Santa Claus

Is coming....to Barton Creek Mall! This year I told Greg I wanted him to go with us to visit Santa, mostly because I was sure that Liv was going to have a major meltdown. Imagine our surprise when we sat her on Santa's lap...and NO TEARS! Awesome. I got a really cute picture of her looking up at Santa and the "elves" only charged 30 bucks to take a not so cute picture. What a steal.

After we left the mall (which was insane by the way) we went to Chuy's for dinner. As we are walking in, a minivan comes flying up next to us, this lady swings open her door, and jumps out in such a fashion that I have to stop walking to let her out. No biggie, I stop, then she starts trucking it into the restaurant and it occurs to me, she is trying to cut her way onto the waiting list. Okay, I'm trying to stay in the Christmas spirit here, but I have to admit, I am a little ticked off. Being the stinker that I am, I start picking up speed. (Her legs are half the size of mine if she is lucky). Her poor husband rolls down the window and is yelling after her "Should I wait here to see how long the wait is, or should I park the car (van)?" Poor sucker. She doesn't slow down, doesn't so much as turn around to give him the time of day, just waves him on and keeps trucking. We reach the door and she runs in, letting the door slam in my face (at this point I am hot on her heels and she knows it). All I could do was say "Thank You" really loud, in my most obnoxious, in your face sort of way. (I think I really showed her). Totally ridiculous, right? I know, I know this typed out story version isn't doing any justice. I paint a pretty bad picture, but just try to imagine what I am working with here. Greg is usually the one to tell me I am overreacting, but even he was like, what the mess? I mean come on lady, it's Christmas, and are you really that flippin' hungry? Okay, whew, I feel better. Getting it out, on my blog, I am (sort of) over it.

On a much lighter note, here are the pictures....

Product of the Elf

Mama's version
This is what I get when I ask her to "Say Cheese"

OLIVIA

Last weekend we were able to visit with Grandma June. We had a lot of fun just relaxing, made a stop at the Salt Lick for Linner (lunch and dinner...yes its that filling) and had some live entertainment...aka Olivia. She is at such a fun stage now where we end up just watching and laughing.

June brought with her one of the neatest (and most accurate) descriptions of the name Olivia, framed so that we can hang it in her room. It is spot on, especially the part about loving books! I tried to get a good picture of it, because I know anyone who knows my little Liv can agree it is so true!

15 Month Stats

Just a quick update on our 15 month doctor visit this morning...

Weight: 24 lbs 8 ounces (between the 75th and 95th percentile)

Height: 33.5 inches long (above the 95th percentile)

She is one big kiddo!

One of her favorite things to do now is to "prentend" in her play kitchen...and by pretend I mostly mean climb onto the oven door and jump up and down. When we tell her no, she laughs and continues to jump.

Of course, books are still her toy of choice. She will read anything...a magazine, junk mail, whatever.

She also loves to do anything we do. Yesterday while cooking dinner, she emptied out my drawer of kitchen towels and decided to "help" and clean the floor. Here she is...working hard ( :

Thanksgiving

In true Holiday fashion, I find myself running around like mad trying to get everything crossed of my list. Which is why I haven't "blogged" in a bit. So instead of a lengthly blog with stories or updates...enjoy a few pictures from Thanksgiving while I (slowly) get caught up.

My New Favorite Picture

Olivia LOVES to help in the kitchen Olivia does karaoke
six teeth and counting

The Zoo

While Greg and I were at the OU game, my parents so graciously volunteered to watch Olivia for the night. It was her first night away from Mom and Dad, and we did pretty good...she did too!

Here are some cute pictures of Olivia at slumber party with Nana and Papa. The red rocking chair was mine growing up that my mom painted and Olivia LOVES it. She loves to stand up in it, so we started clapping when she would actually just sit down in it (she loves everyone to clap for her!)

At the Dallas Zoo

Thanks Mom and Dad...we love you both!

Boomer!

I'm officially behind on the blogging, and I've only just begun! The weather today is really windy, cold and damp so it will be a good day to get caught up. Here goes...
A few weeks ago we decided to head to the OU vs. Aggie football game in Norman. What a blast! The weather was freezing but the game was a lot of fun. Of course, no complaints by me...we won!

Group Shot Blair doing his best "Gig'em"...love the girls face looking at Greg, he wasn't acting obnoxious AT ALL!

Freezing!

Lasagna Recipe

After many failed attempts at making what I consider the perfect lasagna...I found this recipe that is fantastic! I am VERY picky about my lasagna...and I think this is right up there with Macaroni Grill (my personal favorite for lasagna). There are a lot of ingredients, and it can be time consuming, but well worth it! YUM! (I can't exactly figure out how to get the link to appear, but if you click on the blog title "Lasagna Recipe" it will take you to it...I'm still learning..hehe)

There's No Place Like Home...

What a fun Halloween we had this year! Last year Olivia was only a month old, so as much as we wanted her to be in on the fun, she obviously could have cared less. This year we dressed her up and took her to a friends Halloween party. She had more fun playing with their sweet dog than with anything else. She was also our "helper" while we passed out the candy. She was so curious when the kids came to the door to trick or treat. Towards the end of the night she started taking her basket with her to meet the kids at the door (maybe hoping they were going to share their candy? Ha!) Maybe I am a little biased, but she sure was the cutest Dorothy I have ever seen...thanks Nana for making her cute costume! Her Toto ( :
Her new "rocking" chair Off to get the door, basket in hand

Grammy and Grampy Visit

A few pictures of Olivia visiting the park with the Barbers. She LOVES the swing and the slide!

Thank you for coming to visit! We love you!

And She's Off!

Olivia has been "cruising" along the furniture, the walls, etc. for so long, we weren't sure how long it would take her to get to walking! She is starting to walk independently now, and she is so proud of herself when she does. (She will stop and clap periodically just to remind us of her accomplishment). She is also starting to get back up all on her own! (Until recently she would have to crawl to the wall, furniture, us... you get the idea). Here is a short little video of her walking...she was after my camera!

MY FIRST BLOG!

Holy cow! I cannot believe I am actually taking five minutes to post a blog. Who knew? I figure since I am a total slacker in the emailing of photos department, I am going to give this blog thing a whirl. Not certain that I will be come a regular blogger, but it's the thought that counts, right?

To start off my first blog, I thought I would post pictures from this weekend. My parents came in town to watch the OU game with us (read: to see Olivia) and on Sunday we took Olivia to the pumpkin patch to pick out her pumpkin. For dinner we hit up the Salt Lick to enjoy some yummy BBQ. Not only am I bloggin', but I also took pictures this weekend...go me! Oh, and on a total side note, this fall weather is AMAZING!

Liv picking out her pumpkin

Enjoying her brisket, sausage, basically anything we put in front of her ( :