Happy Birthday Olivia

Olivia, at 3 years old you:

*are one of a kind. You are sweet, funny, ornery, and too smart for your own good sometimes.

*are 38 lbs and 33 inches tall (the 75% for both)

*wear a 3T (sometimes 4T) clothes and a size 8 shoe.

*have been completely diaper free during day for over 6 months as well as during nap time!  I think we have a ways to go at night, though

*are a lover of all things sweet, however, you do eat healthy as well.  You love sharing Mom's green juice with her in the morning.

* you know your ABC's and can count to 12.  We may have to work on your numbers a little more.  You can write your own name, you even signed Papa's birthday card all by yourself.

*your favorite movie is Despicable Me.  You may even have a Minion cake in your future.  You don't watch much TV but are a pro at watching YouTube on the iPad.  Your favorite thing to watch is "Playing with Play dough"

*enjoy coloring, drawing, and reading books. You are a girl's girl who loves to have her nails painted, wear sparkles, and anything pink or purple.  It's usually a fight to get you to wear something besides a dress.  

*love your little brother (most of the time)

*you love going to school.  You were even disappointed when we told you that you couldn't go over Christmas break.

*are a handful! You are not afraid to make your feelings known. You have opinions (lots of opinions) and can argue and talk your way around almost anything....this is very trying in a toddler but will serve you well in the future.

*still haven't had a haircut. Not even a trim. And don't think it's coming any time soon.  Mom just can't fathom cutting those little curls off.

Christmas Cookie Time

Olivia and I spent some time baking Christmas cookies today.  

{Cutting out the cookies!  Olivia had a hard time refraining from eating the dough.}

{Watching her masterpieces cook.}

{Time to decorate.  This is the best part!}

{I'm not eating anything}

{The finished product, we have a lot of purple, pink and orange cookies this year.  Olivia didn't understand the whole Christmas color concept, she went with what she though was the prettiest}

{Did someone say sprinkles?}

{Finn slept through the baking fun, but woke up just in time to taste test for us.}

The Climber

I've given up!  There is no point in trying to get him to stop climbing up there.

Olivia didn't want to be left out of the picture fun!

Introducing the Flying Olivia

Cape made with love by Gramma!

Finley's New Hobby

Finn has a new game he likes to play.  It's called "Throw Everything I Can Find Down the Stairs".

He thinks it is a riot to watch the toys he throws bounce down the stairs and ping off the walls.

However, he is never very happy when we won't go retrieve the toys for him.

Of course, Olivia is never very happy when one of her toys is launched down the stairs.

First Snow of the Year

Olivia enjoyed the first snowfall of the year with Dad last weekend.  Dad was the only one who was brave enough to bare the cold with her.

Finn and I took these pictures from the warmth of our home.  Of course, Finn wasn't very happy about being inside with me.  He stood by the window the entire time they were outside, screaming with joy when he would see them pass by the window.

Thanksgiving 2013

We have so much to be thankful for this year, so much that we needed two Thanksgivings to help us celebrate.

On Thanksgiving day I made dinner for the four of us.  This is only the second time I have cooked the full meal just for us.  I have to say it turned out pretty good.  As we were starting dinner we went around the table to say what we were thankful for.  Can you guess what Olivia is thankful for this year?  We all know it isn't Finn.  Nope, she is thankful for herself.  I had to giggle when "Olivia" came out of her mouth.  Finney's favorite part of the meal was the sweet potato casserole and pecan pie.  Olivia's favorite part was, well, pretty much everything.  Girlfriend likes her turkey

Later that evening we decorated the Christmas tree.  Sorry I don't have pictures of this.  Olivia decided that she wanted to decorate the tree in her undies.  The tree looks a little different this year since we let Olivia hang her own ornaments.  She picked three low hanging branches that she liked, all of which have about 12 ornaments hanging on them now.

Our second Thanksgiving was held at Gamma and Papa's house on Satruday. The food was a lot better than what I made, we even had a fried turkey for the first time.  The food was a hit with the kids again.  Finn had his turkey devoured even before I could get back to the table with my plate of food.

Olivia loved her pumpkin pie.  Actually, she didn't touch the pie, she loved the cool whip that was on top of the pie.

Later that afternoon Gamma let the kids open one of their Christmas gifts, they loved that.  Finn also decided that he would do some animal hunting, poor Itty Bitty.