home sweet home

Check out Olivia's newest toy! She now has her very own play house. We have been wanting to get one for her for awhile...ever since we saw how much she enjoyed playing in one at a friend's house. Surprisingly, Todd and I have been putting off spending the $130 it would cost to buy a new one (can you blame us?). It seemed really hard to spend that kind of money on something that she may tire of very quickly (you never know with Olivia these days). Well a few weekends ago Todd was taking Olivia for a walk and they came across a wonderful, used play house at a neighborhood garage sale. It was quite dirty but was being sold for $25! After seeing Olivia's eyes light up we knew we had to get it. Not to mention, the $25 price tag was very appealing!

My Mom, Todd and I spent about two hours scrubbing this house with bleach from top to bottom. (I cannot explain how dirty it was!). After we were done it looked like new! We were thrilled with our used, bargain play house that would give Olivia just as much pleasure as a brand new, expensive play house. She doesn't know the difference...she's just happy to have one to play with.

She loves going inside and closing the door behind her saying, "bye-bye mommy!". She then peeks her head out of the windows and says, "hi, mommy!" We put a little chair inside for her and she enjoys pretending to wash her hands in the sink. Her attention span with the house usually lasts about 5 minutes so I am even more grateful that we did not end up having to spend a fortune on one. We recently landscaped a corner of our backyard and made it into a little playground for Olivia's toys. Her house fits in the area perfectly and there is even space left for her slide. I think she likes having her own little play area.

So our summer has still been packed with one activity after another. Olivia is handling the busy schedule very well but it sure is wearing her out. She welcomes bedtime with open arms. I am so lucky to have a child that enjoys sleep as much as she does. We are still amazed by her growing vocabulary. She is using so many little phrases and sentences lately. I knew she was going to be an early talker, but I never thought that I would be able to almost fully communicate with my daughter by the time she was 1 1/2 years old.

Her imagination has been growing as well. She likes to do things such as go shopping with her grocery cart, feed her stuffed animals pretend food and give them the chance to use the potty. Since she has been showing interest in using the potty lately we have been doing things to help her become more comfortable with whole idea. She has backed away from using the potty herself lately. She was really into it for a few weeks, but now she prefers to go in her diaper and tell me as soon as she has done the deed. So now instead of Olivia using the potty Elmo has been using the potty. She likes to sit him on the potty seat and do flashcards with him. That is what we do with her when she sits on the potty so I guess it is only fair that Elmo gets the same treatment. How cute is this?

So my Mom just returned from being gone for a full week. Needless to say she was dying to see Olivia and Olivia had missed her Nana terribly! My Mom went to Michigan to visit my Grandma Cleo...or "Keo" as Olivia calls her...and she brought her back to Fort Wayne to spend the holiday weekend with us. My Uncle will join us for the weekend and take grandma back to Michigan after the holiday. Grandma Cleo loves spending time with Olivia. She is just amazed by everything she does. She brought Olivia a gift...her first, very own baby doll. She loves it! I will post pictures after the weekend that show her with the doll. The way she takes care of it is just so sweet!

Hope everyone enjoys the 4th of July weekend!