Family Weekend

This weekend was chock full o' family stuff! My sister came down for 4 days and I loved every minute of having her here! Our visit went by way too fast as usual, but we had such a great time together. Livy and her were joined at the hip, so much so that Livy called her "Mama" a few times. Niki was of course flattered, and it was extra special becuase she always worries that Livy won't know her since she lives in Albany, but this is hardly the case. I guess I'm easily replacable when Aunt Niki comes around....however I completely understand this because thats exactly how I was when my aunt Linda visited. Her visits gave me butterflies and I couldn't sleep for days leading up to them becuase of sheer excitement just to spend time with her. And from the looks of it, Livy and Aunt niki are headed down the same path. Very cool!

My Aunt Linda and family actually visited this weekend, and although I no longer get butterflies before her visits, it sure was great to spend time with her. She never changes, and neither does my uncle Terry....and my cousins are the sweetest teenager and college student that I've ever hung out with. My Uncle Terry is a kid stuck in a grown ups body, and he will have most anyone laughing. He is so great with kids and he spent countless hours entertaining me as a child, which wasn't an easy task. Both him and my aunt Linda spent alot of time with my sister and I as kids, and really got down to our level. It was fun to see them repeat this with Olivia. I was a bit nervous about how to entertain all the family, including my 87 year old grandma and Olivia. We really needed some good family activities that were wheelchair and stroller friendly. On Saturday we headed off to Harborfest for the afternoon. The weather was 100% perfect, and harborfest was a blast for everyone...including grandma Z and Olivia. My family acted like I had taken them to the ocean. They were amazed at Charlotte...they couldn't get over it. They live near the Potomac River just outside of D.C., have a second home on Lake Champlain, and they still thought Charlotte was amazing. It baffled me. They're world travelers yet they were just head over heels excited for Charlotte. My sister and Chris(her boyfriend) acted much the same....so I guess if you have family in town at least take them out for some Abbotts and a walk on the pier. I suggest the Abbotts inside the ferry terminal becuase its easy access to the pier.

So Harborfest was great fun and I was relieved. I dislike the pressure of entertaining people becuase it means I have to choose how they plan they're day, and its difficult for me becuase I get nervous that I won't choose correctly. Well no worries on Saturday because all 12 of my family members were having a rockin time. For the evening we took them out to Saddle Ridge in High falls, another place that I'd reccommend taking family until about 10pm....from that point on get out or be run over by drunk people and bachelorette parties. We learned the hard way, but it was fun anyway! We had dinner then bowled a few games in the bowling alley which is located inside the restaurant. King Pinz was the bowling alley, and it was very cool because they had glow in the dark pins and played great music. Again my family just raved about High falls, and Saddle Ridge...they loved every minute of it all which was great. For the record my 87 year old grandmother was out until midnight with us! Go grandma! Olivia was home tucked fast asleep by my in-laws, so Dave and I could really enjoy a fun night out, and it was.

I was glad to have all of my family together becuase it meant so much to my grandma, who cried her eyes out with joy as did my cousins. We all just get along so well that we really enjoy each others company. My cousin Jeff and I practically share the same heart, and so do Niki and my cousin Jenn. Its really fun to be with them becuase we are so much alike. But sad as it may be the weekend ended, and everyone headed back down the thruway. Dave and I were happy to have some quiet time at home to reflect on the weekend, and just relax.

Holistic moms

I just have to tell you about this wonderful, amazing group! I finally have found a place where as a mom, I can gather with other moms and be totally honest and open. I can ask questions and get real answers, along with meeting honest caring people. I am just really at peace and at home with Holistic Moms. I am so grateful that such a group like this exists. I realize the importance of mothers being together and supporting one another.

Tonites meeting was about "Food Choices" and how and why we eat the way we do. Members sat in a circle and were to go around the room and tell what healthy food they enjoy eating, what non-healthy food they also enjoy, what food they absolutely won't give their family, and finally do you judge people who eat different than you. In most places this type of meeting could get a bit ugly since people are very opinionated, and rightfully so. Well tonite, as typical of Holistic ,people were just very honest and open with their answers. Most women talked about how they feel stressed that they don't have time to prepare a healthy meal and then end up at MCdonalds sometimes, others said that they kill themselves to make a healthy meal and then feel resentful at times. People talked about being vegetarian for 10 years, now going back to eating meat and feeling guilty. Many people talked about the difficulty of feeding toddlers since they're so picky and tried to exchange ideas with each other. Most of what I heard from the women surrounded their lack of time and energy to cook a good dinner for their family. Most of the women have more than one children, or a newborn who needs to nurse all the time and they're never hands free to cook. So true! I heard the moms of babies less than 5 months old sounding very stressed that they're never hands free. I was able to share that I have been more hands free since Olivia turned 6 months and I could see the look of relief crossing a few faces. :)

So it was a great meeting and a safe place for all to share, and thats really what I love about the group. I talked about how I'm needing to make a descision on whether to raise Olivia vegetarian, and how I"ve been having some uncertainty on the issue. Her food has been a major stressor for me becuase I want to give her healthy options and do the right thing for her. I get overwhelmed by information overload. But I have good intentions and hopefully my brain and heart will come together and make a descision that will work for Olivia. I am just grateful that I found this group and find it very supportive for my mothering adventures. I've been to other meetings where people are judged and it seems as though an agenda is being pushed. This isn't like that and I think thats why the women can gather and be open and honest with each other.

Lily and Zachary

Tonite we got together with Dean and Candie! They brought their two beautiful children, Lily, age 4 months, and Zachary age 2. We had a really nice time, and the kids played together beautifully. Zachary spent the night watching after Olivia and giving her lots of hugs and Kisses. We only get to see Dean and Candie 3-4 times a year, but we appreciate our time together alot. Unlike most of us 1st time parents, nothing phases them now. They're so much more relaxed than those of us navigating this journey as newbies, and it was refreshing to be with them tonite. I've seen the difference in them since this is their second time having a newborn. They're so much more relaxed...its funny how alittle expierience can give us some peace about our abilities. :)
We made homemade pizza, ate munchies, and enjoyed some wine together. Of course all of this was done bouncing kids in one arm, and trying to make food with my free hand. Juggling the kids and trying to catch up on our everchanging lives was a big task. We reminisced about days gone by, when we would sit around their bonfire chatting the night away, and just relaxing...this was pre-family of course. Tonite we barely got 2 sentences in before we lost our train of thought due to making funny faces at each others children, in an attempt to get a giggle. By the end of the night Lily was in 7pm meltdown "newborn fussy mode", so I wore her in my sling and we strolled around the house. She loved it! Candie was ever so grateful to see the sling work so well. It totally brought back memories of wearing Olivia in the sling during her fussy time, which always started around 5:30pm. Now at 8 months, just 4 short months later, 5:3o is now a great time to interact with her. Its funny how a few months just changes everything. Little Zachary at age 2, was requesting to see our basement over and over again, and Dean being the adorable father that he is, took him down there tirelessly.

So although our get together was a far cry from the ones that we used to enjoy, we all learned so much from each other tonite. I was able to look at two people who are raising two amazing kids, and learn real life stuff from them. We talked about real issues, and tried to give each other encouragement surrounding various things that we're going through. For Candie she is dealing with a close friend who is hurting her deeply, and they have been close since middle school. Dean is juggling an insane work schedule, and Dave and I are overwhelmed new homeowners. We all tried to listen to each other, and offer a few words of encouragement where we could. I think parenting makes you more open to discussing things with other parents, because I've found that other parents need each other. I always appreciate talking with other parents becuase I know that they "get it." They've entered this other great and complicated world with me, and they know exactly what I mean when I tell them that I forget to take care of myself, or confess that I haven't had time to wash my kitchen floor in two weeks. Theres a comfort there that comes with the intiation into parenthood. People that at one time I had nothing in common with, I now share a whole list of things in common. Its funny how that happens!

Tomorrow we're heading to our Neighborhood picnic sponsored by the association. I'm hoping to win a door prize, as they all sound great! We seen the big tent set up for tomorrow, and they're having the neighborhood kids take part in a parade...it sounds really cute. They're all decorating their bicylces and strollers. We won't be partaking the in parade, but we're going to the picnic to be neighborly. Dave didn't want to go, but I told him that its good to do things like this, and we'll probably meet a few more neighbors. Then we're off to ELLABEAN's 1st Birthday Bash!! Can't wait to see the little Bean and give her a big birthday hug!!

Houston we have a crawler!

Its official....our little lulu bean is a crawler. She started this great new task on Saturday while I was out with Grandma Z grocery shopping. Dave called my cell and was so excited that he was there to see it....he even took a video on the camera. Go Dave! I cried like she graduated high school or something....I just feel like we've passed a major milestone and theres no looking back. Olivia can now move to get things that she wants, and she does so very deliberately now...shes on a mission. My mom put it really good, she pretended Olivia talks and said " I've been sitting here watching all of you for 8 months, and now I'm off to see what all the fuss is about! Watch out!" So true! Lulu has been sitting pretty staring at us, and now shes off to create her own place in the world. How cool. I'm so glad that Dave got to see a first, as he misses her so much when he's at work. He calls 50 times a day for Olivia updates, and I know it meant the world to him to be with her for that first crawl. And you know what she crawled to....the telephone that had fallen on the floor! Thats my girl! Shes still not 100% sure of herself when crawling, and she takes these little breaks where she'll resort to rolling again, but Rachel assured me that these things take awhile. Rachel assures me alot about motherhood....thank God for her!! Thanks Rachel!!

We visited my mom and sister today and another first happened....Olivia knows the dog. We pulled up to my moms house and enter the house where Olivia see's coco and says " CoCo, CoCo, CoCo." We were shocked. Coco stayed with us 2 weeks ago, and Olivia has seen her alot, and we repeat Coco's name to her alot, but I was shocked that she said her name. Go Lulu. Tonite when I was putting her to bed she saw Coco's picture and repeated her name! So amazing these little beings are. I'm re-learning the world through her eyes and I love it. It makes me feel closer to God when I re-learn about the world through Olivia. I know theres a bible verse about that but I can't remember where?? Hmm??? I'll find it.

On another Olivia note, a friend called tonite who has a video for me that she just received about Vaccines. For those of you who know me, you know that I've delayed her vaccine schedule, and am doing this for safety reasons. I've done too much research and its such a huge issue that I just sort of shut down becuase I don't know where to go from here. According to my friend, she says this video was done by an MD, who did over 6000 hours of research on Vaccines, and quotes the CDC and World Health Organization, which is where I get lots of my info from. 6000 hours is alot of research, and I'm respectful of this because I've probably done 40 hours and my journey took me to places far and away for some very eye opening facts. I'm very middle of the road on this issue because I have to balance my child's health with eye opening scary statistics that most people don't even take the time to check into. I have been dreading her appt in July becuase it will mean I have to make a descision about what to do next. So far she has never gotten more than 1-2 vaccines at an appt, and her reactions have been normal. Ack. Its so crazy to think about, and I wish it were as easy as either doing them or not doing them, but its not that way. Oh well....this video is over 2 hours and I'm very curious to hear what the MD has to say. This is a tough journey for me, and has been the worst part of motherhood. Knowing that Olivia's future health is in my hands by a descision I make now, is something that I don't take lightly. We'll see where to go after I watch the video.

Peace and blessings

Olivia update

Well, Olivia has started doing a new trick, and gaining in strength by the minute. She can now go from lying down, to sitting up, all by herself. Now after waking from her nap she sits up in her crib and chills our talking to herself and looking at her picture board. Where is the time going? This is the newest thing of the week to report.....next to her repeating "Ca Caa" time and time again. My grandma said it once to Olivia becuase she was trying to put a brush in her mouth, and it stuck. She says it all time now...everything is "Ca Caa." Speaking of Grandma Z, we took her and Livy to Panera Bread for dinner tonite, and what a fun time we had! It was great becuase there was plenty of hustle and bustle to keep Olivia busy, the food was good, and Grandma Z was having a great time watching Olivia eat her sweet potatoes. I gave Olivia little bits of bread and she loved it! While we were there several people stopped to talk to Olivia, and a little 5 year old played with her for 10 mintes and was trying to teach her to count. :) It was very cute, and fun! Dinner outings aren't usually the funnest, but the stars were aligned tonite, and we had a great time.

Busy weekend!

What a fun weekend it was! Yeah! I love those fun weekends. We had some friends visit, Jen and Chris, who just fell in love with Olivia. They were so good with her, and really seemed to have fun with her. Lulu was definetly flirting with Chris, which I thought Jen handled pretty well. He got the most crinkly nose smiles that I've seen in awhile, but in all fairness, Jen got her fair share as well. On Saturday Jenn T had a picnic for our undergrad Brockport crew. Everyone seemed a bit tired by the unexpected heat, but all in all we had a good time. She made some awesome food, and Jenn and Keith were the "hosts with the most" as they always are! They really know how to make you feel at home. :)
Monday we had the family over and did some planting, along with eating lots of food. We stuck with the all american menu of potato salad, corn on the cob, burgers, caprise salad, apple pie, pineapple summer cake, and lots more. Ralphie was a big help with the planting, which is good since I know nothing about gardening. I wish I had paid more attention when my mom was slaving away in our gardens growing up, but I always had better things to do like talk on the phone, or sunbathe. :) Livy started copying everything we said this weekend, and doing her best to repeat it, such as the phrase, "good girl" was "ga ga." When we said " ca ca" in warning her not to put something in her mouth, she would keep saying it over and over. So cute! She is really really blossoming, and changing daily now. I feel like we're leaving babyhood and heading into toddlerhood. So fun and amazing!
I"m getting nervous about my 2 upcoming interviews. How do I get two interviews in one week? Isn't it funny how life works....you go from zero to two in a matter of 24 hours. Crazy. Wish me luck...I feel out of practice. I better brush up. I'm feeling so sad about leaving lulu....it really is bothering me, but I'm trying to get hired first before worrying. It will be good for her to be with her grandparents a few times a week, but at the same time I'll miss her.
On wednesday Livy's new friend Aiden is coming over for a few hours. His mom has an errand to run so I'll be watching Aiden. His mom Deb is our neighbor, and we decided to trade off here and there for babysitting. He's only a few months older than Livy so it will be great for her to have a playmate now and again.

Oooey Gooey Day

Olivia has started saying more than one word at a time now...well I call them words but sometimes they're just sounds. Her latest combo is " A Gaa." That started yesterday. I swear she wakes up and its all different...all of the sudden shes doing something completely wonderful and different from yesterday. Today we went to the "ooey gooey" playgroup, and many of the Holistic Moms were there. They're all such wonderful and nice women, very comfortable to be around. Olivia was in her sling just watching all the action because she was still a bit young for many of the activities. I think it was more fun for me to be there talking to the moms. The need to be around other moms is intrinsic, and its a need that I have to meet. While grocery shopping a few days ago, I ran into a mom from the "Babies Love Babies" group that I attend. We briefly stopped to chat, and we both wanted to talk about so many things together becuase we have children the same age, but her daughter started crying, and we both looked at each other and I could feel that we both knew it was time to move on. Right now our lives aren't our own, and we're at the beautiful and amazing call of our prescious children. It can feel stiffling at times, like when you want to just have a chat with another mom in Wegmans and you can't because your child needs something from you. You're always trying to be one step ahead of their needs so you can get your shopping done, and so they'll remain peaceful and comfortable. I realize that this journey of raising my children is going to go faster than the speed of light. While right now I'm wishing for 15 minutes to read "People" magazine or have some time to myself, someday I'll have lots of time to myself. Olivia will be grown, and I'll be toodling around thinking about how I wish I could have that time back when she was just a babe. Isn't that scary? To me it is. Right now I'm living the very memories I'll be longing for when I'm old.When I was working with the Elderly I learned that the time with our family is what we reminsicne about most, and they would always say that they would give anything to have it all back. Even now I just wish I could hold Olivia when she was first born. I want to hold her and just really look at her in pure amazement. That was only 7 months ago and already I want that time back again.

Another Olivia note...she tried Avocado today. Missy was here to witness the interesting gags and looks of uncertainty that I was receiving. Then she gave me the wonderful idea of just adding some water, and it worked. It helped thin out the thickness a bit. Missy has been here to witness many of Olivia's accomplishments. She rallied almost daily for her to roll over, and Missy would literally get on the floor and demonstrate over and over how to roll, and she waited so patiently for Olivia to do it. Finally one day she got her sweet rewards, and Olivia rolled for Missy, and then she never stopped rolling, and rolling and rolling. :) Olivia and Missy are definetly buddies. Heres a pic.

As a sidenote, Missy and her husband, Mr. Wayne, have just adopted a 12 year old boy in their community who needed a familiy to call his own. He's an amazing young man, and they are amazing people, who live their life according to God's will and plan for them. Missy you're going to make a wonderful mom to Jordan, and we wish you all the love and support that God has in store for you. Jordan is very blessed to have you as parents, and you're even more blessed to have him as your son. Happy Mommyhood Missy!

Identity theft is awful

My poor friend from high school called last night, and updated me on why she hasn't been in touch lately. Danielle had her identity stolen, and I feel the need to blog this on her behalf. She had a package stolen that was delivered to her apartment, and the package contained most of her personal information. The thieves have her entire life, bank account numbers, and all financial information contained inside this package, as it was a copy of her mortgage paperwork. Yea...thats right...mortgage paperwork...shes closing on her new home like next week. Ugh. The worst part is that the thieves emptied all of her accounts, leaving her no cash at all. I wish Danielle would blog this herself because I'm not doing her story any justice, but basically since the bank cannot prove it WASN'T Danielle who took the money out, shes completely OUT of cash. Lots of cash.....we're talking thousands here. She isn't protected in any way to get her money back. This could happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere, and it isn't due to the internet. You could fill out an application for anything, and it could be on someone's desk since they're working on your file, and someone could come along and steal the app, or make a copy of it, and do what they want with your identity. Danielle's identity is out there, and theives are making money selling it to other thieves, and things could be opened in her name for the rest of her life. This could happen to any of us....it is very very easy to rob our identity at any time. Danielle's story may appear on Dateline in the future.

The best part of the story was when Danielle said that she contacted Social Security to change her number. One would think that this would be a good idea, right? Well SS said that she could change her number, but she when she retires, nothing from her previous work will be calculated...meaning it will be as if she never contributed to Social Security until right now...the last 10 years wouldn't count. Did you know this? There should be legislation against this....we American's should be protected better than this. If we have to change our number due to identity theft, we shouldn't be penalized for it. I'm writing my legislators...and I hope someone introduces a bill to congress to change this. (As a sidenote I just wrote my legislators about an issue with a local sex offender, and several have written me back with updates, and even called me. One congressman wrote me back twice with what he's doing on this issue. So our voice matters, we just don't think it does.)

When I spoke with her last night she told me this horrible story, and how she has worked two jobs over the last few years to save money for her first home. Now she has nothing left, nothing. I just feel awful for her, and am asking everyone to pray for a miracle. She has an attorney who is working on recooping some of her funds, but this is a long and expensive process....attorney's dont fight hard for free. Please keep her in prayer. She was kind enough to email all of her friends and urge them to buy identity theft insurance from State Farm, and sign up with Equifax. Equifax will email you immediately if someone is opening something in your name, and this would help you stop the transaction if you weren't the one who intiated it. State farm will cover you for up to $20,000 in legal fee's...which will be a drop in the bucket if you're fighting multiple companies to protect your identity.

Danielle, you sounded so brave on the phone last night. I admire your courage, strength, stamina, and fortitude to fight this awful situtation. Let us know if Dateline covers your story! We're rooting for you.

Heres a few links that might be helpful for the rest of us.

http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

www.equifax.com

http://www.idtheftcenter.org/index.shtml
Lisa

Livy Update, 7 months

Mealtimes are becoming quite interesting around here. Livy is ready and willing to try whatever we give her. This week our big introduction was tofo. I pureed it and added it to fruit, and later some veggies. She also tried yogurt this week and ate it right up. I can't really tell if she has a favorite food, but if she doesn't like something then she gags on it and looks at me with a very confused look. She tried some mashed up fresh organic banana's and she really really liked those. She sits all by herself now, and has been for about the passed month. Her vocabulary consists of "Mama" and "Baba." She also has started drinking from a sippy cup, but I certainly wouldn't say we've mastered it. She lets me hold it and she'll drink from it, occasionally grabbing for it. She loves to play "back and forth" games, meaning she'll make a noise and then we copy it back to her...this goes on for awhile. Her favorite is a pathetic fake cough, then I do it, then she does it, and this goes on and on. :) She also has been doing this whole new "crinkly nose" smile, (pictured above)where she smiles at you, then finishes it off with a complete crinkling of her nose. We go crazy over this smile...I have to get it on video! Getting her to belly laugh is more of a challenge...interestingly she will belly laugh when I'm kissing her tummy, but its only because my hair tickeles her face. Jenn (Auntie E) discovered that livy loves to have people's hair tickle her little face, it just makes her laugh and laugh. Go Auntie E!

Rainy day

What a rainy day! Ack. Boring rainy day. However, it ended with the sun coming out so Lulu and I headed out for a walk to the drugstore. While we were there we chatted with the manager, who has a son lulu's age. He spoke of how hard it is to leave him at daycare every morning, and trust his son in the hands of someone else. Which made me think how hard it will soon be for me, when I go back to work, to leave Olivia for the day. I received a call for a job interview today, so now reality has struck that within a few weeks I could be joining the land of the working folk again. I will have to establish a new routine and schedule, and drop Olivia off at my in-laws. We'll have new mountains to climb, new adjustments to make as a family, and new transitions. I'm getting ahead of myself here because I haven't been offered a position yet....but it just made me think. The reality of leaving Olivia in the caring hands of my in-laws will be a change for me. But if it happens, then its God's timing, which is always perfect.

Speaking of changes, my family pet coco isn't doing too well, and may be passing on sometime this week. She has been a loving and devoted Dog to our family, and it is with great sadness that I even write this. She used to meet me at the bustop, and wait joyfully for our afternoon strolls. When I lived at home we used to walk and walk, me and Coco, just talking about life and all its idiosyncracies. :) My high school friends knew coco well, as did my college friends. She was the friendliest dog you could ever hope to know, and she still is. Even Olivia got to meet her, and just adored Coco. She is a beagle/shepherd mix, and has lived 16 wonderful years, 14 of them with us. She spent her early days roaming Ridgeway avenue until someone turned her into the Humane society where we were lucky to have found her. I will miss her dearly. Here she is with Dave and I, on the church steps at our wedding ceremony...we couldn't have passed up the opportunity to be photographed with such an amazing soul. I love you Coco.

Lisa

Happy Thoughts

When I opened my email this morning I found an email from Sharon (my old supervisor from my graduate internship who I still keep in touch with) pleading for my help. She just had surgery and needed a ride out to her doctor in Canandagua. She had a very early appt, which would leave me barely any time to get me and Olivia ready....but I decided that maybe I should consider helping her out. Normally I'm not so flexible, but today I decided that maybe God wants me to start being more flexible. In doing so I dropped her off at her doctor's appt, and was able to drive around and kill some time. My hubby and I had our reception in Canandagau, so I drove by the place, just for fun. Livy was fast asleep as I pulled into the parking lot. I have been back there a few times since my wedding, and always enjoyed going. But there was just something about today. It was really special. I drove up and saw the awning outside, still the same, where we had our receiving line. Then I saw the porch overlooking the lake, where our guests enjoyed their meal, and the gorgeous view of the lake. I thought about all the people who came to wish us well, and traveled in from places near and far. Then I saw the windows of the room that we stayed in, and how we peaked our heads out the morning after to wave goodbye to our family/friends who stayed there with us. I thought about the way my family danced til the end, and had more fun then I seen them have in awhile. I recalled my feelings as we walked down by the docks for pictures, and I remembered how I kept thinking, "Cherish today, its history in the making, and you only get to live your wedding day today. Today is the only day we get to be bride and groom." It was trully a perfect day.

Going there today reminded to celebrate more often the reason's that I married Dave, and why I was so happy on that day. There has always been something special about that place, and it brought back all those feelings of why I chose to have my reception there, and celebrate one of my most beautiful days on Earth. So if you're married, and you haven't been back in awhile, go to that special place and re-live that beautiful day together. My happy morning was a reminder that sometimes when we don't feel like being flexible, we might miss out on what little Miracles God has in store for us. Peace, love, and happy thoughts.

Happy Mothers day to all the wonderful moms out there! Today was my first mothers day with Olivia. She is 7 months old. To say I can't believe where the time has gone is only half true. Although its going fast, I've been blessed to spend these past7 months watching Olivia grow into this amazing little person. For my mothers day gift she chose today to pull herself up into the standing position. Dave and I were there to bear witness to this amazing event. She placed her litttle hands on the side of her crib, and pulled with all of her might. She toppled over right away, and did what lulu does best...she laughed at herself and tried again. Then later in the day she showed off her new trick to her grandma and grandpa Rizzo, and they were in awe. We're all in awe of her, she has changed our lives and added so much more. This little lulu-bean.....some days are long and tiring, but even in my most tired moment she will do one small thing and I'll forget everything except that moment, and cherish it for the rest of my life.

To celebrate Mothers day we went to see a band play at the Lilac Festival, and Olivia got to expierience her first concert, and the Lilac's. She was rather chill during the concert, but afterwards enjoyed sniffing the lilac bushes and of course wanted to feel the lilacs, and she would have eaten them if we hadn't stopped her. Rachel,Ben, and beautiful Hannah were there to share in the fun!