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.

The Boot(y) Scootin' Boogie

Well, Olivia cares as much about crawling as she did about rolling over... which is to say not much. Have no fear, though, she is quite the scooter these days. I wish the video below showed it better, but early scooting isn't exactly what you'd call On-The-Edge-Of-Your-Seat Entertainment, not even for me. So after almost two minutes of riveting video, I shut 'er down and then (of course) Olivia really started moving.

You can see in the photo above that Olivia discovered the bookcase behind our sofa. C has been joking about shrink wrapping the whole thing until she gets old enough to understand "No" but I'm starting to wonder what we are really going to do to protect my literary collection. Other than moving the bookcase to the MIL suite, are there any suggestions?

It does not seem possible that it has been a whole year since Cousin A was welcomed into this world. His mom and dad wanted him very much and, although my sister told me she would be sorry to not be pregnant anymore (a bizarre notion I cannot relate to), they were beyond excited when A made his debut at 5 lbs 10 oz.

He was SO tiny. When I spent some time with my sister two weeks after A was born, I remember thinking that I had never seen a more beautiful thing in my entire life. I was able to hold him while he slept, which he did quite a bit, and smell his sweet baby head and wonder how I would ever love my own baby as much as I was already in love with my sister's. I cried quite a bit when I left Orlando to come home last November.

It has been an absolute joy to watch this nephew of mine grow from the tiniest baby I'd ever seen into the sweet-natured one-year old he is today. He is always laughing and playing and I see so much of my sister in the joy he finds in learning and discovering and taking the world by storm.

Happy Birthday, A.

Sunday's Child

Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child who is born on the Sabbath Day
Is bonny and blithe and good and gay.

Holla

Our phone rang the other night while I was cooking dinner, right after C had walked in the door from work. It was a friend of mine, and I got involved in our conversation for a few minutes and didn't really pay attention to what was going on in the living room. When I looked up from what I was doing, this is what C had done to Olivia:



It reminded me of a story some friends of our recently told us about their 2 year-old daughter, MT. Her uncle (don't get any ideas, B) taught her as soon as she could talk that when leaving a place or person, she should make a peace sign and say "Holla." At first I was horrified, but I have to admit that when we walked out of Old Mexico that night and a 3-foot tall toddler said "Holla!" it was the most hilariously adorable thing I'd seen until my little gangster wore this hat.

They're Like Peas and Carrots

C works late on Tuesdays. It's a deal that we made here so that one night a week, he stays as late as he cares to in order to get things done that pile up during the day. The idea is that his one late night means he doesn't wind up staying as late the other nights during the week and/or doesn't have to go into the office on the weekends. So far, it works for our family.

Anyway, the point being that Olivia and I fly solo on Tuesdays. We usually wind up going to visit Honey and Pappy on Tuesday evenings and have supper with them. It gives me a little break on a long day and gives Olivia regular interaction with People Who Are Not Her Mother so that she doesn't have a meltdown when we are separated.

It normally takes about 4 nanoseconds for Pappy to swoop up Olivia when we walk in the door. Oh, he'll share her; Honey definitely gets to hold her and play and sing with her. But as soon as he can snatch her up again, Pappy is on the floor playing with Olivia or bathing her or rocking her to sleep. She loves every minute of it.

This Princess Wear Knit Slippers

If I had a nickel for every time someone touched Olivia's feet and then cried out, "Oh, your feet are so cold! You poor darling! Your momma needs to put something on your feet to keep them from getting so cold!" well, I'd have a lot of nickels.

So I wanted to show everyone Olivia's adorable little handmade shoes now that she is big enough to wear them, but I didn't want to take a full body shot because you'd never see them. I kept forgetting to take the photo when C was home to help me and she wasn't already changed into her pajamas, so one morning after we got dressed I decided to try to take the picture myself. Olivia sits and plays by herself, and she loves to bounce, but she doesn't crawl yet or really stand all that much. So I had to hold her up and put the camera down in front of her face to snap a photo of her feet. She got so excited to look into the viewfinder on the camera that she kept kicking and squealing and drooling all over the place. It took four tries to get this picture, but it was important to show the world that I am, indeed, covering my child's feet to keep them warm.

Baby Love, My Baby Love

She starts watching the back door for her Daddy around four o'clock every afternoon. I wish I could capture the look of utter delight and devotion on her face when he walks in the door.

The feeling is mutual.

Saying Goodbye to Buster

I don't think I mentioned it here, but for almost the entire month of October, we were a three dog household. Now for any of you reading this who think, as I used to, that the second and all subsequent dogs make life easier because they will play with and entertain the original dog... you would be wrong. The math is simple, people. More dogs equals more mammals who need food and attention which equals more work. So when a beautiful brown lab showed up at our backdoor the last Monday in September hungry and lonely, I was felt sorry for him and after trying unsuccessfully to run him off decided to feed him for a couple of days while we searched for his owner. Because he would be leaving again. Posters went up all over the neighborhood and we waited patiently for someone to claim him, and while we got a few calls, none of them were Dog #3's family.

In the meantime, I couldn't just call him Dog #3, so I christened him Buster. C became a little skeptical about Buster's temporary status once he got a name, but I've got enough work to do with a baby and had no intention of keeping Buster. Especially not after that sweet, energetic animal dug craters in our backyard and went through a two month supply of Lulu's food in 3 weeks. No siree.

My grandmother came from Louisiana to visit my mom for a few days and while she was in town, she came over for dinner one night.

While she was here, she got to meet Buster, which was fortuitous because she had been looking to get "a big dog" and decided that he was sweet and beautiful. I told her to take him, and she said that if I had him neutered, she would. Well folks, that was on a Wednesday and the following Thursday Buster said goodbye to his manhood.

I let my grandmother know when he was ready for his new home, and she drove over last weekend with my cousin Jeffrey to pick him up. It was so wonderful to spend a few hours visiting -- Jeffrey had only seen Olivia once before when she was brand new, and I loved watching him play with her.

They were able to spend several hours with us, and then it was time to load Buster up in the back of the van and head home. We weren't sure how Buster would do on the trip or even when he made it there, but other than a bit of excitement over his new girlfriends, Maw Maw says that he's doing wonderfully. He even adjusted to a name-change and is happily answering to Buddy now.

Our time together was short and semi-sweet. So thanks for the memories and for aerating our backyard, Buddy. See you at Christmas.

Pooped Out

What you see here is our daughter falling asleep at the dinner table on a Friday night. She only had an hour nap that morning and refused to go down for one during the afternoon. So when we put her in her highchair and sat down to eat, it took approximately 5.5 minutes for her to put her head down and conk out.

Don't worry, I only left her there long enough to take this photo before she was tucked into her crib, snug as a bug.

Olivia's BFF

This is Olivia's best bud, Halle. Like the movie star but with more food in her hair. Her mom is my very good friend, Em. Halle is almost 4 months older than Olivia, but as you can see they are already about the same size. Em and her husband are not tall people and well... we are. I used to joke with Em before the girls were born that one day Halle would ask how old she was when Olivia passed her up in size because she would never remember a time of being taller than Olivia. It didn't take long, I think that Olivia passed Halle up in diapers and clothes at 4 months.

What she lacks in size Halle more than makes up for with spunk. That little girl is one happy, busy, rambunctious, opinionated Mover and Shaker. Make no mistake about it, Halle is a born leader, and Olivia already watches everything she does. I look forward to watching these two grow and learn together.

Directory Assistance

I don't think it is any secret that, since becoming a mother, my memory isn't what it once was. I'm among friends here, so I can admit it. Plus, it's not like I'm telling you something you don't already know. I mention this fact because I got a text message from a 937 area code number I didn't recognize a few weeks ago. It was from a guy who identified himself as Nathan (no last name) who said something to the effect that he'd gotten a new number and was trying to get back in touch with me. I couldn't think of a single Nathan that I knew except a guy in college that I wasn't really friends with, but because of the aforementioned memory issue, I figured I had better make sure. So I asked C if I knew a Nathan; he reported that to the best of his knowledge I did not. So I didn't really think any more about it until I got a phone call while I was driving the other day. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Hello?

Strange Man on Phone (SMOP): Hey, what's up?

Me: Uh, who is this?

SMOP: You don't know?

Me: I don't think so.

SMOP: I'll give you two guesses.

Me: [At this point, I think it may be a guy I know who lives in Indiana but rarely speak to, so I say:] Andy?

SMOP: [Ignores.] I'll give you two guesses and two hints.... I don't live in the country anymooooore. [Pause.] Aaaaaaaaaaaand I'm in the Army.

Me: I have no idea who you are.

SMOP: Come on, it's Nathan!!

Me: I think you sent me a text message a while back. I don't KNOW a Nathan. Nathan who??

SMOP: [extreme exasperation] BEASLEY! Nathan BEASLEY!!

Me: [Long pause] Dude, you have the wrong number.

SMOP: [Crickets.] Oh. [Click.]

What is She Doing?

But more importantly, why?

Daddy's Helper

Recently we were getting some grocery shopping done and it was a rainy day. Naturally, we needed an umbrella, and we have several of the large-enough-for-a-small-army variety. Olivia is at an age where sometimes she likes to ride in the seat for kids in the cart, and other times, she would prefer to lay in the baby-carrier. This particular day was a baby-carrier day, although you can see from the way she's sitting up that she's too big to do this anymore. Anyway, we got a kick out of how helpful she wanted to be.

(C is holding the umbrella up, his hand is just out of the shot.)

Hanging with Big Maw Maw

To say that Pappy's Mom, Big Maw Maw, loves babies would seem like the understatement of the year. She is notorious in recent years for her almost obsession with babies. Pinching cheeks, making faces, baby talk, she does it all. So it is safe to say that she loves Olivia and thinks the world of her. Here she is on the floor talking to Olivia in her bouncer at our house.

Doing Laundry

Most days, I really wish that I had another set of hands. I know I'm not the first mother to ever say that, but boy oh boy would they come in handy. In lieu of extra hands, I've gotten creative at times:

Thankfully, Olivia doesn't seem to mind.

Eating her Veggies

After Olivia started eating solid foods, C started suggesting that I look into making her food myself at home. I have to admit that my first thought was to suggest that maybe HE could make Olivia's food during HIS spare time, because I haven't had much in the way of spare time in the last seven months. He didn't really push the issue, however, and we tried the Gerber stuff.

But on a lark, I found and purchased a "Cooking for Baby" book at Target a couple of weeks ago to at least see what I would be getting myself into. It turns out that making Olivia's food isn't that hard, I can offer her a better variety than we have found in the jars at the store, and I know that it's fresh. Best of all, it is SO much cheaper. I can't believe how much less it costs to make her food instead of buying the Gerber stuff, which can be about a dollar per container.

And really, depending on what you're making, it's not hard. You just have to work on it during nap time or while someone else is around to keep an eye on the baby. I've made big batches of sweet potatoes, apples, and bananas so far, and then I freeze them in ice cube trays and store them in large ziploc bags. Then I just pull out 2 cubes to thaw when it's time to eat!

The only thing that we've fed Olivia so far that she didn't like was green peas. She adores sweet potatoes, and with everything else, after adjusting to the new taste in the first few bites, she is happy to eat whatever we feed her. But green peas? No thank you. There's gagging and coughing and spewing and flailing. Mom said that she had a hard time getting me to eat anything green as a baby, so I thought it might be a lost cause. The cookbook suggests zucchini, though, and you don't find that in baby jars, so I decided to give it a try before I wrote off green veggies.

Well, I think we have a new favorite vegetable in zucchini. She was so excited about eating it today that she was straining to reach the spoon if I didn't move quickly enough. Of course, when we pulled out the camera she was too busy watching it to really focus on her eating, but you get the idea.

More Beach Pictures

Aunt B and Cousin A

I'm ready for my close up!

Naptime

Peek a boo, I see you!

Uncle P with the little monkeys

Cheesin' it up for the camera

Cuttin' up with his Daddy

Trouble.

Papa's Birthday

We went to visit Papa for his birthday in August (I know, I've got a backlog of blog material. I'm working on it) and also helped Ollie's Army raise money to help cure CF (we ate hotdogs and rode with Papa while he worked on his poker hand). It was a good time!

Gran snatched Olivia up the second we arrived and they had a good time hanging out and meeting people. They also tested the waters in the lake with their toes, and Olivia wasn't too keen on the cold water. She got over that in Navarre, but we were a bit worried after this first aquatic encounter.

C and I took the opportunity to go for a nice walk Sunday morning sans baby. We enjoyed the fresh air and adult conversation (well, I did anyway. I listen to a lot of babble during my days) while Olivia spent some quality time with Gran and Papa. Gran got Olivia a cool activity mat to play on at their house, and she had a lot of fun investigating her new toy.

And, for his birthday, Papa got a webcam from Olivia so they can Skype! We've tested it out once to make sure it works properly, but I think that this weekend might be a good time to break it in and have a nice chat!

C and I also brought Olivia to visit one of her great-grandmothers while we were in the area. Grannie enjoyed the visit and Olivia had a great time playing in Grannie's lap while we all talked. Cousin Chase was also at Grannie's so Olivia got to meet him for the first time, too.

At the Beach, at the Beach...

No, not THAT beach!

Olivia and I just recently took our first trip to the beach. Navarre Beach.Well, that's not exactly true, but that last time she was there, I didn't even know that she existed yet. Anyway, we went to Navarre Beach and had a blast!

Chad came with us for both weekends but went back home to work during the week (a couple of days in the sand and sun is enough for him) and while he was away, we enjoyed a lot of other visitors.

Olivia's cousin A, Aunt B and Uncle P got to spend some precious time with us. We don't get to see them often because of how far away they live, so we were super-excited to have several days to just play and be together.

I think it is safe to say that Olivia is completely over-the-moon for her little cousin who is 4 months older than she is. When she wasn't trying to do exactly what he did or play with the same exact toy, Olivia was usually gazing in his direction with all the love a 6-month baby can muster.

That's right, Thing 1 and Thing 2.

You would not believe how hard it was to get two babies, one of whom is not even mobile yet, to be still and look in the same direction for a photo.

Olivia also got to hang out with both sets of her grandparents at the beach. Gran and Papa came down the first weekend we were there, and we all enjoyed beautiful weather.

Sadly, this is the only photographic evidence that I have that Gran and Papa were at the beach. I didn't really get into the picture-taking groove for a couple of days. I'm betting that Gran and Papa aren't too upset that I don't have them plastered on the internet in their swimsuits, though.

Honey and Pappy came at the end of the week. It was Honey's birthday while she was there, so we made a cake and sang to her as well. We also made handprints and footprints to give her for her Christmas tree, but I used the wrong homemade play dough recipe and they melted in the oven. Whoops. (We're working on a re-do.)

Honestly, the pool at the condo was a much bigger hit with the babies than the beach was. It turns out that sand isn't all that fun when you put everything that you touch in your mouth. Olivia also found the waves (which were fairly big the entire week) a bit frightening.

Maybe I'm partial, but is this not the cutest baby you've ever seen?

We had these floats for the babies to play in the pool. Gran found one for Olivia, and Aunt B already happened to have the same thing for A. They both loved floating in the nice, calm and clear water of the pool and splashing around with their toys. (Olivia wore a hat all week so we didn't have to rub sunscreen in her hair.)