Christmas Pictures...Finally!

These are a tad overdue, but here are a few pictures from our various Christmas celebrations.  We enjoyed Christmas Eve at my sisters house with my side of the family, Christmas morning here with my parents and Christmas Day with the Barbers. 

For Christmas Eve we decided to do something completely different and we made lasagna, salad, and garlic bread.  It was so good!  I made the Pioneer Woman's Vegetable Lasagna and if you haven't been introduced, let me be the one to enlighten you.  Everything I have made has been nothing short of yummy!  Lindsay made a traditional lasagna and it was also delish! 

 Jake tried to stand up using his present and he fell "thru" the paper ) : 

A Little Progress

Just a quick picture/ update on the house.  We are having a little rain today, so I am sure things will be delayed just a bit.  As of right now, they are finishing the frame, then will install the windows and the roof (hopefully all by the end of the week, but more likely into next week.  It is so fun to be able to walk thru the floorplan that we have agonized over for the last several months ( : 
Olivia was so excited about her new room and us asking her where her things would go.  Then we showed her the kids bathroom, playroom and Jake's room and we could see the wheels start to turn.  She asked where Mommy and Daddy's room was, and when Greg showed her she asked, "Is this where my sleeping bag goes?"  See, in an effort for us all to sleep a little bit better at night, we lay out her sleeping bag on our floor so if/ when she has a bad dream or wakes up in the middle of the night, she can come sleep in our room.  Sometimes she wakes us up or is upset, other times she just crawls in her sleeping bag and we see her sleeping soundly in the morning. 
Here is the one picture that I have taken (from my phone because I keep forgetting to take my camera!).  More to come soon, I'm sure.

Santa!

We cheated.  Don't let those camo gloves fool you.  We didn't visit Santa at the mall.  Instead, we traded the crazy lines and crowded mall parking lot for Cabela's.  (Soooo doing this again next year.)  Not only did we see Santa after just a few minutes of waiting in line, they gave us the picture for free!  Olivia told Santa she wanted a bicyle and a Christmas treat. (tree).  We hadn't put one up because. let's face it, there is really no room for one in our apartment.  As guilt driven parents will do, we immediately went to Walmart and let Olivia pick out the most beautiful pink Christmas treat you've ever seen...or at least that she has ever seen.  (I mean, what 3 year old asks Santa for a tree?).  We are looking forward to Christmas this year with two kiddos! 
A few funny things that have been overheard:

As soon as Greg walks in the door, Olivia starts, "Daddy can I have your iPad?" 
Greg:  Not right now we have to eat dinner first, then you can look at it."
O:  Daddy, can I have your iPad?" 
Greg:  "No, after dinner."
O:  "Daddy, just say yes."

O:  "Would you believe it?  My camera is out of batteries!  Now, I need to run to the store to get some batteries, you little monkeys behave, okay?"

I'm sure there are more, but that is all that I can remember right now.  She is such a mess!  Jake is crawling all over and starting to take some steps (assisted of course).  He is also loving his solid foods!  He will eat just about anything we give him, as long as he can feed himself.  He loves green beans and bananas!

Happy Thanksgiving (and 9 month stats)

 A few shots from our recent Thanksgiving weekend!  We had Thanksgiving dinner at Lindsay and Blairs, visited the Austin Childrens Museum, and Greg and I were able to sneak in some Christmas shopping thanks to my parents!  Jake had his 9 month well check appointment and here are his latest stats... Weight-21.7 lbs (75th percentile) Height-30.5 inches (85th percentile).  We are slowly making the transition from pureed food to small food bits and pieces. He loves this new food so far. For breakfast he ate some toast, scrambled eggs and banana. (He is also going on a three hour nap right now-YES!) Jake is still doing the army crawl, but he loves to pull up to a standing position. Now if he could perfect his landing when he wants to get down, we will be all set! Olivia is keeping us on our toes...nothing new there. While driving past a carnival this weekend, she said, "Daddy I would like to go on the Ferris wheel." Greg told her that he didn't think that it was open and she quickly responded, "We better go check."  Last but not least, we set the forms on our new house!  We are so so excited to begin construction and our goal is to have the framing finished before Christmas...but we will see!

Double Trouble

A few quick pictures of the kiddos who are continuing to make us laugh on a daily basis.  Please note when browsing through the pictures how she is feeding Jake his bottle.  This is funny for two reasons.  First, he is fully capable of holding his own bottle, but she insisted on helping.  Second, he is quickly approching her size. 

Some "Olivia-isms" I had to share:

O:  "Mommy, I am a genius!"

O:  "Who wants to be a planet?"
Jen:  "I do!  What planet can I be?"
O:  "Mommy you can be Mars."  (places plastic ring on my head)
Jen:  "What planet can Daddy be?"
O:  "Daddy can be the moon!"  (Mommy and Daddy look at each other shocked).
Jen:  "There are other planets too ya know.  There is a planet called Pluto..."
Greg:  "Pluto isn't a planet anymore.  May I should be in charge of the science lessons."

O to Greg:  "There are the three rules.  First, we don't hit our friends.  Second, we don't run away from Miss Erin.  And what is the last rule Daddy?  We need to be good what?  (puts her hand up to her ear).  "Good listeners, that's right."

Happy Halloween

A few pictures from the last few days. First, of Olivia's school carnival. The theme was Noah's Ark and all of the kiddos dressed as their favorite animal. Olivia had me running back and forth to Hobby Lobby until she finally decided to be a pig. (Her other suggestion was a zebra, yeah, not sure how I would have pulled that one off. Maybe next year!) They had bounce houses, snow cones, face painting, and games. She had a blast and was willing to tell me all about it.

Pig tails, pig ears and her pig tail Folding her hands is her new thing (I think her teacher must do this?)
Superman
My blue eyed buddy
Olivia the Pig and her dog Perry The only picture I got of her piggy tail This little piggy ate a Snickers Checking out their loot!
The whole crew...minus Jake
Jake and his future girlfriend Kinzie
Happy Halloween!

What We Have Been Up To

Well we sold our house and have to be out by October 27th, so the last several days have been filled with packing boxes and trips to our new storage unit. Hopefully we will be able to start construction on the new house sometime in November/ December. Olivia is what I would consider officially potty trained, Jake is VERY close to crawling and is sporting two new bottom teeth! Olivia is getting slightly possessive of her things with Jakes new ability to get around.

Some funny things to note:

When picking Olivia up at school the other day she put her hand on a classmates chest and very sternly said, "No, No Kendall, that's my mama." (Apparently she is possessive of her mama, too.) She also had a potty accident the other day and I heard Greg say, "Uh oh, did we have an accident?" I hear Olivia quickly respond with "Nope, it wasn't me!"

Lastly, Olivia yelling, "I want my basketball hoot!" (after Greg took some of the larger toys to storage for the time being.)

Cinderella aka Little Orphan Annie
Brothers first shiner...compliments of Big Sis (she was "helping" him drink his water until things went sour)
Happy Boy!Brothers two teeth!Slowly, learning to share

Hanging out in her fort

Our moving box fort!