Graduation!

No more homework for Brian because school is now officially done. They had two different ceremonies, one for the entire school and one just for the engineering students. The first picture is from the morning ceremony with all the students. Brian is walking done the row of seats with the red sash on if you can find him. The next picture is of him waiting to receive his diploma during the engineering department ceremony. Unfortunately I didn't get a good picture of him walking the stage so you will just have to imagine what it looked like until we get the professional pictures =)

Olivia didn't get her nap during the usual time today so she took the opportunity while sitting on her Uncle Kevin's lap to catch up on some sleep.

Congratulations Brian!

The presents are arriving!

The other day one of our presents for Olivia arrived in this big box with the styrofoam peanuts. Can you guess which one Olivia wanted to play with first? She made a big mess with it, but it wasn't too much work to clean up. I think Christmas Day is going to be extra fun this year now that she can tear the paper by herself and enjoy the excitement of opening presents.

Moving

Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! We had lots of fun hanging out with our family in Jacksonville. In other news, Brian got a job offer from ABB and we will be moving to Virginia at the beginning of January. His job is in South Boston, but since it is such a tiny town we are thinking of moving to the Danville area. We will be going up to look around as soon as Brian is done with school so we will know more then. Brian has been going to school since before we met and it is all Olivia knows so I'm sure she is going to appreciate no more homework taking up all of Daddy's free time. Overall we are just very happy to be starting this new chapter in our lives!

Tyler

This is Tyler who is a little boy we have been watching since our friend that used to watch him moved to Oklahoma. He will be hanging out with us for a couple more weeks until he goes somewhere else for more permanent care. Olivia has really enjoyed having another little person around to play with all the time and she is suprisingly very gentle with him. Hopefully she will feel the same when the new baby comes.

Susan, I hope seeing a picture of Tyler will make you feel better since I read you are missing him right now and I'm sure he's missing you and James.

Election Night

I know this post is kind of late, but I thought I would put up the pictures anyway. Olivia watched with me as the results came in and I was frantically going back and forth between the tv and internet to get the latest news. She doesn't get what the big deal is, but that didn't stop her from celebrating with me. It is nice to have someone to get excited with me since Brian doesn't get into it like I do. All I can say is it really was an amazing night and I'm so relieved that it's over!

Olivia's First Haircut

Olivia went to get her first haircut on Halloween. We had been talking to her about it for a while before we went to get her ready. The first time she sat down she started crying so I let her watch while I got my hair cut to see if that would help her feel better about it. After that she was ready and other than giving the hairdresser suspicious looks she seemed to handle it just fine. We even got an envelope to put snipets of hair in and a certificate for a first haircut.

Notice she is wearing her Cinderella costume. She has been wearing it almost daily since she got it and asks to put it on every morning. It is a good negotiating tool to use to get out of the house in the morning. Most people say "How cute she's still wearing her Halloween costume," and the parents look at me like they have been there and understand how preschoolers are.

I thought getting her hair cut would be sad for me, but it wasn't all that bad especially since there wasn't much crying involved. Hopefully next time will go just as well and Olivia might even enjoy it.

Trunk or Treat

The church across the street from our house had a Halloween party called Trunk or Treat. It is where the kids go around to people's trunks and get candy just like trick or treating. We didn't get any pictures of Olivia getting candy because she was too shy to go up and get the candy. They had balloon animals, food, and inflatables for the kids to play on and Olivia had a great time.

Here she is climbing the stairs for the slide all by herself. We weren't sure if she would be scared to go up, but she scrambed up the stairs without looking back.

Wheeee!!!!!

Jumpin Beans

We went to Jumpin Beans this morning with some of our friends. It is basically like a gigantic blow bounce house that the kids jump in. It is great because the kids have so much fun and then they are worn out for nap time. We had a good time and now I finally have some pictures to post!

Happy Anniversary

Today is our three year wedding anniversary. If this is what three years is like, I can't even begin to imagine being married thirty. So far we have had a baby, moved twice, and soon Brian will be done with school. The time has gone by fast when I reflect on it. This year there will be no cards, presents, or romantic dinners because we are just too busy with everything else going on so I want to take the time to say Happy Anniversary Brian and I love you!

We're Pregnant!

For those of you who don't know yet, we are expecting Baby #2 in April. These are our first pictures of the baby. The first one is from 7 weeks and the second one is from today at 11 weeks. It has turned from a blob into something that now resembles a baby. We are so excited about the new addition to our family!

Sleep and Dress-up

This is how we have been finding Olivia when we go to get her from her nap in the afternoon. I think she wants to play with her toys until the very last second before she falls asleep, so she stays on the floor to be close to them. I'm happy as long as she is taking a nap!
Here is Olivia in her dress-up clothes. We got a set of them for her since she seemed to enjoy Daylyn's clothes so much. She really likes them and asks for them every morning as soon as she wakes up. We have to keep the box that holds her clothes locked in the closet so she doesn't go rummaging around in there pulling out all her clothes and toys when she is supposed to be sleeping :)

Visit with James

James came over to play for a couple of hours the other day. Olivia had him come in the tent and they would rock it back and forth until it almost fell over.
Olivia also liked laying on James while he was playing on the couch. I think James was telling her to get up so he could keep playing with the kitchen toys.

Olivia's Pajamas

Sorry it's been so long since I last posted. School started again a couple of weeks ago so we have both been busy with that. These are pictures of Olivia's new pajamas we found on sale at Kmart. They have a picture of Cinderella on the front and she is in love with them. In the morning I can't even get her dressed because she won't let me take them off.
Here she is checking herself out in the mirror. Brian would say she is just like her Mommy!

Science Museum

Since Brian is finally out of school for a couple days we decided to go check out the science museum since we haven't been there since Olivia was much younger. They had a storytime where she got to pet some animals like this bunny.
Then she did lots of running around. I had to sneak up on her to get pictures because she was in a no picture mood today.
Here she is checking out the dinosaur skeleton.
She even made some friends while we were there and they chased each other around the dino foot.

Exercise!

Today we went to play at the community building where we used to live. The kids all had fun playing with the exercise equipment there and I even got a little bit of a workout.
Olivia doing pullups!

Olivia

I know it's been awhile since the last blog post, but I seem to have a problem remembering to bring the camera when we go out. Anyway here are some pics of Olivia in her new princess dress. This is what she does when she doesn't want to take pictures. . .
and here is Olivia eating lemons
How cute is this face?

Trip to Jax

We just got back from a trip to Jacksonville to see our family. These two pics are of Olivia and her cousin Hannah looking for crabs at the beach. They both really enjoyed the water, even when Olivia falls face first into the water she gets right back up and wants more.

These pics are from our visit to our friend Sarah's house. This is the first time Olivia has got to hang out with her daughter Daylyn and they had a blast together. Daylyn taught Olivia all about playing dress-up.

It is so much fun to see our family and friends that it makes me sad that we can't see them more often, but I know that we are lucky to have them as close as they are.