Abby and Olivia's Disney Adventure

Well, we made it to Disney and back in one piece. After we returned... well that may be another story. We had a great time enjoying some warm weather (okay... hot... high 80's may be warm for some of you, but we are yoopers now and that was HOT!). Abby really enjoyed the swimming pools and splash pads around our resort. Olivia liked the water too, as long as it wasn't splashing or spraying around her. We probably caught Abby at the bottom of the tot water slide at least 100 times. It was marvelous and perfectly clear and sunny except for Thursday, when some hurricane related clouds rolled through.

We had great flights and mostly great behavior from our little helpers. Neither one of them really had too much trouble on the plane. Olivia cried a little, but not too much and it was crying because she was tired not because her ears hurt. Abby had a great ride both down and back sitting between Grandma Mary and Grandpa Scott. She really had a wonderful time with them (we all did) and their extra hands made the vacation a lot less stressful. Let's face it, watching two small kids at a busy resort and theme park is hardly vacation. It's more like work. But with help from my parents we had a great time and even got to squeeze in some relaxation.

We took Abby and Olivia on their first visit to the Magic Kingdom on Wednesday. Abby was super excited to finally see the "princess castle." She had a great time riding on the rides. She rode most of the rides a person of her size can go on. I was bummed that It's A Small World and the Spinning Tea Cups were closed for refurbishing, but we still managed to fill our day with lots of great fun. And I'm pretty sure that the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride was Abby's favorite anyway, since we rode it twice. We also stood in a very long line to meet the Disney princesses. After waiting 30ish minutes to meet Aurora, Cinderella, and Belle we were excited for Abby to have her big moment. It did not go as planned. Abby and I went to meet Aurora and you could tell Abby was a lot freaked out by the fact that it was a real woman and not a statue like the Aurora we saw at Downtown Disney. She did pose for a picture and said thank you to Aurora. Then we got into the line to see Cinderella (which at this point was one person long since they let a small group into the princess pavilion at a time). Abby looked at me and told me it was my turn to see Cinderella and she would take pictures with Dad. So, I sent Steve to take her and meet Cinderella. Again, the look of terror was on her little face, but she smiled for a picture. We finally got to the line to see Belle, who is her all-time favorite and who she had been asking to see all week, and she told us there was no way she wanted to see Belle and that she was done. So we left without the Abby and Belle picture. She went out and told Grandma Mary that "Belle was over it and I didn't want to see her." Oh well... maybe next time.

Along with that great quote she had some other funny moments. We were feeding her and Olivia some cheerios for breakfast one morning (yep... Olivia is eating cheerios and everything she can get into her mouth), when Abby announced to Grandma Mary that we got Olivia, or "that girl" as she is frequently called, from a Happy Meal. If only it were that easy... I'd have a whole slew of kids. She was also shocked and amazed when she saw another random girl at the pool with the same bathing suit. She kept looking at the girl and saying to me "hey Mom, that girl is wearing my swimming suit." She had her other suit on, so she was sure the girl had gone into our room and stolen her bathing suit. I couldn't talk her out of it. She also got to be on the big screen at the Mike's Laugh In ride, which is a screen show based on Monsters, Inc. If you've seen the movie then you'd know that she looks a little bit like Boo, the toddler girl in the movie. During the ride's show, they used cameras to show various people from the audience on the screen as characters from the movie. Abby was amazed when her little face popped up in front of the whole theater. She hasn't stopped reminding me of it yet.

So... you can tell we had a great time. We enjoyed the Grandma and Grandpa time, the pool, and some quality time with our girls. And now we are enjoying some laundry and cleaning to get our house back into shape. And I'm working on new recipes, since last night "the dinner" made Abby throw up (her words, not mine).

Bathing Breakthrough

Olivia generally hates bathing. Up until last week, when I started letting her sit in the tub unassisted, she would scream as loud as possible and cry crocodile tears at the thought of being near the tub. Now we are down to freaking out only when I wash Abby's hair. I'm not sure what it is about Abby having sudsy hair that freaks Olivia out, but it does create quite the reaction. At least now I can get Olivia to spend some time in the tub playing, which makes bath time a lot easier than our old way (scrub one, dry, dress, scrub the other).

We are leaving tonight for Disney World! Abby was so excited this morning when she woke up and it was finally Disney Day. Now I just have to find ways to keep her occupied until Steve gets out of work. It may be a very long day for her, but it is so much fun to watch her little girl excitement. She insisted on wearing all Disney things from head to toe. She should have a great time even if playing in the pool with Grandma and Grandpa is all she does.

And... the best news of the week... Olivia actually slept the WHOLE night last night. Finally. I'm sure it was a fluke, but it was nice not being up in her room at 3 am. Not that I didn't wake up, since I've been doing it for almost two months now, and I didn't get right back to sleep, but hey... I was in my own bed, so it was wonderful. And of course it was just in time to leave and get her out of her bed and routine, so I'm sure it will be weeks and weeks before I sleep all night again, but it was a very pleasant surprise.

Not A Newborn

Olivia is decidedly no longer a newborn - she knows this during the day, but at night she seems to forget this. She had her 6 month check-up yesterday and continues to grow well (17 pounds 12 ounces (75 to 90th percentile), 25 3/4 inches (25 to 50th percentile), 17 inch head(50 to 75th percentile)). She also got her shots. And in the last week she's mastered feeding herself little snacks, which Abby would very much like to get her hands on. But she persists in waking everyone up at least once in the middle of the night - like 2 am middle, not 5 am. Last night we tried to make her cry herself back to sleep. After an hour I went in and tried rocking her. After an hour and a half of crying I nursed her and laid her back into her crib. After two hours she finally fell asleep. At that point Abby woke up - why she didn't wake up during the two hours of crying baffles me. I really need a vacation...
Which is perfect, since we leave this week for Walt Disney World. Now I'm just hoping and praying that Olivia doesn't scream the entire plane ride, which is a very real possibility. Abby is beyond excited to go. I'm hoping that the excitement will translate into being brave enough to enjoy Disney and not be glued to my leg. At least Abby and Olivia are both going to be able to get into the park free, so if it's a total bust we won't have three or four tickets to buy.

I finished another kitten bonnet for cousin Emma and started one for Aunt Emily, but we had a slight knitting mishap with Emily's hat. I missed the count on one row and all of a sudden the kitten ear was sticking out the side instead of on the top. Oops! So I pulled that one apart and started again. Maybe we can get that done this weekend, if I can find the energy after all my sleepless nights and days... man do I miss Abby napping.

Two Teeth

Olivia finally got her bottom front teeth after days and days of crying and carrying on. Now let's hope we can get a full night's sleep!

Sometimes Happy...

Olivia, who has up until the last week been an incredibly happy baby, has had a very bad week. We can barely see her two little front teeth that just about have made it into her mouth. I'm praying they hurry up and pop through so that the poor girl can get some relief and I can get some sleep at night. She's been either happy or shrieking for about a week. I've been beyond exhausted for about that same amount of time.

We had a really fun week this past week. We got to witness the adoption of our friends' foster daughter and celebrate her adoption into their family. She'd been with them since she left the hospital, so it was exciting to finally (18 months later) celebrate that she was official. We also got to enjoy visiting with Great Grandma Lorraine and Great Grandpa Harley. They hadn't been up to see the new house yet, so we had fun showing them around and the girls loved playing with them. Abby was pretty bummed out when they left Sunday morning and has been checking for their car out the window just in case they come back. We took them to the must-do tourist spot in town (The Antlers Restaurant). While we were having dinner Abby fell asleep at the table. She almost fell out of her chair, but we caught her in time to let her sit up on my lap and sleep. It's amazing the places that little girls can fall asleep.

And... for the "Abby-isms" file of things I need to remember, we had the following play out this weekend:

Abby was playing with her dolls and wanted to put her doll's bottle into the fridge, since I had just put her milk into the fridge. Her toy fridge was upstairs in her bedroom. She took the bottle up and then came down and this conversation happened.

Abby to me: Can you bring my fridge downstairs?
Me to Abby: You need to ask your dad if that's okay.
Abby walks across the room to Steve.
Abby to Steve: Can you bring my fridge downstairs?
Steve to Abby: If I bring it downstairs you won't have any toys in your room.
Abby walks across the room to me.
Abby to me: Dad said yes.

Oh are we in trouble....

I'm Gonna Eat...

Anything, says Olivia. She had her first chunks of real solids
yesterday - Wendy's chicken nuggets and mandarin oranges (ripped into
itty bitty pieces of course). Today she had banana, cheese, and sugar
cookies. Now that she understands eating her little mouth is gaping
open the minute she sees food.

Super Sitter

Olivia started sitting up unassisted on Thursday of last week (I know... it's Monday...I'm busy). She's up to a minute or so before she grabs for sometime and takes a dive. But she really, really enjoys the view from the upright position and loves being able to interact with Abby. Olivia is also right in the middle of getting some teeth, or something, I hope. Last night she had a bad night, so she and I ended up spending the second half of the night (after 2 am) sleeping together on the couch. I'm hoping that is the last night of such nonsense. I need my sleep too...

The girls stayed with their favorite babysitters on Friday night so Steve and I could enjoy some adult conversation (and Dairy Queen without having to get some for Abby). Abby is getting better about staying with a sitter or at the church nursery with each attempt, we are still waiting for the day when she doesn't cry about it. Olivia, on the other hand, could care less. She is just a flirt, so anyone is generally fine unless she is tired.

This weekend Steve, with the help of our friend Mr. Dodge, removed the big, rotting, brown shed from our backyard. Or maybe I should say cut it up, since one wall completely fell in when Steve started taking things out of the shed. We found some interesting treasures inside including a really old, really tall men's schwinn bike. It's free to the first to claim and remove it from my back yard. Thankfully we don't have to worry about the shed falling down on our children anymore, but I think I may have to take some time out soon and go pick up any stray nails and screws that are left out there.

Olivia Hits the Big 6 Months!

Little baby Olivia turned 6 months old on Friday! She is growing up so fast! I may have missed posting about her milestone, but we didn't miss taking her picture so we could remember what a chubby cheeked cutie she was at 6 months old.

We had a very busy weekend (what's new?) with company coming over on Saturday morning and heading to friends on Sunday afternoon to watch the Lions get robbed. Saturday morning we met the Dinger family. Dr. Dinger is the new dentist for the tribe that Steve works for. He has a lovely wife and two kids, so Abby enjoyed having some new playmates for the morning on Saturday. Then the girls practiced their "touchdown" shouting skills watching the Michigan/Notre Dame game (Go Blue!). We were pretty exhausted by the end of the day.

Olivia enjoyed her first dairy queen blizzard this week. It was chocolate ice cream with brownie and cookie dough pieces. She had a whole face full and probably ruined some pajamas, but she thought it was well worth it.

Oh... and our fall colors are just starting to come on. I love this time of the year. Until I have to start raking...

Whoa! Where Has Time Gone

Okay... so a week later, and I don't really know how the week flew by so fast. Except for maybe the fact that we were away from home for the holiday weekend and that I've had some extra crabbiness around here due to teething children (both of them - lovely). We had a great time down-state visiting family and managed to see all of the grandparents and great-grandparents again. Steve and I also went to our 10th class reunion. We can add that to things we will never do again - both because there won't be another 10th reunion for that class and because we paid a lot of money for bad food and no program or slide shows or anything. We did get to catch up with some friends, but it certainly wasn't 70 dollars worth of fun or food. Oh well...

Abby is officially over napping except on days when she has been really busy or she was up late the night before. I'm not sure I like this new phase of life. I need my naps too! But, we are learning to make it workable. Olivia, unfortunately, hasn't been napping well lately either. I think the travel threw her off her schedule, so she's been extra crabby since she's been missing her 3 hour afternoon naps (and she also doesn't want to miss out on anything anymore, so that complicates things). She's generally the happiest kid in the room, but with the teething and the lack of naps she's been off lately.

Now that we are home for a few weeks in a row again, we've been getting back into the swing of having friends around. Last night Olivia and her little friend Hugh discovered each other and rolled across the rug to get together. It was pretty cute to watch them discover each other and try really hard to get within reach of the other. Olivia also had some quality time with Wyatt (whom we've been told has laid claim to her, so apparently she is not available for your sons). It is great to have friends with kids the same ages as our daughters - they have such a great time with their little playmates.

Entertain Olivia