Tulip Time 2014

We got to go to Holland for Tulip Time twice this year.  The first weekend, there weren't many tulips blooming yet and it was pretty cold, but we did get to see the little kids do their dutch dance and Kate visited the petting zoo at Kollen Park.  She also had her first experience at The Peanut Store.  I'm pretty sure she touched every piece of candy in the place.  We let her choose one thing to buy, and she picked a dum-dum sucker:) I love that girl so much.  Livvy slept most of the time we were there, but made sure we remembered that she does NOT like to be in her car seat and prefers to be held at all times.

I stayed with Olivia while Matt took Kate to see the animals.  He said she was kind of shy, and just kept yelling 'neigh' at the horses:)

Our second visit was so much fun.  We met my parents in Holland and saw the real dutch dancers (Kate calls them touch dancers or wooden shoe dancers) at the Civic Center.  Then we walked around Centennial Park to see the beautiful tulips before walking through the Hope campus and heading downtown.  We had lunch at Crust 54, and the pizza was awesome! Then we got to see the dutch dancers perform on 8th Street one last time before we headed home for naps.  Olivia tolerated the stroller for part of our visit, but got passed around a lot too:)

we love Hope! bummed Liv was sleeping during these pictures:(

back to the Peanut Store for a treat

Olivia is 2 Months!

Our little one is getting so big!  Olivia still prefers to snuggle for naps and to be moving (don't you dare sit down if you're holding her!).  She sneezes in twos.  She smiles a lot now - and crinkles her sweet little nose.  She LOVES her daddy.  She's a great eater.  And she's so stinking cute.  Here are a few of her 2 month photos...

chubby cheeks and chubby thighs:)

serious face

those blue eyes just kill me!

At her 2 month appointment, here were her stats:

Height: 21.5 in (11%)
Weight: 9 lb, 13 oz (13%)
Head: 37.8 cm (34%)

She's even smaller than Kate was, which is hard to imagine, and we love her so very much.

Easter 2014

family picture before the dresses came off:)

girls!

Kate & Benjamin checking out the ducks

walk time!

sisters

Whether she likes it or not, Olivia gets lots of love from her big sister.  I'm pretty sure that's the reason we all keep passing colds around in our family, but it's still cute.  When we first brought Livvy home, Kate asked to hold her all the time.  She only ever wanted to hold her for about 30 seconds, and then she was ready to pass her off.  She doesn't really ask to hold her anymore, but she does try to share her toys with her and likes to talk to her a lot.  It's a little bit too much for Olivia at times, but it's so sweet.

reading to Livvy

showing her toys

telling her about the puzzle

just holding hands:)

butterflies!

One of our favorite things about having a membership to Frederick Meijer Gardens is the spring butterflies.  We took Kate last year and she loved it.  She was a little more hesitant this year - she got nervous whenever the butterflies came close to her, but she still wanted to keep going back over and over again.  We've been to FMG to see them three times now:) First we went with my mom on Grandma Friday.  Then we went with daddy.  Then we went with Grandma Pridgeon when she came up to help me with the girls for a few days.  So much fun.  I'm excited for the weather to warm up a little bit more so we can go enjoy the outdoor gardens too!