April is...

Well, most of you know that April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and Prevent Child Abuse Month, but did you know it is also the Month of the Military Child? Yep, during the month of April we were to take special time out to honor the children of military members. Of course, we honor Miss Olivia EVERY month (ok, every day), but it is still fun to play along. So, in honor of the Month of the Military Child, we took some cute pictures. I think I got the skirt as a shower gift, and the t-shirt was something I picked up at the BX when we first got here. And, well, you can guess where her footwear is from...

Daddy helped hold her up here. She was a little off balance for some reason :)


Can you read her shirt? So cute!

I wonder if a camo mini-skirt is standard-issued with combat boots?

I played around with that one and got this.

I like the look it gives:

Olivia and Gabe go to the Park

Monkey see, Monkey do. What Gabe does, Olivia does. What Olivia gets, Gabe gets. Seriously. I'll be on the phone with Angie (Gabe's Mommy), and she'll say something like, "Oh, Gabe figured out how to open the cupboard, so I had to put the locks up." I'll tell her how Olivia doesn't know how to open the cupboards or drawers. The next thing I know, Olivia is opening the drawers in the kitchen and closing her fingers in them...While I'm still on the phone! I'll tell Angie how Olivia hates getting her diaper changed or getting dressed, and she'll say "Oh, Gabe is fine with that stuff." The next day, she'll call and tell me how all of a sudden Gabe won't sit still during changing time. So, you know how Olivia has been sick off and on? Well, Gabe has been sick too. They even got put on the same stronger antibiotics (at the same time), because they both still got sicker while on the Amox. So a couple weekends ago, when they were both finally feeling better, we decided to head to the park. We went to one of the parks on base. There wasn't much for them to do, but they did swing on the swings, play on the slide and play in the grass too. And they had fun! This was Olivia's first time on the swings...she loved it! See for yourself.

Hey this is pretty fun!


"How high can you go?"


Laughing at Gabe:


Swinging together:


So...this is her new thing. She scrunches her face up when she smiles. I don't know why or where she picked this up. But this is what she does now when she finds something amusing. What a face!


The mommies and babies. It's too bad that Angie and Gabe will be moving in June! We all love playing together.


She likes the swing:

"Push me, Daddy!"

Walking on the grass with Mommy:

Playing on the slide. Gabe climbed all the way up it!

Not sure what this face is. The child has so many faces!

I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas...

Some might find this funny, others might think it is mean. Either way I am going to share it with you! This is a video of Olivia chowing on some bananas - real, peeled chunks of bananas, as opposed to her usual pureed baby food bananas. As you will see, she is a texture person. She really does like bananas, but she isn't a fan of the true texture. Don't worry, she isn't choking! That is just how she reacts to textures she doesn't like. You can imagine her reaction to cottage cheese...while we were at a restaurant! And you can also see that she knows the sign for "more." Such a smart girl! Ignore my videography skills, it is a little difficult to hold the camera steady and feed her at the same time.

What A Day!

Olivia is fascinated with the dog's food. And water. When she isn't trying to shove mini-chunks in her mouth, her favorite game is to splash in the water bowl. Sometimes, she even grabs a magnet from the fridge, crawls back to the bowl, and dunks it in and out of the water. She really likes the ones Kelly made because they stick to the side of the bowl nicely (sorry Kelly!). And when she is done playing, if she hasn't been caught yet, her finishing touch is to dump the water out...everywhere. As you can see, I wasn't fast enough...



"What?"... "I didn't do it..."

"She caught me! Maybe if I crawl away quickly I won't get in trouble..."

"Never mind...it's just too much fun to play in. Going back for more."

And, while I was busy cleaning/drying the carpet and getting her into dry clothes (and baby jail), I forgot what I was originally doing...the dishes.
So, I ALMOST overflowed the sink. Got there just in time! And since I had the camera right there from catching the crime, I figured why not show you.

FYI- it is not easy to get rid of this many suds:

Apparently, she had tired herself out getting into mischief that night. She feel asleep eating...like mid-bite. Hilarious!

I even have video to prove it...she was out. So funny, and cute!

Fun at Araha

The weather hasn't been pretty the last couple days, so when I saw the sun was shining today, I decided to make a quick trip to the beach. So, after we dropped daddy off at work, Olivia and I went to Araha Beach and walked around. I brought my camera (of course), and played around a little bit. Enjoy!

The end of the beach area, where I hadn't been yet:


I caught a bird walking around:


But I think I scared him away:


Since she is getting big enough, I figured we would try out the little playground they had there. She is sitting in one of those spring-rocking thingies:

Well, here she is making eyes at the boys playing basketball behind us:

Big smile:

She figured out how to rock it! And she likes it:

"Mom, this is pretty fun:"

Being brave, started standing up on it. Time to put the camera down...

Baby's First Easter

We had a wonderful day! Once Olivia had her morning bottle, she set out to find her Easter basket. Daddy helped her look for it, since the Easter Bunny told mommy where it was hidden, in case nobody could find it.


We played the "hot and cold" game. Daddy was "cold" here:


"You're on fire!!" Olivia found it. Silly Easter Bunny hid the basket in the dryer!


She started to take things out of it while it was still in there:
(notice the dog food bowls, up out of a certain some one's reach)


This was a family Easter basket, everyone got a little something. Some Mike n Ike's and pez for Daddy, bunny books and puffs for baby, finger puppets for baby, Hersey's kisses for mommy, and a bone for Jill:

She was pretty happy about the bone:

Afterwards, we went to the Easter Brunch at one of the Club's on base. It was very nice. There were tons of food! Eggs, homefries, bacon, sausage, fried rice with ham and eggs, mahi mahi, mashed potatoes, chicken, etc. Leg of lamb, prime rib, and ham carving stations. Waffle and omelet stations. Salad, fruit, and dessert bars. We could have stayed there all day! And the best part? No dishes or clean-up for us!!

Olivia enjoying some rice, with her bunny bib:

Now she is trying some waffles...yummy:

Here are some shots from the rest of the weekend.

So sweet sleeping in Daddy's arms:

Saturday, we all went for a walk around our housing area. Can you read this sign? Jill is looking for the military dogs...maybe she should apply to be one!?

She is playing the "Where's Olivia?" game. She thinks just because it is on her head, it counts...

She is starting to play with her dolls and such. And she can hug them and say "Aaaawwww." Here, she is hugging the lamb Grandma gave her:

She really likes the lamb, and will just crawl up and lay on it being sweet:

Happy Easter!!

Drum roll please: And the Cadbury Egg goes to.......Both of us!!! I know, technically Olivia won with 7 votes, but Jill was a close second with 6 votes. And she really had the most fun with it, as you can see with the pictures. So, both Mike and I will be enjoying the treat!

Here are the official Easter pictures I teased you with earlier.

Sweet Face Olivia Grace:

She loved playing with the eggs:

Mean Face Olivia Grace:

I think Olivia is a little annoyed that Jill is trying to steal her thunder here:

Seriously, she wouldn't stop getting in the way, so I finally just let her have the spotlight:

This is my absolute favorite picture:

And our card!