Baby Momma

Livy has taken on the role of being a mom. It seriously is the cutest thing ever. She walks around the house carrying her baby. She has gotten better at feeding her and actually puts the bottle next to the baby's mouth instead of in it's neck. She likes to rock her and swaddle her up.  Tonight she wanted me to help her put a hat on so she could match her baby.

Livy's first piggies

Today when getting Olivia ready for church I put her little mullet into pigtails. Her hair is growing a lot in the back, and it's all different lengths. The top is still pretty fine, but we can pull it over into a clip or bow. Headbands aren't our only option anymore!!

Cheese!

Olivia has mastered saying "cheese" and with a matching smile. The flash may have been bright, or she is just blessed with her Mom's squinty eyes.

Visiting Great Grandma and Grandpa

Living above my grandparents has been so much fun for our family. Olivia is now aware that they are just downstairs. When I tell her we are going to visit, she runs to the gate. Grandma got a few toys for Olivia and put them in the box which held toys that I played with as a child. Olivia pulls the toys out 1 by 1 oohing and awing over them. There is also a soldier bear in the living room and Olivia loves to play with it.

This is her favorite baby, and she always wants to suck on the little binky. Yes, we have a problem. This is Olivia and she is addicted to binky's.

Oooh! 

My favorite pic, Olivia playing with Grandma and Grandpa snoozing in the background.

Olivia

Olivia has found a tiny bit of interest in TV. Sometimes she will watch for a full minute. I thought it would be fun for her to see Olivia, since she has a lot of her books. It didn't last long.

Whenever Olivia is in her high chair eating, she ALWAYS puts her feet up.

Today was the first day when Olivia didn't freak out when we were vacuuming. She has come a long way in her short life.

A new year, a new me

Yes, January is almost over, but better now then never.

I feel like people either hate January 1st or love it. Some people think that resolutions are dumb, and some embrace them. I am a lover of January 1st. There is something about it that gets me motivated and I work harder at this time of year to achieve my goals.

This year I have decided to start eating clean. I have been going strong since my birthday at the end of December and I feel a ton better already. I am completely off sugar, white flour, and processed foods. I am an all or nothing kind of girl, and I can't really have cheat days - I just go crazy when I do. I am hoping to go a whole year without sugar.

I also have been trying to work out Monday - Friday. When Bob works later in the day I am able to go to the gym. And when he works early, I do a workout video during Olivia's nap. I love being able to workout at home and not worry about bugging my neighbors like in our last place.

Since having Olivia (yes it's been 14 months) I have had a hard time cooking consistently. We always had something for dinner but I didn't cook as much as I used to. I am working on cooking more dinners and am proud that I have made some clean dinners that Bob has enjoyed. For some reason Bob and I are never on a health kick at the same time. Last week I made English Muffin Pizzas, Baked Chicken Parmigiana, and Pork Tacos. My Mom and Dad are eating clean right now too, so it is fun to talk recipes with my Mom.

I could've made a goal about how many books I want to read, but the main goal I have about reading is to read my scriptures everyday. I also would like to try and prepare my Sunday School lesson earlier in the week so I can be thinking about it more, compared to when I prepare the night before. I was recently called to teach the 14 year old Sunday School class. They are a great bunch, but it is definitely a change from 3rd graders.

Something that I have been trying to implement during the day is not looking at my phone or being on the computer while Olivia is awake. It is so easy to become distracted by the internet. Right now I have to physically move my phone to my bedroom, so I don't pick it up for a "quick" look while I am playing with Olivia. Bob often says he wishes we could go back to the day when we just had a single home phone and things were much simpler. As much as I love having so much information at my fingertips, I do have to agree with Bob. I hope I can be better at managing my time this year.

And lastly, I want to be better at taking pictures and blogging. For me, this is my journal. I love going back through my blog and reading past entries. I sometimes don't blog, because I don't feel like I have something good enough to post. It's important for me to remember that this is for me & my family, and no one else. I have so many things I don't want to forget!

Here's to 2014, I am excited for a new year!

Kjerstin's Baby Shower

My cousin Kjerstin is having a baby girl this March. My sister Andrea headed the shower and my Mom and I helped her.

For Christmas I got the cricut cartridge that makes banners, and I absolutely love it. I have made a bunch of banners in the last few years, but always traced and hand cut everything by hand. Using my cricut made it SO much easier. I was so happy with the finished product.

For the brunch we had muffins, quiche, bacon wrapped potatoes, fruit and dip. My mom squeezed a bunch of oranges for fresh orange juice. It was delicious.

I love spending the day with my family, and can't wait to meet Kjerstin's baby.

Hats and Gloves

Olivia has a few gloves and hats for when we go out in the cold. (We don't really go out in the cold.) So she hardly ever wears them. But she found them in her closet yesterday and wanted to wear the hat all day. She would take it off, bring it to me and I'd put it back on. Then she'd wear it for another 15 minutes before we would repeat.

Today she wanted to wear her gloves. She loved them, and can't get them off on her own. She got frustrated in the end when she couldn't grab the toys she wanted. It was so funny to see her lean over and try to bite some of her toys.

Cookies before bed

Olivia is usually pretty grumpy from 5:30 -7:00 each night. As soon as she hears the door around 7:15, she perks up and is so happy to see Dad. She will run to the gate to meet him with the biggest grin.

After dinner Bob baked some cookies (baked as in, got the cookie dough out of the freezer and put it in the oven) and shared a few bites with Olivia before she went to bed.

Maybe that's why her grin is so big when Bob gets home.

14 Months

Today when I asked you to go get a diaper, you walked across the room and grabbed a diaper and brought it back to me.

You now will say cheese and sometimes smile. We are working on putting the two together. You will copy some of the words that we say, but you aren't consistent with a lot of them yet.

This month you have been waking up once a night, 2-3 times times a week. The other nights you sleep for 11- 13 hours straight.

When you hear music or if we say Dance, you dance by doing little squats, it is really cute.

You wear 12- 18 month clothes. You got a bunch of size 18 months for Christmas and the shirts work, just a little long in the sleeves. But the pants fall off your tiny bum and we have to roll them up too.

You still take 2 naps a day, usually 3 hours total.

All day long you bring Mom and Dad book after book. You don't want us to read it, just flip through the pictures as fast as possible. Then it is time for a new one.

We don't really let you play on the iPad, but if you see it, you want it. And when we take it away you have a big fit.

You love the Aden & Anais muslin blankets. You pull them out of your crib and walk around the house with at least 1, and usually 2 in your hands.

One of your favorite Christmas gifts right now
is a picnic basket you got from Grandma Sue. You carry the basket and take the food in and out, over and over again.

You are constantly pointing at items around the house.

When you want something or are really excited about getting something you will open and close your hands.

You are still drinking 1 sippy cup of milk a day. The other day you drank 2 and a half and we were so proud of you. You have your own camelbak water bottle but you love drinking from Mom's.

Lately you have been loving pieces of ham, mandarin oranges, pancakes, and anything sweet.

Your hair is growing, the back is definitely growing faster but we can do some new things with the top instead of a headband everyday.

Girls Getaway

For our Christmas presents to each other this year, we decided to go to Park City for the night. We all met up at Rachel's house and drove up together. By the time we got there, we were all starving. We picked out our restaurant based on whatever was closest to the parking spot we found. I am sad we didn't take any pictures at dinner.

We were going to try and see a movie after dinner, but we didn't end up finding a movie playing at the right time. We stopped at the grocery store and got some breakfast foods and treats before returning to our condo.

We stayed up until 2, talking and catching up over the last 6 months of our lives. Hopefully we don't got that long again before seeing each other. Staying up until 2 wasn't our best decision and I was dead once I got home Saturday afternoon.

Rachel whipped up a great breakfast of hash browns, eggs, bacon & OJ. We finally got our cameras out, of course we had just rolled out of bed.

We cleaned up and packed our things. We headed to the outlets before we left Park City. It was a great day for shopping and we all left with some bargains.

Bob ended up having to work on Saturday so my Mom watched Olivia on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning. This was the first time I left Olivia overnight and when I came in, Olivia was laughing and running to the stairs to see me. It was seriously the best moment.

Puzzle Time

Bob loves doing puzzles, and I do not. I wish that we both enjoyed it, but I don't have a lot of patience. I don't know what I was thinking when I picked out the golf course puzzle, that is a lot of green. Bob worked on it for a couple days and had it finished. I sat next to him for a few minutes and couldn't place a single piece, so he did this one all by himself.

Painting

For Christmas I got Bob a few things that he could do on his days off. He has been wanting to start a new hobby and he had shown interest in painting.

Birthday Gifts

I ordered my birthday gifts from Amazon and have been very pleased with my purchases. Happy Birthday to Me!

I got a Polar Watch that tracks my heart rate and tells me how many calories I burn during each workout. I have loved it, and it motivates me to work out. After only having it for a week, Olivia found it on my desk and was trying to put it on her wrist. She is seriously picking up on so many things.

My new favorite kitchen tool is this guy. It takes veggies and turns them into noodles. So far I have only tried zucchini, but I am sure I will try other types of squash soon.

After hearing lots of great things from a few friends about this cookbook I decided to get it. I have been trying to stay away from sugar and flour, and this will give me some new recipes to try out.

Obviously all of my presents are health related, I guess that is what happens when your birthday is at the end of the year. Here's to a healthy and happy year!