5 months old

Each month of Olivia's life I take a picture of her next to this guitar... just for size reference. I think it is fun.... sadly, this month, I have not taken any other pictures of her- so here is the only picture that I have taken this month.
Olivia is now just a few ounces over 13 pounds... hello! She is tiny. She is 22 inches long. When will this baby start putting all that food she eats to growing use? She LOVES to eat! LOVES to eat. She eats at every meal with us and loves just about everything we give her. She is rolling and scooting. She can finally sit in a shopping cart... hurray!! no more Baby B'jorn in the stores for me. She laughs all the time. Her new favorite hobby is waking up every 2 hours at night to eat. She has been on this kick for a few weeks.... I keep hoping that means she will grow a little more. She is super cuddly. She loves to nuzzle my neck and hold me tight. A few days ago Olivia started fussing during my exercise class (she usually sits in her car seat and watches my class). Everyone in class was so shocked because they had not heard her cry before... That is my little Livvy! Sweet and easy going. We love our little Liv. Happy 5 months. I wil take some more pictures of her when she wakes up from her nap and post them soon so you can all see my little bundle of love.

Our new favorite toys

Gloria (above) on the paddle board.

Grayson in the little kayak.

In the blue boat you can see Cami and I (pictured above). Cami is in a cute little jump seat.

Travis is on the paddle board... the paddle board was everyones favorite of the day! Super fun!

A friend invited us to a free kayaking event a few weeks ago... loved it!!! It was sponsored by the owner of a kayak/canoe (water toy) store. We were able to find a great deal on some used kayaks and we are excited to spend a lot more time playing with them at the lake this summer!! Seriously, you should try it some time!

Note to self...

When vacuuming out my car in the front yard.... pack a gun!!! Or else you could look up and find a deer only a few feet away from you, apparently interested in the vacuum. You could be freaked out because you left the front door wide open and your daughter is sitting there asking if she can pet the deer. You could be worried that the deer will jump into the car with you, but afraid to run to the front door for fear the deer will follow you into the house. You might have to hold up the vacuum hose and point it at the deer in hopes that the deer will be afraid, or finally think to call for the dog who will start barking and chasing the deer off. And then you would have to quit vacuuming the car before you are done because you are so scared that the deer went to tell it's other friends about the free vacuuming show.
So, note to self, if you choose to ever vacuum out the car in the front yard again because the garage is full of boxes... pack a gun!
PS: Arent' there some scary books about deer that my kids should be reading so that they don't want to PET the deer? Books that paint deer in a bad light? Nothing like Bambi... no we want the truthful stories that will cause nightmares so that they won't ask to PET the deer again!
Is there a book out there called "Deer gone wild and the lives they have destroyed"? There should be.

April, so far....

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We have had a very busy month so far!! It started off with a great April Fool's Day. The kids had a lot of fun tricking EVERYONE that they talked to. Gloria woke up in the morning and went out front to go feed kitty.. she then came in the house and asked daddy "What did you do to your car?! Who smashed it all up?!" Daddy would have gone running outside to check on his car if Gloria hadn't started laughing. We then put casts on the kids- Gloria's on her arm, and Grayson on his leg. We then made up far fetched tales to tell their teachers and classmates. This was a lot of fun for them. Graysons leg was bitten while he was swimming with the sharks- gloria fell off of a horse that was chasing a bear! It was a hoot to hear them tell their well rehearsed stories!
Then we had Cami's birthday. It was a week long celebration. We had a few cakes, a lot of ice cream, and presents. Cami got her first bike. It is a big wheel. She loves it.
We had a fun Easter. The kids really liked coloring eggs this year. They thought it was more fun to find the eggs that they colored. All the kids had a blast with the egg hunt. Cami kept looking for eggs EVERYWHERE for the next few days.
And finally... today! Olivia turned 5 months old. We took her to the doctors for her 4 month check up (yes, I am a little behind but I wanted to get Grays kindergarden check up and Cami's 3 year old check up all at the same time). Olivia weighs 13 pounds! She is 22" long..... She looks so big to me, but I can see now how come people think that she is so tiny. I just thought people had no idea how big babies were supposed to be, but man! She is little. She is my smallest, so far. She is so sweet, still. She is talking and babbling and about the only thing that makes her cry (besides getting shots at the doctor) is if you take food or toys out of her little hands! She is so cuddly. We have so much fun with her.
Lastly, we went through a final walk through on our new house today. I will post some pictures when I can. If everything looks good, and if there are no major problems with the house, we will be moving in on June 1st. We love it!! We are a little nervous about the pool. It has no childproof system, so if you know of any way to childproof our pool, let me know ASAP!!! I won't move in until it is safe.
That is our April, so far!! Whew!!!! What a month.

Chapstick, anyone?

Llast weekend I went to San Fran for a fitness conference. It was a blast. My favorite classes were all the boot-camp, circuit classes. They were so much fun and they had so much variety!! In one of the courses (bridezilla bootcamp) they offered chapstick as prizes for winning the different relays.... you would not believe how hard people worked for these chapsticks!! It was so much fun that I decided starting next week I am doing 2 weeks of full blown boot-camps in place of my kickboxing classes. I made the announcement this week to my classes and there were actual cheers in the class! We are all excited to start and I am going to go and buy some chapstick this weekend.... let's hope the chapstick motivation works as well for them as it did for us- maybe I should go and buy some chocolate.... just in case!!