Let's do the Zoo

Last weekend we took Olivia to the Houston Zoo. She was so excited to go I thought she was going to start bouncing off the walls. Her favorite animal is the giraffe. She had lots of fun and walked about the entire time. On our way out we took a train ride through Herman Park. Olivia had so much fun, she did not want to leave. Here are a few pics from our weekend.

Olivia's New Bed and Mom's Birthday

I celebrated my 30th birthday on September 29th. It was much more exciting than I had expected because I found out we are having another baby GIRL!! It made my day all the more special. Olivia and I ended it by sharing a piece of chocolate cake.

We recently transitioned Olivia from her crib to her toddler bed. I DO NOT like it. This next baby can stay in her crib until she is five. Olivia always went to bed so peacefully, but after lots of skipping naps and tantrum in her crib at bedtime we decided to make the switch. Now she insists that we lay on the floor next to her bed until she falls asleep. This is not comfortable at all. The first two nights she woke up during the night and came running to our room. The first time she did this she fell and hit her mouth on our nightstand. This scared us all to death and she ended up sleeping with us that night. Now I think she has learned her lesson because she waits in our doorway until she sees we are awake. I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but she has been doing pretty good sleeping through the night now. I am the one that is constantly waking up thinking she is going to get up at any minute. I guess it's better that we get this over with now, though. Olivia has also decided to take down her wallpaper border while she was still in her crib. This should have been our first sign that she wanted out!

San Antonio

We went to San Antonio earlier this month for our friends Jimmy & Julie's wedding. We stayed on the Riverwalk and had so much fun! It was too short of a trip, so we are planning on going back before the next baby gets here. Olivia did great. We were worried about how she would do so close to the water. She no longer likes to sit in a stroller and doesn't like to be carried. We ended up letting her wear a little monkey backpack that has a leash (I hate calling it that). Even though I said I would never use it, that thing worked great! We've actually used it a few times since we've been back because she likes wearing it so much. We also got to visit our cousin Helaina for the first time. Olivia was in a little bit of a mood, but Helaina still very excited to see her.

Spur of the Moment Fun

Saturday we took Olivia to Barnes & Noble for Storytime. It did not go so great. There are just too many other books for her to get excited about, and honestly the lady reading the story was not that enthusiastic. We hadn't been to the Pearland Town Center in a while, but of course Olivia remembered that they have a cool fountain for splashing. You can't put anything past her, so we stopped for a while to play in the water even though her momma was totally unprepared for getting wet.

Cool Down

The weather in Texas has finally started to cool down to the mid 80s so we decided to head back to some of our favorite parks with some friends. Olivia and I both needed some fresh air and a break for Dora.

Olivia's First Day of School

Tuesday was Olivia's first day of school through the Mother's Day Out program at one of our local churches. She will be going two days a week for 5 hrs. This is the longest she's ever been away from me. I think I got most of my crying out of the way after her Open House. We both had a pretty great first day. She didn't start crying until I was almost out the door. Her teacher said she had a good day, but did a little sympathy crying when the other kids got upset. She new all of her colors and she ate half of her lunch. She didn't take a nap (she's been fighting them at home too), but she played quietly and didn't bother the other kids. We have been talking a lot about going back tomorrow, but I think the second day might be a little harder.

Happy Birthday Olivia

I cannot believe another year has past! Olivia celebrated her 2nd Birthday on Saturday with lots of family and friends. Both sets of Grandparents and Aunt Ana and Uncle Brad were able to come to visit. And she had a party with lots of friends at Jumpin Jungle. All of the kids had a blast!
Olivia has changed so much in this past year. She is already showing some "terrible two" behavior, but she's too cute to stay mad at. I can't wait to see how she handles the year ahead. She is sure in for lots of changes. I know she will make us proud. We love our sweet girl!