Let the birthday week begin!

Olivia loves Elmo. She also loves Elmo's goldfish, Dorothy. When I got home from school today I saw this on the counter...

Jeremiah bought Olivia her very own Dorothy! I thought it was adorable that Jeremiah took Olivia to the pet store and bought her a "Dorothy." He even put the number 2 inside of the bowl because there is always some sort of object in the real Dorothy's bowl. How cute is my husband!?:)
After Olivia showed me "Dorty" she kept saying, "Livi hold you Dorty" over and over again. Before she went to bed tonight she said, "Nigh night Dorty" and blew her multiple kisses.

Since Olivia is turning two tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to kick off her birthday week with painting her toe nails for the first time.

As I painted her toes yesterday she just kept yelling, "Mommy...this toe too!" She was grinning from ear to ear as I painted her toenails. Jeremiah said that today she pointed to her toenails and said, "Daddy..pink toe toes." When I called them this afternoon she tried showing me her pink toenails through the phone. I heard her saying, "Mommy...Livi pink toes toes!" I put her on the counter next to "Dorothy" when we got home from the store tonight. She turned to the fish and said, "Dorty...Livi pink toe toes" and she squealed with delight.

Oh, I love how the simple things make my daughter so happy. How am I lucky enough to be this little girl's mommy!?
Tomorrow my baby will be 2. I took the day off and we are going to celebrate all day long!:)

With a thankful heart...

Olivia is going to be two years old at the end of this month. What a blessing she is to us! At church last week I was talking to a few women who have older kids. We were talking about how much fun two year old kids are and one lady said, "This age is perfect. They can talk with you but they don't give you much attitude." I laughed and said, "I agree. This is such a wonderful age, but I hear the phrase 'No No!' multiple times a day." Then I said, "But..I'm just so grateful to hear those words." We feel so blessed to have our daughter even on the days when she is screaming and throwing a big temper tantrum in public. Before she was born (and for numerous years before we even thought about trying to have a baby) we prayed that God would bless us with a healthy child and he did. Over the past two years, we've had some tough days. I wouldn't trade a single day because Olivia is the perfect child for us. That's why, I try really hard not to complain (sometimes I do..because I just need to vent:)) about Olivia. I know that I am more than blessed to have a healthy child who is testing her limits. You have no idea how many times I stop and thank God every day for this blessing he has given to us. Sometimes in the middle of her crying I stop and just smile. Right then and there I praise my God for giving me this little girl. I am just so thankful that I have a daughter who is healthy, happy, spunky, and full of energy. And...I can't believe that God trusted me enough to be be her mommy. I can't wait to celebrate her and the miracle that God created.