just passing time

It's the middle of the winter and we are just passing time until Spring arrives. It has been a pretty decent winter actually. We have had a few heavy snow falls which has made for some fun time outdoors. Those of you with little ones know that it takes longer to get them ready to play outside than the actual time you spend playing in the snow. But it is all worth it when you see how much fun they have. Olivia is no exception. Every time there is enough snow we venture out to do some sledding, make snow angels and just burn off some energy!

We have a pretty decent hill in our backyard which makes for some fun sledding. Olivia has a choice. She can either go down the hill in her sled, or she can slide down in her saucer. Both methods have proven to be equally as fun for her. That is apparent in the continuous squeals, each time she flies down the hill.

This particular snow fall did not produce good packing snow, so making a snowman was out of the question. We opted to make snow angels instead. She is still catching on to how to make a perfect snow angel, but they are getting better!

Playing in the snow is by far one of our favorite winter activities and the perfect way to wear her out! I can always expect a good, solid nap from her after an hour of running around outside. Gotta love that! I am so grateful that my girl is still taking good afternoon naps. I can usually get anywhere from 2-3 hours out of her on the weekends, which allows me to get a ton of stuff done around the house. I count myself as lucky considering many of my friends that have kids Olivia's age are no longer napping. I will mourn the day her naps end for good. For now I will continue to enjoy the breaks!

In other news, Olivia is doing great in school. She is just thriving and learning so much. She impresses us constantly with the new things she learns. Recently they have been studying the continents in class. They learn a song that helps them to remember all seven and then they spend time learning about each one. The song is one of Olivia's favorite and they also performed it during their holiday program. For awhile it was about all she would sing around the house. She loved to perform it for us so it was not hard catching it on tape. Here she is singing the Continent Song with her North America puzzle.

After they learned the names of the continents each child had to pin-punch each continent out of construction paper and lay them out to create a map. Pin-punching teaches fine-motor skills as well as patience. It takes a long time to punch out all of the continents, and I know she worked very hard on it over the course of a few weeks. A couple of weeks ago Olivia came home with her completed continent map. She was bursting with excitement to show it to us and beaming with pride, knowing that it was something she created all by herself.

As a reward for her hard work we took her to Build-A-Bear so she could pick out a little something for her bear. We made a big deal out of it and made sure she knew that we were proud of her. Little did I know that would come back to bite me in the butt. The following Monday morning, as we were getting ready for school, she looked at me and said, "Mommy, I am going to work really hard at school today!" I said, "Oh yeah, well that's good." She continued by saying, "Yes, and after I work hard at school you can take me back to Build-A-Bear!". What a stinker! I thought we were doing the right thing by showing her how proud we were of her. I was not expecting her to believe that every time she did something good she would get a big reward. I explained to her that going to Build-A-Bear was reserved for very special occasions and every other time she worked hard I would tell her I was proud by giving her a big, huge hug. It must have worked because I have not heard anything else about going to Build-A-Bear since then. Whooo...dodged that one!

Olivia is definitely mature for her age, as you can tell by the way she rationalizes things. She seems beyond her years in many ways. Lately we have been giving a little more responsibility around the house. She has always been responsible for cleaning up her toys, but her responsibilities have recently increased. She now helps me load the washing machine and move the clothes into the dryer. She also sets the table for dinner every night. As she gets older her list of chores will grow, but for now she is a great little helper!

On the flip side, we have been experiencing more of her nasty side. It usually comes out when things do not go her way. Depending on which one of us is on the receiving end of her nastiness she will usually take it out on us. Lately if she is angry with one of us she will say, "I am not going to be your friend anymore!". I do not know where she is learning to say those things. I know that we have never taught her to speak that way. It seems to me that she throws around hurtful words to help make herself feel better when she is frustrated. We are working on channeling our anger and frustration in the proper ways, but it is a work in progress. You would never know she could be nasty by looking at that sweet face!

She continues to be a busy bee. We have a ton of toys and activities to pass the time during the cold winter months, but Olivia has been more interested in playing make-believe lately. She has a basket of dress-up clothes, which she loves. She will throw on one of her outfits and make up a whole scenario. I love watching her little creative mind go to work. Her make-believe scenarios usually involve some of her favorite characters including, Dora, Corduroy the Bear, and various others she considers friends. We always try to do craft projects with her to pass some time and although she enjoys doing crafts, she is not the most artistically gifted child. Her coloring and drawing skills are not very strong, and I believe that it because she is just not very interested in it. I watch her when she colors and she just rushes through it. I was a bit concerned at first but I have come to discover that this is simply an area that does not interest Olivia a great deal. That may change down the road but for now there are not many drawings being displayed on our refrigerator!

We are now looking forward to Valentine's Day. Olivia is very excited about this holiday. She has been busy making cards for her family and figuring out how many valentines she needs for all of the kids in her class. We will continue to stay busy until this cold weather passes so we can welcome Spring with open arms. Then again, staying busy with Olivia is not a hard task to accomplish.

holiday wrap-up

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. Very fun...but very busy! It felt like we flew from one activity to the next. The one nice thing was that Olivia had a two week break from all of her activities. No school, no tap class, no swimming. She was able to spend a little extra time with her babysitter, my mom and myself, and just have some fun.

Our Christmas festivities started on Christmas Eve. A tradition of ours is to open one present the night before. We had something special for Olivia that she had to open on Christmas Eve. If you follow my blog you know that Olivia got her first Build-A-Bear for her Birthday. I thought that her bear needed to have a Christmas outfit. She was thrilled when she saw the Santa suit and could not change her bear's clothes fast enough. We dressed up her bear and she took her along to church and the Wilhelm's annual Christmas Eve party.

Olivia really enjoyed the children's service at our church this year. She rang the bells with gusto as we sang some Christmas songs, and actually managed to sit quietly through the brief service. It was a fun way to kick off our Christmas Eve. Next we headed to the Wilhelm's for their annual night before Christmas party. Olivia spent the night running around with the kids while snagging cookies off of the desert table. We made sure we put her in her Christmas jammies before heading home, since we knew we would get home late. When we got home Olivia put out her cookies and milk for Santa, as well as carrots for the reindeer. She went to bed without a fight, knowing that the sooner she went to sleep the sooner Santa would arrive.

I am grateful to have a child that does not wake up at the crack of dawn to see if Santa has brought presents. We all slept in and slowly made our way downstairs. Olivia was thrilled to see that Santa and the reindeer had eaten her treats, and left presents under her tree. She quickly ripped through her gifts and was pleased that he had brought her exactly what she asked for. She had four simple things on her list...Hungry Hippo, Elefun, a stuffed kitty cat, and Elmo place mats. It was pretty easy for Santa to take care of her list!

After some breakfast we headed over to my Mom's for our second Christmas of the day. There are no words to describe the abundance of presents that there were to open. Olivia received some wonderful presents from my Mom. One of her favorites was a wooden pizza set. The pieces are stuck together with velcro and split apart with a pizza cutter. There are various toppings so you can customize your own pizza. Olivia has told us in the past that one of the things she want to be when she grow up is a "pizza cooker", so this present was right up her alley. She was also pretty excited about her jelly bean machine! After all of the presents were open we were left with a hurricane of wrapping paper and ribbons. It is a tradition that we take all of the bow and decorate Todd. Isn't he cute? Everyone received some great gifts and we all had a great time!

After my Mom's annual Christmas brunch we packed up and headed to Todd's parents' house for our 3rd and final Christmas of the day. Now picture 8 grand kids all opening presents at the same time! And I thought we had a lot of wrapping paper at my Mom's! Once again Olivia received some great gifts. Her favorite was a chef's outfit. It came with an apron (embroidered with her name), a hat, oven mitt and a few other accessories. She immediately requested to put it on and spent most of the evening walking around pretending she was a chef. So as you can imagine one of her favorite things to do right now is put on her chef's outfit and play with her pizza toy. She is now officially a "pizza cooker".

It was a long day, so we were ready to head back to our house to relax. Olivia was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. She spent the whole weekend after Christmas playing with all of her new, fun toys and games. Believe it or not the day after Christmas she started listing what she plans on putting on her list for next year. Always planning ahead! The week between Christmas and New Year's was pretty uneventful. My Mom spent one of the days with Olivia and took her for a visit to the "Christmas house". This is a house belonging to one of my Mom's friends that displays more Christmas decorations than you could possibly imagine. Olivia went last year but did not express much interest. This year was a different story. She had a great time! She wanted to see how everything worked and spent most the time pressing buttons on the things that made noise. This is now another one of Olivia's yearly Christmas traditions.

New Year's is usually a low key event for us. We typically go to a friend's house and play cards, waiting for the clock to strike 12. This year Todd and I won a New Year's Eve package at the Downtown Hilton. My Mom was kind enough to babysit so we could enjoy a night to ourselves. The package included dinner, the party and a night at the hotel. It gave us a reason to get dressed up and enjoy some time alone. It was a nice evening and a great way to ring in the New Year! 2009 was a rough year for us. We are glad to see it go, with the hopes that 2010 brings much better things our way!

Now that the holidays are over it is time to get back to reality and our regular routine. I am excited about what this year may bring. I have no doubt it will be another fun-filled year with Olivia. She continues to delight us with her bubbly personality, quit whit, amazing brightness and beautiful smile each and every day, and I plan to keep you updated on a regular basis. Happy New Year everyone!

all things Christmas

Just like the songs says..."It's the most wonderful time of the year!" It is even more wonderful with a three year old, to remind you just how special Christmas is. We have been in full holiday mode for a good month now and with Christmas later this week the count down officially begins for Olivia. We have done a lot of fun things leading up to this week. It all started with decorating our house for Christmas. I enjoy this part too. Since I only see the decorations once each year I always forget how much fun stuff we have to decorate the house with, and since Olivia came around we have collected even more fun stuff. Really it all just gives Todd and I reasons to act like kids this time of year. We have our big family tree that we put up, but Olivia has her own little tree that she decorates as well. We bought her tiny little ornaments and she really enjoys filling it up.

The next stop on our Christmas agenda was taking her downtown to see the big Santa light display. It is definitely a Fort Wayne Christmas highlight for families. There is a long history with this light display (which I do not know), and each year they have a big lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving weekend. It is always fun to take a trip downtown, and stand outside for a few minutes and look up at this bright piece of holiday cheer!

Another annual tradition for us is taking Olivia to see the live reindeer at the Botanical Gardens. We were not expecting to see Santa that day, but he was there. Olivia was not expecting to see him either and she was a little caught off guard. She has been super thrilled to visit Santa this year. She has been planning her visit by making pictures for Santa and practicing her list that she plans on sharing with him. This is the first year that she has been excited about seeing him. (I will reminisce about our past Santa visits a little later.) Well when she saw him that day she turned around and walked the other way. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I think I will sit on Santa's lap next year." I immediately thought that we were in for a repeat performance of last year. We took some time to see the reindeer and the rest of the gardens, to get her mind off of Santa for awhile, with the hope that she would change her mind.

On our way out we talked about how Santa really needs to hear what she would like for Christmas. She saw some other kids sitting on his lap and decided that she could give it a try. When we got up there she hopped up on his lap with no problem at all. I think that once the initial shock of seeing Santa for the first time this year wore off she realized that it wasn't so bad! What I was most surprised about was the question she asked me when I told her that Santa was there that day. She said, "Mommy...is this the real Santa or a pretend Santa?" Are you kidding me? How in the world would she know to ask that question? That is a question we should not have to deal with for quite a few years. I told her that he is the real Santa and that he makes appearances at many different places before Christmas. I need a few more years before I have to start explaining things.

There have been lots of fun things going on at Olivia's school lately too. For the past month the kids have been working on the songs for their Holiday Program. Last Tuesday was the big performance and I was so excited to see her in her very first school program. That morning the kids had a rehearsal and I was informed by Olivia's teacher that it was necessary that I be sitting in the front row at the program. She said that Olivia stood in the front row at the rehearsal, sang her little heart out and did all of the hand motions. That news only made me more excited to see her perform.

That night we did manage to get front row seats and I am so glad that we did. There she was, right in the front in her adorable little Christmas outfit. She not only sang all of the songs, but she did it with a smile on her face. She saw us from the stage, which made her smile even more. The school did a great job with the program. They had children on stage ranging in ages from 18 months to 8 years old. I was impressed by how well they all did. Of course there were some kids that froze on stage and did not sing a word, and others that did silly things to make us all laugh. Overall it was a very entertaining program and I was a very proud Mom watching her baby on the big stage.

To wrap up all of the holiday fun and to celebrate the last day of school before break, the kids all wore their pajamas and were treated with a party! I played along and wore my pajamas when I went to help with the party that morning. The kids had craft stations, food stations and a man visiting with animals. It was a nice break from all of the structure, and a time for the kids to just have fun with one another. For lunch they all made their own little english muffin pizzas. She had a lot of fun with her little friends. I am sure she will miss everyone over the break, but it will also be nice for her to have a little time off.

Last week was also our official visit to see Santa. The first visit was not planned. This time we got her all dressed up in her Christmas dress and ventured out to Jefferson Pointe to visit Santa's Cottage. This is the only place we have taken her to get her picture with Santa and we love it. They take a lot of time with you and the Santa is always very nice! This year was problem free and quite pleasant for Olivia. She told Santa everything she wanted and gave him a nice big hug. The picture could not have turned out any better. I have a feeling Santa will bring Olivia everything she asked for this year.

This was actually Olivia's fourth visit to see Santa. She was a month and a half old the first year, so naturally she slept through it all. The next she was just plain terrified. I think that is easy to see from the picture. But how classic, right? Last year took some work. After about 20 minutes of Santa talking to Olivia we managed to get her to sit on his lap and crack a smile. She was not thrilled about it, but she did it. And finally, this year her fear for Santa disappeared and turned into pure love. Now I just need to make sure that she continues to believe as long as possible!

Our last big holiday activity before Christmas was to take Olivia and her BFF Laurel downtown for a carriage ride. We got some snow this past weekend so it made for a very pretty ride. It was cold but it was fun to ride through downtown and see all of the lights and decorations. Afterwards we took the girls for pizza. They had a blast!

I just love all of the fun this time of year brings. To me there is nothing better than watching the joy in Olivia's eyes as she sees Christmas lights, hears Christmas carols, and see presents sitting under the tree. I have always loved Christmas, but I have learned to love it in a whole new way since she came into our lives. Todd and I have a lot to be grateful for as we spend time with family and friends this time of year. We hope that you all have a wonderful holiday with your families and are able to enjoy the small joys the season brings! Merry Christmas!

turkey and tap dancing

We are in the full holiday spirit around here. The lights are up, the tree is trimmed and Olivia is excitedly counting down the days until Santa arrives. We are in the middle of all of our Christmas shopping and trying to get ready for the holidays. We have yet to do all of the fun annual Christmas things that we do around town, but that is going to change this week. Olivia will be going to see Santa soon and we will pack as much in before Christmas as possible. But first I need to bring you up to speed on a few other things have been going on.

First, was Thanksgiving. We had a relaxing, fun, big Thanksgiving, with lots of friends and family. We started the day by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. We thought Olivia would enjoy it. She not only enjoyed it, she LOVED it! She could not get enough of all of the floats and musical performances. In fact, my Mom taped it for her so she would not miss a second. We have watched it numerous times since Thanksgiving too. I think we started a new Thanksgiving tradition. Next, we went over to Todd's parents to spend some time with them. They did not have a structured dinner time but they did have all of the traditional Thanksgiving food, so we had a preview lunch of what was to come later that night. We spent the rest of the day at my Mom's. It was such a nice, relaxing afternoon. I even found a way to sneak in a little nap while Olivia was taking hers. Don't get to do that very often!

We ate a late dinner, but it was well worth the wait. Olivia enjoyed her dinner on her pilgrim placemat that she made at school. It was still a struggle to get her to eat, but the rest of us enjoyed it for her. Meals are a struggle with Olivia these days. She is going through the typical "picky eater" stage, like most toddlers. If it was up to her she would eat five things, and five things only...peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, hotdogs, pizza and spaghetti. The battle occurs when I will not let her only eat those things. I require that she tries all different foods, with the hope that she may actually like them. I am also not a short order cook, so she eats what we eat. The positive side is that the child loves fruits and veggies, so I never have a problem there. She would much rather bypass dinner altogether and hold out for dessert. Dessert is always worth waiting for, but only after some actual dinner has been consumed. It is an ongoing battle, but one I have learned to not let stress me out.

So Thanksgiving was great. It was nice spending it with so much family and some good family friends as well. I know that this holiday can be stressful for so many people, but it always seems to be a very relaxing day for us. I am grateful for that. Aside from Turkey Day, Olivia has been a busy bee. School has been more fun than usual, with all of the holidays things going on. Olivia's first holiday program is coming up next week. She will be singing some songs with her class, and I am just dying to see their performance. Speaking of performances, Olivia is working hard in her tap class this year, learning their new dance. The first parent visitation of the year was last month. It is such fun watching her tap her little toes. I am afraid that we do not get the full effect of her tapping ability when the room is full of parents, but at least we get to see what they are working on.

I am in love with their dance this year. The group of little ones will be dancing to "ABC" by the Jackson 5. I love it! Obviously they need to do a lot of practicing before recital time next June, but I was impressed by how well a group of 3-6 year olds listen. This is Olivia's second year of tap and she really likes it. You would assume that her tap dancing skills would improve the second time around, but so far I think she may be backtracking a bit. Now I know she is only three but I was particularly surprised by the quality of her "kick-steps". I know, funny right? But check this out. The first video is of Olivia rocking her kick-steps last year, the second one is what they look like now. Now before you judge me as one of those "pageant moms", who pushes their daughter to do something they hate, know that I am totally joking. I just think it is funny how her "technique" has changed since last year!

Most importantly, she loves going to her tap class. I could care less how well she does, just as long as she enjoys herself. Each week she rushes into her class, excited to see her friends and her teacher. It is a great activity, that helps with her motor skills as well as her social skills. And who knows, her kick-steps may improve by recital time next year!

Well we have had some good news fall upon our family this week. Todd is no longer laid off. He started a new job this week! After a very difficult year we are relieved that things are finally back on track for Todd. Since he was laid off the first time in February he searched non-stop for a new position. He took a job in August to only be laid off again three months later. After just over one month he was offered another position and he is happy to be back at work. Hopefully this job will offer him the job security he has been searching for. It has been a stressful year for all of us, but we are so grateful that this nice little Christmas wish was granted, just in time for the holidays! So be sure to wish Todd luck in his new job. He is excited about it and happy to no longer collect unemployment.

We are excited for Christmas to arrive, but we also want to slow down and enjoy everything this time of year has to offer. With Thanksgiving just behind us, I have been doing a lot of thinking about all of the things I am grateful for. The list is too long to discuss, but I think it is clear that I am most thankful that I have a healthy, happy family. There really is not much else you need in life! I love this time of year so I am going to be sure to slow down and enjoy every second of it.

picnics, parades and pumpkins

So it's November and I realized that I never blogged about Halloween or our other fun fall activities. Our weather in October was not very fall-like. It felt more like November. Luckily we were able to get outdoors a few times and enjoy this great time of year.

Of course with the start of fall comes yummy apples! Olivia loves apples and there are so many great kinds to choose from. Give her a big ole apple and she is a happy girl. I bought a ton of them for her and she is still chomping away!

In October we also attended the annual Three Rivers Montessori School fall picnic. This year the picnic had a Halloween theme. The food, decorations and activities all centered around the holiday. Each year the kids have a bike parade. They decorate their bikes and ride them around the parking lot while we all watch. Olivia usually slaps on as many decorations as she possible can on her bike, making it nearly impossible to ride. Once again, she really decked out her bike with Halloween stickers, streamers and balloons. They have a police escort, thanks to one of the dad's from the school. The kids love it!

The other picnic activity was a "trunk-or-treat". I had never heard of such a thing before. But instead of trick or treating door-to-door, people decorate their cars, open up their trunks and serve candy to the kids as they come around. The school was looking for parents willing to decorate their cars, and after a great suggestion from a friend I decided to volunteer. I have a black Volkswagen beetle, so you can probably guess what I choose to do. Yep...a lady bug (in reverse). It was a huge hit and I got a ton of complements from both the kids and the parents. Unfortunately I did not have Olivia's Halloween costume completed in time for the picnic, so she was one of very few children not in costume. I felt terrible, but I don't think she even noticed. Olivia had a great time and we enjoyed passing out candy to all of her little friends. It was another great event at the school.

With Halloween approaching we took Olivia on her annual trip to the local pumpkin patch. Last year was her first year picking out her own pumpkins and she had a blast. We went back again this year to choose some more. They have pumpkins of all sizes and Olivia likes picking out small pumpkins called, "spookies". They are just her size and easy for her to carry.

She picked out quite a few. It was hard for her to decide which ones she liked the best, so we just got them all! It was at this point that Olivia really started to get excited about Halloween. Each day she would say, "tomorrow is Halloween!" She would hardly contain her excitement for the big day.

Prior to Halloween we took her to the annual trick-or-treating event at our zoo. It is a great event they put on each year for the kids. They get to tour the zoo while passing candy stations. The zoo is decorated with hundreds of pumpkins and pumpkin displays. They do some pretty creative things with the pumpkins too. They make them look like animals and characters from kids movies. I was quite impressed by all of the hard work people put into this event, to make it extra fun for the kids.

Finally, Halloween arrived. This year I was adventurous and I attempted to make Olivia's costume. I am not a very crafty person, but I saw the idea in a magazine and thought I would easily be able to pull it off. It was not nearly as easy as I thought it would be, of course, but with a little bit of help from my Mom we got it figured out. So here she is...our little red crayon!

It was definitely a comfortable costume for her to wear. I was surprised by how many complements I received on it too. I thought it was cute, but nothing special. I guess it was a pretty unique idea, since we did not pass any other crayons on Halloween night. I think Olivia could have been naked and not cared, as long as she was still able to collect her candy. And that she did! We started by visiting some family, to show off her cuteness. We then came back to our house and spent time trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. She had a blast running from house to house.

You should have seen the bucket of candy she ended up with. She got tired quickly, so we headed out to see our friends, Korrie, Tom and their boys. Each year we end Halloween at their house, with some yummy chili. The kids get to go through their candy and we get to warm up with some nice comfort food. It was a great Halloween and Olivia is already excited about next year. Luckily we have Christmas coming up to distract her.

Finally, last month we had our annual family photos taken. Each year we have Olivia's pictures done right around her birthday. Last year we had just moved into our new house and we got some great shots of all of us in our new neighborhood. This year I found a new photographer, G.E.M. Photography, and we had an amazing photo shoot all around Fort Wayne. She was so good with Olivia and was able to bring out her bubbly little personality in all of the shots. There are so many great photos from our shoot it is hard to pick a few to share, but here are a few of my favorites.

You can view the photographer's blog entry, and more of the photos here. Now the hard part comes...trying to decide which ones to display on our wall. I have already chosen some for our Christmas cards, so that is one big decision out of the way. We have been very lucky each year to have such amazing photos of Olivia to look back on. She is definitely one photogenic child!

Today is Thanksgiving. I am looking forward to spending the day with family and thinking of all of the things I am thankful for. I often get wrapped up in all of life's little problems, and I should stop and remember just how blessed I am. I hope that everyone reading this has a very Happy Thanksgiving with their families as well.

a sweet celebration

Last week our sweet Olivia turned 3...yes, 3! I can't believe it and I don't want to believe that my little girl is growing up, but it is happening so I better get on board. Don't get me wrong, she is fantastic, but I would give anything to just stop time right where it is for a few years and enjoy this stage a little while longer. Aside from a few monstrous moments from time to time, Olivia is the sweetest, most loving, bright, full of life child on the planet. I know I am a little biased but I am allowed to be since I am her mother, right? Well, since I can't stop time I am just going to enjoy every second of her younger years before she decides that spending time with her mother is the most uncool thing on the planet.

Last week her birthday celebration spanned several days. She actually turned 3 on November 4th, but the big celebration took place on Saturday. I just love making a huge fuss over her on her special day, and I don't think she minds. The day of her birthday started with a special birthday breakfast...apples and a breakfast bar with a candle in the middle. Exciting I know, but this is Olivia's standard breakfast most mornings. I think I could have stuck a candle in the middle of anything and she would have been happy. All she wanted was to hear us sing "Happy Birthday" to her before blowing out that candle, and she blew it out like a champ...no help! We packed up her school things and the mini-muffins she was bringing as her birthday snack and headed off to school. She had a huge smile on her face the entire morning and was just itching to get to school so people could continue to make a fuss over her.

Later that morning, Todd, my Mom and myself visited Olivia's school to share in the special birthday celebration. Each child takes part in a special ceremony on their birthday, called the "walk around the sun". This involves the child walking around a small table that has a candle on it...once for each year of their life, while holding a globe. During each lap around the table something special about that child is shared. I wrote four special quotes that could be shared, one for when she was born and her 1st, 2nd and now 3rd year of life. After Olivia "walked around the sun" three times we all sang "Happy Birthday" and she blew out the candle. It was a cute little ceremony and she was beaming with pride the entire time. I must admit it brought a slight tear to my eye. I was proud of her for all that she has accomplished in her three short years of life.

After the ceremony there were a few minutes before she would be dismissed so we got to go with her onto the playground. The second she got outside she immediately ran for her BFF, Laurel. It was a cool day but there were tons of leaves on the ground and the kids were just having a blast running through them. It was fun just seeing Olivia in her element. Next it was off to the baby sitter's for the rest of the day but the birthday celebration would continue that night.

Olivia's birthday present from us was a surprise trip to Build-A-Bear. I thought she was old enough to appreciate the joy of making your very own teddy bear. I think she was in teddy bear heaven, once we stepped into the store. The first of many choices was deciding what style of bear she wanted. I was pleased that she picked a type of bear that she does not already have. Next it was time to stuff the bear. The people that work there are very friendly and helpful and did a great job of making Olivia feel special on her birthday. On top of that it was a Wednesday night, and the mall was dead, so we had the place to ourselves.

After her bear was stuffed and sealed with a kiss it was on to the grooming stations. She really enjoyed fluffing and combing his fur. I could tell that she formed an immediate connection with her bear and they were going to be lifelong pals. Olivia's one true love is her stuffed animals, or "stuffies", as we call them. She takes after me in that way. I wanted nothing more than to be surrounded by tons of stuffed animals, especially when I slept. The final step in the bear making process was to pick out an outfit.

She changed her mind multiple times before settling on a cute little ballerina outfit. I can't say that I was surprised considering she loves to dance. What does surprise me is how many outfits there are to choose from and how quickly one can empty their wallet with all of the accessories that are available. When it was all said and done she had created her bear and aptly name it "Ballerina Bear". It was a fun birthday activity and one that I think may become a tradition each year.

The last stop on the birthday train was to my Mom's for presents and a special birthday dinner. Olivia was thrilled to open her presents. She got a ton of beautiful clothes from my Mom and a few special things from us, including an Olivia book, a hand puppet kit and the one thing she wanted more than anything else...Bendaroos! Needless to say, she was thrilled and relieved that we were able to find them for her.

After a yummy birthday dinner of spaghetti it was finally time for cake. She sat on pins and needles while we sang to her one last time, anxiously waiting to blow out those candles. With a little help she blew all three out on the first try. I sure hope she made a special birthday wish. There was only pure joy on her face as she devoured that cake. It is the simple things that bring her such joy. For me, watching Olivia enjoy every moment of her special day brings me all the joy I need. When the day was over I tucked my three year old girl in bed, kissed her and told her how much I loved her. I walked out of her room wondering how she made it to three in a blink of an eye.

Olivia's birthday week came to an exciting climax that weekend with her birthday party. Many of you know the party had an "Olivia" theme. For those of you who do not know what I am talking about click here to learn all about Olivia the Pig. It is a series of books based on an adorable little pig who seems to have the exact same personality as our Olivia. Once she was old enough to notice she quickly caught on to the fact that she shared the name of this cute little character. There is even an "Olivia" TV program on Nick Jr. My challenge was finding a way to decorate for the party since they do not make "Olivia the Pig" birthday decorations. So I got a little creative. First, I called on a friend of mine...one of the Mom's from Olivia's school, who makes adorable dresses. She found some super cute "Olivia" fabric and came up with this great little dress for to wear at her party. She was so excited to wear it!

And then there was the cake? What to do? I so desperately wanted a cake in the shape of "Olivia the Pig" but I did not know if someone could pull it off. The secretary at Olivia's school is an amazing baker and she specializes in cakes. I told her what I wanted and she said, "no problem!". I was speechless when I picked up the cake on the day of Olivia's party. I had seen some of her work before so I knew she was good, but I never imagined the cake to be this perfect! It was the perfect touch to the "Olivia" party! You should have seen the look on Olivia's face when I showed the cake to her for the first time...priceless!

After our guests arrived and we enjoyed dinner we moved onto presents. Olivia excitedly tore into each present and was beyond thrilled with each gift she received...and she got some nice stuff! After all of the presents were opened and we were left with a hurricane of wrapping paper she stood up and announced to her guests, "Thank you everyone for my presents!". I was so impressed, and so proud of the fact that she is so polite and grateful. A few people even pulled me aside later and told me that she came up to thank them again for the gifts they gave to her.

Next, it was time for cake! Olivia's favorite part of birthdays. As you can imagine Olivia was not at all embarrassed, having everyone standing around her and singing while she waited to blow out her candles. She was ready to dig into that "Olivia" cake! Oh and before I forget we made a special treat for the kids to eat for dinner...pigs in a blanket! Appropriate, right?

When it was all said and done, I had a huge mess but a very happy three year old. It was hard for her to go to bed that night. I am not sure if it was because she was so excited about all of her presents, or because she knew that once she went to sleep her birthday week would officially be over. Regardless I think her party was a huge success and filled with wonderful memories. Olivia is so lucky to have so many generous family and friends in her life. We are lucky that they all took time out of their busy lives to celebrate with us.

I am so excited to see what the three's have in store for us this year. I have a feeling there will be many ups and downs, but never a dull moment! I look at Olivia and I am so proud of the little girl she has become. Well mannered, kind, caring, happy, smart...the list goes on and on. I know I have not been the perfect mother, by any means, but seeing how well rounded she seems to be makes me think I am doing something right.

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. I have not even begun to think about Christmas, nor am I ready to. I just realized that I still have not blogged about Halloween or some of the other fun fall activities we took part in. I will be sure to include all of that in my next post. One final, Happy Birthday, to my sweet Olivia! I can't wait to see how you will amaze us this year.

California Dreamin' - part 2

The second half of our trip was much more low key. We jammed a lot into the first few days and Olivia was showing some signs of exhaustion...like throwing huge tantrums for no reason. When that would happen we knew that she needed a nice long nap in order to recharge and return to her pleasant, happy self.

On the third day of our visit we drove up to UC Berkeley to visit my Cousin Justin, who is a freshman. We spent the day touring the campus and enjoying the gorgeous weather. It was fun to see him and be on a college campus. Although, it made me feel quite old.

The next day we did only things Olivia would enjoy. First, we visited a local pumpkin patch and met up with some little girls my aunt used to tutor. They were so sweet and we thought that Olivia would enjoy picking out pumpkins with them. Olivia was in a mood that day so she did not play with the girls like I thought she would. We still had a good time and Olivia picked out a nice round pumpkin for her Aunt Sue Sue.

The pumpkin patch was huge. I have never seen so many pumpkins in one place before. More than that I have never been to a pumpkin patch that over looks the ocean! See, we are used to picking out our pumpkins in Indiana...corn country. To look up and see the ocean is something I am not used to but I think I could easily adjust!

Later that afternoon we took Olivia to a huge playground. We took her to this playground on our last visit and she had a blast. I think she had just as good of a time the second time around. I just watched as my brave girl climbed from one part of the playground to the other. It was another beautiful California day and I was so glad that we had been able to spend so much time outdoors during our visit. To this point the weather had been perfect!

Even though Olivia loves going out to do things she also just loves being at home. I think she enjoyed the evenings at my aunt's house as much as our trip to the aquarium or the trip to the beach. Olivia became very attached to my aunt's dog, Rusty. Olivia has always loved Rusty but this time was different. She wanted to help take Rusty for walks, put him in his cage when it was time, and even try to get him to play with her. Rusty is an older dog and really has no interest in playing with a two year old, but he did like it when she would lay by him. As much as I would love to get her a dog I am afraid that will have to wait.

Our last day in California was a wash-out. It was chilly and rainy and we had no idea what to do. We searched the Internet to try and find indoor activities for kids, but surprisingly there was not much to choose from. Maybe because it is California and most of what there is to do involved being outdoors! We ended up just going to the mall and out for pizza. That afternoon while Olivia napped my aunt took me out to a couple of local wineries for some tasting. It is nearly impossible to go wine tasting with Olivia so I was afraid that I would not get to do that this time around. We visited two great wineries and enjoyed some very nice wines. It helped to make the trip complete!

That night after dinner my aunt put on a little birthday party for Olivia, since they would not be able to come to her party. She was thrilled! She got her some cupcakes, a few presents and sang to her. Olivia thanked Aunt Sue Sue by telling her that this was the best birthday ever!

She had so much fun tearing into those cupcakes and ripping open her presents. It made me realize just how lucky Olivia is to be surrounded by such a wonderful family. She just loves my Aunt Sue and her Uncle Ron. They are so good to her when we visit and she talks about her time with them often.

The next morning we hopped on a plane back to Fort Wayne. It was a long day traveling home, but Olivia did very well. She was thrilled to see her Daddy...as was I. He missed us very much and I think he was happy to have us back home. It was such a fun trip and we look forward to doing it again next year. Thank you Aunt Sue and Uncle Ron for showing us such a great time. We are so lucky to have you both!

I meant to share this video of Olivia at the beach on my last post, but left it out. Here she is excited about water until a wave knocks her on her behind. Very cute!

Well tomorrow my girl turns 3! Yep...3 years old! Hard to believe. I still have so much to catch up on. We had a wonderful Halloween and we have done some other fun things this fall. This weekend is her birthday party so check back soon to see more of Olivia's recent adventures! Happy Birthday my sweet Olivia!