Olivia is 18 months

Here is Olivia Annell at 18months old. The picture on the left is me. Olivia is wearing my outfit when I was her age that my Gramma Bletsch bought me. The picture in the middle is one of Chris' father's day gifts that I surprised him with. I took Olivia for her check up this morning and found out why I have had to buy her 2T clothes! She is 34 inches tall and weighs 30 pounds 10 ounces. She is in the 97 percentile for height and weight of course. Her tubes are still in and the doctor said they look good. I was a little worried since she has been in the water so much. Chris and I are very careful about her getting her ears wet. She was such a big girl when getting her shot. She did not cry at all!! I was so proud of her! We cannot believe she is already a year and a half. Time has gone by so quickly and we have loved every second of it. We have to say that we have a little swimmer in the family. Olivia is a fish! She loves the water whether we are in the pool, bathtub or her new water table. We bought her some floaties and now she is free to dog paddle around the pool with all the dogs. She is talking up a storm and is really learning a lot of words. We love listening to her stories even if we do not understand everything she is saying. Olivia is now taking one nap a day which is usually 2 1/2 to 3 hours long. Depending on when she wakes up from her nap she goes to be around 7:30 or 8:00. That way Chris can spend some extra time with her since he does not get to work from home anymore. We are so lucky to have such a sweet little girl. God has blessed us with the most wonderful daughter!

Happy Father's Day Weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

According to Chris he had an entire weekend for Father's day. So, Olivia and I gave him one. Friday, we went to the water pad in The Woodlands. Olivia had a lot of fun playing with the fountains and running around in the grassy area. Saturday we went to my parents and went swimming. I bought Olivia some floaties and well, Brutis ate them. So, my mom bought her some new ones and she does great with them. She dog paddles and swims on her own around the pool. It is funny to watch all of the dogs swim around her. Sunday we took Bill to lunch and then went back to my parents for some more swimming. Needless to say, Olivia was exhausted Sunday night! Olivia and I surprised Chris for Father's day with some pictures of the two of us. Of course, they are not uploading to this page so I will have to add them later. We all had a wonderful weekend and Chris was ready to start the week off on the right foot at his new job!

Olivia, Heidi and the box!

So, I had a box with some of Olivia's baby clothes. I have vowed to organize now that I am on vacation and started with packing her clothes up. After I unpacked this box I sat it down and forgot to put it away. When Olivia woke up she "found" the box, aka her new toy. Tuesday it rained all day and we were stuck inside. The box gave her instant pleasure for about an hour. Thursday, we had Jennie and Heidi Tannehill over and we had a great time. The girls colored with the sidewalk chalk, played with playdough, had a snack and then they found the box. It was so cute! Olivia hopped in the box and looked at Heidi like, "come on friend" Heidi jumped in. Heidi is about 4 months older than Olivia and they get a long so well as well as the parents. We had a great time!

On a side note, Jennie is potty training Heidi and she is doing great! She went on the potty twice while she was playing at our house. Now, Olivia is trying to go on the potty. Today, she walked up to the bathroom door, looked at Chris and I and said "poo poo". SO CUTE! So, I took off her diaper and sat her on the potty. She did not go, of course but did get some toilet paper to wipe her bottom. She then ran to the hall bathroom and as I am trying to chase her down and put her diaper back on and she stood at the door and went potty on the floor. I felt so bad for her because I could tell she wanted to go. I guess we will keep trying and see what happens. I myself am not ready to potty train my baby! That means that she is growing up and I am not ready for that! Selfish I know but true. Our little tootie will be 18 months on the 20th. How the time passes so quickly!

More to come soon! I hope I can figure out the slideshow thing by then!

Picture updates

* Click on the picture and it will open a window with the slideshow. I will keep practicing!

Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Things in our household have been crazy but exciting. Chris was offered a job at Direct Energy the other day and will be leaving Continental Airlines. Of course, we are all excited about this new opportunity and he is very excited to be starting a new job that is very similar to his job at Continental. It will be sad of course to have to pay for our tickets now we are SO happy to not have to move to Chicago! Chris will be starting his new job at Direct Energy June 21.

I am officially on summer vacation and I am so very excited! Olivia and I have big plans to hang out and spend time with our friends. We are also planning a family trip to Disney World in early August. This will be the second time for Olivia to be on an airplane and definetly not the last. She is growing up so fast and Chris and I are enjoying every minute of it. She loves, loves, loves the water!! She is for sure a water baby! Olivia does not have any fear of the water and loves playing with the dogs in the pool.

I am hoping that my slide show has attached correctly and you can see a few pictures of her in the pool. I have a video also but I am still trying to figure out how to attach it on the blog.

Little Fishy

We have a new swimmer in the family. Olivia and I started mommy and me classes last week and she is doing great! She was a little hesitant the first few minutes but then she really enjoyed it. My mom came with me and took a video that I am hoping to get some pictures from. Last week we went together and she was ready to go. We did an activity where we had to practice paddling and then do a football hold and have her practice. She was like a fish! She put her face in and kicked those legs like she was on a mission. I guess that is what happens when you have 2 parents that were swimmers. Olivia is getting to be a pro at getting out of the pool and jumping in to me. I can't wait for her to get into the pool this summer. We received our pool tags for the neighborhood pool so once it gets a little warmer we will be taking family trips to the pool as well as going to the grandparents houses to swim.

I want to wish all the mom's a happy mothers day! I feel so blessed to have a great mom who has always been there for not only me but Chris and Olivia as well. I hope that I can be as wonderful as my mom has been. Olivia has brought so much joy and happiness to my life and I feel so lucky to have been blessed with her. God truely gave us a miricle when we found out I was pregnant. She makes us smile everyday and always bring joy to our lives.

Here is a picture of us from last year. I found these on our little camera when I was downloading the 400 pictures we had on there. Yes, I am very bad about not taking them off the camera! I am trying to be better about that.

Happy Mother's day to those who are mothers and those who are soon to be moms. It has been the most rewarding experience I have ever had! I can't imagine my life without Olivia! Chris and Olivia have made these past 2 mother's days the best ever!

TNT they are dynomite!

Today Tommy and Taryn competed in the CB&I triathlon in The Woodlands. They had to swim in the lake, ride a bike, and then run. They both did a great job and Tommy won second place in his age group and I am pretty sure Taryn placed as well I just do not remember. Needless to say they both did wonderful and we were excited to cheer them on. My dad sponsered them and we all had matching shirts as seen in the picture. Taryn's dad and brother are on the left and my dad's secretary, Paulette and her husband are on the right. Olivia was there clapping and cheering everyone on. We are very proud of our TNT!!! Way to go guys!