Olivia turned 2

On January 17th Olivia turned 2 years old! I cannot believe it has already been 2 years since she was born. Everyone told me it would go fast but wow, it really did. I decided to just have a small family birthday for her this year since we had a friend birthday party for her 1st. My parents came up from Wyoming and my brother Mike who lives here now joined us too. We went to a matinee and Olivia had "pa corn". She loves popcorn so as she sat and ate it she would comment on the movie. It was kind of funny when it got real quiet she would say something very loud which I'm sure everyone in the theater could hear. After the movie we went to Chuck E. Cheese Pizza and she had a blast riding on all the little rides and playing games. She even met Chuck E. himself.Audrey and Grandpa partied hardy and pooped out

Then we came back to our house to open presents and have cake. She had a lot of fun.

Playing with her new Dora the Explorer Kitchen

Do you like our teeth?
A little rotten from all that cake

Blowing out her candles

Tonight Olivia helped me make cookies for the first time. She LOVED it. She helped me stir them in the pot and when her Uncle Mike who was over asked her to come see him she said, "I'm stirring it up Uncle Michael."
Olivia has amazed me these last few months. She talks like crazy and everyone can't believe how well she talks for her age. She loves to sing and dance and knows the words to B-I-N-G-O, Jesus Loves Me, The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round, and she can sing her A-B-C's. She remembers so much. About a month ago there was a blow up Santa outside a neighbor's house and now it's gone. We drove by and she said, "Mommy where's Santi Claus?" I went on telling her this very long story about how Santa had to go back to the North Pole to get ready for next Christmas. Now every time we drive by that house she says, "Mommy, mommy, Santi Claus North Pole!" What a memory. I know kids soak up a lot at this age but wow do they ever learn and retain things quickly and easily.

I'm a little sad today

A friend of mine sent me a link to a blog that her friend created for her little boy who has been sick in the hospital since he was 2 months old. He has been in the hospital now for 5 months and they have never diagnosed him because they aren't sure what's wrong with him. Anyway, I haven't read the whole blog so I don't know the whole story but I do know after reading the last few entries that the parents decided to disconnect the little boy, Noah, from life support today. I just had to stop and be still for a minute. This family is a very strong Christian family who totally rely on God for their strength and it is evident in the blog. I could go on and on about this family but I won't, if you want to read more their blogsite is http://noahsteven.blogspot.com

I just thought I would share it with you because as I read some of the mom's entries I was just so touched by them and her love and compassion for God in their lives is just awesome. Life can be difficult but God is with us every step of the way and our days are numbered so we should not fear. Another thing this mom said was that she wasn't going to make any resolutions this year because Jesus says to take one day at a time so she is making a daily plan of passionate pursuit... it just happens to be a New Year. I was thinking about my resolutions in my previous blog and for one they aren't specific enough and for another I am already having a hard time with them so I am going to just take one day at a time and try and do my best with what I can.

One more thing I was thinking about today as I was pondering about this little boy Noah. I was nursing Audrey and just overwhelmed by how much I love that time I have with her. She is so warm and snuggly as she nestles close to me and sometimes it makes her so tired that she just closes her eyes for a minute to rest. I could watch her the whole time and sometimes we just stare at each other and if I smile, she'll stop nursing to smile at me and it's one of the best feelings in the whole world. I look forward to nursing every time because I know that no matter what I am doing I have to stop and spend one on one time with her and I wish it could last for an hour. When Olivia stopped nursing I had a really hard time with it because I was going to miss that bonding time we had and I did miss it but now we just bond in different ways. I am just thankful that I have my children and that I get to spend quality time with them and I know that it is going to be hard for this family after the loss of their precious son, but they have another daughter and between her and having God in their lives, they will get through this sad day. Just take a moment and sit there. Think about what you have and who you have in you lives and be thankful. We are only on this earth for so long, we need to stop our craziness every once and awhile and just be thankful.

On a lighter note, here are a few pics to maybe make you smile.


Fun in the Snow

First day we tried pigtails in her hair

It's not what you think, we don't dry out our
kids when they are wet. This was all
Olivia's idea by the way.


My Punk Rock Girls

Happy New Years!

Wow! I can't believe it's 2007. Wasn't it just 2000 a few days ago? Time is flying by so fast it's crazy. We made it back from Oklahoma and had a great time with Steve's family for Christmas. Olivia had a blast opening presents but when Santa arrived she was scared to death. Steve bought a Santa suit so he can dress up every year and we had been talking about it and Olivia wanted to see Santa but when she saw him she wrapped her legs and arms around me so tight I thought I was going to fall over. It was a lot of fun though.

O.k., New Year's Resolutions: (Some of these will sound familiar because many people use them every year but oh well)

1. Exercise consistently
2. Eat healthier, cut out a lot of sugar!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3. Start teaching Olivia Spanish
4. Watch less t.v.
5. Cook more for my family (Steve does a lot of our cooking now)
6. Pray and read my bible more
7. Finish Olivia's and Audrey's 1st year scrapbooks and photo albums
8. Make my bed most mornings
9. Minister more to my friends, family, and those in my church.
   
10. Be a better model for Olivia and Audrey (i.e. don't raise my voice)
    

The list could go on and on but I'm too tired to think and need to go to bed. Here are a few pictures from Christmas. The one of Steve's dad sideways is to show off his new pony tail. He grew his hair out and we tried a pony tail in his hair.

P.S. Audrey only sucked her thumb for about 4 days and then stopped. She hasn't sucked it in over a week so we'll see.