and makes her cute little cooing sounds. I just love watching her with him. Although I might have to admit I am a bit jealous because she doesn't ever act as excited to see me!