Run Olive Run!

Today Olive decided to sleep until 10:00 this morning, yes 10:00!! She was so energized and still fired up at 7:30 when I got home from parent night. We were wondering if we could wear her out to try to stay on some sort of "bedtime schedule". She loves to play in our hallway and to have Stephen chase her, here is a little peek into this super fun game! After about 30 minutes of this, she was finally a little more calm!

Vroom Vroom!!

Olive got a "new ride" and she thinks it is pretty special! We go around the block and if we stop, she stands up and pulls on the steering wheel while grunting. It is like she is saying "If you're not first, you're last!" Ha ha!!
We decided to stop and visit Pop for a few minutes. I think this picture is so funny because she is staring at the door waiting for him to open it. "Pop! Where are you?"

Her favorite thing to do at Pop's house is to play with the door stoppers in the entry way. She hung out for a few minutes and then went straight for them. She just sits in there and giggles.

What a fun night! Thanks Gigi for my new ride, I love it!

Ride That Pony

For Olive's birthday, Dano worked really hard on a very special project! The rocking horse! This horse belonged to my Granny when she was a little girl and I remember playing with it when we would go visit Granny. I have always thought that it was the neatest thing. When I found out I was pregnant, I immediately started talking to my Dad about restoring the horse. He sanded it all down and painted it back the original color. I think it looks perfect! Olive wasn't so sure about it the first few times she sat in it, but now she loves it! Thank you Dano and Honey!

Old McDonald Had A Farm

Olive got this great puzzle from our friends, the Mashburns, for her birthday. She loves taking the animals out and playing with them. The other night, Stephen sat down to try to help her put it back together.

"Here is where the cow goes."

"Yeah! I did it!"

She was so proud of herself for putting it in the right spot. I am sure the cheering and clapping Stephen and I were doing added to the enthusiasm of the moment.

Great job smart girl!

Our Little Picasso!

My friend, Erin, posted a while ago about an art show that her child's school put on as a fundraiser. They made so many neat paintings and it gave me an idea! I am going to have Olive do a painting every year around her birthday. Her first one is a "finger and foot painting on canvas".

I think she is pretty talented! :)

Deep In The Heart of Texas

Olive and I were able to take a little road trip this past week to meet a lot of our Texas family that she hadn't gotten to meet yet. My Granny's side family reunion was this weekend, but Honey, Olive and I went a few days early. The first people we got to see were Uncle Gary and Aunt Kay. Olive had so much fun playing on their porch! Thursday:

The next day we went to Levelland to visit my sweet Papa. He isn't doing great but it was so great to see him! We were able to meet my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Pat for lunch at the Dairy Queen. Olive got a very special treat from Honey.

She liked playing with Pat's straw.
Thursday evening, we drove over to Morton to have dinner at my Aunt Carol and Uncle Ernest's house. They have one daughter, Missy and 3 amazing grand daughters. We were so excited to get to introduce Olive to them. Olive loved playing in Carol's backyard. She liked "riding" the armadillo. And playing peek-a-boo.

I think that a trampoline is in Olive's future. She loved jumping!

Olive was so excited to meet my cousin Alissa. For some reason I have no pictures with her sisters, Bayleigh and Scyelar.
Then Olive "drove" us out to the cotton field to get some pictures!

My Papa used to wear a tie every day and each tie has a story. My Aunt Kay took Papa's ties and made them into a quilt. It is so beautiful!! Olive loved playing on it and rubbing her face on all of the different textures.
Friday:

Friday we so excited to visit Stephen's Aunt Margie and his cousin Tonna and her husband Mike. Olive was so excited to meet her second cousins John Michael and Luke! John Michael is 3 and Luke just turned 7 weeks old. John Michael was very interested in "holding" Olive. She was okay with it for a bit and then she started trying to escape.

John Michael liked showing Olive the cat outside.
He loves watching the "fighter" scene from Top Gun, so he and Olive created a jet with chairs to play Top Gun. We were so thankful we got to see them! We just wish we could have stayed longer.
After leaving Margie's house, we stopped by the Texas Tech campus to take a picture in front of the sign for Miss Terri. We knew she would love it!

Saturday:On Saturday, we were able to attend Granny's side family reunion. We were able to take pictures of Granny and her two great grand daughters. Olive and Baleigh.

We also took one of Granny and all of "the girls". Her granddaughters and great granddaughters.

That afternoon we went back to Levelland to see my Papa. He was much more aware that we were there and when we walked in he looked at Olive and said, "Well, isn't that a pretty little girl." I was so thrilled that he got to see her!

Auntie M, Honey, Papa, Mommy and Olive

That night we met everyone for dinner at Rosa's. Auntie M and Uncle Isaac said they had the best mexican food ever, so we went for it. Olive liked playing with Honey and Dano and eating tortillas.

When we got back to Paul and Sharla's house, we finished our long day by picking apples from their apple tree. We will be making applesauce very soon!

We were so tired from our fun filled week and we missed Daddy soooooooooo much, we couldn't wait to get home. Sunday morning, we loaded the car and headed back. What a great trip!

525,600 minutes

Last August, we knew our lives were going to change forever. What we could have never imagined is how incredible that change would be! Olive came into our lives and our world became a better place. She was truly a gift from God and we are so grateful he chose us to be the recipients of that gift! We pray daily that we will be the parents she deserves.

I know it sounds cheesy, but how did we measure the last year? In giggles, in smiles, in cries, in snuggles, in kisses...

As we embark on the second year of this amazing journey, we hope to enjoy all of the everyday moments that make life with our little Olive so unbelievable!

August 6, 2009

1 month old - September 2009

2 months old - October 2009

3 months old - November 2009

4 months old - December 2009

5 months old - January 2010

6 months old - February 2010

7 months old - March 2010

8 months old - April 2010

9 months old - May 2010

10 months old - June 2010

11 months old - July 2010

1 year! August 2010