Tuesday, September 11, 2012

Family Fun at Lost Pines


This past weekend, Ethan and I took Olivia to Hyatt Lost Pines near Bastrop, Texas. We wanted to have a little family getaway before Callie arrives, and it was a first & only "vacation" for the three of us. We had wonderful weather and overall a really fun time together. We can't wait to go back!
 
 The road trip is off to a great start!

 Olivia is excited to show Purple Bear her hotel room.










Making smores at the campfire.
 

 We took a ride on a horse-drawn wagon.



Meeting Lady Guinevere and King Arthur.
 



 Olivia loved going down the water slide with daddy.



 

 This picture is funny - it was taken just as Olivia let out a big sneeze!




 


 Olivia likes to call these her "BIG clip clops."



Olivia was performing a Taylor Swift song with her microphone.
 




 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

End of Summer & Starting School

 
 Each summer flies by so quickly, and this year was no exception! At this point in my pregnancy, I probably should take it easy. But, as I posted earlier, the reality of Olivia being our only child for just a little while longer before Callie arrives is really tugging at my heart. And it's not just that, but she is just plain growing up! I can't keep up with what she is learning new everyday. I didn't think I would be so emotional to get Olivia ready to start pre-school, but I think it's going to be a blessing and an enriching experience for all of us. So the end of this summer has been full of good times spent with my "baby girl." 


 Our newest obsession is frozen custard from Fergy's just down the road from us. "Fro-tard" is quite possibly the best invention EVER!!
 
 
 Tuesday morning storytime at the library. She is practicing her gluing skills.

 
 She's showing off her dinosaur she decorated at another storytime.

 
 Visiting the "dinosaur museum", aka Museum of Natural Science, with my cousins.
 
 
 Everytime we head to the Children's Museum, she has to find this certain "blue bear" to carry around with her everywhere. It's cute, until someone else wants to play with it. Sharing is not the easiest thing to teach a kid!

 

 We both woke up late one morning before a doctor's appointment, so what could be a better opportunity to have breakfast at what Olivia calls the "donut store?" YUM!
 
 
 I'm showing Callie some of her new clothes I bought at Marshall's.
 
 
 Back-to-school haircut. Hello bangs!
 
 
 Riding the carousel at Memorial City Mall.

 
 
 
 
 
 Lunch and dessert at City Centre with my sister Maomi before she moves back up to University of North Texas for the year.

 
Fro-yo at Red Mango in City Centre....2nd best invention ever.
 
 
 Playing in the courtyard at City Centre
 
 
 After Olivia's first dentist appointment!
I think we were prepared. She's at the age where she will understand most of something we discuss (except potty training, ha!), so we discussed the appointment well before the actual day. I let her bring Purple Bear for comfort (we typically never let her take Purple Bear out of the house). She enjoyed seeing the x-ray machine because it was like seeing Big Bird's from a Sesame Street episode, but she did get a little upset while the dentist poked around in her mouth. But overall, I think it was a success: no cavities and she walked away proudly with a goodie bag!
 
 
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Pre-school at Lakewood United Methodist:
 
 
Meet-the-teacher day: with Ms. Melinda
 
Meet-the-teacher day:  with Ms. Angie
 
Today gave Olivia and us the opportunity to meet her teachers and become familiar with her classroom. Again, just like prepping for the dentist, we made sure to talk about her teacher's names and how the experience could be. Olivia did not get shy at all! I think with going to her Sunday School class at church every week and having attended Community Bible Study all last year, she was quite ready and was not shy at all.
 
 Meet-the-teacher day: sitting at the storytime corner with daddy

 Meet-the-teacher day
 
 Meet-the-teacher day
 
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First Day of School - September 4th

This was an exciting day for which we've been waiting a long time! Neither Olivia or I could sleep last night as we wondered what today would be like. I obviously wanted to fall asleep fast and quick, but I enjoyed cuddling with Olivia in the rocker in the middle of night. I think it was in God's plans to let me have just one last moment with my "baby girl" before the big day. When morning finally arrived, Olivia was all giggles and got to spend time with Daddy while he worked from home in the morning. I probably could have been a little more organized and on-time with packing her bag and lunch and getting dressed. Note to self: DO NOT leave my cell phone at home on school days! Here are some pictures we took at home and school before dropping Olivia off.


 Having a tri-pod comes in handy. By the look on her face, I think Olivia was confused about why there was no one behind the camera taking pictures.





 Schedule for each day. I don't know how many times I looked at the clock today wondering what she was doing!

 Standing outside her classroom waiting to file in. She's in the Penguins classroom (Turning 3's)

 Showing Olivia where her cubby is and teaching her to put her bag and lunch in there each morning on her own.

 I did not cry saying goodbye. Not even a minute after the doors opened, she's already got her purple doll she fell in love with on meet-the-teacher day!

Dictations for the day. I love what Olivia said, "Play baby."
It was a great day! She was so hyper when I picked her up, so I know she had a good time.


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One of the themes at her school this month is "Family." So, the teachers asked us to bring in a recent family photo to display all year in the classroom. We sent in this first one, from a couple weeks ago when I was 30-weeks pregnant with Callie. 
 

 
 
We are slowly getting ready to welcome Callie, so this past weekend Ethan and I worked on Callie's name sign. And here's the final product! I got the idea from Etsy, but knew I could probably make one myself for much cheaper. The sign is made up of spray-painted cardboard letters on ceramic tiles adorned with scrapbook paper. And then we glued the tiles onto a piece of scrap wood that we spray-painted as well. I think we spent just about $25 for something that would have cost us almost $100 to buy!!
 
Almost 32 weeks pregnant.