Nelson Beach Trip 2010

This past weekend (Thursday - Sunday) we went to North Myrtle Beach for our annual Nelson Beach Trip. We had a wonderful time, but it went by too quickly! We drove down Thursday morning and got there around lunch-time, but it was a rainy miserable day - so we stayed in. We went to dinner and to Walmart to pick up a couple things and Drew and Olivia walked through the whole store holding hands - aren't they so cute!

Friday was much nicer outside - so we got to go out to the beach and pool area. Olivia has LOVED swimming and the beach every time we go. Here she is playing in the ocean with us:

After we spent some time out in the ocean, we went over to the pool area. The hotel was really nice (we got a condo this year) - it had a big pool, a lazy river and a kiddie pool. We spent most of our time in the kiddie pool and lazy river (when we weren't in the ocean!). Here's Olivia playing around in the kiddie pool:

On Saturday, it was another nice day outside and we got up early and went out to collect seashells with Olivia. Here she is sporting her cool sunglasses running around looking for shells:

We stopped to get a quick family photo from some helpful passer's by:

Then it was back to the pool area for some more fun. Susan had picked up some little inner tubes for the kids (and some swimmies), which worked out great for the lazy river. Olivia had a great time floating around it like a big girl - all on her own! (with daddy close by!)

Drew even got into the action:

Then we had our annual putt putt competition. Let's just say that Grant and I didn't win - but we had fun! :) Here's Olivia and Drew riding the train up to the course. Drew LOVED the train! It was his favorite part - every time the train came by both he and Olivia had to wave to all the passengers!

Olivia is still *learning* how to play putt putt, but at least she understands that the ball goes in the hole. Here are the two main ways she does that:

1) She (or we) puts the ball right next to the hole and then knocks it in:

2) She just puts it right into the hole:

It's a work in progress. But she'll maybe have if figured out by next year.

In other news, just since I blogged yesterday - Olivia has really been doing well with the Potty. When I picked her up from daycare yesterday they told me she had been doing REALLY well with it (4 or 5 times just yesterday), and that she was even trying to help Jordan (she's a couple month's younger than Olivia) go potty! She told me she had to go this morning - and she did! Wow, she may be trained sooner than later! (Still not poo poo in the potty, but we'll get there! - ha ha!).

Catching Up . . .

Ok, so I have become a BAD blogger! It has been a month since my last blog! I can give excuses like, I've been busy or life is crazy, but I know you all just want to see Olivia - so without further ado . . .

I had a couple friends over for dinner a couple weeks ago and one of them has a daughter that is 6 months younger than Olivia, Reese. Here they are eating their dinner. They had a good time playing (and getting yelled at) together! ha ha

So, in an effort to get to spend a little time alone, we have created an arrangement with our friends, Randy and Sara, to trade off on Tuesday nights. One Tuesday we get the girls and they get a date-night, then we swap the next week. It's been working out pretty well, but we are both so busy, it winds up being about one date and one babysitting night each a month. Still better than nothing!

This past week I had both girls to myself - Grant had to work Tuesday night (which is usually his night off), so he could take Thursday and Friday off to go to the beach. So, I had the pleasure of the dynamic duo! They play really well together . . . and then they don't! Let's just say that they are both really sweet by themselves, then when you put them together, there is some bizarre chemical reaction that makes them both crazy, deaf, loud and possessive with EVERYTHING! ("mine mine mine"). I made it through, but it was a LONG night! :)

Here they are from the time before when it was our turn to watch them and Grant was home with me. They just got out of the bath and had their matching Jammies on and were singing and dancing. How cute!

Here is a picture of Olivia in a cute little hat my mom sent to us. It goes really well with her eyes!

And now for a couple fun videos of the little one. This first one she's probably going to kill me for posting when she's old enough to know better. She LOVES to wear my shoes and to dance. Here she is doing both:

This last video is just a short one of her with her play stethoscope - playing doctor:

Other than all of this, we had a great July 4th - but VERY BUSY! We went to a family get-together with Grandmom's family down near Shelby, NC. We actually got a picture of all the kids together from Olivia's generation - not an easy feat with 13 kids! (Unfortunately I forgot my camera that weekend, so this picture is from Becca).

They all played so well together and Olivia LOVED keeping up with the big kids! They helped her get onto the slide, pushed her on the swings and had a great time with her and she loved every second of it. She was so warn out when we left, she was asleep before we got out of the parking lot!

That night we went over to see my parents and their good friends, Mark and Bev, at their RV campsite. It was a really nice location with a creek, and we had a campfire and ice cream. We even grilled out some steaks for dinner (yum!). Olivia loved all of that, too! She got to walk through the creek and run around. It was a nice night.

Then we went back to the Nelson's house for the night and back home the next day. We were too worn out to do fireworks when we got back - we'll have to go next year.

Other than that trip, we've just been doing our normal stuff. Nothing too exciting. Olivia has gone on the potty on her own 2-3 times, but we aren't pushing her - just letting her know it is there. I think it will all click for her pretty soon.

I will blog about our beach trip in a separate blog. So until then, take care!

2-Year Doctor Appointment

I took Olivia for her 2-year doctor appointment on Tuesday and she did really well. Out of all the skills that they asked if she could do to determine if she was on-target, behind or ahead. The only one she couldn't quite do yet is catch a ball. But we are working on that. That is a bit advanced for her age anyway.

She also didn't have to have any shots this time! Yeah! She isn't due for any more until just before kindergarten. (around age 4 or 5).

Here are her stats:

Height: 35 inches (78%)

Weight: 24 3/4 pounds (25%)

Yup, she's still tall and skinny!

Happy 2nd Birthday, Olivia!

Happy Birthday to Olivia! I cannot believe she is already 2 years old! Wow, I can still remember taking her home from the hospital and being able to hold her all wrapped up in a little blanket - so small and helpless! Now look at her! She's a big girl now and she can do all sorts of things all by herself!

We started out her birthday by letting her open her new play kitchen and accessories from Grant and I when she first came down in the morning:

Then, the party preparations began. I had already made the cake (with mom's help - thanks, mom!) the day before, so that was done. I made little honey pot favors the weekend before with my craft girls. Then at the party Sara helped me stamp their little thumb prints on them in yellow paint and we turned them into little bees!

The party was a good turnout. Everyone in town that we invited (except for one of our neighborhood friends) was able to make it. We also had our parents and brother's come into town. Even Ms. Angie and Ms. Mur-mur came. You should have seen Olivia light up when she saw them show up in the back yard. When she opened her presents, she had to go and show Ms. Mur-mur each one! She kept saying "look Mur-mur, see Mur-mur" after each one. It was very cute!

Here's Olivia and Gracie playing at the water tables in the back yard. All the other kids were out there, but it was so hot out, most of them had come back in for a break. But not these two - we had to drag them in to get cleaned up to do the cake. (they were both SOAKED!)

Here's a really cute video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Olivia. She got so excited!!!

Then it was time for presents! She has become a real pro at opening all the presents! She just tore right into them! Thank you to everyone who gave her such wonderful gifts! She is already enjoying quite a few of them!

Then we had to do our picture on the couch again. When Olivia was first born, we took pictures of myself with Olivia, Sara with Gracie and Becca with Drew. Then one of just the 3 kids. See those from before and then this time:

(Drew 4 1/2 months old, Olivia 2 weeks old and Gracie 5 1/2 months old)

(Emma - 2 months old, Drew 2 yrs and 4 months old, Olivia 2 yrs old and Gracie 2 years 5 1/2 months old) Not the best picture, but the best we got! They were not in the mood!

Now just the kids!

(then)

(Now)
Poor Emma was so mad!

Here's Olivia running around in the play dress shoes that her cousins, Emma and Drew got her. What a perfect gift! She LOVES wearing our shoes and now she has her own big girl shoes!

Unfortunately we forgot to pull out the party hats during the party, but Olivia had a good time with them that evening. (Sorry Harmony, I know you worked hard on helping me with those!)


Here's Olivia playing with her new kitchen set:

Then here's a picture of Olivia playing with her new play dress-up shoes that her cousins, Drew and Emma got her!

Olivia had something she wanted to say to everyone that was able to come to her party, sent their best wishes and/or were thinking about her on her special day:

Thank you to everyone! We really appreciate it!

We also had some pictures taken for Olivia's 2nd Birthday. We went to Lundies in Cary, NC. They did a great job. If you'd like to see the pictures of Olivia online, you can view them by going onto their website (see link above), select "Enter" under the left picture, then select "Clients" at the top. Then you can enter in our password (nelson10) to view them.

Homemade Birthday Cake . . . .again!

I decided to make Olivia another fancy homemade cake this year to fit with her Winnie the Pooh theme. (I couldn't just buy a cake - nope got to be fancy! lol). So, I went ahead and baked the cakes first thing Saturday morning (at around 7am) before we went to The Little Gym. Here's Olivia *helping* me! She just brought her chair over and came to *help*. More like, she wanted to stick her little fingers in the batter! (which she did as soon as she could sneak it in!)

I made 3 cakes again this year. One beehive for Olivia to eat, one honey pot and one bigger cake with all the characters. My mom came up Saturday to help me with it. Although not all the characters look exactly right, Olivia was able to identify them all and they were pretty cute. Here are some pictures:

The Little Gym Graduation

Olivia graduated from her second semester at The Little Gym this past Saturday (yes, a VERY busy weekend for us!). She had a great time and is really starting to become more independent and try more things when we are there. She always has a great time there and we'd highly recommend it to other parents!

Olivia is walking across the uneven bars in the below picture and video. This is one of the skills that they have been working on and she has NEVER wanted to even try it before. This time she initiated it and walked the entire length!

And here she is swinging on the bars - her favorite thing at the little gym!

An action shot of her making a basket:

Here's Olivia and Gracie with their little medals for graduating.

First Hair Cut

I took Olivia to get her first haircut last Tuesday, 6/08/10. Her hair was starting to get crazy and the ends were starting to fray. I just wanted to get it shaped up a bit.

Here's a before picture. you'll see her hair was getting pretty long.


I took her to a place call JJ's Kids Cuts and they specialize in little kid hair cuts. All of the chairs for them to sit in to get their hair cut are little cars, planes, motorcycles and one is even a fire engine. We let her pick out her car and she chose the girly pink one!

Then she got her hair cut. She was really good for the hair dresser. She sat pretty still for it and the lady was very nice. They even put on a winnie the pooh show for her to watch.

We got a little baggy with some of her hair clippings in it to bring home as a keepsake. They even took a picture of her and were going to print us out a certificate for her first haircut, but their printer wasn't working. So we should get it in the mail pretty soon.