Going to get baby sister!

We've been talking about it since we came home from China, and have now decided to start the paperchase AGAIN! The wait is currently about 16 months...and some predict that it will stretch even longer. We're actually ok with the timeline....if the wait was 6 months we wouldn't be ready to go back yet. It'll work out great this way...Livie will be 4 and hopefully able to really help out with baby sister & be more independent. We’ve made the mistake of already telling Livie that we’re going to China. She now talks about it EVERY DAY! “Do you want to play with bubbles?”...“I go to China.” “Do you want to watch Elmo?”...“I go to China…get baby sister.” This comes up a couple of times every day. What were we thinking??!! She actually started talking about “baby sister” before we mentioned anything….she must have heard other kids at school talking about their baby sisters….so the discussion with her evolved from there. I asked her a couple of weeks ago what she wanted to name baby sister b/c we need to start making a list of ideas. She paused….with an “ummmmm” (she does that when she’s thinking now)….”PURPLE”! She was so proud of her suggestion. I just cracked up….she looked at me like I had 3 heads when I tried to explain that was just the name of a color…but there might be better names for baby sister.

March

Playdates...Easter egg games....swimming!!

February

Livie's grandparents came for a visit from TN...they rented a condo just around the corner from us for the month. Uncle Steve even came for a visit one weekend and we all went to Epcot & Magic Kingdom. It was great to have them here for a long visit...it's the longest I've lived in the same city (not to mention within 1 mile!) of my Mom since we got married.

We also celebrated Chinese New Year....such a great night, and all the girls looked so beautiful!

Magic Kingdom & Swimming in January

Big weekend for Liv...Magic Kingdom on Saturday with Gran & Poppy and swimming on Sunday afternoon! The weather was perfect this weekend. It was in the 80's on Saturday in Orlando, and upper 70's on Sunday in St Augustine. You can't ask for better than that in January! It was warm enough on Sunday for us to heat the pool and swim all afternoon. Livie was so excited to get in the water....it felt like bath water! She kicked around in her float, and jumped off the side into Daddy's arms. She was wiped out by 6:00 p.m....so was Mommy & Daddy!

2 yr check up

Olivia had her 2 year check up today. She has grown so much in the last year. She is now 27 lbs and 33 inches tall…that puts her at the 50th percentile for weight and a bit over the 25th percentile for height. She is right on target developmentally….speech, coordination, play, eating habits. She’s running, jumping, throwing & kicking balls, playing with everything, curious about everything, learning new words every day, loves daycare/school, talking about the “potty”, undressing herself occasionally, becoming more loving/affectionate everyday. She is the joy of our lives!!

Christmas

We had a great time at Ginnie & Joe-Joe’s house and Livie loved playing with Matthew & Mariah (her new cousins). Liv was so little last year, and Mariah was just a few months old….it was a different picture this year with them all chasing each other around the house. We headed to Gran & Poppy’s on Christmas Eve. We usually don’t go there until Christmas morning, so they were excited to have us a day early. We went to the candlelight service that night and Gran was so proud to show off Livie…and of course Livie layed on the charm. Liv loved all of her new toys....a rocking gator (like a rocking horse but with the a gator head), a doll, puzzles, hokey pokey Elmo, bathtub toys, books, clothes, a horse head that she can wear like a hat and it makes horse sounds, a Dora kitchen, and a desk shaped like a butterfly. OMG....it's all just too much! We really need to convince everyone to dial it back next year....although that will be hard since Liv is the only grandchild on both sides. OVER-STIMULATED!!! She learned a bit about Santa Claus this year but didn't totally get it....next year will be a blast because she'll really get into it when she's 3. We've already declared that we're not traveling next year at Christmas...Livie needs to wake up at her house on Christmas morning. She needs to be hear the reindeer on her own roof (or perhaps be terrified by the idea of reindeer on the roof and a strange man with a white beard and a red suit is breaking into the house....all part of growing up!) :-)

Plane ride with Ginnie

Ginnie flew in for Liv’s birthday party…and then Livie flew back to TN on Sunday with her for a Christmas visit. We had planned to drive home to TN & MO only a few days later, so we wanted to save her from making that 13 hour drive twice (she'll ride home with us in the car). Ginnie said she did great on the plane….only started to melt down once but the sticker book quickly grabbed her attention and saved the day. An hour and a half on a plane is so much better than 13 hours in a car seat!! She did great at Ginnie’s house and made the rounds in town visiting friends & family. It was a good break for Mom & Dad…we went out to eat every night!...but we missed her like crazy!! We couldn’t wait to get to TN on Thursday to see her…although she was asleep by the time we arrived. She was so surprised to see us on Friday morning….she was thrilled to see Putter!! I think she was more excited to see Putter than Mommy & Daddy.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Olivia and Annalisa!! Olivia had a birthday party with all of her friends from China. It was actually a party for both Olivia and Annalisa since their birthdays are only 2 days apart. We all had a great time and it was so much fun to watch the girls play, eat and open gifts! It was a good warm up for Christmas. Between birthday & Christmas -- can you say "over-stimulated"??!!!

We're so PROUD!!!

Halloween

LADYBUG!! They had a costume parade at daycare….Liv was a bit in shock! Trick-or-treating on the street with the neighbors…Liv was shy at first and watched the bigger kids to see what was going on….then hit her comfort zone and started charming the neighbors. Waving, yelling bye-bye (loudly…and over & over), and blowing kisses after getting candy….that often got her 2nd pieces…smart kid!

12th Anniversary

October 22: Mommy & Daddy’s 12th anniversary. Our neighbor, Teresa, offered to watch Livie so we could go out and have a nice dinner….but decided we’d rather stay home and have pasta with Livie. We went to the park in the afternoon….then dimmed the lights and had a loud, messy dinner with our girl. It was great!

Disney - Magic Kingdom

October 14: Livie's first trip to Disneyworld -- Ginnie came for a visit so she went with us. We met the Valentine's there because they were celebrating Elese's 6th birthday.

Livie was amazed with everything. She didn't know any of the characters but she had a blast seeing them! The first of many trips to the Magic Kingdom! (The picture of her sleeping in the carseat is about 5 minutes after getting in the car...the end of a fun, busy day!)

Misc October Update

• Discovered it's fun to put socks on her hands
• Makes the sound of several animals…she’s now up to snake, cow, dog, cat, monkey, horse, owl…she learns so much at school (daycare – we call it school!)
• Celebrated the Autumn Moon festival with our FCC group
• Started trying to sing along with the alphabet song…makes the “B”, “D”, “P” sound at the right time….but doesn’t really identify letters when she sees them yet.