Mid-January update

This is what Olivia does all day long. We put a barrette in her hair in the morning, and a few minutes later she pulls it out. She will not keep anything in her hair.

Olivia loves to mess up her hair while she is eating. She rubs the food into her hair and then pulls it in all directions. Lovely.

Olivia is having a bad hair day. This is what her hair looks like after putting ketchup in it last night during dinner and then syrup in it this morning during breakfast. Nice, isn't it?

I took apart Olivia's horse because we are going to send it to my niece Addy. I went out to look for a box to put it in, and this is what I found when I returned. She was bouncing up and down laughing and patting the horse. Olivia is just not ready to part with Old Red. :)

Well we are all settled in our home and we are all loving it. Olivia LOVES just wandering around the house going from room to room chasing Lupe and getting into trouble. She used to HATE car rides of any length because she was so bundled up in winter gear that she couldn't even move. A five minute drive to the grocery store was a huge nightmare when we were in Indiana. Going out was not an option on most days because of all the screaming and fussing that would accompany a car ride. Since we have been here the most we have bundled her up is in her lightweight fleece jacket, which she really seems to like because it has a zipper. Eric taught her how to work a zipper so now she just goes around unzipping everything! Back to my story...she loves being in the car now. She just sits in her seat and plays and talks and dances.

Lupe loves being able to run freely around the backyard without having to be on a leash in the freezing cold weather. On the day that we got the first "big snow" in Indiana, Lupe's paws froze. I took her out to potty, and she just stood there. Then she sat down, and then laid down in the snow. I had to pick her up and carry her into the house. It was sad. She was NOT a fan of the cold weather. I am not too sure that Lupe is enjoying Olivia's new skill of walking. It seems that Lupe can never get any rest because as soon as she lays down, Olivia runs to her and throws herself on top of her. Poor Lupe. They pick on each other like real sisters would.

Eric has been staying home with Olivia while he waits for his paperwork to go through. He has been given a start date of January 26. One more week as a stay at home Dad. He has really enjoyed spending time with Olivia, but he says he is definitely ready to go back to work. I am really glad he has been able to be with her, because now he knows exactly what it was like to be at home with her. While it was very fun, it was also a lot of work and very tiring. He is really looking forward to going back to work for ExxonMobil!

As for me, I have enjoyed the last two weeks back at AMS (Atascocita Middle School) teaching 6th grade Math and Science. It was a crazy two weeks, but they were good. It has been hard leaving Olivia each day, but I know she is in good hands. She will stay with my good friend and neighbor Natalie when Eric goes back to work. I'm also happy to report that the "diet" (of watching calories and NOT working out) that I started in September is still going well...27 lbs. and counting!

Since I have been typing, Olivia has learned how to climb up into the front window, has shredded an entire piece of tissue paper, and has emptied her toy box all over the living room floor. Oh the life of a 14 month old...

YEEHAW!

We have made it safely back to TX!  :)  

HEADING SOUTH

That's right folks.  For many reasons we have decided to move back to TX!  Yahoo!  We will be packing up our things (not too much thank goodness) next Friday and will become Texans once again!  :)  So, if you are here in IN, we are sorry to be leaving you and will miss you tons.  If you are there in TX, we are super excited to be back with you again!  

Eric is STOKED because he will be working for ExxonMobil AGAIN!!!  And I will be going back to AMS to teach Math and Science!  Olivia will be in the GREAT HANDS of one of our best friends and will get to play with kids her own age!  

More details and pictures later, just wanted to let everyone know!

A blogging blooper

I just did something very sad.  I was transferring the pictures from my camera to the computer in shifts.  I highlighted some of the pictures and put them in the "November" folder, and then I was going to go back and put the rest in the "December" folder, but what I didn't notice was that the little button was set on "safe delete".  So, I just lost all of December's photos!  Noooo!  I had the CUTEST picture in the world on there.  It was of Olivia standing on a chair next to my mom, stirring a big batch of cookies.  It was so cute and now it is gone!  SO SAD!  

In other news, Olivia has been taking some steps by herself the past few days.  Today she walked from the door to me, which was three whole steps!  :)  I give her two weeks and then she'll be walking.  She's been in such a great mood lately.  We have finally gotten her "poo" situation under control, and she seems to be much happier.  

Olivia is really having fun, can't you tell?  She really WAS having fun with her cousin Anna until we made them stop playing for a photo shoot.  

Aunt Lisa with Addy!  We had such a fun time playing together at Thanksgiving!  I mean, the girls did...yeah.  :)

Eat up Addy.  She's getting really good at eating her oatmeal now.

Olivia with her cousin Megan.  Megan always loves to play with Olivia's toys.

GREAT NEWS~

I just found the pictures!  They were somehow still on my camera!  Yippee!

I just need a little taste of this cookie dough!  (No, she didn't eat it)

Stirring the cookie dough with Grandma Becky!  Isn't this the cutest picture ever?

Olivia is really getting attached to "Bear" these days.  He had an accident during the nap, so he had to put on a diaper.  She LOVED that!

I found this when I went into the living room the other night.  Lupe crept up onto my mom and was getting herself some loving!

I want to be just like my Daddy when I grow up!

One year pictures!

We finally got the pictures back from Olivia's one year photo shoot! We love them! Enjoy!

A new era!

Check out my new ride!

Not too sure what to do with her birthday cupcake. 

She ALWAYS looks at me when we are trying to take a picture! 

I'm so cute and I know it.  This is my new favorite picture of her!

Hi!  Hi!  Hi!

We have now come to a time where the blogs will be more frequent!  That's right, I have regained custody of our lovely, FAST laptop.  Expect blog updates on a regular basis! :)  YAY!  

What's new with us?  Well, we are STILL stuck in a stinky living situation.  Here is it for those of you who don't know...  We decided earlier this year we wanted to live closer to family so Olivia would know her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.  So, Eric found a job in Indianapolis and we put our house up for sale.  Unfortunately, it is STILL up for sale.  We cannot afford two mortgages, so I (and Olivia and Lupe) am living with my parents in Peru and Eric is living with a friend in Indianapolis (an hour and a half away).  He comes to Peru on the weekends.  This REALLY stinks.  We are DESPERATE to live together again as a family.  We have been doing this since late July.  YUCK!  We really could use some prayers!

On a brighter note, Olivia is getting sillier by the day.  She is not walking yet, but still manages to get herself into just about everything.  She can cruise along the furniture or walks while holding the walls.  She has stood by herself on multiple occasions, but she is just too scared to take the steps on her own.  She's taken a few steps by herself a couple of times, but she hasn't quite gotten the hang of it yet.  I think she's getting close.  She can say mama, dada, dog, duck, and "bapa" which is think is Lupe.  Just this week she started calling my mom "nana".  We have a very picky eater on our hands.  She WILL NOT eat meat.  I've tried everything...but she just won't have anything to do with it.  Thankfully she likes eggs and peanut butter, so she's still getting her protein.  She really likes milk, too.  Give her some bread, peas, and fruit and she's good to go.  :)  But they better be the tiny little peas, because she doesn't like the big ones.  What a stinker!

Lupe is being her usual self.  She loves to go on walks with my mom.  She has gotten into a terrible habit of jumping up on people when they come into the house, and she's getting really bad about sticking her nose in people's bottoms.  YUCK!  She is on the lookout for Olivia all day long, as O's favorite thing to do is chase her around the house and knock on her.  Yes, Olivia knocks on EVERYTHING!  :)   

Olivia's Birthday Party!

We celebrated O's birthday on Saturday, October 25th. We had a really fun party with family and friends. She was up every hour the night before having trouble with her teeth. Needless to say, she was exhausted by the time her party came. She slept through most of it and woke up during the last 30 minutes to open her presents and eat a cupcake. She just sat there confused as Eric opened the presents. Then she just sat there again looking at her cupcake like it was supposed to light up or make noise or something. It was a fun party!

Look at all my cool birthday presents! What should I play with first?

Catching a nap during her party! Silly girl.

Some fun decorations!

Olivia's "birthday cake"! These were caramel apple cupcakes! YUM!

Thanks for the gift card Beth! I can't wait to use it!

Yay! More money! Thanks Great G'ma Mavis!

Bowling with my cool cousin Megan! She's crazier than I am!

Olivia's new friend Alex, and her cousin Addy.

We just got back from a quick visit to TX! It was so much fun! Olivia loved playing with her old friends. She was a maniac the entire trip. The time change really threw her off, so I got to get up with her at 5:45 every day. Not fun! Now she is getting up at 6:45. Not too bad, but I wish she would go back to being an 8-8 baby!

Right now Olivia and I are in Jeffersonville visiting my sister. I am sick today, which is totally not cool. It started with my niece Addison, then Lisa, then JC, then Eric...now me. YUCK. We plan to head back tomorrow to Peru...a lovely 3 hour drive. We are getting Olivia's 1 year / family pictures on Saturday so stay tuned for those. Again, sorry about the lack of posting, but if you only knew how slow my mom's computer is...