merry christmas!!!!!

things i love about christmas...

christmas decorations- lights, tinsel, glitter and all that sparkles. as a kid (and even now) i always loved driving around and looking at all the houses, trying to find the house with the most lights.

christmas music- i love o, holy night and as much as it is my favorite, nothing says the holidays to me more than my good ol' mariah carey cd (i upgraded to the cd a few years ago from my original cassette, and now i have it on my itunes too)

christmas movies & specials- i love 'em all! christmas vacation, elf, charlie brown, home alone 2: lost in new york...even the lame made for tv movies on lifetime and abc family!

yummy food- sugar cookies, see's candy, candy, canes, white fudge covered oreos, apple cider, hot chocolate. on christmas day we would have brunch- cheese strata, chips, salsa, guacamole, sooo good and for dinner was ham and potato casserole with cornflakes on top (i am a fan of ham on christmas- we just had turkey & stuffing on thanksgiving!)

i do love all the commercialism of christmas- i admit it. i think it's fun and festive. i like giving gifts and getting gifts, i like all the music decorations and events. but as charlie brown says, "i won't let all this commercialism ruin my christmas!" and as much as i love all that, i never forget the reason we celebrate- the birth of jesus. and i am always amazed and grateful.
now that i have my own little boy, i wonder more about mary & joseph and what jesus was like as a toddler- did he cry or have tantrums, or was he perfect even then? did he walk or talk early? i imagine being the son of god had it's advantages in the development area. was he a picky eater? what were his favorite toys? it's hard to wrap my brain around it all. when i look at ollie, it is truly amazing to think that god came to earth and for a time, was a little boy, just like him.

i hope everyone has a truly magical christmas! enjoy the lights & sparkle, a cup of cider, and take a moment to remember why we celebrate and what it's all about.

Merry Christmas

morning playtime

nothing better than playing with your cars and trucks while wearing your cars & trucks pajamas:)

update

ollie is much better:) the last few weeks have been a little rough, though. he pretty much slept for a week, then for another week he was really cranky and clingy and did not have quite as much energy as usual. and now it seems he has about 4 teeth coming in at once...so sleep has been a lost art. but he seems more cheerful and back to his crazy self!
sick and cranky or healthy and happy- either way i am thankful for him this thanksgiving! and i am looking forward to a fun holiday weekend with my family!
happy thanksgiving everyone!!!

ollie's er adventure

well it was bound to happen. ollie has been healthy for 15 months so we are lucky he made it this long without getting sick. but he sure has made up for it this week!
sunday afternoon i thought he felt a little warm. i didn't worry too much about it, because he wasn't acting sick and he had his 15 month check-up in the morning, i thought i would ask the dr about it then.
he still felt warm when he woke up and by the time we got to the dr his temp was just over 102. the dr was surprised because he was acting so normal. then she looked in his ear and was even more surprised when she found a nasty ear infection. which is odd because he had not been acting sick at all- no ear tugging, he wasn't fussy, the plane ride didn't even bother him! and he was had played and ran around like usual all weekend.
we went home with antibiotics and orders to rest. that afternoon, he finally started acting like he didn't feel well. maybe it was mental- hearing that he was sick:) he woke up from his nap and just wanted to lay on my lap and didn't want to move for the rest of the day. and if you know ollie, that is not normal.
then it happened around 1 am monday night, one of the most scariest moments of my life. i woke up to ollie convulsing and not responding; having what i thought was a febrile seizure. after it ended, he was pretty of out of it, so we ended up in the er all night to have him checked out to make sure it wasn't something else. it was a long night, but ollie was a trooper and thankfully the dr confirmed my suspicion and said it was most likely a febrile seizure, which is fairly common in kids when they have a fever and not too serious. and by then ollie had a little spunk back in him and had no other symptoms, so our worries began to subside.
so we have been home, trying to rest- ha! keeping an eye on him, giving him tylenol and antibiotics- which is not fun. his fever has gone down, but he is still cranky and not quite back to his energetic self yet.
we are thankful for our normally healthy boy and that it was nothing more serious. we hope and pray he will be running around again soon. we will keep you updated!

the most wonderful time of the year...

i love, love, love this time of year! i think "the holidays" start off with halloween. the pumpkins, the candy, the costumes, so fun. it ushers in the season and thanksgiving and christmas are not far behind.
this year we were in phoenix with our friends from college, cameron and megan, who have a sweet little 1 year old girl, marissa. we had a great time hanging out and of course enjoying the fall festivities- even in the warm desert air:)

ollie & marissa at the pumpkin patch.

ollie meeting the cow.

ollie kicking and throwing the "balls" or pumpkins as you may call them.

getting lost in the maze.

ollie of course got down and dirty.

HALLOWEEN!
rock star ollie and his punk-kin:)

ollie and his ladybug groupie, marissa:)

ollie & marissa got along well and ollie really loved to share, as you can tell:)

family portrait

i don't have much to say, i just like this photo:)

impromtu mommy & me photo shoot

call me vain, but i like having photos of me, especially of me with my family and friends, but i often seem to be behind the lens, or too busy chasing ollie around! so here are a few photos of ollie and me, during our reading time... with the help of my tripod and my long arms:)

i just love his face..."mom you are so weird! are we done with all these pictures yet?"

the life of a kid...

last week i made some oatmeal & applesauce cookies- yum:) i gave one to ollie and after a few minutes, i admit i was envious. cookie in hand (and mouth) sitting on the floor watching a cartoon. i thought to myself: what a life! to be a kid again- carefree, just enjoying some cookies and watching a silly cartoon...then i realized that i was doing the exact same thing!

happiest place on earth

last month i got to go to disneyland with jill, my mother-in-law! i love disneyland! although it was extremely hot, crowded and the rides all shut down for about an hour the day we were there, it is true what they say: a bad day at disneyland is still a good day:)
we took ollie in at the end of the day and watched part of the parade and rode pirates of the caribbean- it was too crowded to do much else with him. i look forward to the day i can ride all the big rides with him. here are a few pictures from the day.

the ever-evolving, elusive nap

ollie's naps have been unpredictable and unconventional from the very beginning. i tried to keep him on some kind of schedule where he takes a nap around the same time each day- give or take and hour. and if you are one of those parents who can mange to get their kids to eat and sleep at the same time each day, i don't know how you do it! i am impressed!

somedays, like today, he just seems to be an endless ball of energy. i don't know why i even attempt to put him down for a nap on days like today, because he is not fussy until i try to stop him from playing and then he gets mad and i mean mad! he has quite a little temper and stubborn streak. i don't know where it comes from:) i figure if he is playing well and happy, why force it?

after a few hours of trying to get him to calm down and sleep, i let him be and he pleasantly played with his toys and books...then around 3:30, ollie was laying on the floor playing with one of his cars and i notice it got quiet...i look over and this is what i saw:

ollie sleeping, car still in hand.

ollie's favorite things to say and do

"words"

botty or bottu = bottle, or water

tsss = toes

shss = shoes

dada = dada:)

he is a really good mimic and it often sounds like he repeats a word if you say it to him, but those 4 words are the ones he is pretty consistent on, especially "bottu" he will ask you for it!

favorite things:

being outside, running, playing with his cousins, watching planes, helicopters or anything flying in the air, cars/trucks, his soccer ball, books, and golf clubs, taking all his toys/books and everything out of our kitchen cabinets, flushing the toilet, swimming...i could go on. can you tell he is one active 1 year old:)

the nap

i think these photos speak for themselves:)

more birthday fun

we had a little party sunday to celebrate ollie turning 1!! it was a great time with family, friends, pool, presents, and cupcakes:) not sure why the pictures keep uploading so fuzzy, the look clear elsewhere...oh well.

mmm...cupcakes

my homemade banner
ollie does not like the happy birthay song.
i think he cried when we sang for jonathan's birthday too.
so far ollie has just picked at his cupcake treats
gotta love frosting in the hair:)
we had ollie's dedication at the evening service after the party. i think the sign on stage says it all:)

my very first birthday!

i had my first birthday! i woke up pretty excited. as i drank my milk while watching sesame street i wondered what one does on a birthday...i dunno about you, but here is what i did:
my grammy came down with some presents! i was excited to open them:)

what is it???

golf clubs!

look out tiger!

then daddy came home early from work and we went to target to pick out a new toy...so many to choose from

ooo..that one please!

i like this big red ball

mommy got me a cupcake, but i did not want it

the next day i decided to give the cupcake a try...and only had a couple bites because someone (mom) kept nibbling at it all day!

i'd say it was a pretty fun day...except for the part where i went to the DR and got a bunch of shots, but i won't mention that part.

can't wait for my party this weekend!