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.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas...

Our first Christmas celebration started off on Monday, December 20 with a dinner at Olive Garden. We met my Grandpa and my Aunt Robin's family there. It was wonderful to spend time with them because we rarely see them!


We had our little family Christmas on Christmas Eve morning. Olivia received just a few gifts from us but she was extremely excited about her baby stroller and apron. I thought the Elmo slippers would be a huge hit, but she doesn't like to wear them.


After Christmas Eve service in Champaign, we drove to Washington to my parents' house. We didn't get to their house until 10:00p.m. and I felt horrible! I love going to their house for Christmas Eve. We always have little appetizers, watch a Christmas movie, and then my dad reads Twas The Night Before Christmas to us. We thought Olivia would sleep on the way to Washington, but she decided to talk/laugh the entire way up! So, she was exhausted by 10:00 and went right to bed after he read the story.


I was like a little kid on Christmas morning. For some reason I couldn't sleep and I woke up at 5:30a.m. on Christmas morning! I took a shower and got ready before everyone else woke up. After everyone else got up, we ate breakfast and then started opening presents. My favorite gift was a Northface coat that I can wear when I'm on playground duty. Olivia received many great gifts but the shopping cart/food and tea set were her favorite gifts.
My parents and sisters were supposed to come over on December 23 to make Christmas cookies with us. I ended up getting the flu and couldn't make cookies with them. They decided to come and watch Olivia for me that day. I made Jeremiah sanitize everything before he left for work and I stayed away from them. I did not want my family to catch the flu. On Christmas morning, my dad woke up with a horrible stomach ache and felt sick. He started opening gifts with us and then went into his bedroom to sleep the rest of the day. I felt horrible! My dad LOVES Christmas. He starts talking about Christmas right after Thanskgiving and can't wait for the day to come. So, obviously, I felt like I ruined Christmas. It was still fun to hang out with my sisters and mom, but it wasn't the same without my dad. Since we didn't make cookies on the 23, we decided to make them on Christmas. Olivia had a blast rolling the dough and cutting cookies with us. All of us girls (and Jeremiah iced a few too) decorated the cookies while Olivia slept. After she woke up, we headed to Decatur for our next family Christmas.


Jeremiah's entire family was at his parents' house when we got there. It is always crazy because there are so many people, but we enjoy being with everyone! We started opening presents right away and Olivia decided to cuddle up with Uncle John and Aunt Kate. She sat with them the entire (2 hours) that we opened gifts! She loved watching everyone open gifts. Olivia received her Little Mermaid dolls and a cute bear. After opening gifts we played games and ate food the rest of the evening.






The next day we woke up and went to Jeremiah's parents' church. After that we had lunch and then just played all day long. Olivia absolutely adores her cousins and especially Gabe. I love that she is old enough to play with her cousins. It's always fun hanging with Jeremiah's entire family. We don't do it often enough.

I am so thankful that we are able to be with our families around Christmas. They are all such wonderful blessings to us!

"Hey Guy...."

I haven't written a post in a LONG time and so many wonderful things/events/holidays have happened since my last post. However, I'm not going to write about any of those right now. The past many 21 months I have just treasured being a mommy to my sweet girl. I am trying to savor the little moments with my family and not let life pass by too quickly. Here is a moment that I don't want to forget.
Jeremiah knows that my favorite Disney movie is The Little Mermaid so he bought it for Olivia for Christmas. We rarely let her watch movies/TV, but the week before Christmas we let her watch part of the movie. The next night we let her watch the other part of the movie and both nights she could not take her eyes off of the TV. Everytime Eric came on the screen Olivia would scream, "Guy!" Jeremiah told her that his name is Eric and she started saying his name. We've talked about this movie and the mermaid quite a few times over the holidays because she received three Little Mermaid dolls for Christmas.
Fast forward to tonight and dinner with our little family at Za's. Our friends Erik and Jamie brought their family and some friends to Za's for dinner. We were already eating when they came into the restaurant. Jeremiah said, "Hi Erik" and they sat down close to us. A few minutes later Olivia started yelling, "Hey Guy! Hey Guy!" Olivia never calls anyone "guy" so I thought this was kind of strange at first. Then we realized that she remembered the guy from the movie and his name was Eric. We told Erik about this and everyone started laughing. Jeremiah asked Olivia to tell them what a mermaid says but she wouldn't do it. A few minutes later she yelled, "Hey Guy. Aah-a-aah(you know the song that Ariel sings)." Olivia thought she was pretty funny and started laughing/dancing in her seat. This was just an adorable moment that I don't want to forget.
I'm so thankful that I get to spend another 4 days with Olivia before I go back to work! :)

Sleepy Head

My darling girl has not always been a wonderful sleeper. For the first 8 1/2 months of her life, she woke up at least 1 or 2 (and sometimes many more than that) times a night. For awhile now, she has been sleeping about 12 hours straight. It's amazing. I need my sleep. If you know me, you know that's true. :) For the past three nights, Olivia has started rubbing her eyes around bedtime. When I ask her if she is tired she says, "Yah..nigh, nigh." Then she proceeds to grab her duck and her baby. After that she either starts walking to her room or reaches for us to pick her up. We take her into her room, give her a few sips of milk, and then she says, "Nigh, nigh" and we lay her down. We don't hear another peep from her until the morning. The other night she wasn't feeling very well. I thought I would get some snuggle time and I started to rock Olivia. She looked up at me and said, "No..nigh, nigh." I hope this bedtime routine continues! The first few months were rough, but sticking to our routine/consistency definitely paid off! I love that my daughter asks to go to bed and I hope (and pray) that she will always be like this.:) If she is anything like me, she will continue to ask to go to bed-haha!
On another note, she started saying, "Of you" this summer. When I say, "I love you" that is her response. It may be the most precious thing I've ever heard.
Ah...the joys of being a mommy will never end. I adore her and am so lucky to be her mommy.:)

Happiness

My heart is content and I'm feeling the best I've felt in months. Praise God-what an awesome feeling! I don't know the last time I've felt so at peace and truly happy.
First off all, I have been taking care of myself. Throughout the past many months, I haven't worried about me. I have worried about my husband (although he may not agree..hehe), my daughter, my students, my family, and the list just goes on. I know many moms feel this way, but I needed to do something about it. As some of you know, I was pretty depressed last summer/beginning of the school year, and I wanted this summer to be different. I've started running/walking every morning before Olivia wakes up. I even woke up at 5:30 this morning before Jeremiah left for church to go out and run (We'll see how long this lasts..ha!). I've found that working out first thing really puts me in a great mood for the day. During these runs/walks, I've been connecting with God. It feels amazing to start my day off with quiet time. In addition, I've been trying to eat healthier. It's working right now, but again, we'll see how long it lasts. I've already started craving Mountain Dew and it's been one week.:)
After making these changes, I can tell a difference in my attitude. I actually feel like I'm being a good mom and wife for once! I LOVE taking care of my family. I wake up every day excited to be with my baby girl! It's been so fun being with her this week. I can honestly say that this week has been one of the happiest weeks of my life. Nothing special happened. I just hung out with my girlie all week. I am trying to savor every minute of my Livi time because I know summer will go by quickly.
Also, I've been keeping our house clean and cooking. It may seem silly to you, but these are great achievements for me!:) In the evenings I don't feel as tired and Jeremiah and I have been able to spend more time together. I'm finally getting back to my old self.

We sang a song by Chris Tomlin at church this morning and I almost started crying. This is one of my favorite songs. I know that the reason I'm feeling so content and happy is because of my relationship with God. So, I guess right now I'm just singing his praise. How many of you feel content with your life? If you don't, what can you do to achieve this goal? I know it's easy for me to say right now because I have the summer off. I understand that I probably won't always feel this way, but it is an AMAZING feeling right now!

"How Can I Keep From Singing"
There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring

And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives

And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

It's almost summer!!!

In just 8 days I will be off for the summer!! I CAN'T WAIT! Don't get me wrong, I will miss my 3rd grade kiddos. I've grown to absolutely adore this class and I'll be sad to say goodbye to them on June 3. However, I am giddy just thinking about being off with Olivia this summer. I can't wait to spend every day with her.
This morning I took Olivia on a walk. We felt the warm breeze on us and it reminded me of summertime. It reminded me of all the fun things Olivia and I are going to do this summer. Oh, I just can't wait! Can you tell I'm excited!? Ha!:)
This picture was taken before our walk this morning.