Let the Parties Begin

Birthday season has arrived at our house, in the space of 3 months we have 4 birthday's to celebrate which makes for lots of fun and lots of tasty treats. Birthday season starts with this doll, Miss Olivia! I cannot adequately express how much I love and adore this now 4 year old. Olivia has one of the sweetest temperaments and she loves to make others laugh, it never fails that she will put a smile on your face. Just being around her makes me happy and fills me with joy, she's the best cuddle buddy, and just a total delight. It is honestly crazy for me to think she's been a part of our family for 4 years already and that every moment of them has been so wonderful.

We had a joint party for Olivia and Abigail because the girls birthday's are only 9 days apart. I had a lot of fun making their cakes this year and I was really happy with how they turned out. We had a small dinner at our house with some friends, it was a great night filled with yummy food, happy kids, and great company.

Another thing that's crazy is that this girl turned one! This year literally flew by and I'm still having a hard time believing that it really has been a whole year since this little girl joined our family. Abby really is practically perfect in every way to quote Mary Poppins. Her laugh is infectious, she is so adventurous and will do whatever it takes to try and keep up with her big sisters, she gives the best kisses, she knows what she wants, and she's one of the happiest children I've ever met.

These two girls are just amazing and I cannot even imagine my life without them in it, its like before they were born I didn't know what I was missing and now that I have them I never want to let them go.

Five Already?!

How did this happen? How is it possible that my first born is already 5? The years have flown by and I'm in awe of the person this girl is becoming. Savannah is many things, she is extremely loving, very passionate, she lets you know exactly how she is feeling, she is oh so smart, she has a temper, she's stubborn, and so much more. She has been saying some of the funniest things, three of her catch phrases are; "Oh crap!" as she hits her forehead with her hand, "We have a problem!" and I totally just forgot the third things she says. I'm a horrible mom. I kept with tradition and decorated the house with balloons and streamers and as an added surprise we got Savannah flowers because she LOVES flowers. Some things Savannah loves are anything art related, going to school, watching My Fair Bride, taking care of Abigail, and dress up. She cracks me up when she watches My Fair Bride with me, every wedding is better then the last to her and during each show she tells me how she wants that when she gets married. She'll even gasp and say how beautiful things look, she just cracks me up! Savannah is just such a joy, she is definitely challenging at times but I love her more then words can describe. I can't imagine our lives without her and her sweet spirit, she is always amazing me and keeping me on my toes. I've loved these last five years with her and I can't wait to see what her future holds.

The BIG 3!

Where does the time go? Seriously?! Olivia just had her 3rd birthday and I still can't believe it, it feels like just yesterday we were at the hospital having her. I've been amazed watching this girl grow up the last 3 years, she is such a blessing in our home and she is always amazing me. I am so proud of all the things Olivia can do. She has made such amazing progress in all of her therapies and she is just such a joy! Olivia is one of the happiest, sweetest, most loving children I've ever met. Everyone who meets her falls in love with her. Don't' get me wrong she has her sassy moments she is 3 after all but still she is just adorable. Olivia is getting ready to start preschool in about 3 weeks with Savannah and she is so excited, she picked out a dinosaur backpack, so adorable! We've also been working on potty training. Its had its ups and downs, right now we're on a down swing and since the baby is  due in 2 weeks I'm really not worrying about it because I have way to many other things on my mind. Some of Olivia's favorite things to do are sing, dance, play with her new doll house, play cars, dinosaurs, and read books. She also has this hilarious laugh she does sometimes which is totally fake but oh so funny.
To celebrate the big day we actually had parties all weekend. We started off having cupcakes with her friends at music makers on Friday, had a very low key birthday party on Saturday, and had a small celebration with just our little family on Sunday. I had fun making so many treats and having people to share them with so I didn't eat all of them myself since I've been known to do that.

 Olivia is way into dinosaurs so we had a girly dinosaur party with lots of pink and purple two of Olivia's favorite colors.

 Doesn't Olivia just have the cutest dad ever?!

 She couldn't wait to start eating all the snacks.

We had a blast celebrating Olivia's birthday, we went on a dinosaur egg hunt and all the kids got dinosaur stickers and tattoos and a little dinosaur to take home. Olivia was so excited about all the festivities! The smile on her face when we'd sing happy birthday to her was priceless and hearing her say "WOW!" when she saw all her decorations was a great moment. We sure do love this little girl and all the joy and sweetness she brings with her.

Savannah the 4 Year Old

I don't know where the time went buy somehow this energetic and lively girl turned 4! In comparison to other birthday's this one was very low key due to the fact we had just moved 2 weeks before but it was still a great day. Savannah told me repeatedly that she LOVED her birthday which brought a smile to my face. In an attempt to make the day special for her I decorated the house the night before so Savannah woke up to a fun surprise of balloons and streamers all over the living room. When she walked out in the morning she just gasped and was so excited!!! We had pancakes and bacon for breakfast, her favorite and then I let her open one of her presents. She had seen the big bottle of bubbles I got for her so that's what she got in the morning and we had a fun time playing with them, bubbles are a favorite for both the girls. Savannah picked out her outift for the day which totally cracked me up because it didn't match at all but she had a smile on her face the whole day so I didn't care. She choose to wear her white and pink striped shirt with her purple birthday hat and her skirt her grandma Jefferies gave her from Africa. Her skirt is dark green with black and tan swirls on it. She looked pretty funny but everyone who saw her that day soon had a smile on their faces. We went to the library one of Savannah's favorite places and made cupcakes. That night we went to Jacob's school to have her party in the car. Since Jacob has class from 2-9 every night its our new thing to take dinner to Jacob every night so he can see the girls at least once a day. We got pizza for the occasion and then had our lemon cupcakes that Savannah had picked out and of course they had pink frosting. She also got to open her other two presents, a princess flashlight and a pack of gum. The things she asked for this year really cracked me up, I think she finished her gum in 2 days and I had to hide it from her so she didn't put it all in her mouth in one sitting. That night when Savannah went to bed she told me how much she loved her birthday and how happy she was. That's something I really love about Savannah, I know she would have loved a big huge party but she is able to find joy in the little things and knew what a great day she had had.
Just to add a few things about Savannah now that she's 4...She still has a very head strong personality, she knows what she wants and she usually wants it now. Patience is still not her strong suite but she is getting better. Savannah loves to color and draw and she's getting so much better at staying in the lines and her pictures actually resemble what's she's trying to draw. Savannah includes Olivia in her games more often and tries to be more patient with her little sister. Savannah still LOVES to wear skirts all the time and she is now wanting long skirts to make her look more like a princess, cause you know you can't see many princesses feet so we shouldn't be able to see hers either. Savannah loves playing dress-up and playing make believe, its so fun to see what games she thinks up she really does have quite the imagination. Savannah is also very interested in school and she can't wait to start preschool (we have her on a wait list right now) and she is always asking me "why" and she will not stop until I have satisfied her question. Savannah loves animals but only from a distance, she is constantly asking me to take her to the zoo. Savannah is just a joy, I wouldn't trade her for anything and I can't imagine my life without her.

Happy Birthday Miss Olivia

 Two years ago today Olivia Anne joined our family. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by and how complete Olivia has made our family. Olivia has always been so sweet and loving and I'm glad this hasn't changed. Its been interesting to see how different the girls are and how I interact with each differently. I have a hard time viewing Olivia as a toddler, in my eyes she's still my baby. I've enjoyed so much these past few weeks with her because she's really become more of a toddler. She amazes me with how smart she is! She is always finding a way to make something work for her. During speech therapy she was playing with some balls, she couldn't make them fit threw the holes of the toy she had and she grabbed a spoon and tried to use that to push them threw or help her get them out. Olivia is also a girly-girl. She loves to play dress-up and she LOVES wearing hats and necklaces around the house. She is all about the accessories. Olivia is still very obedient, she of course has her moments but she is very willing to listen the majority of the time which is very nice. She loves to be outside and she loves to dig in the dirt. She wants to do everything her big sister does which is sweet but can cause problems at times if the girls don't see eye to eye. Olivia loves reading books and watching movies. Her appetite has started to diminish just like Savannah's did around this age. Olivia still looks a lot like Jacob and she still has the blondest hair. She has the funniest laugh, it comes from deep in her and sounds so throaty and deep. Its just hilarious! She loves to sing and dance around the house, if she hears music she'll stop whatever she's doing and bust a move. She's started to try being a helper and wants to do things with me. She still loves to snuggle with her mommy and she will usually end up sitting with me while watching a show. She still likes me to carry her every once in awhile and she hates to sit in the shopping cart at stores. I am also happy to report that Olivia still has the bluest eyes I've ever seen, sometimes they're almost violet depending on what she's wearing. Like I mentioned earlier Olivia is in speech therapy and she also started occupational therapy and after 2 weeks we're already seeing such improvement and are excited to see how far she comes. She also loves going and will run to her therapist, she is typically very willing to do whatever they ask of her and she just gets the biggest smile on her face when we walk in the door. Olivia is a constant joy, I can count the number of times I've gotten mad at her on one hand. She always makes me smile and I love every minute I get to spend with her. She is always impressing me with new skills she learns and words she'll say. Olivia is also obsessed with animals! Dogs and cats are her favorite but any animal will do and she will start to yell out a constant high-pitched squeals to show her excitement and delight. Olivia is very content and almost always happy, she's mellow and loving. She's just plan old perfect and we love her more then words can describe. Happy Birthday my sweet Olivia, I couldn't imagine our lives without you.

Christmas 2011

We had such a great Christmas!The girls and I got to spend 3 whole weeks with my family in Maryland and Jacob joined us for the last week and a half,  it was just so fun to be with my family. Our days were filled with fun activities and just hanging out and it went by all too quick if you can believe it. It had been a year since the girls and I had been out for a visit and 2 years since Jacob had been so we were all due for some time back east. While we waited for Santa to bring Jacob the girls and I had fun hanging out with my mom during the day, we took the girls to the mall and let them ride the merry-go-round and Savannah got to talk with Santa again.

Another day we took the girls to lunch at McDonald's and and let Savannah run all around the play area.

Savannah LOVED going to the grocery store because they had little mini carts that she could push around and put some of the groceries in. She really was in heaven and asked to when we were going shopping again.

Olivia got worn out and even fell asleep in the car which is VERY rare for her, she has to be beyond exhausted to even consider falling asleep anywhere besides her bed.

On Christmas Eve we made sugar cookies for Santa and Savannah had so much fun cutting out different shapes. When we put the cookies out I thought she would burst because she was so excited.

Both the girls were very excited to find their first present that Santa had brought for them, their dad. Here are Jacob and Savannah after opening presents. Grandma and Grandpa helped Santa pick out a V-Tech computer for Savannah.

Olivia was quite smitten with Mark just like Savannah is. She'd crawl all over him and run to him when he'd come home from school or where ever he'd been.
The Thursday after Jacob got there he and Mark got to go on a tour of the Secret Service Training Facility which they both loved and had so much fun doing.
Also while we were there we celebrated mine and my dad's birthday's, I always love being home for my birthday. We got to eat at the Cheesecake Factory (my favorite) and my brothers, Jacob, and I got to go to the movies.

After Christmas we took the girls to the DC Temple to see the lights and the Christmas Tree's in the Visitor's Center. Savannah has a very deep love already for the Savior and was very excited to see the large statue of Christ in the visitor center. When we were leaving she kept asking to see Jesus again.

On New Year's Eve we all hopped on the Metro and headed to DC to visit some of the museums. Savannah thought it was the coolest thing to go on the train and she loved going to all the museums.

Olivia of course had a good time being pushed around in her stroller and she even got to see quite a bit because there is glass around most of the exhibits so she could see almost everything from the comfort of her stroller.

The weather on New Years was amazing we put jackets on the girls just in case it got too windy but it was in the high 50's.

Our first stop was the Natural History Museum and Savannah loved looking at all the fossils and animal exhibits.

We then headed over to the Air and Space Museum (Jacob's favorite) and checked out all the airplanes. They have an exhibit where you can walk through an old plane and Savannah made us take her threw twice.

We then headed over to the National Art Gallery which is my favorite, they were doing renovations on the galleries I love to walk through but it was still fun and it really is one of my most favorite places to be.

We got to visit with family and we went out to eat, we went to movies, played games, ate lots of food, and just had a wonderful time. I'm so lucky to have such a generous family and one that loves me and my little family so much. As always it was hard to leave and while being there I was reminded of all the things I miss while I'm living away. Its a good thing we can visit once an awhile.

Happy Birthday Savannah!

So this post has tons of pictures because we just had Savannah's 3rd Birthday Party! That's right my baby is 3, the time has gone by way too fast, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that I have a 3 year old. Savannah is your typical girly girl so we of course had a Pinkalicious Birthday party. Have you heard of the book? Its one of Savannah's favorites next to Fancy Nancy.I made all the decorations cause that's just something I actually enjoy doing. I probably set up for her party for at least 4 days, once I'd get something finished then I'd hang it up. Every morning when Savannah woke up she'd run into the living room and kitchen to see what new things there were to see. Then she'd climb in bed with me and say, "Thank you for my birfday, its so beautiful!" We had over all of Jacob's family and some of Savannah's little friends, this year Savannah even got a bounce house for her party. It was a hit.

We still had the pom poms hanging from Olivia's birthday so we left those up and added a pink garland which is just  yarn and I mad a fabric banner.

I attached flowers where each flag met and had pink ribbon along the top and used the same yarn on the light to hang with the banner.

This was my splurge item, I found these cute lanterns at the party supply store by our house, my favorite part about them is you can use a battery to turn them on instead of using an outlet so you can use them anywhere.

 

In addition to the fabric banners I also made ones with scrapbook paper and cut it into circles and strung it with more pink yarn.

 
In addition to the yarn hanging from the light in the kitchen I also hung some from the light in our living room.

I copied the idea I had for Olivia's birthday and hung ribbons from the window in the kitchen.

I found this cute sheer ribbon with flowers in it and used that to pull the curtains with and I used it around some of the glass containers on the food table.

For me no party is really complete till you add flowers, I love flowers. I saw these cute things in our pantry and Jacob got quite a kick out of it when he asked me why I had used cheese graters as flower holders and I told him I didn't know they were cheese graters when I decided to use them. I think they're perfect.

Here is our yummy food table, we had pink and green food to go along with the book. Our pink food was our junk food, we had pink whoppers, pink marshmallows, and oreo's with pink filling. Our green food was more healthy, grapes, cucumbers, and broccoli. I also made this yummy strawberry mint punch.
 
 We also had yummy pink cupcakes because that's what starts all the mess in Pinkalicious anyway.

All the kids loved the bounce house and even Olivia got a turn inside.

Savannah was so excited when we were all singing to her, she even sung along and blew her candle out and everything.

My cousin's wife Cheryl even got Savannah a Pinkalicious doll, Savannah held her while we read stories and she slept with her as well.

This is a dress-up dress she got from my mom, Savannah put it on as soon as she could and she's been wearing it all day today as well.

Savannah is such a joy, she can make me want to rip my hair out but she's still a joy none the less. I have loved being her mother and feel so blessed to know her. I love her curious nature, she is determined, inventive, smart, so silly, very tender hearted, imaginative, fearless, and just plain old fantastic. I cherish each moment I have with her and look forward to seeing her grow up as well. I can't imagine our lives without her.