One Step Forward..Two Steps Back

It seems like Olivia just keep get the hang of sleeping through the night. She has been doing so well over the last few weeks, only getting up once or twice. That all changed when I started Christmas break. We've tried to keep her on a schedule but it has been difficult to do everyday with all of the holiday happenings.

Last night was really hard on Olivia-she got up 5 times, yes 5 times. The good part of that is that she only ate once. The other 4 times she was pretty much still asleep when I went in her room just staning there crying with her arms out. It was so pitiful. I guess we're going to go back to letting her cry it out and putting herself back to sleep. Letting her cry is SO hard, I want to cry myself. We've been letting her cry when it's nap time and I'm happy to say she only cries for about 5 minutes now before she's asleep-YAY! Now if we could just get back into the swing of things at night, it's not bad getting up now since I'm on vacation but next week back to work. We've got 4 nights to get her back to normal. Any suggestions for getting back to sleeping through the night or only getting up once would be great. I know other mom's are a great source of advice. I shared mine before with Jobeth-but hey I'm up for something new since it apparently didn't work.

Wordless Wednesday

When Did You Realize...

How blessed you were to have a healthy, beautiful, wonderful child. I realized it the day she was born and have been reminded of it quite often in the past 9 months(wow, I can't believe it's been that long).
The other day I was reading My Charming Kids and again realized that I am truly blessed to have Olivia in my life. If you are not a reader of MCK here is a quick recap, while pregnant her child was diagnosed with a life threatening heart condition which would surely result in stillbirth. He is truly a miracle baby-born perfectly healthy about 8 weeks ago. Things seemed to have changed with them over Christmas he was taken to the ER because of a rapid heart rate and other complications.
Reading this made me start to think about life and how grateful we should all be. I feel blessed that my child is perfect and healthy. This is the second time since becoming a Mom I have been forced to look at life and how lucky I truly am. A few months ago some friends of ours lost a child at only 7 weeks old. That was hard for all of us. We all took a hard look at our lives and I even held my daughter a little tighter for a few days. I can't possibly imagine what it would be like if something were to happen to my baby girl.
Even after the many hardships myself and my family have been through during the past few years I still look at Olivia everyday and feel SO LUCKY to have her. So next time your feeling sorry for yourself and think your life it terrible-take a look at your child and remember how blessed and lucky you are to have them.
I know this isn't my usual perky post-it is a little sappy and self-reflective.
Here are a few snapshots of my beautiful blessing over the past few days. ENJOY!:)

Date Night

Last night Paul and I went out on a date. The first one since October. It was relaxing to enjoy dinner and a little shopping by ourselves. Olivia stayed the night with Nanny and Poppy last night so we could have some R & R. I sure did miss my little girl but I will admit it was a good night. First stop, Town Center. Paul got a new pair of Nikes for Christmas that didn't fit so we had to exchange them. He found a new pair and guess what I did too. I wanted a pair from Santa but he didn't bring them, now I got them. Next stop, dinner. We went to the Millhouse on airport road. YUMMY! We even got desert. I was stuffed when we left. Last stop, Blockbuster. We were going to go to a movie, but there wasn't one I wanted to see so we rented one. We rented National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets. It was good. I've been wanting to rent it for a while now but we haven't gotten the chance. It was like being at the theater-Paul turned all the lights off and the surround sound on really loud. Why go to the movies when you can have the movies at home-in your jammies:)
We had a great night. I'm ready to get Olivia and play, I miss her.

What A Day(s)

We had a GREAT Christmas this year!!! Olivia had a blast with her presents and stocking. I was worried she wouldn't really "get it"-opening her presents and such. Boy was I wrong she did great. She opened her own presents-well most of them and even took everything out of her stocking herself.

Where do I start.
We celebrate Christmas with my mom and Stacy on Christmas Eve at their house. This is a tradition we started after my Dad died. It is hard to spend one of his favorite days at his house without him so we started something new. This new tradition makes Christmas even better. We went over for dinner-filet mignon, crab legs, mashed potatoes, and corn YUMMO! and presents. We started off with Olivia's stocking. She was excited when Nanny showed it to her and couldn't wait to get into it.
Look how big this thing is. I actually have one too(mine isn't as pretty). Look how she is grabbing at it.

Daddy was doing a wonderful job getting Olivia to pull her goodies out. The giant stocking was full of books, special Christmas ornaments, and toys.
The next 2 photos are out of order, sorry.
One of Olivia's gifts was a ball pit bouncy house. This came from Nanny and Poppy-thanks guys are you crazy:) It is actually pretty cool and Olivia really likes it. I'll have more photos to come of her and Daddy in the ball pit.

Olivia eating one of the tangerines in her stocking. Mom put tangerines in all of our stockings-she said it was for good luck. We sure do need it so thanks Mom. Olivia took a big bite out of it,well all of them and seemed to like them. They must have made her teeth feel good.

Mom and Stacy spent the night Christmas Eve so they could be here when Olivia got up on her first Christmas morning. We opened presents then went to Russ and Jen's for breakfast and more presents. Since we do Christmas at Mom's the night before we didn't have as many presents to open but it was just as fun.

TMX Cookie Monster. This was the must have toy last year Olivia got it this year. Cookies monster will roll around, laugh, and talk to you. She absolutely LOVES him. She played with him for quite a while. At first she didn't know what to do with him but then she got used to the loud noises he made. The funniest part of watching her play with cookie monster was when she kept getting hit right between the eyes with his big eyes. She was trying to get it to stand up and was pushing on his feet. He would stand up and bop her right between the eyes-she did this about 6 times before she gave up.

Off to Uncle Russ and Aunt Jen's for breakfast and presents.

Opening presents with Uncle Russ and Kendall. Checking out her new fridge phonics game.

Olivia and Colby playing with their new stuff.

Time for dinner and Panke family Christmas at Aunt Debbie and Uncle Neil's. Paul's entire family gathers at one family's house each year for dinner and gift giving. The food was great this year. We had a tradition dinner-turkey, hams, and lots of side dishes. The deserts were great too. I can't eat for a month now:)

Olivia had more presents to open when we got there. We put a bow on her head whenever we got a chance. It was funny to watch her look for it when it was on top of her head. By the third or forth time we put it there, she stopped looking. She was having more fun with the box then her toys.

Playing with Colby's truck. Why play with your own toys when your cousing got a really cool truck. I guess for her birthday she will get a truck too.

Last stop PopPop and Memi's. After dinner we went to open presents with PopPop, Memi, Russ, Jen, Kendall, and Colby.

After a long and relaxing day we were finally home. We had a WONDERFUL Christmas with out family. It was nice to see everyone and also be relaxed while doing it. Holiday's for me and Paul are always a marathon or places to go, meals to eat, and people to see. This year not so much-it was GREAT! Olivia had a great first Christmas. She was so much fun opening her own presents and playing with her toys. She got so much stuff-thank you everyone so much. I can't wait until next year and her birthday to how much fun she has opening presents. I was pleasantly surprised how well she opened gifts and her reaction to new toys. She wasn't just into the box or paper she actually played with the toys:)

Merry Christmas

Sorry no pics for Wordless Wednesday.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!

I'm sure I will have a ton of photos of my baby girl opening her presents.

Random Weekend Happenings...

This weekend started Christmas vacation from school. YIPEE!!! Don't get me wrong, I love my job but everyone needs a break. I'm going to really enjoy the next two weeks at home with Paul and Olivia:)
Saturday we went to see Santa in downtown Fernandina. I'm proud to say that Olivia didn't cry but she looked a little nervous with Santa. I won't go into too much detail since I don't have a picture to share with you right now. I haven't had a chance to scan it yet and wanted to share some other pics.
Sunday we went for a ride to see come Christmas lights. Now I didn't have the vision of perfection while looking at lights I was going with my child. She still somewhat hates to ride in the car. She cried all the way from our house to Fernandina, then she fell asleep. There were a few places we wanted to hit that we look at each year and a new place Debbie told us about. We were a little disappointed with the street in town off of Citrona(by FBHS). There weren't as many houses decorated as there has been in the past. Hey I got to see lights so I wasn't going to complain.
On our way home Paul thought we should stop for ice cream. We tried Dairy Queen-NO LUCK-they must close early on Sunday's it was about 7 and the lights were off. What party poopers. We decided to go to ColdStone-my favorite:) This was the second night in a row we went there. Saturday we went with Laurie, Owen, and Landon. Landon is my man who ALWAYS has room for ice cream. After getting our ice cream tonight I was reminded why we don't go there very often any more. In a nut shell is was almost $11 for a milkshake and a bowl of ice cream. Olivia took part in the ice cream Saturday. The nice ice cream maker gave me a giant spoonful of vanilla for her. She LOVED it. No pictures of the ice cream didn't bring my camera. I know I'm a terrible mom, maybe next time. On the way back in the house tonight Paul had Olivia hold his milkshake and she thought she would have some. I don't think there was anything left but she sure was going to try and get a taste.
Now she is just playing with the straw. Paul and Olivia are the only people I know who actually like plain vanilla ice cream. I'm sure once Olivia gets a taste of something with more flavor Paul will be eating the vanilla all by himself.

She has finally gotten brave enough to touch the Christmas tree. She walked right up to it and played with the ornaments on it. She was even pulling them off. It's a good thing I bought shatterproof ornaments this year. Thank goodness Lowes had them all on sale or our tree would be bare. She really likes the ones with glitter.

It Came In

Olivia's 6th tooth has FINALLY cut through. This doesn't mean that the pain is over for her, or us but I think we are starting the see the light at the end of the tunnel. YEAH RIGHT!!! She is still chewing EVERYTHING in sight. I think she's still working on two bottom teeth and her molars. We'll see how long these take to cut through.

Real food is going well, at least when she wants to eat. Olivia will eat anything we are eating. Which is good I guess. I'll post some pics of here eating real food soon. I never seem to have the camera when we're eating.

Look What She Found

Olivia is an explorer now. She has recently discovered that the cabinets open. Until now she has just swung on them when they open and smash her fingers in them. She has shed a lot of tears over smashed fingers. The other night she realized that when you open the cabinet you can look inside and find stuff. Really great stuff to play with. Here she is in the rubbermaid cabinet. It is heaven to a baby. Here she is as she starts to take out ALL of my rubbermaids.

After shot. She pulled out EVERYTHING on the left side of the cabinet. You can see the bottom of the cabinet. I have never seen the bottom of this cabinet since we've lived here.

She loved the fridge when you open it. One of us constantly is moving her so she doesn't get shut in the door. While we were making dinner the other night we left the door open and in Olivia went. She climbed right in and looked around.

No, she's not trying to get out she's just trying to get into the stuff on the door.

Wordless Wednesday

Picture Tag

I've been tagged by Tara to a picture challenge. Here are the rules...

1) Choose the 4th folder where you store your pictures on your computer

2) Select the 4th picture in the folder

3) Explain the picture

4) Tag 4 people to do the same

NO CHEATING! (cropping, editing, etc!)
This picture was taken when Olivia was less them 6 weeks old. She is in our bed sleeping one morning. We used to put her in bed with us when she slept in our room to get a few extra hours of sleep. Boy am I glad we broke that habit. Doesn't she look so sweet, well maybe not sweet. She looks like she's throwing a fit or trying to block out really loud sounds.

I tag Jen, Bridget, Kim, and Jaime. Tag your it:) Can't wait to see your pics.

The Weekend in Pictures

We had a full weekend getting ready for Christmas. Saturday I tried to go shopping with Olivia. It didn't work so well. We loaded up to go to Lowes and Target, we only made it to our first stop Lowes. My sidekick fell asleep on the way to Target-sorry Paul we didn't get to pick up your presents. We'll try again one night this week

Here are some of the highlights of our weekend and Monday. For some reason my pictures loaded backwards so bear with me.
Dinner time tonight. Since Olivia eats real food now I've been working on getting her to eat on her own. It works, a little. She has a tendancy to stuff her mouth full and then choke/gag. At least she's trying. Next thing holding our own bottle. Why play with the toy the way it was meant to be used. Olivia likes to climb on top of her seat and play with the toys on it. If I tried to sit her in it she would most certainly scream and throw a fit, which by the way she is getting very good at throwing:)

Playing in the laundry room. These t-shirts belong to my kids at school. And yes I'm going to admit have been sitting dirty in my laundry room since the first week of November. I know wash them alreay but my laundry is more important then field trip shirts we won't use again until February. Well Olivia discovered them on Saturday. She managed to pull all 18 of them out of the bag and toss them all over the laundry room. It was actually kind of funny. She would pick one up look at it, maybe chew on it a little, then throw it. She did this to every shirt I think. She would also pull it up over her face like playing peek a boo. It was so cute.

The toilet paper. My daughter is obsessed with the bathroom. Whenever one of us goes in there she follows. She will even open the door if you don't shut it all the way-no privacy around here. She has been playing with the toilet paper for a while but it has been the ones still in the package. One night last week she realized that if you slap the roll on the holder it will unroll. What a fun game to play especially when Mommy is telling you to stop. Saturday morning I finally got a shot of her having fun. She UNROLLED THE WHOLE roll-about 1/4 of it. She then decided to throw it around the bathroom and laugh. I had to laugh too:) It is so much fun to watch her explore even if she is tearing my house apart in the process.

Helping Mommy on the computer.

All in all we had a great weekend. I even got a break. My wonderful husband and Daddy to Olivia watched her ALL DAY Sunday so Mom and I could go shopping. We got so much done. I only have a few more gifts to get.

All cleared up

FINALLY Olivia's ear infection is all cleared up. Thank goodness!!! I'm so glad my baby isn't sick anymore. Now if we could just get all of these dang teeth in life would be good. I feel like everyday there is a new one coming in-will this ever end. I have this feeling NO.

She's growing like a weed. Another Dr visit, another 10 days, and another 2 lbs. Yes 2 lbs in 10 days. I don't know how she could possibly be growing so fast she hardly eats. OK well maybe that's a little fib she does eat and boy can the girl eat. Eating real food is a hit, she can't get enough.

She's still trying to take steps. I've been putting her little Nike's on her to help her get used to them. I never make her wear shoes, that's how we roll in Nassauville barefoot babies:) Really I just thought she needed them she didn't walk, especially outside. Well now she wears them and is starting to like them. They look so cute on her.

I know, I know no pictures. Haven't take any worth sharing lately. Well they are all worth sharing, after all my baby girl is BEAUTIFUL. I'll update in a few days with pics that are priceless, at least I hope so.

YEAH, it's the weekend. Ya'll ENJOY I will:)

Sad News/Exciting News

As many of you know Olivia has been VERY mobile for a while. She has been able to crawl since mid September and hasn't stopped since. Once she started to crawl she was pulling up and walking if you would hold her hands. The past few weeks she has begun letting go and standing still for almost 30 seconds at a time then she would sit down. For about 2 days now she has been trying to step and would sit down as she took the step. Tonight she took a step. Actually she took 2 or 3 steps. My baby girl is growing up and is going to officially be a toddler. Lucky for us all Paul, Mom, Stacy, and I were all in the living room with her when she took her steps. I almost cried:) I really can't decide if I should be happy or sad about this. OK, I know this may have just been a freak accident and maybe she didn't mean to walk. She did and I'm looking forward to seeing more of it. I'll keep the camera handy to take pictures of those precious first steps and maybe even get a video.

Who needs a pool?

Apparently not my daughter. The other night while playing in the garage with Daddy Olivia found her float. She decided to get it. Me being the picture happy mom I am ran to get my camera-well by the time I got back she was out of her float. Since she had so much fun with the float(and the bugs were getting bad) we took it in the house for her. She decided again to go swimming in our living room. She was just lounging around relaxing in her float:) Posing for the camera. I know she looks a little uncomfortable, this is actually the end of a smile.

Once she got out of the float she was holding onto it so I couldn't take it from her. It has now become a new fixture in our living room. She uses it as a walker, push toy, and whatever else she wants to use it as.

Look at those eyes. If looks could kill Paul and I would be dead. I honestly don't know what the look was for but isn't is cute.

And then there were 5...

Teeth that is. Olivia started cutting teeth at 2 months old and hasn't stopped since. It seems like they just can't stop coming in. Right now she has 2 on the bottom and 3 on the top. The 4th on top seems to be peeking through as we speak. It is painful for everyone. I know she is teething but we all feel her pain. Lately she has been chewing on whatever she can get her mouth on. When I say whatever, I really do mean whatever she can get her mouth on. Just tonight while I was getting her ready for bed she was chewing on a diaper-yes it was clean and unused. She was playing with it while I dressed her-anything so she doesn't cry(she hates to lay down on her back). To top off this teeth cutting ordeal she is also starting to cut 2 more on the bottom, they are really red and swollen AS WELL AS her molars in the back. I know, I know babies don't get those until 15-18 months. The Dr told us that too. She has been chewing like crazy in the back too so we asked when they come in. The answer was 15-18 months, BUT since she got her other teeth early she will probably get them all early. I guess I should be grateful they are all coming in at once and we'll only have to deal with this once but come on give the girl a break.

Sorry no pics tonight. I didn't take any good ones. The good shots I could have gotten were while Olivia was taking a bath-oops I forgot the camera and Paul was putting up lights outside so no luck. Maybe tomorrow-tune in:)

Slideshow

I found this website you can make a slideshow so I gave it a try. Sorry some of the pics are repeats. ENJOY!!!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Decorating & Photo Session

This week we got our Christmas tree. I'm sad to say I got a fake tree this year. I know, I know what am I thinking. I'm a New Yorker-I don't think they even sell fake trees in NY. After 6 years of living together Paul finally talked me into getting a fake tree. The fact that it was 50% off helped in my decision. I have to admit-it is FABULOUS. It is 7 1/2 feet tall with 1000 lights on it, yes I said 1000. I'll post pics when we get it decorated. Olivia wanted to help Daddy since she is excitied about Christmas-just kidding she thinks we are getting more toys for her to play with:)

She's pretty helpful and gets right in the middle of things. Sorry the pictures are a little out of order.

We also went for Christmas pictures today at Portrait Innovations. First of all I want to tell everyone if you are going to get Christmas pics there go well before December. The women told me that they put their tree up in early November-go then there probably won't be a wait.

I had an 11:00 appt and they were running 30-40 minutes behind. That is fine if you have big kids but with an 8 month old not so much. Luckily Olivia stayed in a good mood for the wait and during the pics. She didn't get cranky until it was time to look over and pick with poses we wanted. Thank goodness Mom and Stacy went with us. Stacy took her outside while we picked out package, she was happy. I put a family photo on my sidebar, take a look. Here is one of the pictures they took of Olivia by herself. I had them take both holiday and nonholiday photos. It's been about 4 months since Olivia's last photo session so I wanted some solo pictures of her. She had fun when she could play around while the photographer snapped away.I'll probably be a return customer of Portrait Innovation, but not this close to Christmas. I will say it is much more comfortable for both Olivia and us when the photographer comes to our house, like Dana did back in August.

I'm finally starting to get into the Christmas spirit. Olivia is helping me to this and Paul is forcing me to. Our front yard is on its way to looking like a landing strip. I think the FAA is going to call us tomorrow night and ask us to turn the lights off so the planes can see the airport:) I'll post pics when the yard is done.

How Does this Work

I'm not as computer savvy as I thought I was. A few of the blogs I read have these cute little signatures at the bottom. Well I finally got to the sight you get them from. The only problem is I can't seem to figure out how to get it to show up on all of my posts. If you are more computer savvy then I am HELP!!! I got it here on this post, but next time you never know:)

8 Months Old Today

This is my disclaimer about this post it is going to be long. I have quite a few things to share and to be honest I'm just too tired and LAZY to do multiple posts so here it goes.

Today Olivia is 8 months old. I know, I can't believe it either, time sure flies when you're having FUN. Over the past 8 months I have learned a lot about myself and just learned a lot in general. Here are some the things I've learned
*4 hours of consecutive sleep is better then 3, 2, 1, or none. Yes there have been sleepless nights since Olivia arrived.
*I can tolerate more pain then I ever thought just to bring the WONDERFUL BEAUTIFUL child into the world. Believe me 22 hours of labor with a late epidural, an epidural that ran out, and finally a emergency c-section isn't pleasant. But I will agree with the many people who told me before-it was well worth the wait.
*I'm not the boss anymore. Olivia is. Anyone who has children who thinks they are still the boss is lying. April 2 at 4:49 am I lost my place as the boss of this house and she took my place. Boy was that hard.
*I can share the love I get from Paul better then I thought. Paul has always loved me unconditionally. I will admit I was having a hard time coping with the fact that Olivia was coming and she was a girl. I remember being a daddy's girl and wanted the same for her. But at the same time I still wanted to be the center of his world. Well I'm not anymore Olivia is, and I will say I'm OK with that. I love to see them together.
*As much as I said I would never turn into one of those parents that talked baby talk and acted stupid, I did. I won't get into this ya'll know what I'm talking about and you do it too:)
*It's OK to get puked on whenever Olivia feels like it. I have been puked on more in the past 8 months more then, well more then ever in my life.
*I never thought I could love someone as much as I love Olivia. The love I have for her is undescribable.

Well enough about me, let's get back to family times and of course Olivia. I snapped this pic while she was playing with Paul. She LOVES LOVES LOVES to play with her Daddy. Doesn't she look like she is having so much fun with that BIG smile. Thanks to Tara Olivia now has this cool hippo walker thingy. She loves it and has figured out that she can get ALL OVER the house with it. She walks circles around our house. It is great!! I'm waiting to see her let go and walk on her own. I don't think it will be much longer-oh no!

Another shot with the hippo. She still hasn't figured out what to do when she runs into something. I have to follow her to get her unstuck and keep her going. Thanks Tara and Jude for sharing your toys we love then:)

I decided over the weekend I was going to take my own Christmas card pictures. Honestly I'm too cheap and don't want the same posed pictures all of my friends have on my cards this year. This is just a tidbit of what I got Sunday afternoon. She loved playing with the lights. The one we are using is this one or one that loooks quite similar-what do you think?

Olivia didn't quite get that she was suppose to play with the lights not chew on the cord. One of these days something is going to shock her and then she'll figure it out.

Olivia is a baby food drop out. She WILL NOT eat babyfood other then fruit and oatmeal. I was starting to give up but thanks to support from my mom and Tara's suggestion Olivia now eats real food. By real food I mean food we would eat. Her favorites right now are mac & cheese, chicken & rice, diced carrots, peas, bananas, and pork chops. She has been doing so well. I'm so proud of my big girl.

Dr update-we had our 10 day check up for the ear infection. I have some exciting news the ear infection in her left ear is gone but it has moved to her right ear-so you sense my sarcasim:) Yes, you read that right it is now in the other ear. Aren't we so lucky. We have a new antibiotic which will hopefully work and she will get better. We have another appt in 10 days, I'll let you know what they say. Oh yeah, she weighs 20lbs. I know, I couldn't belive it either. She didn't get measured this time but last time she was 28 in long. She is getting so big that she is outgrowing the carseat Paul has in his work truck-time for the big girl carseat:) :(

That's it for now. Next time it won't be this long:)

ETA Lunch Time

Daddy's coming home today!!! I'm so excited that Paul is coming home. We missed him more then I thought we would. I didn't miss the help, well I did, but that wasn't the only reason I missed him. I'm so used to him being her he hasn't gone out of town without me in about a year, it gets lonely around here. Olivia missed him too. I don't care what anyone says when your baby crawls to Daddy's chair, pulls up and starts crying she misses him. He'll be home around lunch time-YEAH!!!

Colby's birthday party was fun. He got lots of presents and Olivia helped open them. She just didn't quite understand that it wasn't her birthday it was Colby's. He really enjoyed the birthday cake. For some reason I just don't think we'll be letting Olivia go to town on a cake. It was NASTY to say the least. He had fun with it, I guess that's all that matters.

Sorry no pictures. I've taken a bunch this weekend but do'nt have time to wait for them to load-later this week I promise.

We Made It

Yes folks Olivia and I made it through night one of our weekend alone. I hope today and tonight are as easy as last night. We have a busy day, today is Colby's 1st birthday. The party is at 12. Time to party down-well as much as you can when your 1. I'll let you know how tonight goes. I have faith we will be fine. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

All By Myself

Thanksgiving is over and now time to start the Christmas season. We had a great Thanksgiving and it was very relaxing, for the first time in 10 years. For the past 10 years Paul and I have done what I like to call the Thanksgiving Shuffle-how many dinners can you eat in one day. For us it was 3-4 most years. We would have to eat lunch with his mom, and dinner at my parents and his dad and extended family. Yes we would have to eat dinner twice, try doing that with all of the yummy food people make. This year was great we only had to eat twice-lunch and dinner with Paul's family. We didn't have to eat with my Mom and Stacy they spent the day with a friend. All in all we had a great day and have so much to be thankful for. This is how Olivia spent Thanksgiving dinner at Uncle Fred and Aunt Sara's house. If she sees a power cord she makes a beeline for it. She just loves them. I've been trying to keep her away from them but she just won't stay away.

Playing with Colby while the adults ate. It was nice they could stay busy with each other and we could all eat.

Now that the holiday has past Paul decided he would go to Daytona with Jimmy. Until Sunday it's just me and Olivia, what will we do. NOTHING!! Actually I have a ton of stuff to do while Paul is gone but there's no rush. I am a little nervous, I'm a big wimp. I HATE to stay by myself. I've only had to do it a few times and was a little nervous and I've never done it with Olivia. Last time Paul went out of town it wasn't too bad my mom was home so if I got scared I could call her and stay there. This time I'm really all by myself. Mom and Stacy went to SC to visit his family. If I get scared this time I need to call my reinforcements AKA the Panke family, they are all still here.

Olivia loves her daddy's shoes. Her favorite activity is to untie them while he has them on. It drives him nuts, apparently she does it every morning when he gets ready to go to work and take her to Nanny's.

Discovering her toys. Olivia has had these bins in her room forever and is now just starting to play with the toys in them. A few weeks back she wanted a few toys out so I dumped the bin out. Now she is playing with the toys and the bins. The particular bin she is in WAS filled with links. Of all the junk she has she wants to play with the links, I know couldn't she find something more fun. After dumping them all out she pulled the bin over. I'm not sure what this face is saying. Help me!, Are you looking at me!, or What, I'm not suppose to do this!:)