Olivia Enjoys the End of Summer

Before her birthday, we had a photoshoot with Olivia and a trial birthday cake.  We wanted to get some fun pictures when she wasn't overwhelmed with all the festivities.  (Good thing we did too, because if you remember, she refused to eat any cake!)  Cake photos are courtesy of Nana, who always does a fabulous job!

Distracted by the Decorations

I don't know what that is, but I know it's going to be good.

I haven't even had lunch yet.  Don't tell my mom!

She got so excited about the cake, she stuck her little foot in there and got it all cakey!  No matter, she happily ate foot cake.

We've been trying to take advantage of the Indian Summer going on here.  Olivia loves being outside, and soon enough it will be too cold and/or snowy to spend a lot of time outside so we've been outside a lot.

Kissing Kenya, Nana and Papa's dog.  Olivia loves kissing everyone, especially dogs because they always kiss back!

Enjoying a refreshing beverage on a hot day.

Picnic in the park.

Hiking with Dad on the trail to Mt. Timp.  (We did NOT go all the way to the top!)  Olivia enjoyed this a lot more than it seems in this picture.

Olivia is still not walking!  She can stand unassisted just fine and will even take a few steps as long as no one draws attention to the fact that she is walking.  But if you try to convince her to walk, she'll just fuss at you, sit down, and crawl away.

A classic tale of life at Olivia's house.  She finds the iPad laying around and unlocks it without any help.  She clicks around for a while and then comes up to an adult and hands it over saying "Dabba?"  (Translation:  Will you please stream my favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba to this device?)

This is her pleading face (and redness from sleeping on her face during her nap). And then, when she is denied her request, this is what happens...

Poor Olivia.  If only she could watch tv, steal all of Henry's toys, and eat gummi bears all day long, THEN she would be happy! 

An adorable Chinese outfit Papa brought her before she was born.  It seemed so big, and now she's running around in it!

A pair of Cousin Logan's favorite "horsey" jammies!

Olivia LOVES the bathtub.  She gets incredibly excited whenever we run the water.  She likes splashing and drinking her bathwater, and she's even started "washing" her own face and hair by dumping cups of water on her head and rubbing a washcloth on her face.

She still loves her puppy dog!

As a final treat, enjoy this video clip of Olivia and Henry playing together a few days ago.  They have started to really have fun with each other, play, and laugh together.  It's disgustingly adorable!

Olivia is a YEAR OLD!

Can you believe it, this girl is a whole year old!

At one year old, she has 8 lovely teeth (with a huge gap between the two front ones!) and says Mama, Dada, Please (but only for her mom), and Hi.

She has blondish reddish brownish hair and bluish greenish eyes. Her skin is milky white, but she did pick up a little tan this summer. The rolls of fat on her arms have tan lines!

She is incredibly affectionate.  She loves hugging, giving kisses, and being cuddled.  But of course only on her schedule.  If you try and hug her when she doesn't want it, she will let you know right away you're bugging her.

She weighs 26 pounds, 8 ounces and is 31.5 inches long, totally off the charts!

Olivia loves danger.  Her dad is her favorite as he is always the one to dangle her upside down, play blast-off, bed spaz and other wild games of their own making.  Her giggle is so precious.

We love our beautiful baby girl and can't believe how fast this past year has flown by!

To celebrate Olivia's great one year, we threw her a Teddy Bear Picnic party.  She loves stuffed animals, especially her giant teddy bear, so it seemed especially appropriate.

Olivia saw lots of friends and people she hadn't seen in a while.

She was very spoiled, everyone gave her lots of presents.  She made sure to give them all a hug, even this pair of pants.

She was not all that interested in her personal giant cupcake, she would prefer the gummy bear on top of Papa's cupcake!

On her actual birthday, she had a special dinner with her favorite foods (meat, berries - she's like a bear!) and opened a few more presents.  She had finally got the hang of the present-opening.  Henry wanted to play too!

All of the festivities made Olivia tired.  It's a good thing birthdays only come once a year!

Over Labor Day we went on a scenic drive and hike with the Hulsbergs (not pictured, Cassandra and Henry).  Olivia and Grant, buddies forever!

This week, we had to say goodbye to some of our favorite family members!  Uncle Carter set off for his mission in Tonga.  See you in two years!

Grandpa Chris and Grandma Christa also headed out this week to Washington D.C.  We'll miss you!

Olivia Has a Surgery :(

Olivia's been having lots of ear infections this summer, and the specialist we saw recommended that she get tubes put in her ears to help her out.  It was very sad, but we took Olivia to the hospital this week and sent her into her first surgery!  The nurses and doctors were all super nice to her, and she got her own surgery dolly and blanket.  She was very brave and everything went very well.  She looked so cute in her little hospital gown, but we were glad to have it all over and to get her home and happy!

A couple of weeks ago, we needed a couple's weekend alone so we sent the kids off for a sleepover at Nana and Papa's house!  They had a great time, but we were very glad to go and pick them up at the end of the weekend.

Henry and Olivia had a blast.  They jumped on the tramp, splashed in the pool, played with the dogs and chickens, and Olivia bossed everyone around!

Uncle Chet taught her how to play the guitar.

Olivia rode around with Papa on Great-Grandpa Owen's 4-wheeler.

Olivia likes her second cousins, but doesn't like riding scary horses with them!

Olivia has mastered Dada and Mama, and usually uses them appropriately.

She is looking forward to her first birthday!  She hasn't yet mastered the art of sharing, and she'll be glad to have a party all to herself.

Olivia is obsessed with all electronic things.  Here she is trying to grab the camera, but she's equally as fascinated with computers, phones, remotes, and anything with a button or screen!

Here is a beautiful picture that she took on a cell phone.  Such artistic talent at a young age.

She still loves eating anything and everything she can find.  Here she is eating her first sushi!  That California roll is super great.

We are also still enjoying the good weather!  Olivia enjoyed going on a hike (according to Grant) around the lake with some of her buddies.

Olivia in front, Avery in the rear.  Olivia?  Less than thrilled for some reason.  The whole enterprise was bugging her.

Olivia is 11 months!

Olivia is nearly a year old, we can't believe it!  She has seven teeth and a wild personality.  She loves cruising along furniture and is painfully close to walking.

Her first word is Dada, which she says all the time.  When Bob leaves for work in the morning, she crawls towards the door crying and yelling, "Dada!  Dada!"

Action shot.  You really don't get any other kind of shot with Olivia around.

Aunt Didi came to visit from California for some party times before law school starts.  Olivia loved playing the piano with her, hanging out, and we even went to the pool with Aunt Didi and Nana.

Bob loves taking Olivia out mountain biking.  Now that she's gotten a little bigger, she really enjoys long rides in the bike trailer.

You can sort of see her leaning forward.  She loves going for rides in the stroller as well.  She sits calmly back and watches the world go by, which is really rare for her!

She has fallen in love with the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba.  It is weird, but it's full of awesome music she loves to dance to.