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!

 

 

 

Holy Crap, I'm 29 Years Old...

Today is my 29th birthday... I think anyway.  I have been telling people I am 29 for a while now.  For some reason after I turned 25 it got extremely hard to remember how old I was!

28 was a great year but I am SO looking forward to 29 (is that weird?)

* I am going to RUN my first 5K in May.  I recently started running again - and it feels amazing. I can't wait to start busting my pr's.
* We have a big Alaskan camping trip planned this summer. I can't even explain how excited I am for this!
* This is the year I am going to figure out what my passions are and start living my life accordingly.
* I get to watch my baby turn into a little girl - what is more amazing then that?
* This year I am going to focus on me, doing some of the things that I want instead of always going with the flow.

Big things planned for 29... best of all I is that anything can happen.

Goodbye 28 --- Hello 29! 

 

Olivia's Valentines!

Olivia made her daycare friends and cousins a Valentine!  I may have done all the work... but she approved!

After searching for some ideas of Valentines that don't have candy I found the crayon hearts idea on Pinterest.  We found some molds and off we went.  They were really easy to make and were a HUGE hit with the kids!

Stay tuned for the crayon heart tutorial!

How we got rid of the Pacifier....

Olivia loved her pacifier from day 4...

Seriously, loves it.  Needless to say I have been DREADING taking it away from her.  Especially since we had been in such a great sleep routine...

So on a weekend Dan was going to be gone fishing, I decided this was the weekend.  Just me and Olivia - and no pacifier (what the heck was I thinking!).   

So I just went with it... I found every last pacifier and threw them away.  I kept one of the pacifiers with the stuffed animal attached and gave that to her - with the top cut off so it didn't work anymore.  She took one suck and gave me the dirtiest look I have seen from her.  She was not impressed. We had gone to Target and picked out some new stuffed animals and a baby so she could sleep with those instead of the paci. She didn't seem to care about those at all...if only it were that easy!

The first night was the worst and she ended up sleeping with me for a majority of it.   She didn't seem to be looking for a pacifier she just couldn't sooth herself I think.

The second night was better - she stayed in her crib almost the whole night.  Still up quite a few times.  Third night about the same.  It didn't help that when we went to her 18 month appointment we found out that she had an ear infection.  After she got on some antibiotics she slept so much better!

It's been a journey and we are still working on getting into a better sleep routine - but we are well on our way - WITHOUT the pacifier! Yay!

My Sweet Girl

One of my absolute favorite things to do is wake Olivia up in the morning.

Most of the time when I flip the light on she doesn't even flinch, other times she reacts just like I do when I have to wake up.  Buries her face in her arm, blocking out the light, groaning a bit.

To wake her up in the mornings I have taken to tickling her and kissing her cheeks - both of which cause her to break into a sleepy giggle. 

That face with her beautiful eyes closed tightly shut and a big grin on her face.... and that giggle. If there was one sound that could instantly put a smile on my face no matter what - its that giggle. 

 

It's almost the weekend!

Which is something to celebrate since our mornings (and consequently our nights) have been looking like this:

We officially took the pacifier away last weekend, and of course she immediately got a runny nose and an ear infection! So we have had a few rough nights - but hopefully we are on the upswing!

My Little Helper!

Olivia loves cleaning things up....you can usually find her on the floor with a towel scrubbing away!

After finger painting this weekend Olivia got a bath and then helped me clean up her table and the kitchen.

It is so awesome that she wants to help - she is such a fun loving little girl! We are so darn lucky!

Finger Painting Fun!

Olivia and I decided to finger paint this weekend! This was our first time and it was so fun.

It took her a bit to get her entire hand in the paint - she just started out with her one finger...but boy did she catch on fast!

She made quite the mess!  We were using the Crayola washable paints and they washed up very easy which was great.

This is going to be a part of our Valentine's for our family and friends!

I just love watching her with projects like this - she even said the word green which I had never heard her say before! She is growing up so darn fast...

What are some other projects I can do with a one and a half year old??