Olivia's First Birthday Party

We had a ladybug themed party for our sweet little lady.  We had a lot of fun celebrating Liv's special day with our extended family.  Adam came all the way from Chicago for the party, and Grandma & Grandpa Pridgeon and Paul & Nikki came from the farm.

cousin fun!

Little Blue Truck - a new favorite book

She was a little unsure about the cake at first, but once she tasted it, she loved it!

Happy birthday, little one!

Olivia's Birthday

On February 20, Livvy's actual birthday, we planned a day of fun.  After her morning nap, my mom came over and we went to Frederick Meijer Gardens for a sneak peak at the butterflies.  It was so nice and warm in the conservatory and it was not at all busy (because the actual exhibit didn't open until March 1).  We had so much fun running around and spotting butterflies.  Kate also enjoyed taking pictures on my phone.  Most of them were blurry and had her fingers in them, but she was so excited about it.

After naps, we had dinner at home with my parents.  Liv made quite a mess of herself, which is pretty normal.  She figured out that she could fit the pasta on her fingertips and thought it was pretty hilarious.

Once Matt got home, we went to bloop for frozen yogurt.  Both girls LOVED it.  It was a pretty good day for turning one.

Olivia is ONE!

Oh, my.  Where has the last year gone? Our precious little baby is ONE! And not so much of a baby any more!

Olivia currently loves to play with anything and everything that Kate is playing with.  She especially loves to take things in and out of containers.  She loves crawling under things...tables, chairs, people, etc.  It's super cute when she turns around to see if you're following her into all these crazy places.

She's not walking on her own yet, but she's pulling up, standing up, and cruising along everything.  She likes to walk behind things, like her lion or stroller.  And she really likes to walk holding onto someone's fingers.  She constantly pulls off her socks - or crawls out of them as she's spinning in circles on the floor.  And if she wants to carry something with her while she's crawling, she sticks it in her neck and holds it with her chin.  She's a total nut.

Liv is a much messier eater than Kate was.  She requires a bath pretty much every night after dinner.  And when she doesn't want to eat something, or is full, she starts throwing or dropping food on the ground.  She's also started sorting her food into the little cup holder spots on the tray.  She's definitely my daughter:)

Livvy likes to copy Kate, and the two of them get into laughing fits together; it's super cute.  She has a real laugh now, not just a baby laugh.  I love it.  And I love to tickle her to hear it.  Her best tickle spots are her thighs, her buns, and her neck. And sometimes when we're driving in the car, she just randomly starts laughing.  That's the best.

She's really just a sweet, funny, curious girl and we love her so much.

our ice castle

We got a lot of snow in January, and early February, but it wasn't so terribly cold that you couldn't be outside.  So, we bundled up and played a LOT! Kate is (slightly) obsessed with Frozen, and likes to pretend that she is Elsa, so one day when the snow had a coating of ice on top, we chipped away at it, and stacked it up to make an Elsa Ice Castle.  So much fun. 

A few days later, we 'painted' the castle blue, because Elsa's castle is blue.

Later, it got painted pink because it's Kate's new favorite color.  So much fun!

With all this snow fun, I've been especially thankful for my new winter coat and boots...thanks, Bill and Marty!

Children's Museum with Aunt Tessa