Olivia's First Birthday Party - Rainbows and Hearts

We had Olivia's birthday party the day (Saturday) after her birthday. I decided on a theme of rainbows and hearts because at the time she was obsessed with the Mickey's Rainbow Picnic book. I also found a picture of a cute rainbow heart cake and used it for inspiration. Please note that a sweet friend made the cake (thank you, Becky!).

We had her birthday party at our house and invited a small group of close friends and family. The crowd was small which made everything much less stressful for the mama. Guests included Grammy, Aunt Kelley, cousin Tyley, Lolo, Momo, Popo, Papa Joe, Boo (Annie Jo), Lela, Kellen and Keegan (Kemp), Natalie, Kylee and Heidi (Blair), and Aunt Misty and Mr. Matt. A big thank you to Papa Joe for taking pictures during the party!

In keeping with the rainbow theme, I also made rainbow cupcakes (you know, because the huge rainbow heart cake wasn't enough). I pretty much did this for Nathan, because to him you can't have a birthday party without cupcakes. I also enlisted the help of mostly-willing family to make rainbow fruit kabobs and put out rainbow goldfish. We decorated with rainbow color balloons and flowers. Here are the finished products.

I had no organized activities, other than a coloring page for the bigger kids (created by Mom and Aunt Kelley) so we just let the kids play and run around. We had minimal melt-downs, so I deemed it a success. Olivia held on tight to me while we sang Happy Birthday and Brother helped blow out the candle. Then she devoured her cupcake! All around it was a good day filled with love and friends. You can't ask for much more!

Three friends.  Blonde (Heidi), brunette (Livy) and red head (Keegan)!

Keegan and Kylee

The balloons were a big hit!

Smile, Aunt Kelley

Smiley Tyley

Grammy and Aunt Kelley

Aunt Misty and Livy-bug

"Take me there, Daddy!"

In case you can't tell, Daddy carried Olivia around while Nathan was glued to me. 

"Popo, get that for me!"

My lap is still big enough for both of my babies. I love my snuggles!

Papa Joe and Annie Jo (Boo)

Holding tight to Mommy while everyone sings Happy Birthday

Blowing out the candle

"Now we're talking!"

Purple Bear from Papa Joe and Boo was a hit.

Sweet bear (hugs).

Rubber duck picked out by cousin Tyley especially for Olivia

Olivia Turns One!!

Dear Olivia,

My angel, you turned one year old last month! Just when I thought my heart couldn't hold any more love, you came along and stretched it even further. Your sweet hugs and beautiful smile make my heart sing. You show your love for us in so many ways and I am excited to see your personality continue to develop. You are already very different from your brother, but I can tell you both love each other very much and enjoy playing together...most of the time. We definitely know when brother isn't sharing. You have a very distinct voice when Nathan is trying to take a toy away from you, while you hold on with a death grip. I'm certain I'll have many more years of "sharing" to look forward to. In the mean time angel, just remember that Mommy loves you, no matter what.

Love and hugs,
Mommy

We went to see Dr. Haney for Olivia's well check the Monday after her birthday (which fell on a Friday this year). Here are the stats: Length 28.7 inches (33%) and weight 20 lbs 2 oz (67%). Wearing size 12-18 month clothes and Size 4 diapers. Here are some milestones and notable personality traits between 9 months and 1 year old:

• She is pulling up but not balancing on her own yet (~10 months)
• Crawls fast and stands up whenever possible
• Taste tests everything!
• First ponytail 5/22/14 (too much cuteness)
• Cut top tooth (quickly followed by other top tooth) 6/8/14
• First word probably "dada" but more frequently is cat ("dat" with a hard "T" at the end). Other words by the time she was one year old were mama, ba (a multipurpose word) and that ("dat", without the hard "t")
• Loves to shake and dance to music. Especially Mickey Mouse Clubhouse songs but even something like brother's singing. Her teachers say there is one particular song ("Little Puppy") she really shakes her head to (tilting side to side)
• Loves to slash in the bathtub and taste the bubbles. She usually gets pretty mad when bath time is over and we take her out.
• Still takes a bottle to go to sleep and usually another in middle of the night. That adds up to four to five, 7 oz bottles a day and baby food or real food snacks in between. She started practicing with a sippy cup at school on 6/19/14.
• Her Favorite book is any one that makes noise. Probably Animals on the Farm. Mickey's Rainbow Picnic is a close second. She is starting to sit still and listen to books more frequently, especially first thing in the morning and right before bed, but during the day doesn't she want to miss anything fun.
• Eating real food hasn't been a problem. She'll try pretty much anything and does a decent job of getting it in her mouth. But when she's done or bored you know because that's when the spitting and banging and pushing it out with her tongue starts. Everything made for babies that she gets (puffs, yogurt melts, mum mums) Nathan wants too. Olivia definitely prefers to feed herself!
• Cut 2 more top teeth last week of July. Altogether cutting 4 on top and working on her 1 yr molars.
• Likes to blow "raspberries" on other people's arms and legs then laugh at the sound it makes. Not so funny in the middle of worship sweet girl!
• She took her first steps at Aunt Kimberley's house the weekend of July 4th. By July 20th she was able to stand up in the middle of the floor by herself. By August 11th she was walking with purpose (13 months)! Sure, she still looks a little like a zombie baby, but she gets where she's going.
• She loves hats and tries to put them on her head all the time.
• Her favorite toy is a ball. She self-entertains by rolling a small ball on the tile floor and then chasing after it or by banging two of them together. She also likes to put them in things (basketball hoops, entertainment table, etc). Her second favorite toy is the baby wipe box. Specifically, prying it open and pulling all of the wipes out.
• Her personality is so different from Nathan's. She is demanding and assertive where he is much more passive. She is also pretty aggressive and will pinch and pull hair if something is not done to her liking (such as taking a toy away from her). On the other hand, she is very loving and enjoys hugs, kisses and snuggles. 

Here are more pictures of my sweet little lady bug (all from the month of July). 

Just working at Brother's tool bench. No big deal.

The birthday girl was less than cooperative during her morning photo shoot. The picture at the beginning of this post was the best one I took. Here are a few more gems...

A girl has to have (half) a cupcake on her birthday! 

She had no problem figuring out what to do with it.

Happy Birthday Livy-bug!

Yee-haw! Trying to accessorize her dress with a cowboy hat. She was born in the right State.

Mickey Mouse zombie (while at home sick one week after her birthday)

Being silly with Daddy while staying at home. She got very mild measles from her MMR vaccine...along with a cold and teething and an ear infection. It was a blast.

Mommy's turn to stay home with the angel. By now she was feeling better but couldn't go to school because she ran a fever the night before. Faker.

Sweet snuggles from my sweet girl.

Exploring a basket with Bunny

Pretty girl hanging out with Daddy while Mommy catches up on work.

Trying to figure out what is so interesting about this monitor Mom and Dad are always looking at.