A Rude Awakening

Not the worst thing to wake up to, but definitely not what I would choose to wake up to. I was sleeping peacefully. Ryan had gotten up and was exercising in the living room. Olivia was up, too, because she likes to think that she's exercising when in fact she's just running around eating cereal out of a sandwich bag most of the time. It's nice for me, because I get the bed to myself and an extra half hour of rest. This morning I was awaken by Olivia coming in to our room whimpering. "Ryan will get her", I thought as I opened my eyes groggily. "Oh, wait, no he won't. He's already in the shower. Wow, I must have really fallen back asleep!" I stumble out of bed, grab my glasses, and put on a robe. Then I look at Olivia. Her hands look wet. She must have been putting her hands in her cup of water and now she needs help because it spilled. "What happened, Olivia?", I ask as I make my way into the living room. I don't see any cup of water in the living room or kitchen. Then I smell it. Argan oil. What in the world? And then I see it. On top of the box fan that happens to be between the couch and the computer cabinet (which is open) and right next to the rug. "Olivia, what were you doing? You know you're not supposed to play with the oil!" She's still whimpering. The oil has spilled - down the side and inside of the fan and onto the floor. Luckily missing the rug. And the computer. It reminds me so much of when this happened:

This happens to be June of last year. Hope this won't be a yearly thing. She managed to not get anything on the rug that time either, which was good, because the rug that time was her lambskin. This time I didn't take any pictures for so many reasons. 1. She was walking around with oil on her hands. 2. It's hard to take a picture of clear oil and know exactly what it is you're taking picture of. 3. The camera didn't have batteries in it because they were being charged. Plus a few other reasons. I went and washed Olivia's hands and then put her in a chair telling her not to get up til I told her. Then I proceeded to clean the mess. Since this type of thing had happened before, I kind of knew what would clean it the best. Shampoo. I started out using dish soap, but that really doesn't work as well as shampoo. The fan needed to be cleaned anyway, and since the oil had dripped down inside, I ended up taking it completely apart, putting the front and back pieces in the tub for easier cleaning. During this time, Ryan had gotten out of the shower and found me cleaning the mess. Olivia only got out of the chair a few times. When I went to change the water once, I came back and she said, "No, no more, no more!" She also kept saying, "Oh, toodles! Mickey Mouse! Oh, toodles!" I think she's watched that a few too many times. So then Ryan and I explained to her that as nice as it would be to have Toodles' help, it wasn't real, and Mama was the one that had to do the work. I had to re-wash Olivia's hands with shampoo, because I had just used regular hand soap the first time and her hands were still oily. Then I set out cleaning the leather chair she had been sitting in. Then while I was at it, I cleaned the couch, too. I have to say they look a little bit better. ;) So I should probably explain what Argan oil is. It's for your hair and is a really good detangler. I mainly just use it for Olivia's hair, because it makes her hair lay nicer, too. I literally just looked at the bottle on Tuesday wondering if I was running out (it's only a 2 once bottle) and realized it was only a 1/4 of the way gone. I was very glad for this because I didn't want to have to buy anymore. Still don't. Probably won't. There is a little bit left in the bottle - maybe enough for two or three more uses. Guess I'll just have to use conditioner in her hair if it gets too tangled.

Projects

A before picture of our mess of a computer "desk".

 We've been slowly checking things off of what seemed to be an endless list of projects to get done before the baby is born. The computer cabinet now sits in the living room where the bookcase used to be.

The computer cabinet - doors removed and ready to be painted.

I will have to post "after" pictures of the living room later. I thought I had taken some, but I guess I didn't.

The living room before we rearranged.

The front bedroom is painted an off white/cream color and the only thing left of Olivia's to get moved in there is her bed.

Olivia's new room.

 She seems to take after me when it comes to change - takes her a while to get used to it. When we were rearranging the living room, I went into the laundry room to do something and Olivia freaked out. "Mama, Mama, wheah aw you?" It didn't matter that Ryan was standing in the living room right beside her. And when the front room was being painted, we told her, "Look! This is your new room!" She looked a little perplexed. She was probably trying to figure out how she was supposed to sleep in there with it being such a mess. So while all of her toys and clothes are in her new room, we decided to give her a week to get used to the idea of it being her room. So far she seems to like it. And I LOVE having a "play room". I don't feel like I'm constantly having to clean up her toys. And since her bed isn't in there yet, it doesn't even have to be cleaned up before she goes to bed! We still have to get the baby room ready. The baby will be in our room for a little bit, so we're going to put the guest bed in there for a while so Mom can use it while she's here (and whoever else comes to visit us this summer - hint, hint). I need to go through baby clothes and pick a few cute outfits - boy and girl - to take with us to the hospital. Luckily a lot of people thought Olivia was going to be a boy, so I got a few really cute boy clothes at my shower. Plus I have a lot of Brandon's hand-me-downs to tide me over til I can go shopping. I still go back and forth as to what I feel like I'm having. I feel, and people have told me, that I look like I'm carrying differently this time. And the truth of the matter is I am. Olivia was breach until about 38 weeks, and this baby is already head down. Besides the fact that all my muscles are stretched from Olivia, so I'm carrying lower. But, of course, that all means absolutely nothing. Well, this is quite the rambling post. And now Olivia is up from her nap. So long for now.

Annabella's Birthday Party

Yesterday Olivia and I went to the birthday party of this precious 1 year old.

Devouring her beautiful cake.

It was so fun to be there with all of our littles. I think it's the first time we've all been together since all the babies were born last year. The only people missing were Melanie and her kids (she volunteers at Brandon's
school on Thursdays).

The moms' lunch.

Drinks and the kids' lunch bags.

Bella's birthday cake.

Dessert.

 Lunch was scrumptious. For the kids, Ruthie had bags with pb&j sandwiches (with crusts off), raisins, and bubbles (for the older kids) and toys (for the younger kids). They also had little cups with little fruit, vegi, and meat kabobs. The moms feasted on chicken pasta salad, spinach orzo salad, grapes, cantaloupe, and strawberries. For drinks, there was water, strawberry milk, and lemonade. For dessert there were little chocolate cakes, mexican wedding cookies, and some type of sugar cookie, I think.

Fruits, vegis, and meat for the kids.

Some of the kids turning 1 this year.

 There was so much to keep all the kids busy. There were lots of toys to play with, a little sandbox (which was Olivia's favorite, I think), and sidewalk chalk. One or two of the boys had brought their toy guns. Even the girls thought those were pretty fun!

Some of the "older" kids.

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Opening presents.

 

It was so much fun and such a beautiful day to be outside. It makes me want to have a "just because" lunch sometime. Maybe we can all meet up at the park or something...

Paci Free

The Monday after Hunter Liggett we "did away" with Olivia's pacifier for good. She was only using it to sleep, but still, it was time.

She fell asleep on the way home one night a few weeks ago. I guess the sunglasses acted as a sort of sleeping mask.

Rating it on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being "easy breezy" and 10 being "just give her the paci already!" I would rate it probably a 3 or 4. We took away her most prized possession and she is being so brave about it! She definitely has her moments when she really wants it and asks for it, but she's pretty good as long as you're willing to cuddle her through her sadness. It was really sad when the very next day after we took it away she burned her hand. It was after Tuesday night meeting so she was already tired, and then burned her hand on top of it all. It was so sad! And then of course nap time is kind of crazy again. She thinks she needs to get out of bed as soon as you're out her door, so I'm back to either sitting by her bed til she's asleep or rocking her to sleep. But we'll be back to her sleeping on her own again soon, I'm sure. Just in time to move her into her new room. :) Ah the joys! But I wouldn't trade it.

Hunter Liggett

The weekend of April 6 and 7th we went camping in Los Padres National Forest, aka Hunter Liggett. It was incredible in so many ways. Incredibly fun, incredibly relaxing (once we were there), incredibly beautiful, incredibly painful...

Our camp sight Sunday morning as we were packing up.

We got there Saturday morning around 10 and set up our camp sight. Then we went round saying "hi" to friends and checking out the baseball game that was in progress. I was very excited to see that Rachel was able to bring Gerritt down for the weekend. Not that I saw much of him - he was too busy hiking and having fun with his friends. After lunch we went down to the creek and let Olivia play in the water. Unfortunately the water wasn't high enough for us to use the sandy little pool that was there last year, but there was still a pretty good place for the kids to play around.

Ryan by the upper part of the pool that the kids played in last year.

Olivia. playing in the creek last  year at Hunter Liggett.

Mel and Brenda joined us down there with Lindsay, Corinne, and Claire, but by the time more kids started coming down, Olivia was ready to go back to camp for a nap. A relaxing afternoon, Ryan cooking a dinner of patty melts, and then changing into warmer clothes for the cold evening ahead. That's when I decided I would lay down for a few minutes before it was time to sing around the campfire. I still don't know if it was a good thing to do or a bad thing. I hadn't really felt the baby move all day because we had been so busy, so I thought laying down would help me relax and feel the baby move and give me peace of mind. But once I layed down I realized just how much the day had taken it's toll. I was so achy! I ended up not going and singing at all, but just stayed in the tent. Ryan checked on me every once in while, just to make sure I was ok. By morning I felt like I had huge bruises on each hip, but once I started moving around I felt better. Olivia was a super camper. She slept in bed with us and only woke up when she needed her paci. After breakfast, I helped Ryan pack up the bedding and suitcases, then I sat in a chair and people watched. We were camped across the road from Greg and Tamee. Luke was over there visiting Wyatt and they decided to play a game of tug-of-war. Wyatt wasn't too sure about that game.

Olivia had fun entertaining herself for a while, then went over and payed with Wyatt and Luke.

Not too sure what she's doing right here. I think she was using the tablecloth for a baby bed.

After meeting we ate lunch and went home. Olivia had her nap in the car, so by the time we got home she was ready to play. The rest of the day was spent cleaning up the house, Ryan doing yard work and playing with Olivia.

Olivia in her butterfly swimsuit.

    This Hunter Liggett was completely different from any other that I've been to. It was fun, but I feel like I hardly saw anyone. And of course next year we'll have 2 kids instead of one. ;) That should be interesting!

Have You Heard The Stars Sing?

"What?", you might be asking. What do you mean have I heard the stars sing? I was listening to Louie Giglio again. This time it was his message entitled Symphony (I Lift My Hands). Anyway, he read out of Psalm 148 "Praise Him sun and moon. Praise Him all you shining stars." I did not realize that some (maybe all, I don't know) stars emit radio frequencies that scientists have been able to pick up. He played some clips of them. It's so amazing! And crazy. ;) Who knew that something so miraculous was happening? I should have. After all, God created this magnificent place we live in. So then he goes on to talk about whales and plays a clip of the whales' song. Then he does a mash up of all of them together. All I can say is that you have to listen to it. I was blown away. And yes I cried. It's so amazing. It's so wonderful to think of what it's going to be like when we're singing in heaven. "How great is our God?"

Olivia's 2!

Can't believe that my little precious baby is already 2 years old! I can't imagine life without her. Her birthday started out with a trip to Starbucks, where we ordered a Venti decaf. Java Chip Frap. with an extra cup. The extra cup was so that Olivia could have her own special cup of coffee. Mind you, this is the first time she's had her own cup of coffee. Normally if she gets any it's only a sip or two. Dolly's Donuts was our next stop and she ordered a chocolate donut with chocolate frosting and sprinkles. Of course after she had eaten the sprinkles and frosting off she was done with the donut. Back at home she "helped" Ryan work in the yard a little bit, then came inside and played toys with me for a little while. When Ryan finished with the yard work, he took her to the park to play on the toys while I finished some things inside the house.

Playing with mega blocks. I think we were building a train.

Oops! Dropped her cup while trying to drink the last little bit.

I was going to clean it up for her, but she really wanted to do it. She loves to clean.

We ran to Taco Bell for lunch. She had her usual - beans and rice.

Then it was naptime. She normally goes down around noon, but it was about 1:30 that day. Her party was at 2:30, so Ryan had to wake her up when everyone got there. Thankfully she didn't seem to mind too much. She even let me rush her into the bath tub for a quick bath before I dressed her. I think she was just so excited to see all her friends that she didn't care. We had Steve and Laura, Al and Mel, Jill (the girls were with their dad), Pawpaw and Memaw, and Shane and RaeAnne. The weather was beautiful outside (70's), so we had the party on the back patio. Last year we had everyone over for dinner, but this year we decided to go simple and just have cake and ice cream. We had found a Birthday Bear Care Bear cake pan at a yard sale/thrift store last year, so that's what we did for the cake. I have to say that I exceeded my expectations in the cake decorating department. I'm not trying to brag - it just turned out way better than I thought it would. ;) I didn't have to buy any tips or colors either, because it just so happens that my MIL had everything I needed. Lovely! So enough about that. We started out with having the kids find goodie bags that Ryan had hidden in the yard. They were filled with bangles (for the girls), plastic bugs, silly straws, kazoos, and sidewalk chalk. Then we moved on to opening presents and eating cake and ice cream. Oh, and I made a little sparkly drink by mixing raspberry lemonade concentrate with lemon-lime Shasta - YUM!

Olivia and Claire opening their goodie bags.

Getting ready to open presents.

Brooklyn, Claire, Brandon, Olivia, Corrine

CAKE! (That's what Olivia said every time she saw it.)

It was a very relaxing party and I think all the kids had fun. I never heard any complaints, at least. :) Grandpa and JoLinda stayed after the party and, after visiting for a while, they took us to In N Out for dinner. While we were there we started talking about Louie Giglio and they asked us if we had seen Fruitcake and Ice Cream. We hadn't, so when we got back home that's what we did. Amazing story! It's less that 30 minutes long, but it leaves you with chills. At least it did me. I'm so glad that Grandpa and Jo were able to be here for Olivia's birthday and that we got to spend the afternoon/evening together.