Pictures with Santa

Seamus went to PetSmart on Sunday for a much-needed bath. When I picked him up, Santa was there. So, I decided to have both of my babies visit him. Seamus LOVED Santa and was bouncing everywhere. Miss O wasn't as enthusiastic.

Merry Christmas!

Dancing with Frank

I got Miss O a Frankenstein doll from Hallmark at Halloween. Little did I know he would provide entertainment all year long. He's one of her favorite toys and she dances with him every time we turn him on.

And of course, every time we pull out the video camera, Seamus has to step right in front of it. He's such a camera hog!

Hau`oli la hanau, Olivia!! (Or, Happy Birthday, Olivia!)

Olivia turned one this past Friday! I can't believe a year has already passed. I feel like it just flew by, but then again, when I look back to Olivia as a newborn, it seems like forever ago. What a fun year it has been, though!

My mom flew in for the weekend and my brother drove in from Nashville. Papa couldn't make it, and we missed him, but we'll celebrate again over Thanksgiving.

On Friday, my mom and I took Miss O out for breakfast to Chris' Pancake House - our favorite breakfast spot. She is now big enough (and hungry enough) to get her own kid's plate, so now I don't have to share my pancakes. Later on that day, we took her to play on her favorite playground at Tilles Park. It was gorgeous outside - in the 70's. I think that will be the last we will see of the warm weather for a while. We finished off the day with pizza, Mr. Potato Head and a Disney Princess book that Mike brought home. Yes, I know, we are wild partiers. That's just how we roll.

On Sunday was the real party - a Hawaiian luau, in fact. Miss O dressed up in her best tropical outfit (thanks again, Aunt Mary Ann), a grass skirt from Grammy, and a flower lei made by Grandma McCoy. I think everyone had a great time. I know we did!

With Grammie on her actual birthday.

The decorations for her luau birthday party.

The cookie cake we ordered from Federhofer's bakery.

Her own personal cake that she later demolished, and the cupcakes I made with little flip-flop feet.

I went overboard, I know....but how many times will your baby turn one?

Click here to watch a video of her eating her cake.

She takes her motorcycle riding very seriously...just like Daddy.

With Uncle Dan.

Halloween Fun

Halloween this year was so much fun! I love having a little one to dress up. It's so much better than having to dress up the dog. (And Seamus agrees.)

Olivia was a mouse this year. My mom found the costume in Cincinnati and it was darling! I took her for her one-year pictures and she did so well that I decided to get a few costume shots, too!

Then, last week, Mimi, Olivia and I went to Boo at the Zoo one night while Mike was out of town. There were so many people there - and all of the kids were dressed up in costumes. My favorite was a little boy dressed up like Sulley from Monsters, Inc.

While we were there, we took Miss O on the carousel for the first time. I thought she would cry, but she loved it! Mimi and I screamed when we were walking through the chimp area and a "swamp thing" jumped out of the bushes. (Olivia didn't even flinch.) A man walking ahead of us turned around and pointed out that the area was for ages six and up. It was a little embarassing. So, we made sure to stay away from the area that was marked for ages 10 and up. I guess we're big babies.

Riding the carousel. She doesn't look excited, but trust me, she was!

With Mimi.

Then, on Halloween, we went trick-or-treating with our neighbors, the Suchers. Olivia was a little under-the-weather, so we lasted about a block, but still, it was fun!

The neighborhood mice.

I love this outfit.

Sunday at Eckert's Fun Farm

Today we took Miss O to Eckert's Fun Farm in Millstadt, IL. Olivia is a little young to really do anything there, so we walked around, took a hay ride to the apple orchard, and then to the pumpkin patch. We didn't pick any apples - I guess it's past apple picking season because they weren't looking too great. And, we didn't pick any pumpkins because we already have four on our front porch. So, it was really just a good photo opp...and a good reason for Mike to ride his motorcycle.

She looks so tall! 

This is my favorite!

It was a great day! Afterwards, we stopped for dinner in Columbia, IL at a place called The Lantern. Great fried chicken...and fries...and banana cream pie!! Ugh, I'm stuffed. 

Click here if you would like to view all of our fall 2010 pictures (grammie/papa and grandma/grandpa).

Our First Family Vacation

The last week in September, we took Olivia on our first family vacation. She decided to kick things off by taking her first steps a few days before we left!! Woo hoo!

We started our trip by driving to Nashville and spending the weekend at my Uncle Chuck and Aunt Nancy's house and visiting with my cousins. Mom and Dad came down for the weekend, too. On Saturday, everyone met up a one of the local wineries and we had a picnic that ended with a beautiful sunset. We've never had a family reunion before, and I hope we make "reunions" like this a tradition because everyone had a great time.

Olivia loved playing with all of her second cousins at the family picnic! 

That Monday, Mike, Olivia and I left at 6 a.m. for a long drive to Ft. Walton Beach, FL. I was nervous about the drive, but Miss O was PERFECT in the car. Not a peep! We met our friends Steve and Heather, their son Hugo, and another friend, Ryan, there. Again, we had an awesome time. The beaches were gorgeous - and nobody was there! It was like we had a private beach to ourselves. Also, we celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary while we were there!

Having a drink with Daddy by the pool.

At first, Olivia didn't like the sand. But, each day, she grew more and more adventurous.

Building a sand castle with mama. Just kidding...we just took our picture near someone else's sand castle:)

By the last day, she was crawling all over the sand and worked her way down to the ocean where she splashed around and played in the water.

It was an awesome vacation - very relaxing, lots of fun and full of great memories!

It's hot outside, but we're having fun!!

It has been way to hot to be outside the past few weeks...so Mike and I escaped the first weekend in Aug. to Miami for a long weekend with some friends. Funny that it was cooler there than in St. Louis! Grammy and Papa Kruger came to St. Louis to stay with Sweetpea. It was the first time that I had left her for more than one night. Mike is more used to it from traveling for work. I did OK though! We had an awesome time hanging out on South Beach during the day and going out at night with our friends Tom and Sean and their girlfriends Jen and Virginia at night.

On Aug. 12, Olivia turned nine months old. Today I took her to the doctor for her nine month check-up. She now weighs 20 lbs. 13 oz. and measures almost 29 inches long. She's getting so big!!

"Seamus, what are you doing out there???"

Olivia recently started crawling on her hands and knees (no more army crawl) and she's also "cruising" now, where she'll hang onto something and walk a few steps. Pretty soon we're not going to be able to keep up with her!

One of her favorite things - swinging at the park! We tried a new park near Delmar today with some friends. Olivia had a blast and took a very long nap afterwards (which was great!). Thank goodness it is finally cooling off a little outside. I'm ready for fall.

Aloha from St. Louis!

Great Aunt Mary Ann and Great Uncle Bruce went to Hawaii for vacation and sent Olivia this adoreable outfit. Isn't she  a cute kamaiki? That's Hawaiian for baby:)

Thanks for your thoughtful gift Mary Ann and Bruce!!

Eight Months Old!

Olivia turned eight months old on Monday. I can't believe it. Time has flown by so fast!

To mark the occaision, that morning, she sat up all by herself for the first time. She acted like it was no big deal. We were all laying in bed and she just plopped herself up!

On Wednesday, I found her sitting up in her crib after her morning nap. She's a pro now.

On Thursday, she popped her first tooth - FINALLY! I was starting to wonder if she had teeth growing under those gums. She keeps rubbing her tongue over her bottom gums so lately she looks like she is always sticking her tongue out sideways. Once I have a good tooth picture, I'll post it.

Then on Thursday night, we took Olivia to her first Cardinals game. We were given tickets for the Cardinals VIP suite, which had air conditioning and was awesome considering it was close to 100 degrees outside. Olivia was given a certificate for her first "official" Cardinals game - and she was on TV (or so we were told by the people watching the game from inside the suite.)

On Friday night, we were invited to the game again by our friends Chris and Jennifer, and we got to go onto the field for batting practice. Then, we were invited into the Bank of America suite instead of going to our section 400-something seats. It was awesome. Olivia got a little spolied with her first two games:)

Look what I can do!

Today, Mike was playing with Olivia, and all of a sudden he yells to me "Come in here and see what Olivia can do!"

She was standing on her own and supporting herself by holding on to the coffee table! She's only 7 1/2 months old!! I'm not sure, but that seems a little early to be doing that. What a smart girl :)

So, of course, I took a video of it.

Click here to watch the video.

Another First...Olivia is Crawling!!!

Last week, Olivia decided to hit another milestone and started crawling! She had been "scooting" a little here and there, but not really going anywhere. Then last Tuesday, I hung out with a friend and her two little boys. We meet in the "play area" at West County Mall, and her boys (ages 2 1/2 and 1) were playing and Olivia just watched them. Her youngest was crawling all over the place, and I think Olivia decided "Hey - I can do that!"

No sooner did we get home and she starting moving herself around her room. What was she going after? A box of Hello Kitty Band-Aids! Look out! There's no stopping this girl now!!

Click here to watch the video of Olivia crawling for the first time.

Mike's Turns 30!

I'm a little behind on my postings, but I can't not include a blog about Mike's 30th birthday. He turned 30 on Monday, May 17.

I tried to throw him a surprise birthday party that following Saturday. My plan was to send him to the Cardinals game with some of his friends during the day (which was supposed to be a surprise) and then when they came home, we would have everyone at the house for the party. I'm still not sure if he was surprised or not, be we still had a great time. We had a lot of good friends over and cooked up hot dogs and burgers and drank beer and sangria. It was a great way to end Mike's birthday week!

Mike with his birthday cake from Federhoffers. It was sooooo yummy!

Seamus enjoying the party from under the sun shade I had set up for the babies.

Trip to Buffalo, Mother's Day, New Job...and Sweet Pea is Six-Months-Old!

I took Olivia on her first trip on an airplane on May 3. We went to Buffalo, NY to visit my grandparents - her great-grandparents (a.k.a Gigi and Papa). I was really nervous about taking her on a trip alone, but she was perfect the entire time. We even had to change planes in Baltimore on the way there, and there weren't any problems. She flirted and cooed with the people who sat next to us on each flight, and slept the rest of the time. What a good girl!

When she first met my Grandma, she smiled like crazy. Grandma said "I can't believe she isn't strange!" Ha! I've never heard that before, but it's funny! Grandma kept saying that all week because every time she or my grandfather would hold Olivia, or play with her, she would just smile at them. It was so cute.

Olivia meets "Gigi" and "Papa" for the first time.

On Mother's day, we went to church at our church with Mike's parents and then went to their house for a BBQ lunch. Later on that evening, Mike and I took Olivia and Seamus on a walk through Forest Park. We ended up at the Boathouse for a few drinks. It was a great first Mother's day! 

At the Boathouse at Forest Park.

On Monday, I started my new part-time job with the Parkway Alumni Association. I worked Monday evening at an event, and then went to a conference on Tuesday. The rest of this week, I've been able to work from home with Sweet Pea! It's been a great first week!!

Other big news...Olivia turned six-months-old this week!

Lastly, my good friend Katie (Olivia's Godmother) gave birth to her second child on Tuesday, May 11. His name is Leo Edward and he's healthy, and perfect and adorable! I hosted girls' night at my house tonight and Katie came and brought Leo. She just came home from the hospital today! She's a rock star.

Olivia and her new friend Leo.

Lots to be happy about!

This past month has been a crazy one. In fact, this is the first Saturday in a while that we haven't had anything planned. Olivia even let me sleep in until 8:30 this morning!

Yesterday was my last day in the office at Rockwood- so it was Olivia's last day at day care! Officially, Sunday is my last day of work, because I have the ROSE Ceremony all day. Then, I'm officially done as a full-time employee. I'm sad about leaving Rockwood, where I've worked for the past 5+ years. I have loved my job, and I really enjoy all of the people that I have worked with there. But, I am so excited about my new part-time job with the Parkway Alumni Association and about being able to stay home with Sweet Pea- and I'm so thankful that I have this opportunity.

For her last day of day care, I dressed Olivia in her party outfit - a hot pink tutu, her Paris shirt from Mimi, and the sassy headband our neighbor gave her. As you can see, Seamus wasn't as excited as we were. He's not a morning dog.

When I picked Olivia up from day care, one of her teachers, Natalie, gave me a glass vase with tiny flowers painted on it. She said, "Happy Mother's Day early!" She made it with Olivia - and the flowers were made out of Olivia's finger prints. What a thoughtful gift! I absolutely love it. Even though I didn't like sending Olivia to day care, I know she was happy there. She always smiled when she saw her teachers, and was always content when I would pick her up in the afternoon. So, that made me happy. However, I'm even happier that she gets to stay home with me now, though!

The vase Olivia made for me next to the orchid that miraculously, I haven't killed.