Rico, Utah & a cool car

I wanted to finally post the pics taken of the girls with Rico(from Hannah Montana) last weekend. Danielle's turned out good because he was looking up, but as you can see in the 2nd pic below he was looking down signing Kayla's autograph in her picture! She was so heartbroken when I showed her. Of course "Miss Drama Queen" started bawling and said "no fair--he was looking up when the picture was taken--that's not the right picture!" I said it's the only one on the camera (which was a disposable). She finally got over it after a day or so! Lord help me when she actually hits the teen years!!! Actually none of the shots below are real clear because they came from a disposable camera but at least we have them.

Eric had to fly out to Salt Lake City, Utah, for Raydar a couple weeks ago and he got some nice shots of the mountains. It's hard to tell where the mountains end and the clouds begin. This was the first time he'd ever flown and he was by himself! I'm pretty proud of him. He had to fly from Indy to Cincinnati and then from there to SLC. We never go anywhere without our girls and it was especially hard on them. Every night he'd call and they'd end up crying. He keeps saying if he goes anywhere nice he'll take me, but it'd have to be in the summer so I could take the girls. I'm not going on a vacation without them. My parents never ever left me behind and I could never leave them. We are a party of 5 forever...or at least until they think they are too old for us I guess. One of these days it'll be just me & him and we'll do something nice then. For now I want to watch them having fun & experiencing new things every day. We both agree with that.

Eric "acted" like he was miserable all alone but actually I think he liked his rental car!!! Check it out--a new Mustang convertible, which he was raised in an "all Ford" family and to top it all off it was red, which is his favorite color!!! Can you believe it? If that'd been me I would've been the one to get the 1984 station wagon like Chevy Chase drove in the 1st Vacation movie!!!

Few notes of the week

Well Kayla & Danielle went to the Carl Casper Car Show in Louisville, KY, this past Saturday. They were really hyper when they arrived home......they got to meet Ricco from the Hannah Montana show! They stood in line and got his autograph and their picture taken with him! All I heard was "he's so hot!" for the rest of the weekend! Last year they got to see Jackson from the HM show. They also got to see the Colts cheerleaders and Cane from Young & Restless. You can see some pics of their exciting day on my SIL Jessica's blog.

Olivia is doing some funny things lately. She found one of the girls' long red necklaces and actually threw it around her neck. She's crawling around the house with that necklace just clanging all over the floors! I can't lose her now! This morning she was crawling behind the couch with her blankie and left it back there. I told her it was time to go to Mindy's and to grab her blankie. She actually went behind the couch and got it and drug it out and gave it to me. I'm telling you---she's a genius! Must take after my side :) She's in love with anything sweet--loves Nerds candies! Surely it can't be the box of Twinkies and Mt. Dew that I had daily while carrying her, could it?! Ha--just kidding. (I did have 2 Mt. Dews daily though and that was okay according to a dietician.) She's just doing new things every day that I see and if I don't jot it down I'll forget it. I'll try and post some pics later!

By the way, she is walking alot better now. She takes alot of steps at a time and she'll wobble like a drunk and then take off again and then fall. Then, get up again and go at it some more. I swear it's a good thing that butt is padded or it'd be bruised from all the falling she does. It's funny to look down the hall and see her walking towards me a few steps at at time. I have to do a double take and ask where that walking midget came from--ha! She has a bad head cold right now and has nasty stuff pouring out of her poor little nose. Her face is raw from us wiping it all the time.

Have a great rest of the week!!

Jamie

Feeding Bandit...somebody's gotta do it!!

I've had lots of requests to take pictures of Olivia's latest feat & post them to my blog. Can anyone guess what it is? Last Sunday night I had the fridge door open and of course she was digging around inside. I heard her open the carrot sack we keep for the guinea pig, Bandit. She grabbed a carrot, wrapped her big fat hand & fingers around it & took off crawling like a mad woman. She literally drops on her knees real fast! Next, she gets to the cage, pulls herself up & sticks the carrot through the bars. Bandit grabs that thing so fast that her hand is still on the bars! I heard him crunching & thought I was going to die laughing!! Of course I had to call my mom & brag that Olivia must surely be a genius. A 1 year old knowing what the carrots in the fridge are for & what to do with them without me encouraging her! I still think it's amazing. Below is a picture of her with the carrot in one hand crawling over to his cage. (pay no attention to all the dishes on the floor---yes, she likes to help "empty" out my dishwasher too---she's soooooo much help)I can't take a picture fast enough of her putting the carrot through the bars. He takes it out so fast you'd think he hadn't eaten in weeks. Fat butt. Here he is getting ready to chow down. Now we tease that her "chore" for the day is done. If only I could get her to start doing the laundry.......

Speaking of chores, this is Olivia when I'm vacuuming. For some reason she is scared to death of the stupid vacuum cleaner! You would think I'd tried sucking her up in it before or something! I have to park her in this chair or on the couch, give her a pacifier & sometimes her blanket if I'm home alone with her. She screams & I have no idea why except for the noise of it unless I put her in a "safe place" :) Here she is holding chapstick with her sippy close by!

Playing outside

Last week it was warm enough to let Olivia play outside for the first time in a long while! Kayla & Danielle got off the bus to find us outside and Liv riding her new trike so they couldn't wait to join us. I really can't wait for the summer! I can't wait for the girls to show Olivia how much fun we have in the pool, on the 4 wheelers, gardening and at the 4H fair! Hurry up summer!!

Tiger was so excited that he wouldn't leave Olivia alone. She was trying to grab him so hard!

This is what I mean about these trikes lasting forever. The one in the front is Kayla's that we bought in 1999 for her 1st b-day. Besides the push bar in the back being broken off in a wreck, it still gets around pretty good. I'd hate to guess how many kiddos have rode this thing! I wanted something that they could eventually pedal by themselves and with these they learn to. They get lots of wear and tear. I'm so glad we found another one for Olivia's 1st b-day. We were going to have to drive to Evansville and at the last minute I called KMart in Jasper and they actually had it in stock! Anyways, we had lots of fun and hope to get out more!!!

My Sweet Valentines

When I arrived home Friday night all 3 girls and Eric handed me each a rose. How sweet! I always gripe about not spending the money on flowers but it's nice when you actually receive them, isn't it? Plus it was 4 really pretty roses that were each a different color. Saturday I went to Jasper to get a haircut & when I got back we ate & then gave the girls stuff we got them for Val-Day. I went to Chocolate Bliss located on the square at Jasper and got 3 cute little chocolate bugs. I tried snapping pics of each girl holding their bug but in a matter of seconds Olivia had ate through the foil and her bug was gone! Danielle is shown here holding her bug.

Yes, they are wearing dresses. They were playing in them while I was gone. Here's Kayla with her goodies. We gave them a card, money and candy.
This is all that was left of Olivia's bug. She is a candy & chocolate fanatic!!! When the girls come home from their class parties with candy she is all over them. She definitely knows what it is!

Celebrate Life!!

I'm sure most of you have heard Chelsa Knepp & her family lost their baby boy Andon at 34 weeks gestation. I do not know her personally, only through blogs, but I do know some of her good friends. Anyway, today we were supposed to remember Andon by doing something special and at the same time think of him & his family & then blog about it. (The lady who thought up this cool idea is Courtney). After reading this, I decided to have a dance with my one year old daughter. We hugged and danced to Sara Evans' song "I Could Not Ask For More". It's #1 on my playlist and is such an awesome song. I could not help but to hug her extra tight and take in every word of the song. Right before that, my husband had a "tickle party" with all 3 girls but especially the older 2. We also went to church all together as a family. One thing is for sure we never take life or our precious family for granted.

I hope & pray that the Knepp family will continue to be strong and surround themselves with their family and friends that care so much about them. And, it's true--one day we will all get to meet this angel named Andon. God just had a better plan for him right now. One day we'll understand why I suppose.

One year ago today....

One year ago today at 11:13 a.m. our lives changed even for the better! Eric & I became the proud parents of our 3rd daughter (after trying for 2 years) and the girls became big sisters. Okay, so Kayla was already a big sister but Danielle finally became one which was her dream! Jenny M. took this pic of us as a family of 4 right before I walked down to the OR at Memorial Hospital, Jasper, to have Olivia Jean. Our last few minutes with mama's big belly!

Olivia came out just a screaming! I remember telling Eric "aww, Daddy, go touch her and calm her down---AND take some pictures!!!"

The excited big sisters looking at Olivia through the nursery windows! They each had a stuffed animal for her and balloons. We just thank the good Lord that we were blessed with not 1, not 2 but 3 healthy little girls. What more could we ask for?

Here's Jenny with the newly born Olivia back in my room. Eric's dad Dale is in the back. As they pushed me down the hall holding her right after delivery, Rock-A-Bye Baby played all over the whole hospital. I loved it! I still get chills when I'm there visiting and it's being played. The miracle of life is just so awesome!
I was pretty loopy right here in the picture although I remember it clearly. Not really loopy as I was "feelin' good" from my spinal :)

We had quite a few people in the waiting room waiting for Olivia's big debut. That morning was the big ice storm of '08! I can't believe how nice the weather is out today versus one year ago today. Below is a pic of Eric's grandma "Granny" Beulah Howell. I'm happy Liv has a great-gma still with us. Granny fell that morning going out to the vehicle to come to the hospital for the arrival but thankfully she was fine. She's pretty tough!!

The day we brought her home she was so small that Eric had to go to KMart and buy 5-7 lbs sleepers! I had bought newborn size thinking that would be just fine but she was so little. The girls had picked out a "cheetah girl" outfit for her to come home in but all she could wear home was the jacket and it still swallowed her up. She was my smallest one weighing in at 7 lbs 4 oz. (Kayla was 8 lbs 10 oz and Danielle was 7 lbs 14 oz.)

Of course now she's my big girl--Happy Birthday Olivia Jean.......we love you!!

Olivia's Party--lots & lots of pictures........

We celebrated Olivia's 1st b-day Saturday at the Martin Co. Comm. Bldg. with about 54 guests!! My aunt Peggy and I decorated the place the night before. I wanted it simple but cute and she suggested using our own story books and stuffed animals as table decor with lavendar table covers. I ordered the Hugs N Stitches table covers for Olivia's head table and the gift table. We put scattered 1st b-day mints on the tables too. Peg also brought along cardboard cakes and b-day boxes for extra decorations. I ordered groups of balloons from Patti Gingerich. This is a couple of shots before everyone came.

Of course her cakes were amazing. Heather Arvin does such a wonderful job with detailing and they taste like a million dollars! I gave her a napkin from the party and she copied the butterfly, the #1 and the bugs to look exactly like it! She uses fondant and creates the details of every cake. I would recommend her to anyone!!!! We had her make a big one & half chocolate & half white---yum!

side view.......light pink with polka dots!!!!!



I really like this picture taken of the girls together before the party actually started. They all look so cute! Those are balloon tails hanging down behind them. She kept screaming because for some reason the balloons were freaking her out! Kayla tapped one making it go towards Olivia & she did not like it!!


This is exactly how long the hat lasted! She hates hats and anything that touches her head! I tease her often with winter hats trying them on just to see how fast she'll jerk them off. Of course she tries to put them on herself. Her new thing is taking her comb and combing her hair and then combing ours.


Here we are singing "Happy Birthday" to the birthday girl. We were all around her and helped her blow them out.



She also got her own personal cake to tear into (or else the big cake would've been ruined!) She almost didn't know what to do so she decided to put her mouth on it! Everyone was laughing... especially Kayla & Danielle!




Jenny Mathies took this pic of her wearing her b-day outfit. She looks like she's saying "oh brother, hurry up Jenny and take the picture already--I want cake!"

Kayla, Danielle and cousin Haylie helped her open all of her wonderful gifts. She got about 1/2 toys and 1/2 summer clothes! I was especially excited about the clothes of course! I think Olivia didn't care whether or not it was anything. She really wanted down to crawl. Finally she started ripping the tablecloth up! This is the toy she got from my brother Josh & my sis-in-law Jessica. After we got this home and took it out of the box she got so excited she was shaking! She loves it!




This is the Rock, Roll 'n Ride trike by Fisher Price that we got Olivia. We got the exact same one for Kayla at her 1st b-day and I swear she rode it til she was 8! All the kids that visit us always want to ride it because it goes fast. They can rock on it, be pushed or pedal it so it grows with their age. It's the best gift. Now we can't wait til the summer to see her on it outside! (in the back is Vicki & Hunter Brown)


Here's Jenny Mathies, Wyatt & Madisyn along with Haylie taking pictures of Livvy Jean. "Aunt" Jenny took lots of pics for me and I'm thankful. My cousin Nikki videotaped it for me. I was busy with the b-day girl to do all that.



Here is Olivia with her great-grandpa Brown..... AKA Papaw Brown to us! Olivia's middle name is Jean after my late g-ma Barbara Jean Brown. She would've been proud of that I believe.



Olivia with her godparents Uncle Gerry Mattingly and Aunt Jessica Fegan. Of course she decided to do her "strong face" in this picture too! She does it when we don't want her to naturally.


Here's Jessica, Aunt Peggy, Landon, Nikki & Haylie at the big bash...... in the back is Jill, Carter & Shawna.


Finally, time to clean up. Here's my dad getting lots of help from Haylie and also Eric getting lots of help from Landon & his nephew Dalton.

Anyway, the party was great and she received lots of nice stuff. Of course the best thing of all was having everyone together. We appreciated all the help too. I'll post pics of her actually home and playing with her new toys later. I have dial-up so this took me a very long time to post as you can imagine and I could never do a slideshow from this computer--takes too long. So, that's it for now.

Olivia's actual b-day is really the 12th so I need to go to Channel 2's website and send her picture in for that and I need to get one sent to the Tribune along with her party write-up. Still can't believe she's really gonna be 1 this week......

Winter Poem

I received this poem in an email & thought it was cute enough to share........

WINTER IN INDIANA
It's winter in Indiana and the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour at twenty-five below.
Oh, how I love Indiana when the snow's up to your butt.
You take a breath of winter and your nose gets frozen shut.
Yes, the weather here is wonderful so I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Indiana cause I'm frozen to the freakin' ground!

New Bunny !!

Yes, we are dorks! What can I say--we love animals. We already have 6 rabbits so what's one more, right? I'm glad we took the poor little thing in though. She had a big ball of hair matted that we trimmed and her nails need cut and she really needs to eat!!! Her backbones are sticking out and she's so very thin! We feed our rabbits the best--Kent feed--so she'll fatten up really soon I hope. Maybe we should start a shelter for starving and mistreated rabbits--ha! It's a female of unknown age but was once a championship rabbit. Her new name is Annie and she's a jersey woolley.