Loving the warmer weather... finally!

It has finally been warm enough that we get to play outside! Seriously - the best thing ever. 

This girl gets way too cooped up in the winter.  Really thinking hard about moving somewhere with no winter at all!

She loves going to the park.  The slides are her favorite - no fear in this little one!

Bubbles...

Do you remember when bubbles were the best thing in the world?

I didn't until I saw my daughter playing with them. 

The pure joy in her face brings me back and helps me remember how amazing the simple things really are.  It's a good reminder to slow down and take in the beauty of life around us. 

Beautiful Easter Weekend...

We had an awesome Easter Weekend at my in-laws cabin on the lake.  The weather was beautiful, the kids were so excited (as were the parents), and I got to watch Frozen for the second time (love this movie)!

Here are some photos of Olivia during her very first Easter Egg Hunt! She got really excited every time she found an egg and really loved opening them to find what was inside.  So much so that she wouldn't let me put all her candy in a bag!

It was so much fun watching her.  Holidays just keep getting better and better as she gets older!

Growing...

I love when I catch her being a good little mommy! She is such a little person now, no more baby left.  Kind of sad how fast they grow up...

Of course, she had to try it herself!

Almost Spring...

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring and we got more snow last night.... typical Minnesota winter!

I am seriously contemplating moving somewhere warmer.

But if we did that, we wouldn't get to see how darn cute Olivia is in snow pants! Really though, I cannot wait for the weather to warm up and all the outside playing to be had. 

Hey you....

Happy Friday!

Toy Organization....

Olivia's toys are in full force around our house...and this is just our upstairs!

We decided we needed to get a better system for storing toys.  Up until now we had a medium sized toy box and lined the bigger toys along the wall.   We looked at a few stores to see if we could find what we were thinking would work and just couldn't find anything that looked decent. 

This is where a very handy father-in-law comes in handy!

He built us the exact cabinet we wanted and it is the perfect size! All of Olivia's smaller toys fit and now we don't have toys lining our walls.  I have also noticed now that her toys are more easily accessible, she is playing with them more. 

It feels so great to have a little more organization!

Baby in a Box...

Why is always more fun to play in the box then with what came with it? 

Someday she will learn that the stuff inside the box is much more awesome!

Oh the innocence of children....

My favorite little person...

Oh the many faces of Olivia....

This girl is so darn funny - she thinks so too! She loves laughing and putting her hands over her mouth, dances no matter what kind of music she hears, hops everywhere she goes, hides her crayons in her shirt (thanks Grandma!), is particular about where I put her fruit on her plate, kisses her babies without prompting...

Man I love watching her grow into a little person.  It just keeps getting better and better!

Playdate Fun!

I love getting together with our friends who have babies... especially when the kids are basically the same age!

This little guy is 10 days older then Olivia and they have a ball playing together.  It was really fun watching them play the piano together - so cute!

Playing Football with Dad!

This made him so darn happy! He loves his sports and it looks like Olivia will be joining him!

Of course it helps that the only TV he will let her watch is football and baseball games!

Library Time!

Yesterday, Olivia and I went to the library!

I LOVE the library and spent a ton of time in our library back home growing up so it was so awesome to bring Olivia for the first time. 

Our library has an amazing children's section; with play areas, an entire activity/story time room, computers and ipads, and of course tons and tons of books!

Olivia wasn't too interested in the books but she loved the different play areas and had fun checking out what the other kids were doing.  We will definetly be going back!

At home she has started climbing on the couch and 'reading' books to herself - it is so cute! I love her little jabber while she reads.

DIY Crayon Hearts

I found quite a few different tutorials online when I was making Olivia's crayon hearts for her Valentine.  I thought I would take pictures along the way and add some of my super helpful tips!

First - you need whatever shape mold you want.  We went with hearts for Valentines Day!  Huge tip: make sure your mold is oven safe.  Mine was not and only lasted through two rounds of melting...then ended up in the garbage along with one of my cookie sheets...whoops!

Next step is the crayons.  I just got Target brand crayons because they were cheaper and they seemed to work just fine.  I think I used 4 or 5 boxes.  The worst step was getting the wrappers off.  I peeled the wrappers off for the first two boxes which was slow but doable.  Then I got a genius idea to put the rest in hot water.  They should just peel right off then right? Not so much.  I should have tried it with just a few and not three whole boxes! Lesson learned I guess.

After you get all the crayons peeled, break them into pieces and arrange them in your mold.

Put them in the oven at 230 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they are all melted.  Carefully pull them out of the oven and let them sit and harden for an hour or two.  Then just pop them out of the mold and there you have it!

My Little Hipster

Who would have know that her favorite accessories were a pink stocking hat and a belt from one of my jackets!

Who would have known that a one and a half year old would have so much personality and spunk!