1st Birthday Party

On March 27, 2009 I went to my last doctor's appointment and my water broke that night.

On March 27, 2010 we celebrated Olivia's first birthday with our family. We had a fabulous time! Olivia enjoyed her birthday lunch and LOVED eating her cake. This was the first time she had eaten cake (or anything sweet). I can tell that she is going to be like me and have a sweet tooth. Here are a few. I smile every time I look at these pictures. It was so fun to watch her devour the cake!
She started out touching the cake with just one finger.

And then she realized that cake is yummy, so....


she started using both hands.


And after eating a good amount of cake, she decided she was done. So, she started throwing cake off of her tray.
Here she is telling us that she's done.

Olivia with her grandparents

Opening presents

Birthday Party Decorations

As you know, I was off on spring break last week. When Olivia went down for her afternoon nap on Thursday and Friday, I worked on decorations for her party. It was fun to be crafty and I think the decorations turned out better than I imagined they would!

Cups and napkins

On Thursday night, my wonderful hubby helped me make a banner for Olivia. It has a picture from each month of her life on it. I know it wasn't something that Jeremiah was just dying to do, but I'm so thankful that he helped me create it. I love it!

We took these pictures at the party, but I need to take better pictures of the banner.

I've been planning Olivia's party for about a month. I wanted the theme to be "animals" because she loves playing with animals. I decided to do mostly zebra print and hot pink decorations. I didn't want to spend alot of money, but I did want to make a few decorations for the party. Anne was nice and offered to sew table runners (out of very cheap material) together for the tables. They looked awesome! Thank you, Anne!! Here are a few pictures of the tables decorated before the party started on Saturday.

I made this cake for Olivia. It looked a little dorky, but she loved eating it!

Grandpa's Girl

On Wednesday morning my dad had a meeting in Champaign. After his meeting he took Olivia and I out to lunch. Then we went and played at the park. Anyone in my family will tell you that Olivia just ADORES my dad. There is definitely a special bond between my dad and Olivia. The second Olivia sees my dad, she smiles and reaches for him. She doesn't want to be with Jeremiah, my mom, me, or anyone else. Olivia just wants my dad. If she's grumpy, I will just hand her off to my dad. She immediately perks up and starts showing off. I hope this bond continues to stay strong as Olivia grows up.

In just 5 days....

My baby will be ONE! I can't believe it. During this week last year, I was on spring break. I was cleaning our house and preparing for our little girl. This year I'm not spending my break cleaning or preparing for our new arrival. I'm preparing for Olivia's first birthday and spending time playing outside with her. We've thoroughly enjoyed the nice weather this week. Olivia and I went to the park yesterday. She loved swinging and feeling the breeze in her face. She loved it so much, that Jeremiah and I took her back last night. Here are some pictures of our happy girl and her first time swinging at the park.:)

Lovin' the park!


Doesn't she look so old!?


Hanging out with Daddy


Pure happiness....

*On a different note..Olivia has been walking alot lately. She still crawls, but would rather walk to get something. She is getting better everyday. It's fun to watch her walk around and explore new things. She has started standing up, looking up at the people in our picture frames, and talking to them. It's adorable!

Walk this way...

The past few days have been filled with true excitement for Jeremiah and me. Olivia has started taking steps!! On Sunday, Olivia stood up and took one step. She took the step and then dove to me. Usually, that is what she does. She will stand up and dive to one of us. On Wednesday, I was sitting down on the ground and stood Olivia up. This was the one time I wasn't trying to get her to walk to me. She looked at me, smiled, took TWO steps, and then dove to me. I've been trying to get her to repeat this for Jeremiah. He had only seen her take one step until last night. Last night, Jeremiah and I were sitting on the ground with her when she took two more steps. We started clapping and she had a huge smile on her face. Right after we stopped clapping, Olivia sat down and started clapping/smiling. She was proud of herself too.:)
Now, we understand that it may take a couple of weeks or even months for her to begin walking. However, we are just thrilled that she has started taking steps! I wonder if I will be as excited when she starts walking and getting into my drawers?:)

Oh, how I love snow days!

Olivia and I have spent the last two days....


Playing countless games of Peek-A-Boo...


Baking Valentine's Day cookies...


Playing dress up....


Being goofy....


Making new silly faces....


Playing with toys...


Laughing...


Being incredibly sweet....


and being crazy!

There's nothing else I would rather be doing and no one else I'd rather be spending my Snow Days with! We've had two delightful days. I can't wait for summer!!!!!:)

Being thankful..

Sometimes I stalk..er..I mead read other blogs. I love reading about other people and their lives. I came across this bible passage as I read a blog today.
"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 1 Thessalonians 5:18
I have read this passage before, but it really hit me this morning. No matter what I want out of life, God has his own plans for me. Even though I know this is true, I just needed to read it. God is using me everyday to witness to others. I may not like going to school and taking Olivia to her babysitter's house, but right now it's what God wants from me. I believe God is teaching me that I need to be thankful during every time of my life. He doesn't want me to just give thanks when I am happy or something wonderful has happened. I need to give thanks always. So, here are a few things I am thankful for today:

1. A God who loves me even when I don't spend enough time connecting with him. A God who knows my struggles and my flaws, but still loves me.

2. My amazing husband. We have been together since our senior year of high school. We have been together for over 10 years! During this time, I know we have both changed alot. I adore this man. He is the funniest person I know, a wonderful husband, and a fantastic daddy. Jeremiah has been my rock throughout the past year and I am more in love with him then I ever have been.

3. A spunky, delightful, funny, beautiful, and healthy baby girl. Olivia is my happiness. I can't thank God enough for picking us to be her parents. What a joy!

4. Two fantastic families who have unconditional love for us.

5. A wonderful church with fantastic people who love God and are not afraid to show it.

6. Friends who love me even when I complain/stress/worry about things I can't change right now. You know who you are and I thank God for blessing me with your friendships.

Well, I need to get ready for church now. I know it's important for me to constantly thank God for my life and the blessings in it. I'm going to try to read this verse every morning and hopefully it will motivate me to be thankful.:)