End of the week fun

It got a little warmer out on Thursday afternoon so I brought Olivia outside and I pulled out some chalk from last year. I think I had more fun than she did, she kept handing me different colors to draw pictures for her. Then she went around and drew lines through all of my masterpieces. In true Olivia fashion, she wanted to hold all six pieces of chalk at once. By the time we were done, her pants were covered in chalk dust. Once Paul got home from work, we stayed outside for a while and then decided to go out for dinner. Liv got to sit next to me, they had a mini high chair that went right into the booth. She didn't eat much for lunch so she was hungry by the time we got to the restaurant. She kept doing the sign for eat and the food was taking a while so I let her have some goldfish. For dinner she got pizza and french fries (I know, super healthy), she was eating great until I got my food. Once she saw my salad, that's all she wanted and she didn't touch her food after that. As always, it was a little frustrating. I don't mind sharing with her but I also don't think that eating lettuce and tomatoes for dinner is very filling. I was too nervous about her choking to give her any of my steak. Anyway, despite her picky eating, it was a fun night.

Yesterday, Liv and I met up with my friend and her daughter (who is only three months younger than Liv) at a bounce house place. It was like Monkey Joe's but there wasn't an arcade area. There was a much bigger slide too and Olivia wanted to go on it about thirty times. I went with her a few times and that was a good workout. She went up by herself but I had to walk behind her and she was pretty slow. It was a little more work than it was worth. The last time she wanted to go, I just didn't have anymore energy so an older girl (around ten) said she would bring her up. I said okay but then I was so nervous, I kept saying "make sure she doesn't fall!", she did good though. Olivia loved running around and going in all the different bounce houses. She didn't want to leave, we will have to go back soon.

 Olivia kept hugging the dog, it was really cute.

Birthday party

We had Olivia's birthday party yesterday and it was really fun. The theme this year was Dora the Explorer (her favorite show). It was pretty time consuming setting up all the tables, chairs and decorations but my mom helped me and it looked great when we were finished. There was a snow storm on Saturday so the parking lot was not even plowed and the walkway wasn't shoveled either. Paul had to do it by himself and he did a good job, thankfully he got it done quick too. Olivia got a cold on Saturday so she wasn't feeling 100% yesterday morning but once she got to her party, she forgot all about being sick (until we got home). Unfortunately, due to the snow and all the bugs going around, not everyone could make it but it was still a great day! Olivia loved running around and chasing the other kids, it was awesome for me because they were keeping her entertained. I also brought a bubble machine (my mom's idea) and it was a huge hit. All the kids were super excited to pop all the bubbles and run into them. Olivia loved the bike that we got her, she wanted to get on it right away, she was even sitting on it today while watching TV. The party went perfect but cleaning up wasn't fun, my back is so sore today. Liv didn't eat much all day since she was too busy playing so I was a little stressed out about that. I tried to feed her when we got home but since she didn't take a nap, she was falling asleep in her high chair. It was a pretty exhausting day but it was all worth it and I'm so glad Olivia had fun. We both slept in this morning and just relaxed for most of the day.

Christmas tag

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie?
I have so many so I'll just narrow it down to my top three. A Christmas Story, The Santa Clause and Home Alone. Although, I recently just saw Arthur Christmas and I'm now obsessed with it.

2. Have you ever had a White Christmas?
Yes, I think I was around eight or nine but I remember my mom recording it with our huge camcorder. I also remember two years ago when it snowed on Christmas Eve, it took forever to drive home.

3. Where do you usually spend your holiday?
We spend Christmas Eve at my aunts house and Christmas Day at my sisters.

4. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree (It always reminds me of Home Alone).

5. Do you open any presents on Christmas Eve?
Yeah, we open most of our presents on Christmas Eve, On Christmas morning Olivia opens her presents from Santa and just a few from us.

6. Can you name all of Santa’s reindeer?
Yup! Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner & Blitzen. Also, Rudolph. I'm pretty proud of myself for not even using Google for that.

7. What holiday traditions are you looking forward to most this year?
We already did some of them. Going to visit Santa, baking cookies, cutting down and decorating our tree. I'm looking forward to spending time with family and giving everyone presents.

8. Is your Christmas tree real or fake?
Real, always!

9. What is your all-time favorite holiday food/sweet treat?
I don't have just one favorite, I love pretty much everything. This year I made some awesome coconut macaroon kiss cookies and I wish I didn't eat them all so quick because now I want more.

10. Be honest: do you like giving gifts or receiving gifts better?
I honestly like both and maybe even giving gifts a little bit more. It's a great feeling to get the perfect gift for someone and see the surprise and happiness on their face, I love it.

11. What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received?
I'm not even sure, I've gotten some awesome gifts over the years and I appreciate all of them.

12. What would be your dream place to visit for the holiday season?
There are a ton of places that I would love to visit but during the holidays, being right here with my family and friends is the only place I want to be.

13. Are you a pro-present wrapper, or do you fail miserably?
I try my best, I wouldn't say I'm a pro but I do pretty good.

14. What made you realize the truth about Santa?
In first grade, a boy in my class told me the truth but I didn't really believe him. So I waited up and heard my parents, I wrote Santa a letter and asked him to please write something back. I knew it was all a lie when it was written in my mothers handwriting.

15.  Have you ever built a Gingerbread house?
Yeah, well.. I tried. It fell apart, I'm going to try again next year.

16. Candy Canes or Gingerbread Men?
Candy canes.. wait no, both!

17. Have you ever made a snowman?
Of course! I can't wait until Olivia is old enough to help me. She hated the snow last year.

18. White lights, or colored lights?
White lights, it just looks prettier to me.

 19. Any Christmas wishes?
Health and happiness for my family and friends, of course.

20. Do you make New Years resolutions? Do you stick to them?
No. I used to but I never stuck to them so I just stopped.

Our tree before half the ornaments were ripped off by Olivia & the cats.

Thanksgiving and tree picking

Happy Thanksgiving! It came and went already but I hope everyone had a great time and ate a ton of yummy food, I know I did. We spent the day at my aunts house, Olivia skipped her nap that day so she was a little cranky but not as bad as I expected. She wasn't too interested in eating for some reason, she only had olives, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes (nice combo). She doesn't take after me when it comes to her appetite, Thanksgiving food is the best! After Livy went to bed, me and Paul went to the movies to see Horrible Bosses 2, it was hilarious! We hadn't been to the movies in over a year so it was pretty fun. Friday morning we went to get our Christmas tree, it's a tradition for us. We meet up with my sister and some of her friends and my brother in laws family. They cook food on the grill, the kids run around and we usually go on a hayride (we skipped that part this year because it was so cold). After all that, we look for our tree. I know it sounds simple but it's a challenge to find a tree that is the right size, color, shape and isn't too bare. It also snowed two days before we went so all the trees were covered with ice and snow. This year we found it fairly quick though and I even helped saw it down for the first time. I was doing okay but then it felt like the saw was stuck on something so Paul finished the job. Olivia kept running up to every dog she saw but once they got too close, she would run in the other direction, it was so cute and funny. 

 

 Left: My adorable nephews with Olivia.

(It's impossible to get a picture of all three kids looking and smiling.)
Right: The Stensland fam.

 

When we got home, we decorated the tree. Olivia wasn't much of a help, she had more fun taking ornaments off the tree rather than putting them on. The cats are worse though, they play with the ornaments, drink the tree water and rip our stockings down.

 The picture on the right was taken on Thanksgiving.

 

On Saturday morning, we went to my friends house for a playdate. She has a daughter who is three months younger than Liv. It was adorable to see them play together, they even ate a snack together at her little table. After that, I did some more Christmas shopping with my mom but I'm still not even close to being done. I have to work today so I'm not getting anything else done but it was a fun weekend and I'm glad we did everything we had planned.

 

Easily entertained

This weekend went by kind of slow, I worked all weekend (as always) but it just seemed to drag for some reason. On Saturday afternoon, my friend came over with her daughter (a few months younger than Liv) and we went to the pool for a while. It was such a nice day out but the water was really cold, it took a few minutes to get used to it. After we got out, there was a nice breeze and Olivia was shivering, I had to bring her in the sun. She always gets cold/hot really easily, I was pretty cold too though. While we were there, Liv found a pool noodle and was playing with it, she would not put it down. She didn't even want to get back in the pool, all she cared about was the stupid noodle. It really amazes me what keeps her entertained sometimes. Somehow the door at the pool got stuck and we were locked in for a little while, the pool attendant had to hop the fence to open it from the other side. Luckily we weren't stuck there for long because I had get ready for work. Tonight when I got home from work, there were some lovely presents for me. Three huge hairballs on the rug, seriously guys?! The cats drive me crazy! The last thing I want to do after coming home from a long shift at work is clean up cat vomit. I'm over it. Oh well, this week should be fun, my sister in law is coming to visit from South Carolina. I'm excited to see her, we don't get to see her much so I love when she comes here! It's also nice to have someone (another adult) around during the day. Anyway, I'm off to get some much needed sleep now!

 

Yes, pool noodles are so much fun!

Fourth of July weekend

So I pretty much worked all weekend. I was so bummed about not being able to take Livy to see the fireworks yesterday and when I got home, Paul was just about to put her to bed. Then we realized that we could see them from our front yard so we brought her outside in her pajamas and she loved it. Her eyes would get really wide when she saw them and she would start yelling "babababa!" I have no idea why she was saying that but it was adorable. I was so happy we got to watch them together because that's all I wanted! I know it's kind of dorky but little things like that really mean a lot to me. Although when it was time to go inside and put her to bed, she freaked out! She wanted to stay outside but it was pretty late at that point. She calmed down once I started reading her some bedtime stories though. I had to work again today so Paul and my parents took Liv to our family picnic. I wish I got to join them but I'm glad Livy and everyone else had fun, I hope you all enjoyed your weekend too!

My mom sent me this adorable picture of Liv at the picnic.

Another busy weekend

I meant to post this yesterday but I forgot. I wasn't home much this weekend. Friday night I stayed in so I could spend time with Olivia since I had so much to do the rest of the weekend. Saturday afternoon I went job hunting so my mom watched Olivia, I went pretty much everywhere so hopefully I find something soon. Then I met up with one of my friends to get our nails done and have dinner. After that I went out bowling with my other friend for her birthday. It was a lot of fun but I pretty much suck at bowling now (I swear I used to be really good, we used to go every week). On Sunday I went to my cousins bridal shower, it was fun and nice to spend time with my mom. I discovered a new obsession while I was there too.. Moscato, it was my first time trying it. I've never had wine that sweet, I usually stick to Pinot Grigio but it was so good! It might be my new favorite. I was happy to finally relax when I got home. Paul watched Olivia most of the weekend but I'm glad they got to spend some time together since he doesn't see her much during the week, she loves her daddy. It was a great weekend but I really missed Livy. She caught a cold too so she's been a little cranky tonight, hoping she feels better soon!

 With my BFF on the left and my awesome mom on the right.

Uhm, do you know you spelled live wrong?

Someone actually said that to me.. oh no, I had no idea so thanks!! ;) Okay I'll stop with the sarcasm. Seriously.. I spelled it that way on purpose. My daughters name is oLIVia, we call her Liv so I hope that clears things up.

I don't have a job right now but for some reason, I still hate Mondays. I think it's because I worked for so many years that I'm just still in the mindset of hating Mondays. Anyway.. I'm really happy with the support I got for my last few posts, it was hard to talk about while it was happening but now I feel okay about it. I appreciate everyone's kind words, I also forgot to mention how much support we got while we were at the hospital. My mom was there every single day and lots of other family and friends came to visit, sent gifts and prayed for Olivia. People I hadn't talked to in years reached out to me and it was just really nice to know they were sending out good thoughts for my little girl. I know I already said it but thank you again to everyone from the bottom of my heart!