Smarty Pants

I just have to tell y’all how SMART my little Blake is. Some days I am seriously AMAZED by the stuff that he knows!! He retains EVERYTHING. He has the longest attention span ever. He LOVES to read. He is obsessed with the iPad and will work on that thing all day long (IF I would let him).

One of his new favorites is putting together puzzles in the Pad. He is SO good at it! I explined it to him just one or two times, to look for the corners, and then the edges, and then to fill it in. He just concentrates on it...and does it...and then is SO proud of himself. And I am proud of him too :)
Check out this look of concentration on his face :)

Not only is my little guy smart...he's also CUTE :)

...and silly!!

I just love him so much!!

And the cuteness just keeps coming....

A few more pics from Olivia's 1 year photo session. She got REAL serious at about this point...so no smiles here. Ha...I think that she was needing a snack :)

I think that my poor girl got the Galgoczi ears! Luckilly she can pull them off!

The more that I look through these pics, the more that I just love them. They realy capture Livi...and her personality. She is such a good girl!! Ugh....still can't believe that my baby is ONE!!

More cuteness...and an emotional mess!

Just wanted to post one more little sneak of Olivia's darling 1 year pictures. I think that one is one of my favorites! I just love this little bug!!

Olivia STILL isn't walking. I think that this is a little strange and startling, however I am not TOO worried. She does seem so strong. She is quick as a bee at crawling, so I am thinking that she just thinks that walking is a waste at this point. She stands easily hanging on to something...but not much on her own yet. I guess she will walk when she is good and ready!!

Blake walked just before his 1st b-day, and I thought THAT was late....little Miss Priss is pushing the limits!!

Not sure if I am just being emotional today of what....this about brought me to tears today on Pinterest! I love it...and I sure do love my kids!!

Olivia's 1 Year Pictures

I had Olivia's 1 year pictures taken on Saturday. A friend that I graduated high school with is just starting to take pictures (professionally/for others). Nikki did a GREAT job, and I am really happy with the pictures that she got. She edited them in a matter of 24 hours and sent the link right away....that was a bonus for this impatient mama :)

We did a few different locations/outfits...this was the 1st and I think that they are my favorite!

I will post the others soon!!

Trip to Great Wolf Lodge

Before the holiday and the kid’s birthdays we wanted to take a little overnight trip. Ryan had another vacation day to use. We decided to go to Traverse City for a night and stay at the Great Wolf Lodge. We had been there once before with Blake just before Livi was born. That was our last trip as a family of three. This time all four of us went!

It was very fun. Both kids loved the waterpark. Blake loved our hotel room and kept asking if it was our new house! He had his own room with bunk beds. It looked like a tent, so he was in heaven.

I love making these memories with our little family. This small trip makes me look forward to the bigger trips that we will be able to take when they are a little older!

Olivia checking out the hotel room :)

Me adn my girl getting ready to hit the water park!
She's excited...

Blake and Ryan at the arcade! Not sure who has more fun...Blake or dad?

Intense game of skee-ball!

Weeeeee!

Blake LOVES Wiley the Wolf! We went to "stroy hour" where we listened to a story and did a little dance. Blake was in awe when he got to meet Wiley! So cute!

Checking out the lobby

Daddy and Liv too!

The lobby was all decorated for Christmas!

Getting ready to hit the slides! Blake is SO brave and such a good swimmer!

Livi likes the water too, but had just as much fun watching everyone else.

Time to leave :( Waiting for daddy to pick us up at the front door.

It was a very fun trip. I am so proud of my babies for being such good little travelers!

Olivia's Baptism

On December 3rd Olivia got baptized at our church. She was a good girl and for the most part, liked being the center of attention. She did NOT like being dipped in the baptismal font…and she let everyone know that. Poor baby screamed like a wild child in front of the whole congregation. The priest commented that there is nothing wrong with her lungs!

I am so pround of my little Livi!

Before mass started:

Godparents, mom, dad, Liv
She sang and danced and put on quite the show for everyone at church!

She was OK until about this point.

Then she realized that she was going to be dunked in the water!

All better now...and in her beautiful gown.

Blake and grandpa Dan:

Godparents: Dani (Ryan's sister) and Tyler (Ryan's cousin)

All of us!

Livi just loves her Tyler!

Pretty girl...but she didn't want to sit still!

Bless her little heart...I just LOVE this girl!!

We pray that God will use you
In whatever He has for you
And your life will be a blessing
Through everything you do
We pray this day you'll sense God
In a new, exciting way
As you go through your baptism
And on through each new day.

(via)

Catching Up

I realize that I have been the world’s worst blogger since the beginning of December. We had a CRAZY month…..between Blake turning 3, Olivia turning 1, Christmas, and everything else….I am not really sure where the time went!

I am going to start doing some retrospective posts to catch up on what I missed!! I hope that I can catch up and stay up to date moving forward!!

Olivia turned ONE on December 15th. I have lots of birthday pics to post.
She is growing and changing so much. Our little peanut went through a lot during her 1st year….but I am so happy to say that he is as healthy as can be now and just full of personality! She is such a spit-fire! I think that we are going to have our hands full with this one :)

Here are her stats from her one year well visit:
Length = 30.24 inches, between percentile 75 and 90
Weight = 19.7 lbs., between percentile 10 and 25
Head Circumference = 17.5 inches, in percentile 25