Christmas Eve

We had a great Christmas Eve. Bob had the day off and we were able to spend the whole day together. We woke up and cleaned, did some last minute shopping, and then napped/relaxed. Bob got started on my $10 Amazon rocking chair for Olivia.

While he was working on that, I started working on my appetizer for the Hales Christmas party. Last week my Dad's cousin Stacy made this same appetizer and posted it on Instagram. My Dad called me after seeing it and put in a request. The tutorial we both used was from Here. 

Our traditional Christmas Eve meal is fried oysters, shrimp cocktails, and clam chowder. We also had another soup, salad, and rolls. For dessert Andrea made Tres Leches and Heath Bar cake.

After dinner we played a quick game. We were all divided up, and each group was given an item to draw. The trick was you had to draw it on top of your head. Bob and I along with my Mom and Aunt Brenda all had to draw a stocking hanging by the fire. I forgot the fire and only got a mantle. It made for some good laughs. 

My mom brought out our Christmas Eve presents, and Olivia dove right in. She definitely understands gift bags with tissue paper.

And then we took our annual new PJ's by the tree picture. 

Our house at Christmas

Last year we spent the week of Christmas with my parents, and because I had a newborn, we didn't decorate for Christmas last year. So this year I was really excited to get all of my Christmas decorations out. Unfortunately, because of our weird walls, I don't have a lot of shelves or space to hang things. We just had to make do with what we had.

Festival of Lights

Growing up we always went to the Festival of Lights for an FHE close to Christmas. The last time Bob and I went was 5 years ago right after we started dating. We didn't realize they wouldn't take a debit card so they let us in for all the change we had in the car.

Last night my parents took us to see the lights. Olivia was a little tired, but she had a great time. She sat up front with Grandma and Grandpa and squealed and pointed at the lights. She also might've been a little happy that she wasn't in her carseat.

Afterwords we went to get frozen yogurt. Olivia loved it, although her face shows that she is up past her bedtime. She is dressed up in her elf PJ's that I had her wear all day. When I went to get my license renewed, the lady there asked if we had just gotten her pictures taken. - Nope, we just like to dress up for the holidays!

Ward Christmas Party

Bob was on call tonight, so Olivia and I went to the ward Christmas party on our own. We were lucky that when we got there cousin Marianne and Aunt Lyona pulled up beside us. Marianne helped carry in the potatoes so I could grab Olivia and the diaper bag.

We sat by Branda and Elsie, who's dad was also working. I was quick to get in the line (I was starving, and I don't like to wait...) and Olivia and I got our plate to share. Just as we were about to sit down, Bob walked in. Instead of getting in line, he sat down with us and we all 3 shared my plate. Olivia's favorites were the deviled egg and tree shaped jello.

The YM and YW performed musical numbers for the entertainment and it was a wonderful night.

 Let's just say, this isn't Olivia's best picture.

13 Months

This month Olivia has started walking. She started taking a few steps with people helping her, but she wasn't too consistent. One day my Dad came over and I got her to walk to him, which was about 7 steps. We were so excited. But then she didn't do much after that. Then one night, right before Bob got home from work, Olivia started standing up on her own without pulling on anything. She would take a few steps on her own, fall down, and then stand back up again. Since then she has been doing really well.

It was fun to go downstairs and have Olivia walk from one end of the living room to the other. My Grandma and Grandpa Hales were so excited for her. Since living here, we try to go down to visit for a little while each day. So they were able to see how much progress she has made too. Now that she is walking, it's going to be a lot of work for me. Grandma's house is far from baby proof. She also likes to go after their dog, Bogey.

This month her favorite foods have been pancakes, clementines, Reeces Puff cereal, chicken, corn, and blueberries. When she is finished eating she throws whatever food is left on the floor.

Olivia's theme song has been "I'll I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth." She has been vampire baby for the last couple months since she skipped her two front teeth and the next two grew in. As a mother, I am happy to announce that her left top tooth made it's way in. She now has 5 teeth, and I am sure the  6th will be coming soon.

She has started being a total cry baby and when she doesn't get what she wants, she immediately starts crying. She loves to throw a fit when I stop her while she is playing to change her diaper.

She wears size 3 diapers and anything from 9- 18 months.

Olivia loves the Christmas tree. She spends part of her day standing next to it, grabbing the ornaments and strands of beads. She pulls the tags off of the presents and there are a few that she likes to pull at the paper. I know she won't totally understand Christmas, but I hope she will join in on the unwrapping.

I finished weaning Olivia right after she turned 1, and she hasn't looked back. We were both ready to be done.

Her favorite toys right now are her baby doll, play farm, kitchen, and shape sorter. (Although she doesn't know how to sort the shapes yet.) I love seeing her walk around the house with her baby doll in hand. She also tries to feed her with the baby bottles, she usually points the bottle at her neck.

She took her first big fall in the kitchen the other day and got her first bruise on her forehead. She was a little more cautious as she walked around the house after that.

She met Santa, she studied him, then she stared at me with no expression. He gave her a candy cane, which she liked but still no smiles.

Her new favorite trick is to stick her tongue out. She still likes to whistle, clap, and wave.

Olivia meets Santa

Last Christmas Olivia was 6 weeks old. We were still hibernating, so we didn't get a picture with Santa.  I was excited to take her, because she still has entered the stranger zone, and loves everyone. Santa hadn't arrived when we got to the studio for our appointment, so Olivia played with some toys and other kids for 15 minutes. By the time we saw Santa, she wasn't thrilled to be taken away from the toys.  Both myself and the photographer were bending backwards trying to get her to smile. But she just had a blank stare. But I'll take that any day over crying. I put her in her jeans and they are 6-12 months. They fit great around the waist, and if she is standing look cute. I didn't realize they were floods until she sat on his lap.

Birthday Pictures

Here is a sneak peak of Olivia's 1st Birthday Pictures. I can't wait to see the rest.