Olivia is ONE!

Oh Olivia...you may be one year old now, but you will forever be my baby.  I can't believe one year has passed since you were born.  It's so unreal how big you have gotten and how much you have learned in just one year.

You weigh 21.8 lb and are xx" tall (gotta measure you still!).  You are very comfortably wearing 12-18 month clothes and are starting to outgrow your size 4 shoes.  You just got your sixth tooth on your birthday.

You do not like strangers.  You struggle being in the church nursery, often crying before I have even left the room!  You usually do manage to settle down now, which is nice for me.  Even though Nathan is there with you, you just want me.

I probably am your overall favourite, but you are always excited to see your Dad in the mornings or after work.

You have started to follow directions.  "Give Mommy a bite."  "Give Mommy your soother."  "Come here."  "Don't put that in your mouth."

You are really learning to walk quickly, although you are still bow-legged.

Your favourite thing to do is swim!  You are a fish.  You love it so much that I scoured the internet for hours, trying to figure out what swimming aids there are for one year olds of your weight.  There are not many!  I really wanted you to have a little bit of freedom while we are camping in Penticton and Gallagher Lake this summer, so I knew I had to find something quickly.  Believe it or not, Bed Bath and Beyond had the most selection, so I ordered four different aids for the 20-33lb range.  When they came, two looked far to big, so they were ruled out instantly.  We went swimming on your birthday as a family after your siblings' practice swim lessons and tested out the one I thought would work the best and it was fantastic.  You totally have independence, yet a ton of mobility.  Obviously we can't leave you on your own, but you now have freedom to swim where you want to go (and you do!  You actually kick and move your arms and swim places.  You're a natural!).

You are very communicative when it comes to letting me know when you are done eating.  For the most part, I let you take the lead in telling me when you don't want more to eat.  When you shake your head, "no" and purse your lips, it's very clear that you do not want to eat any more.  You are also really starting to communicate when you want something, grunting or squealing to make yourself heard.

You LOVE Kayla.  Kayla is always helping you out, especially when you want something.  Today alone she gave you a ride on her scooter and on the tricycle.  You were all smiles!

Olivia, it's so hard to believe that a year has gone by.  I can't believe that it was a year ago that you were brought into this world and we got to enjoy you while we busied ourselves getting ready for your very first camping trip at six days old, to Penticton.  And here we go again, busying ourselves in camping preparations and this time you're one.  It's going to be a whole lot different this year!

Nathan's Pretty Funny

Nathan (while I was ignoring him):  "Mom.  Mom.  Mom.  Mom.  Mom."

Jon:  "What buddy?"

Nathan:  "No, I want Mom.  Are you a girl?!?!?!"




Oh burn, Jon!

How We Spent BC Day

We started off the day by Jon running a couple errands early in the morning, and then when he came home I left with my Mom to go grocery shopping at Superstore.  Jon packed up the kids and headed to my parents' house and we met him there when we were done.

The kids had lunch of buns with hagelslaac (chocolate sprinkles) and fresh tomatoes from my parents' garden.  Nathan can easily eat 20 of them in one sitting!

The kids and Jon went swimming in the pool a couple times.  I joined them once, although am not nearly as fun as Jon is for them.

{Olivia LOVES the water.  When everyone else struggles to adjust to the water temperature, she doesn't care.  She just gets in with a smile on her face and plays instantly.}

After swimming the first time the kids came inside to do cutting/gluing (Matthew and Kayla) and play Barbies (Nathan) while Olivia napped.

When Olivia woke up she had a drink and snack, but then was left on her own for one minute too long...

...somebody opened the liquor cupboard even though they knew they weren't allowed to and started dropping bottles on the ground!  Thank goodness most were plastic!

...and somebody got angry when she got told "no" and everything was cleaned up.

The kids spent a lot of time on the tractor!

They drove it around until the battery died :)

Olivia figured out how to squeeze the horn.  Very annoying!

I had a turkey in the freezer that I wanted to get out and cooked up (to make room for harvesting the vegetables out of my parents' vegetable garden), so Jon cooked a "Christmas in August" dinner for us: turkey, twice-baked potatoes, coleslaw, and corn on the cob straight from the garden.  Matthew said that it was the "best meal ever."  The kids were helping themselves to turkey before they ran to the playground, stuffing it in their mouths.

Jumping on the trampoline after dinner, waiting for Grandpa to drive by on the lawn mower and give high fives.

On our way home we stopped to do a 'pick up'.  I bought these (used) for Kayla for $2.  She was pretty happy about it.  Nathan was a little jealous!  He loves princesses.

And just before bed Jon taught the kids how to play heads and tails.  

Jon:  "When it's in the air, say heads or tails."

Matthew & Kayla, as the coin is in the air:  "Heads or tails!"