Cherry Picking

While living in the apartments in Orem, I don't think we ever picked the cherries off the trees. We definitely picked up a lot of the fruit off the ground, but never off the tree to eat. Funny that now we live in Mapleton, and my parents stopped by with bags of cherries that they had gone and picked for us. {We aren't that lazy, the tree's didn't produce a ton while we were there, some years there were bugs, and I was always worried about if they had been sprayed or not.} This year the 2 cherry trees produced a ton of great cherries. My parents brought us a bunch of the dark red variety and invited us to come help pick some of the light reddish/orange cherries the next night. 

Bob had to work, so Olivia and I went over with my parents, Andrea and Jensen. Olivia and Jensen played well at first. Andrea and I picked well at first. Then we saw too many friends from the ward in the culdasac and we got distracted talking to them. And the babies found the containers of picked cherries and they started eating them. Mom and Dad definitely did the best picking and we brought home tons of yummy cherries! 

Pudding

I gave Olivia her first pudding cup and had to document it. For the record, she loved it!

Dairy Days

This morning Olivia and I took off to Thanksgiving Point. We went to the farm where they were having Dairy Days. This was our first time going to the farm and it was an extremely busy day. We waited in line for about 20 minutes just to get in. I am glad I had put Olivia in the stroller, that and a string cheese kept her content until we could get through the line.

She immediately fell in love with the baby chicks that are located right after you check in. I wish I had got a picture of her face, but I had to hold her up to the window to let her see them. After we went outside and she went right up to the fence to see the baby goat. This was her reaction when she saw any animal.

But after the goats and chickens when the animals got bigger, she got a little more timid and I ended up holding her. This proved to be a new problem with pregnant me holding Olivia and pushing the stroller. I should've had someone take a picture of us.

We took a little train ride around the farm and Olivia excitedly pointed out all of the animals she saw.

Then we were able to make our own butter and ice cream. There was a lot of shaking involved for me and hardly any for Olivia. Olivia loved the ice cream, she was pretty mad when it was gone and it was time to go home.

Lake Powell 2014

Here's a quick recap with a bunch of pictures from our trip to Lake Powell. We had a great time, and it was Bob's 2nd trip in our 5 years together. The last time he went it was on our old houseboat and Andrea and Brent were just dating. It was so fun to have him there, and to see him enjoy one of my favorite vacations. I also will say that I loved having another person there to help with Olivia.

We drove down on Monday morning and got on our houseboat at Bullfrog. We rode with my parents and we all stopped at Stan's for lunch. Bob and Olivia shared a milkshake.

Olivia waving "bye-bye" as we were about to leave. She had just woke up. 

The wind was blowing like crazy so we decided to stay on the slip for Monday and Tuesday. On Tuesday morning we went out and found a beach to play on in the morning. It was fun for a little bit, but mostly windy. The sand was blowing everywhere, and we were glad we hadn't tried to move the houseboat. I tried to set up my little half tent for shade and protection from the wind, but it was a mess. I didn't pull my camera out because of the wind. There was a big sand castle contest going on by all of the cousins.

Wednesday morning we left for a little cove down at the end of Bullfrog. It was a great spot for the houseboat and had a beach. It was pretty steep though and had a lot of stickers and weeds. Ren and Brenda spent an hour or so making a cleared off area for the kids to play. Olivia and Jensen enjoyed playing in the sand, and by that I mean eating a lot of sand. They both weren't too happy once they had a mouthful though.

We spent a lot of time in the hot afternoons playing cards. We played Rook, Shanghi, Rook Rummy, Scum, and Nerts.

Olivia didn't love the water at Powell, and I am sure it is because it was so cold. While we were there the Lake was increasing about a foot of water a day. We filled up her baby pool and she enjoyed playing in there with Jensen.

 The boat and wave runners were always in use, but obviously not by me. I swear that just because I couldn't wakeboard or ski, I wanted to more than other summers. Bob tried out the kneeboard, double skis and the single ski. He also spent at least an hour a day tubing with Brent and my cousins Nathaniel and Jaxon. I enjoyed watching on the boat a couple times when Olivia would let me. We joined Bob on the tube on the way back to the boat one trip. We weren't planning on going fast at all, but when Ren would try to go at all past no wake, we couldn't balance the tube to not go under water so we were inched back slowly to the houseboat. Olivia loved the ride.

One of the main reasons I love any vacation is the chance to read. While I was there I read 4 books, it was so nice. You will always see books and people reading all over the houseboat. (No pictures of me reading, since I am usually behind the camera.)

Olivia was basically in heaven the whole time playing with her cousin Jensen, and my cousins who were there. Addi and Noelle were like little Mom's to her the whole time. She also loved being chased down the hall by Dillon. They taught her how to bow, and we would all clap for her each time. And she came home with her newest word - awesome.

Jacob, Addi, Bob, Livy, Nathaniel & Noelle

Bob and Brent put their fishing poles out a few days and caught a few fish. I would say they were only fishing 10% of the time. They would put their poles out and then come back inside to play games, checking on their poles every once in a while.

My best buy for the trip was a tent for Olivia to sleep in. All of the bedrooms on the houseboat have 3-4 steps to get into or onto the bed. There was no way that I could leave Olivia to take a nap during the day without her falling or getting into trouble. I also was worried about sleeping on the top and having her crawling around. We brought a pack n play last time, but they are just so big. Each night I would put her in the tent on the floor of my parents room and when everyone was done playing games, I'd pull her into the living room where she slept on the floor in her tent and I slept on the couch. We tried to sleep upstairs, but the kids would watch movies on the projector and it was too noisy for her to fall asleep. This tent was seriously worth every penny, and I love that it folds down so small. Hopefully baby girl isn't crawling next year on our trip so I don't have to buy 2 of them! Here is Olivia playing in it at home before we left.

On the way home from Powell we stopped in Price at a little drive in. Olivia got a corn dog, but what she really loved was her ice cream cone. She ate almost the whole thing by herself.

We had a great time and can't wait for our next trip in August.

19 Months

Our nightly routine consists of reading a page from the illustrated Book of Mormon with Olivia. After we say a prayer and it's off to bed. During the day, Olivia will bring me her Book of Mormon and after looking at a few pages together, she will fold her arms and say prayer.

She learned how to open the wipes container, so we have to place them strategically throughout the house. She loves to take the wipe and wipe her mouth.

When I am finished changing Olivia's diaper, she will take it and put it in the trash.

This month Olivia started to have a little bit more of an appetite. For breakfast we usually rotate through cereal, scrambled eggs, and waffles. She still loves to dip, so her eggs are usually coated with ketchup. For lunch she will have a sandwich or whatever I am having. She has been enjoying pasta and rice & beans for dinner.

Olivia has decided that she no longer wants to go down the stairs on her belly. She wants to walk down like the rest of us. She starts off fine because she can hold onto the banister, but after the first couple of stairs she gets stuck. When we leave the house together, we walk together hand in hand and count the stairs as we go. She is really good at one, two, five and six.

Some of her new words this month are elephant and prayer. Can't think of too many new ones right now.

She loves the water. For the past few weeks we have been rotating between the Springville River and Seven Peaks. We can't wait to go to Lake Powell this next week.

I don't know if it is because of the heat, or just her age but she hates being in the car.

She is officially binky free. I am so glad we took it away when we did because it was mostly painless and she has gotten along fine without it. There are the occasional moments when I really wish I could give it to her. (Like when she doesn't stop crying in the car.

She loves to have conversations on my phone or on the iPod touch. She uses her little gibberish language and inserts a few words here and there that I recognize. Usually Dada or Bobo.

Hand, Foot, & Mouth Disease

I never want to type or say the words of this title again. This week Olivia contracted HF&M and it has been the worst week ever. She was grumpy Sunday night and then feverish Monday and Tuesday. Tuesday night she and I were up from 1 AM to 5 AM, she wouldn't stop crying and nothing could comfort her. We sat on the couch and I kept trying to get her to lay down or fall asleep in my arms. It was one of those long awful nights where you don't feel like you know how to be a good parent because you barely have any patience and question why you are having another child.

We both finally fell asleep from 5-7:30 (sleeping on the couch pregnant is the worst!) and when she got up the rash had appeared. At first it was just a little bit behind her legs and around her elbows. Later in the day I saw a little sore on the inside of her lip and self diagnosed her. 

She was super grumpy, needy, clingy, and didn't want anything I offered her. A few cartoons distracted her, but it was a long day. Lucky for me Bob's schedule has him working and at scouts for 10-12 hours Wednesday through Friday this week. I was so happy Olivia napped yesterday and today for about 2 hours so I could have a break and a nap of my own. 

Today her rash had grown, but the blisters had started to dry up and from what I read that is a good sign. I put a little bit of calamine lotion on her this afternoon, I am hoping it will help dry them up. The rash moved from her arms and legs to her hands and feet, although they aren't as bad. I hope it stays that way. 

She has had some really sad and grumpy periods of the day and then she has a few hours where she is super happy and you would never guess she was sick. I am hoping each day the happy periods get longer and longer. We are supposed to leave for Lake Powell on Monday, but we will leave later in the week if needed. 

When I got the camera out to take pictures of the rash it was during a happy period. She kept putting her face by the camera and saying cheese. She also was showing a little skin. Love this girl!!! I so hope she gets better quick!

20 Weeks

I can't believe I am halfway done with this pregnancy. I definitely feel like it is going a lot faster than my first. At my appointment with Dr. Nance, he told me like last time that the heartbeat sounded like a boys. (Which is what he told me at all of my appointments with Olivia.) But this time I believed him because all of my pregnancy symptoms have been completely different this time around. It's always funny to hear him guess, and then say that he has a 50% chance of being right.

This month I have been feeling fine, just getting bigger and bigger each day. I am still tired, but I am figuring that it's just part of being a mom and chasing a toddler around.

I went for my 20 week anatomy ultrasound and Baby Barber was being very stubborn. I was there for over an hour as the guy tried to get all of the measurements and pictures that he needed. He kept saying, "I'll come back to that" and "You have one naughty baby" over and over. At one point I swear he said "his" when referring to the baby and this was after he said he had seen the potty shot. But when he had the potty shot on the screen, I knew I was definitely looking at a girl. She pretty much always had her hands on her face and her legs crossed. I have been feeling her kick low for the past few weeks, and he confirmed that as of right now she is breech.

We are both thrilled that we will be having another girl. It will be so much fun for Olivia to have a sister close in age. And it will be great for our bank account since we have a bunch of clothes in the right sizes for the coming seasons. In both my family and Bob's, the first two kids are girls and then the boys come next. So maybe we are just following the pattern of both of our families.

A week of water

This last week was so much fun. I am so happy with the weather being warmer and having fun places to go each day. I am excited for this summer. This is our summer. Olivia and I will be having lots of fun and taking full advantage of it just being the two of us (and Bob when he isn't at work). We had a great first week. 

 On Tuesday Bob, Livy and I met Brent, Andrea, and Jensen at Seven Peaks. It was 85-90 degrees that afternoon. When we got there, there weren't too many people since school was still going and it was open 4 - 8 for a few days. It was the perfect afternoon. We went around the lazy river, and then played in the baby area. Olivia was a little timid, and she was trying to figure out walking in the water. Last summer she just sat in the baby area and splashed. Then we went to the wave pool and Olivia loved the waves. Unfortunately Olivia is on the skinny side, so she gets cold easily. So we didn't stay too long after that. We updated our passes with our parking pass and tube before we left. The line was so long when we got there, we just went straight in. It was much shorter after - and not so hot.

On Wednesday I met up with my friend Jolene and her two kids. They have a little fake river and splash pad here in Springville. Jolene couldn't believe I didn't know about it, but last summer I didn't have a walking child so we didn't go to Splash Pads. I also was sad that I didn't wear my swimsuit like every other mom there. I was dying in my shirt and shorts. We didn't go to the splash pad area, we just played in the river and had a picnic lunch. It was perfect, Olivia loved the river and the fountains in it. Right next to the river there is a snow cone shack, so we all got a snow cone. Who ever runs that has got to make bank. Who doesn't want a snow cone while playing in the sun and water? The best part was Olivia came home and slept for 3 hours. I think we will be coming back often!

First snow cone, grape!

Thursday I met up with Brooke and Amber. We went to the Pioneer Park in Provo where there is a splash pad. Olivia didn't love the splash pad, but she would get her hands wet. We also did a picnic lunch there. I think that is just how my summer is going to be. Go somewhere every morning, play in the water and have a picnic lunch. So fun!

Not too brave today, but maybe next time she'll get a little more wet! 

Sharing her sandwich with her friend James.

Just Olivia and I went back to the river on Friday and then did Seven Peaks on Saturday. On Saturday Olivia seriously had no fear and I loved every second of chasing her around. I am glad I only have 1 kid right now so I can keep my eyes on her. In the wave pool, she kept walking towards the waves even though they were about to knock her over. She was wobbling all over the place and had the biggest grin on her face. She did get knocked over a few times, but she was all smiles when I pulled her out of the water.

If you ever want to meet up, just let me know. I am planning on getting out every day - as long as it is warm!