Olivia's First Party Invitation

So I realize that Olivia will never remember attending a birthday party at the ripe old age of 8 ½ months, but don’t judge me for spending my Saturday at a one-year old’s birthday party unless you have children of your own. That’s all I’m saying.

Olivia’s BFF, Halle, turned one this November and her party was the weekend before Thanksgiving. There were grand plans for a hay ride, but the weather didn’t cooperate so the babies all played inside with toys and each other.

There was a lot of crawling, plenty of walking, some crying, a bit of screaming and lots of laughing. And the kids had a good time, too.

Olivia was the youngest child there, and she made plenty of friends and got passed around quite a bit. Here she’s pictured with Halle’s great-grandmother, who was the oldest person in attendance. I think they make quite the pair, don’t you?

The highlight of the party for Olivia was the juice box. I knew that Olivia could use a straw, but up until this particular day I’d only given her water to drink. We were off of our feeding schedule because of the party, so I thought I’d give Olivia a little apple juice to tide her over until we could get home. She sucked down all 6 ounces in about a minute.

Y’all, I think she liked it.

And finally, here’s a shot of Olivia and the birthday girl. The invitation said to come dressed for barnyard outdoor fun – isn’t she a doll in those overalls?

The Second 9 Months

Dear Olivia,

Today you are 9 months old. Nine whole months! I cannot believe how quickly it has gone by. It just doesn't seem possible-- we just brought you home from the hospital! It seems as though it was just yesterday that I was hoping and praying that you would hurry up and come already. And now look at you: sleeping sweetly in your crib, sucking your thumb after a full afternoon of scooting, laughing, waving, clapping and exploring. Your favorite toys these days are simple ones: you love to play with the clothes basket and Minnie Mouse. You have started to try to pull yourself up on anything that will stay still long enough for you to grab it. I think that you will be walking before we know it.

You have so much to say, already. You are constantly babbling and cooing as you play, and I can't wait to find out what you are saying when you learn words. I love your wet, sloppy open-mouthed kisses and the way you squeal with delight and hide your face when you are excited. Even though you only say it when you are upset and crying, there is nothing sweeter in this world than you hear you say "Ma-ma-ma-ma."

The first 9 months while you were still growing inside me, I felt desperate to know you. What you would look like, what your name would be, what kind of temperament you would have. You were a little stranger for those first 9 months, and I would often try to imagine what you and our lives would be like when you finally arrived. These second 9 months have been like nothing I could have ever imagined, my dear sweet Child. You have turned our world upside down these last 9 months, but Daddy and I wouldn't have it any other way. And the child I am watching grow right before my very eyes...wow. You are such a beautiful soul, and an absolute joy to everyone you meet. Yesterday you and I were running errands and stopped for lunch at Chick-fil-A. While I fed you the chicken and vegetables we had just bought from Target, you watched out the window as cars drove away from the pickup window and you waved to every single one. You make friends wherever you go, and I hope that you stay that way forever.

You have richly blessed our lives these second 9 months, and Daddy and I love you with all our hearts.

Hugs and kisses,

Momma

Quality Daddy Time

It seems most days that by the time Daddy comes walking in the door from work, Olivia and I are both ready and glad to see someone else. Don't get me wrong, I love her and she adores me, but we are both excited to see C's smiling face walk in the door. He always tells me hello first, then he swoops up Olivia from wherever she is, and off they go. Putting away Daddy's keys, taking off his shoes, picking up his dishes from lunch...it doesn't matter what the task is, Olivia wants to be smack dab in the middle of it in her Daddy's arms.

Sometimes Liv has already eaten dinner, and other times she still needs to be fed. On nights where she's already been fed, her daddy gives her a bath (where they play and laugh and splash) then gets her into her jammies. After she kisses me goodnight, they disappear into her bedroom.

Usually, I'm cooking dinner and don't really give them another thought until C emerges ready to eat. But recently I started to wonder what was taking him so long to get her to sleep, so I tip toed over and snuck a peek. Here is what I saw:

Somewhere along the way, C decided to make bedtime stories a nightly thing. We've always read to her, but she rarely sits still long enough with me to make it through a board book. I grabbed the camera and snapped this shot, then took the video below. I believe that C was reading the Disney version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears from a book of nursery rhymes and fairy tales that he picked out himself when we were shopping months ago.

I've known since our second date that C would be a good father one day, but he surprises me still with how loving and patient he is with his daughter. What a sweet pair they make, my two favorite people in the world.

Thanksgiving in Orlando

For our combined birthday party/Thanksgiving celebrations, we had a feast. There was ham and turkey, baked macaroni and sweet potatoes, green bean & artichoke casserole and squash casserole. Lots of delicious things to eat as we sat around the table together. We all shared with each other the things that we are thankful for this year, an annual tradition in Honey & Pappy's house. This year we've had many things to be thankful for: new additions to the group (Uncle T and Olivia), good health and jobs as well as the support and love of our family. We are all blessed.



Of course, we were also celebrating The Adenator's birthday (that's what C calls him). One year ago he was this tiny squawking babe in a bouncer at our Thanksgiving dinner table. This year, he was a walking squawking little man who wandered around our Thanksgiving dinner table.

Aden and Olivia put on their party hats, posed for the cameras, and then went back to the business of playing on the floor.

Here's the birthday boy with his mother. He was tired from a weekend of activity and wanted her to hold him for most of the morning.

Olivia had just finished eating carrots, which is why her face has an orange tint to it. She was still ready to party at this point but would spend the entire ride home out of sorts. In our house, we call that wearing your cranky pants. Oh yeah, and that's Uncle T in the background. You met him yesterday under the ghetto car.

This is the elusive Aunt E with Honey and Pappy. I have some other photos of her to come soon. And that's my dad with his party hat on. Awesome, right?

While the rest of us ate, Olivia played on the floor with Aden's soccer ball. He wasn't too thrilled to share it with her, but I don't think that she really understood what he was fussing about. She just sat there at slobbered on it, completely oblivious.


When the table was cleared and all the leftovers were put away, we had to say goodbye and hit the road. It was sad to have to leave, but we'll all be together again for 24 hours at Christmas!

Weekend Warriors

Three weeks ago, in mid-November on a humid Friday morning, we set our alarm for the unholy hour of 3 a.m., gathered our toothbrushes, brewed a large pot of coffee, loaded a sleeping baby in the car and started driving. Destination: Orlando, Florida.

We were on our way to celebrate Aden's first birthday (my sister said to start using their whole names because she doesn't like keeping track of all the letters) and to also have Thanksgiving dinner together as a family. Big weekend full of lots of fun! I wanted to spend as much time with Becca as possible, thus the early departure time. The plan was to get three good hours of driving in before Olivia ever woke up and the pit stops started. The plan would have worked perfectly, because Olivia slept until 7, except that I started drinking coffee the second we pulled out of the driveway. Which means that Chad was looking for a McDonald's exactly one hour into the trip. I believe this is what the literary world calls foreshadowing, because I have never stopped so many times in one road trip in my life.

Anyway, after inspecting the majority of the bathrooms along the I-10/I-75 corridor, we got to the Turnpike, also known as The Road That Eats A Paycheck's Worth of Quarters. After feeding the beast, we finally made it, just after lunch time. C and I unpacked and we headed over to Becca's apartment, where our Weekend O' Fun commenced. I have no photos from the first day because did I mention I got up at 3 a.m? Olivia had a great time playing with all of Aden's toys and watching him walk all over the apartment. The men went together to the Honey Baked Ham store to secure our Thanksgiving meat while the ladies stayed at the apartment with the kids. After eating some delicious Chinese takeout for dinner, C and I told everyone good night and we all hit the sack by 8 p.m. Eastern.

I'd like to say that we all woke up refreshed and ready to take on the day after such a good night's sleep, but that would be a lie. The mattress was so bad on our bed that C thought we might be sleeping on a box spring. Despite our rough start, we were super excited to begin our day with some quality time with Aunt E and Uncle T, who were sharing a place with us for the weekend. Becca had to work that morning, so we all took our time getting up and dressed, then after lunch the babies played together again. We made a couple of runs to the grocery store to prepare for our Thanksgiving meal and took the babies for a walk. There is a children's playground in the center of the complex, and Aden likes to watch the big kids play there so we stopped for a few minutes. It turns out that Olivia and Aden loved the slide and both of them went down it with a little help. C and Olivia also played on a rocking horse. We took a ton of photos of all of this fun, but they are all on Honey's camera. One of these days I will remember to get some of them to post here.

No photos, total bummer, I know. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'll be extra wordy to compensate. You're welcome.

Just kidding. All of the photos I do have are from Saturday evening and Sunday before we drove home, so you're finished with the excessive reading.

Speaking of Saturday evening, there was a very important football game being played, and we all loaded up to head to the local Mellow Mushroom to eat and watch Auburn give Georgia a run for their money. While the game turned out to be a disappointment, dinner was not. Aden wandered around the whole restaurant making friends and exploring, and we all laughed and visited with each other while enjoying delicious specialty pizzas. C and Uncle T got their picture taken with a crazy car in the parking lot while I prayed they wouldn't get shot by the car's owner:

It's kind of hard to tell, but this car is parked with the front right tire up about 2 feet up in the air. It was sitting out in the middle of nowhere and was quite impressive.


Honey managed to scoop up both of the babies and wrangle them together long enough for a photo.

After dinner, we all headed back to the apartment where the clubhouse has a huge game room complete with large TV. Philip The Pool Shark schooled me several times through the second half of the football game. The excitement of the day finally caught up with Olivia, and this is how she spent the rest of the game:


I'll show you our Thanksgiving meal in the next post.

Pumpkins, They're Not Just for Carving

I know that I have tons of other stuff to post about, and I promise that I will get to it all soon. However, this is easy to share and doesn't require uploading any photos, so I will share it first.

As you know, I make Olivia's food myself. Since pumpkins are seasonal and she really loves them, I bought and made a LOT of pumpkin puree. And since I have so much, I have made a couple of recipes using some of it, like Pumpkin Cranberry Bread. Olivia loves this bread so much that she was trying to pull the plate out of my hands this morning to eat my slice. When I made the hand signal for "all gone" and we had to tell the bread bye-bye, she started crying. It really is that good.

Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

2 eggs

2 cups sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup pureed pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling if you're buying the canned stuff)

1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour bundt pan.

In a large bowl, combine flour, spice, soda and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a small bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Beat in sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Add the wet mixture to your dry mixture. Stir until just moistened/combined. Gently fold in cranberries.

Bake for approximately 50 minutes until center is done. Cool for 10 minutes and remove from pan.

The recipe calls for a dusting with powdered sugar, but I didn't do this -- the bread is sweet enough without it. Also, if you want to make your own pumpkin puree, it's super easy:

Pumpkin Puree

You'll need one baking pumpkin (the small ones, not a carving one) and a food processor or blender.

Cut the top/stem off of your pumpkin, then slice the whole thing in half. Empty out the seeds and such. I generally use a paring knife to cut out most of it and then use a grapefruit spoon to scrape out the rest. There will be some stringy stuff left, it's fine.

Once you have two cleaned halves, put them on a baking sheet, face up or down doesn't matter, and put them in a preheated (375 degrees) oven for about an hour. When you take them out and let them cool, you'll be able to peel the rind off of your pumpkin easily with your hands.

Put the meat in a food processor and go to town. You may have to add a few tablespoons of water, depending on the pumpkin. The result should be the consistency of sour cream or slightly runnier.