Big Girl Bed

We decided Sunday that it was time for Olivia to transition into a "big girl bed". She has been in a beautiful crib, (that I LOVE) that transitions into a toddler bed; however, we cannot find the toddler bed kit anywhere! So Sunday we took the front of of the crib and she sat on it, laid down, checked it out, etc. But Ben and I thought it was too high off the ground especially without any rails... so we headed out to Toys R Us to look at toddler beds. They had one white one that was NOT CUTE at all. We were debating getting this Dora one that was metal and plastic and somewhat tacky, when Olivia's Nana called (Ben's mom) and said that her and Pops wanted to buy O a toddler bed... needless to say, we were pretty thrilled that they had offered to do this! So Nana ordered the "big girl bed" and hopefully it will be here soon...

This is her new bed! Isn't it beautiful? :)



Back to the sleep situation tho... we took the crib apart and just put her mattress on the floor and she has done soooo well! I am very surprised!! Sunday night, Ben laid on the floor next to her and she fell asleep. She slept all night there and didn't wake up once!! Then Monday night, Ben laid down with her again and she slept until 6:30, then woke up and whined until Ben went and got her out of her room! She wouldn't even get off of her mattress even though she could! Then she slept another hour in our bed. Last night, I laid down with her and she fell asleep and slept all night... actually until almost 9 this morning!!

THEN!!! Today she was very tired and needed a nap, so I told her that she had to have quiet time in her room by herself... she went in there and colored, then read a book, then played with her magnadoodle. It got really quiet tho... so I went to see what was up and she had climbed into bed and fallen asleep by herself! Then she did it again tonight - we didn't even have to go in her room at all!!

She is getting sooo big!!

Oriental Crunch Salad

So my cousin Cindy makes this amazing salad called Oriental Crunch Salad. Some of you might have tried it - but if you haven't, you totally should! Ben got the recipe from her and has made it twice in the last two weeks. We made it yesterday and ate the whole thing between ourselves last night for dinner and today for lunch!! (It makes a ton... so it's crazy we ate the whole thing)

Ok and for you picky eaters like me... please try this! The first time Cindy made it, I didn't try it because I knew I wasn't going to like it - but then I tried it the second time and thought it was ok... by the third time, I decided I loved it!!

Here's the recipe:

1 LB cole slaw mix
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup slivered almonds
2 pkgs beef Ramen noodles; crushed

Combine noodles, almonds, & sunflower seeds in airtight container. Set aside.

DRESSING

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
1 cup oil
2 seasoning packets from Ramen noodles

Combine above dressing mixing well and let sit in the fridge for about an hour.

Add slaw to noodles mixture and stir in dressing.

EAT AND ENJOY! It's yummy!

You can eat it for leftovers, but the noodles aren't as crunchy... Ben and I think it's good as leftovers! It's just what your preference is :)



Also on a side note: My grandmother is having surgery today... actually right now as I am typing this, they should be wheeling her back. Please say a prayer for a successful surgery and a FAST recovery!!

Jonah's Birthday Party

Today we went to Olivia's friend Jonah's 2nd birthday party. It was at The Little Gym and we had a blast!! Olivia has been in class with Jonah at school since they were 7 months old, and they have become great friends :) She was very excited to see her friends Noah, Ben, Hannah and Lilly from Kids R Kids too!

She was sooo good at the balance beam!
Acting like a little monkey!

Sitting on the bouncer waiting for it to blow up with Noah & his mom

Swinging!

She kept going back to the rings over and over!

These balls are amazing! We should have bought her one!

Parachute :) This picture of Kelly & Jonah is so cute! (And cousin Hannah looking on)

Olivia loved her cupcake!

Flowers for Nayee

Olivia was playing outside with my mom today and they found some flowers in my gramma's yard, so Olivia picked a few to give me (with Mom's help). She came and knocked on the front door so I opened it and thought "ohhh what a sweetheart!" Then she practically threw the flowers at me and yelled, "BYE BYE!!" and ran off as fast as she could... it was the funniest thing ever! I laughed so hard! I think she was so desperate to play outside, she wasn't going to get even close to inside! It was sweet and hilarious :)

A Fabulous February Field Day

Monday was an absolute BEAUTIFUL DAY! (For those of you living under a rock....) And we played outside allll day long!

We played "house"We played basketball!We showed off our boo boo! We played more basketball!
We ran full speed across the front yard!

We got to wear sandals for the first time in 2009!

We played golf!

And then we played basketball, yet again!

We wanted to play in Mommy's car.And then we just decided to be adorably cute!

We took about a million pictures of Bailey!Then to top the day off, the slushie man came by and Olivia got her first slushy of 2009! Yay!

We had such a wonderful day, "Na-yee" couldn't bring herself to leave to go to class... she she skipped! (Shhh.... it's our secret!)

Who thinks I'm CRAZY?!

So I have decided I am going to make Olivia some clothes for this summer. Who thinks I'm crazy? (I am raising my hand) I went to Hobby Lobby today and got some cute McCall's patterns and they were on sale for $1.99 each! They are usually $11.95 each so yes, I got an amazing deal and felt like this was meant to be. Maybe making children's clothes is my calling in life... but I'll wait until after I make them to answer that question.

The reason I decided to do this is because I picked out some adorable outfits on ebay that are Minnie Mouse and they are custom made AKA very expensive... so I thought I would just try to find patterns similar to those outfits to make for Olivia to wear on our Disney Cruise. Goodness, just say a prayer for me.

These are the patterns I picked out (CUTE HUH?):

And I wanted this one but they were out. I will have to wait or order it online.

Once Upon a Sunday Afternoon...

I had a photo shoot with O. Wow. Big surprise. :)

These were the few good results. Does anyone realize how hard it is to take a decent picture of a "spirited" 2 year old? BC it's darn hard.

Don't you LOVE her hairbow!? I do.

Well Mom, I'm just munchin on a leaf...And it tastes.... nasty! Where are you darn cat!?

A smile :)

She was tanning her belly. WHAT?! Where has she heard that?
And the photo of the day....

A close second :) I love her in sunglasses. She's adorable.