She's into EVERYTHING!!!!
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Liv almost walking!
She's growing up fast! Not quite walking yet but as you can see, she's not far! Enjoy!
Holiday 08, A Most Joyous Occasion
I guess everyone gets a bit reflective at this time of year, and we are no different. It is amazing that we ended the year in the way we did, very differently than we began 2008! We were blessed by the most special little person's arrival, one which we cannot imagine life without. It is a wonder how adoption works. Just as we were told, there is a perfect match and we are confidant that Olivia was meant to be our child.
We had a very busy December, lots of visits and, as always, lots of firsts! Olivia decided, in a single day, to begin to (finally!) crawl in the forward direction, to pull herself up to standing, and to hold her own bottle. It was momentous to say the least. Thankfully she fit that all in a few days before we left her (for the first time) with her Lola, Aunt Liesl, Uncle Joe and her cousins. Needless to say they all had a blast and we had a weekend to remember what life was like before a little one! December also brought visits - to see the Bush's and be present for baby Devin's naming ceremony, Lori and Tobin (we are so lucky we see them so much given how far away they live, and yes, Tobin and Olivia are still in love), and the Farley's swung by on a post Christmas visit so Olivia and Kayla got to play their hearts away.
Christmas was spent in NJ, and then back at our house so there was a whole lot of celebrating (and lots of toys to go with it). Mattingly and Olivia thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We've included our favorite photos from the holiday...
Our little girl is going to be walking in no time. She spends all of her waking moments doing the three C's - crawling, cruising, and climbing. If you want to figure out how to baby proof your house quickly call us, Olivia will show you in about three seconds.
Happy New Year to all!
We had a very busy December, lots of visits and, as always, lots of firsts! Olivia decided, in a single day, to begin to (finally!) crawl in the forward direction, to pull herself up to standing, and to hold her own bottle. It was momentous to say the least. Thankfully she fit that all in a few days before we left her (for the first time) with her Lola, Aunt Liesl, Uncle Joe and her cousins. Needless to say they all had a blast and we had a weekend to remember what life was like before a little one! December also brought visits - to see the Bush's and be present for baby Devin's naming ceremony, Lori and Tobin (we are so lucky we see them so much given how far away they live, and yes, Tobin and Olivia are still in love), and the Farley's swung by on a post Christmas visit so Olivia and Kayla got to play their hearts away.
Christmas was spent in NJ, and then back at our house so there was a whole lot of celebrating (and lots of toys to go with it). Mattingly and Olivia thoroughly enjoyed themselves. We've included our favorite photos from the holiday...
Our little girl is going to be walking in no time. She spends all of her waking moments doing the three C's - crawling, cruising, and climbing. If you want to figure out how to baby proof your house quickly call us, Olivia will show you in about three seconds.
Happy New Year to all!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Making up for lost time
So clearly life has been a bit busy, I've fallen off the blog update wagon. It's been a full three months so I'm going to attempt to make up for some lost time.
Olivia is nine months old, and as of this morning's visit to the pediatrician she logs in at 19 pounds, 12 ounces and 27.5 inches in length. Obviously she has been eating well! The most exciting developments though are that Olivia is crawling and pulling herself up to stand. She's surprised herself a few times by letting go of whoever/whatever she is leaning on and been able to hold her own for a second or two before she realizes it and lunges for the closest stable thing to hold onto. She has also asserted her independence and insists upon feeding herself her own bottle :) Thank goodness that she is saying mama and dada or we'd begin to think she doesn't need us anymore. It's amazing to watch her go.
Olivia continues to have a best friend in Mattingly who has been through some rough times in the past few months. In October we learned Matti had a cancerous tumor in his front left leg and he has since had it amputated. He is almost half way through his chemotherapy and he's doing fantastic. Humans can learn quite a bit from animals - this major surgery proved nothing for our strong, active guy. Olivia has been a doting little sister, and we need to watch them both constantly because they love to kiss one another and Olivia has taken a strong interest in Mattingly's toys.
Lots more positive, exciting things to report as well from the past few months. We've continued to travel - visiting Karen's family in NJ in September and November. Karen's sister is expecting and Olivia had a grand time "bonding" with her new cousin on our latest visit, he is due to arrive at the end of January and we are so excited! We also finalized Olivia's adoption in early October with a quick trip down to Texas, and vacationed in the Outer Banks with the Helmreich and Waller families. The weather was perfect and we spent lots of time outside - great for the dogs, kids and adults! October was also Olivia's first Halloween and she had not one, but two costumes thanks to her Aunt Liesl. Lots of fun with her little friends dressing up and taking pictures - the parents definitely had a blast.
We are gearing up for Christmas and are so blessed to be celebrating this year with our new family. Even though I have not been great with updating the blog we did continue to take lots of pictures. To spare everyone hours of flipping through we've included our favorites from the past three months - enjoy and happy holidays!
Click on the picture to view all the pictures.
Olivia is nine months old, and as of this morning's visit to the pediatrician she logs in at 19 pounds, 12 ounces and 27.5 inches in length. Obviously she has been eating well! The most exciting developments though are that Olivia is crawling and pulling herself up to stand. She's surprised herself a few times by letting go of whoever/whatever she is leaning on and been able to hold her own for a second or two before she realizes it and lunges for the closest stable thing to hold onto. She has also asserted her independence and insists upon feeding herself her own bottle :) Thank goodness that she is saying mama and dada or we'd begin to think she doesn't need us anymore. It's amazing to watch her go.
Olivia continues to have a best friend in Mattingly who has been through some rough times in the past few months. In October we learned Matti had a cancerous tumor in his front left leg and he has since had it amputated. He is almost half way through his chemotherapy and he's doing fantastic. Humans can learn quite a bit from animals - this major surgery proved nothing for our strong, active guy. Olivia has been a doting little sister, and we need to watch them both constantly because they love to kiss one another and Olivia has taken a strong interest in Mattingly's toys.
Lots more positive, exciting things to report as well from the past few months. We've continued to travel - visiting Karen's family in NJ in September and November. Karen's sister is expecting and Olivia had a grand time "bonding" with her new cousin on our latest visit, he is due to arrive at the end of January and we are so excited! We also finalized Olivia's adoption in early October with a quick trip down to Texas, and vacationed in the Outer Banks with the Helmreich and Waller families. The weather was perfect and we spent lots of time outside - great for the dogs, kids and adults! October was also Olivia's first Halloween and she had not one, but two costumes thanks to her Aunt Liesl. Lots of fun with her little friends dressing up and taking pictures - the parents definitely had a blast.
We are gearing up for Christmas and are so blessed to be celebrating this year with our new family. Even though I have not been great with updating the blog we did continue to take lots of pictures. To spare everyone hours of flipping through we've included our favorites from the past three months - enjoy and happy holidays!
Click on the picture to view all the pictures.
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| Olivia Favorites Sept - Nov 08 |
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Happy half year old!
It's unbelievable but our girl is six months old! Every bit of time that we have had with Olivia since she arrived home has been, by far, the most exciting and awe inspiring of our lives. That said, the past few weeks have been our favorite so far! Olivia is SO MUCH FUN with all of the new things she is doing - sitting up, rolling over (both ways), eating solids and chatting it up - it's a whole new world! The best, by far, has been the development of a very special friendship between Olivia and Mattingly. All of our angst about Matti accepting Olivia into our family has quickly faded and been replaced by daily moments of adorable behavior (as captured in the many pictures to follow). Matti has assumed the role of chief protector and Olivia looks to him for ultimate consolation in times of frustration and sadness. It's too cute for words.
We've spent the last two weeks holed up a bit due to a stomach bug Olivia contracted, but have still managed to have some fun and record some firsts - Olivia's sitting up skills have quickly strengthened and she's added rolling from her back to her tummy to her repertoire. (This has introduced some challenges to nap time as she's not quite sure what to do with herself once she gets on to her tummy.) Olivia has delighted in the discovery of bubbles, as well as the infant swing (we logged 20 minutes on the swing at the park yesterday!) We also have added solid foods into our routine and Olivia has quickly established her preferences (yes to sweet potatoes and a powerful no thank you to barley). We also fit in some fun time at the Takata-Waller country club pool with Kira and Claire and a visit to Ryan Moseley before the stomach bug grounded us. We're hopeful that it will pass shortly as our full schedule of fall activities is due to begin week after next!
Until next time, enjoy the photos!
We've spent the last two weeks holed up a bit due to a stomach bug Olivia contracted, but have still managed to have some fun and record some firsts - Olivia's sitting up skills have quickly strengthened and she's added rolling from her back to her tummy to her repertoire. (This has introduced some challenges to nap time as she's not quite sure what to do with herself once she gets on to her tummy.) Olivia has delighted in the discovery of bubbles, as well as the infant swing (we logged 20 minutes on the swing at the park yesterday!) We also have added solid foods into our routine and Olivia has quickly established her preferences (yes to sweet potatoes and a powerful no thank you to barley). We also fit in some fun time at the Takata-Waller country club pool with Kira and Claire and a visit to Ryan Moseley before the stomach bug grounded us. We're hopeful that it will pass shortly as our full schedule of fall activities is due to begin week after next!
Until next time, enjoy the photos!
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Cross country trippin...
What an incredibly eventful last week we've had - chock full of good stuff! On the 8th Olivia, Karen and Joel boarded a plane for Denver and had a very full (yet relaxing) weekend with the crew, then Karen and Olivia traveled on for a few days with the Reale family. In the span of six days Olivia flew three times - from DC to Denver, from Denver on to San Diego and then from San Diego home. En route she managed to charm half of the country - if she could have juggled to get more attention I think she would have! Thankfully it was all positive attention...well...at least most of it was. Olivia is such a social bee that it's tough for her to wind down in the midst of things going on, so needless to say there was not as much sleeping as her mommy would have liked, especially on the trip back from California! The trip was WELL worth the attempt to keep a very active five month old entertained in a seat hardly bigger than two dozen inches across for 11 collective hours. Read on for the highlights...
We got the royal treatment when we arrived in Denver. A car waiting at the airport (we love you Kristin and Brian!), an afternoon of fun with the Seibold clan (complete with two very talented built in babysitters - Zoe and Mae), and a plush set up at the Steele loft downtown (which closely resembles the W hotel chain) complete with all of the comforts of home for Olivia (thanks SO MUCH Sam!) Olivia immediately bonded with the Seibold kids. Charlie and Olivia spent some quality time playing, and taking turns in the Bumbo while Zoe and Mae made sure to keep them in line with lots of kisses and hugs. Joel and Karen got a chance to wind down with the calmest parents of four kids we could have imagined! Jeff and Nicole give us hope :) Olivia was a rock star, totally rolling with the time change, the airplane ride, the lack of naps and everything else we threw her way and after a bath in Kristin and Brian's stylish kitchen sink she calmly went to sleep - for the whole night! This little one is a wonder to us. We got a chance to wind down, with lots of wine - a visit from Timmy, and some great takeout. What a day! So much better than we could have imagined. The rest of the weekend was much of the same - lots of fun with a very well behaved Olivia. We did early morning coffee (adjustment to the time change was not something that Olivia embraced), brunches with Ari and Sheri, and a fabulous party thrown by Sheri's parents to celebrate Ari and Sheri's engagement. We had a chance to connect with the whole crew and introduce Olivia to many of her mountain state admirers. She hammed it up the whole way through. She also slept like a champ - that elevation does wonders!
Sunday it was time to move on - Karen couldn't have been more nervous to fly on her own with Olivia (Joel returned to DC) but again, all went well. Olivia loves to over deliver on expectations, which we certainly won't complain about! When Olivia drifted off to sleep before we even took off all of the anxiety melted away...until she woke up 30 minutes later, but by then we only had an hour or so left so we were set! Lori and Tobin met us at baggage claim (thank goodness, as a good portion of the anxiety came from how to manage all of the baggage we were traveling with!) In retrospect, it was at the San Diego airport that love at first sight occurred between Olivia and Tobin. You think I'm kidding - this claim is well documented...
We had no idea their reaction and connection to one another would be so strong (of course we are thrilled and have already started banking pictures in preparation for their future wedding rehearsal dinner). The following days were filled with fun and firsts. Tobin WALKED for the first time on his own and Olivia demonstrated that she needs no assistance to sit up on her own. These kids do wonders for each other! We think they were trying to show off for one another as both of these events occurred the morning after we arrived. Olivia loved playing with all of Tobin's toys (much to Joel's chagrin we will be visiting the local Babies R Us to stock up on all new toys today), she continued her remarkable behavior - faithfully arranging her naps so Karen and Lori could lunch in lovely locations. We also hit music class (Tobin was very protective of his lady, clearly staking claim early on in the class), walked along the beach and managed some raspberry mojitos at happy hour with the kiddos. Olivia LOVED her Aunt Lori, who quite possibly is the most energetic and expressive individual she will ever keep company with (Karen was actually afraid that Olivia would strike their departure when she learned it meant separating from Tobin and Lori). All in all an INCREDIBLE trip - we had so much fun and it exceeded all of our expectations! Oh, and in the midst of it all baby Moseley decided he'd arrive early so we had something really exciting to fly home to - WELCOME RYAN!
Until next time - enjoy the pics! Click on the picture below for more photos. We've also attempted to include the link to Lori's photos, hopefully you can see it!
Link to Lori's Photos
We got the royal treatment when we arrived in Denver. A car waiting at the airport (we love you Kristin and Brian!), an afternoon of fun with the Seibold clan (complete with two very talented built in babysitters - Zoe and Mae), and a plush set up at the Steele loft downtown (which closely resembles the W hotel chain) complete with all of the comforts of home for Olivia (thanks SO MUCH Sam!) Olivia immediately bonded with the Seibold kids. Charlie and Olivia spent some quality time playing, and taking turns in the Bumbo while Zoe and Mae made sure to keep them in line with lots of kisses and hugs. Joel and Karen got a chance to wind down with the calmest parents of four kids we could have imagined! Jeff and Nicole give us hope :) Olivia was a rock star, totally rolling with the time change, the airplane ride, the lack of naps and everything else we threw her way and after a bath in Kristin and Brian's stylish kitchen sink she calmly went to sleep - for the whole night! This little one is a wonder to us. We got a chance to wind down, with lots of wine - a visit from Timmy, and some great takeout. What a day! So much better than we could have imagined. The rest of the weekend was much of the same - lots of fun with a very well behaved Olivia. We did early morning coffee (adjustment to the time change was not something that Olivia embraced), brunches with Ari and Sheri, and a fabulous party thrown by Sheri's parents to celebrate Ari and Sheri's engagement. We had a chance to connect with the whole crew and introduce Olivia to many of her mountain state admirers. She hammed it up the whole way through. She also slept like a champ - that elevation does wonders!
Sunday it was time to move on - Karen couldn't have been more nervous to fly on her own with Olivia (Joel returned to DC) but again, all went well. Olivia loves to over deliver on expectations, which we certainly won't complain about! When Olivia drifted off to sleep before we even took off all of the anxiety melted away...until she woke up 30 minutes later, but by then we only had an hour or so left so we were set! Lori and Tobin met us at baggage claim (thank goodness, as a good portion of the anxiety came from how to manage all of the baggage we were traveling with!) In retrospect, it was at the San Diego airport that love at first sight occurred between Olivia and Tobin. You think I'm kidding - this claim is well documented...
We had no idea their reaction and connection to one another would be so strong (of course we are thrilled and have already started banking pictures in preparation for their future wedding rehearsal dinner). The following days were filled with fun and firsts. Tobin WALKED for the first time on his own and Olivia demonstrated that she needs no assistance to sit up on her own. These kids do wonders for each other! We think they were trying to show off for one another as both of these events occurred the morning after we arrived. Olivia loved playing with all of Tobin's toys (much to Joel's chagrin we will be visiting the local Babies R Us to stock up on all new toys today), she continued her remarkable behavior - faithfully arranging her naps so Karen and Lori could lunch in lovely locations. We also hit music class (Tobin was very protective of his lady, clearly staking claim early on in the class), walked along the beach and managed some raspberry mojitos at happy hour with the kiddos. Olivia LOVED her Aunt Lori, who quite possibly is the most energetic and expressive individual she will ever keep company with (Karen was actually afraid that Olivia would strike their departure when she learned it meant separating from Tobin and Lori). All in all an INCREDIBLE trip - we had so much fun and it exceeded all of our expectations! Oh, and in the midst of it all baby Moseley decided he'd arrive early so we had something really exciting to fly home to - WELCOME RYAN!
Until next time - enjoy the pics! Click on the picture below for more photos. We've also attempted to include the link to Lori's photos, hopefully you can see it!
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| Olivia's cross country trip Aug 08 |
Link to Lori's Photos
Sunday, August 3, 2008
And we finally make it to the beach!
Apparently the third time is the charm. Olivia has been introduced, officially, to the sand, surf, and seagulls. We think her favorite part of it all is the seagulls given the belly laughs that resulted in chasing them down the beach. Who better to do the grand introduction than Grandma - the grand master of beach lovers. The photo shoot of Olivia and Grandma is not to be missed !
Olivia and Karen did record their first official road trip - to LBI to visit the Bush/Chairnoff/Sherman clan, and then on to Grandma and Grandpa's for the rest of the week. Karen is happy to report that the trip was uneventful, in a good way. Joel and Mattingly arrived for the weekend, and we also got to spend some QT with the Farley's - and celebrate Kev's HUGE accomplishment of qualifying for the world championship Ironman competition in Kona, Hawaii this coming October (GO KEV!)
In the last month Olivia has continued to develop her chatting skills - we've moved from very cute jabbering, to raspberry blowing, and have just recently been introduced to noises that we've labeled whining. We're hoping the evolution continues. Check out the video (posted just the other day) of Olivia sitting (almost on her own!) She continues to be so alert and inquisitive - she's reaching with both hands, pulling Karen's hair and anything else she can get her hands on, holding her bottle, and enjoying her playtime for longer periods of time. We're working on the rolling over back to front and other new tricks! She's also found the first love of her life - Mattingly. We are convinced that Olivia could spend hours just petting Mattingly and he has taken to rewarding her with grand licks - on her feet, hands, and face if we don't watch closely! The belly laughs that result are priceless.
At the end of this week we are off to our first grand airplane trip since Olivia arrived home - we'll be visiting lots of friends in Colorado and then Karen and Olivia will travel on to spend some time with the Reale family in San Diego. The next blog posting is sure to be amusing! Until then - the latest pics...
Time with family....
At the beach...
Olivia and Karen did record their first official road trip - to LBI to visit the Bush/Chairnoff/Sherman clan, and then on to Grandma and Grandpa's for the rest of the week. Karen is happy to report that the trip was uneventful, in a good way. Joel and Mattingly arrived for the weekend, and we also got to spend some QT with the Farley's - and celebrate Kev's HUGE accomplishment of qualifying for the world championship Ironman competition in Kona, Hawaii this coming October (GO KEV!)
In the last month Olivia has continued to develop her chatting skills - we've moved from very cute jabbering, to raspberry blowing, and have just recently been introduced to noises that we've labeled whining. We're hoping the evolution continues. Check out the video (posted just the other day) of Olivia sitting (almost on her own!) She continues to be so alert and inquisitive - she's reaching with both hands, pulling Karen's hair and anything else she can get her hands on, holding her bottle, and enjoying her playtime for longer periods of time. We're working on the rolling over back to front and other new tricks! She's also found the first love of her life - Mattingly. We are convinced that Olivia could spend hours just petting Mattingly and he has taken to rewarding her with grand licks - on her feet, hands, and face if we don't watch closely! The belly laughs that result are priceless.
At the end of this week we are off to our first grand airplane trip since Olivia arrived home - we'll be visiting lots of friends in Colorado and then Karen and Olivia will travel on to spend some time with the Reale family in San Diego. The next blog posting is sure to be amusing! Until then - the latest pics...
Time with family....
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| Olivia 19 - 20 weeks |
At the beach...
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| Olivia at LBI and Spring Lake |
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