Our Summer So Far....

Being a first-time parent has a learning curve.... Buy popsicles not otter pops! Liv was a little frustrated trying to figure out how to get the sweet stuff out of the plastic.

We have been having so much fun just hanging out, going on walks, playing at the park, going to the rec center and farmer's market, parades, new cousins... Whew! It's been busy! We have really been missing our Dad, though. Brett was offered a job as a Wildland Firefighter back in April and in the past 4 weeks he has been home about 4 days. We have been really missing him so Liv and I just try to stay busy... Turns out that being a single parent is really hard work! Activities like blogging and yardwork take a backseat. But it's wonderful to spend so much time with this cute little kid. She's amazing!  

Liv really enjoyed all of the 4th of July festivities this year. She is still a little young to stay up for the fireworks but she LOVES hanging out with all of her cousins. Here she is enjoying the parade. Her favorite part was, of course, the taffy. Her least favorite part was the fire truck siren. Needless to say, "candy" is now a regular word in her vocabulary. Taffy makes long car rides so much easier.

And her blonde curly locks...

Lindsay and me...Women in Black.

Two of Liv's cute cousins, Charlotte and Hazel.

Liv has two new cousins, CJ and GJ (Christian and Grace). This is my sister, Melinda, with her new baby, Grace.

Park time!

Catching a break from the sun at the Schoppe's.

 

Kids, dogs and farm animals... Liv was in heaven!

We also visited Grandma's house over the holiday weekend. Checking out the cows!

Grandma Teri took some photos of Liv and me for Brett... It's nearly impossible to get one where one of us doesn't look silly.

And my favorite part of Summer... all things blooming.

This is orange and yellow Thunbergia.



Bring on Summer!!

Yesterday was the first nice, summer-like day of the year so we celebrated by hanging out outside for the majority of the day...we enjoyed the cool morning air on the patio, watered the plants, went for a long jog, picked up a sandbox... can't wait for more days like this one.

I am sure we will be complaining about the heat in no time.

In this pic, Liv is watching a circling flock of seagulls with a mouthful of banana. It seems like she just can't get enough of the world around her.

Liv also likes to consume dirt and rocks when mom isn't paying close attention.

You can kind of make out Liv's first ponytail in the picture below... I only had to re-do it four times. Cute little clips and bands don't stand a chance with this kid.

Grandpa Joel made this adorable duck step stool for Liv. She loves to look out her window and tell us all about what's going on outside. Grandpa Joel and Grandma Judie spent last week watching Liv so she has been talking a lot about Grandma and Grandpa. I forgot to get a picture of their "condo on wheels" in our driveway... it was a sight! Thanks Judie and Joel!

This first video was taken on Mother's Day at the zoo. We had a lot of fun despite the rain. Liv loves everything animals and had a blast watching the meerkats run around in circles.

Brett gave me this fantastic wheel barrow for Mother's Day.... it also doubles as a 4X4 wagon for Liv.

First Trip to the Zoo

We decided to purchase a season pass to the zoo this year since Liv is all about animals. These pictures are a few weeks old and we have visited the zoo since. Liv has so much fun!

We rode the train...

And the carousel. Liv was a little unsure about both, if you can't tell from the pictures.

 I made the safe but flamboyant choice... the enormous and brightly colored peacock. 

What Does a Lion Say?

Twelve Month Well Child Visit

At 12 months, Liv is 20.72 lbs (44%) and 30.31 inches long (86%). Her head circumference is 18.3 inches (86%). Since her last visit she has grown about 3 inches and gained just over a 1/2 lb. We call her our lean, mean string bean since she is really leaning out and her baby chub is nearly all gone :(.

Happy Easter!!

Below is a picture of Liv's expression when we tell her to run around and pick up randomly placed, brightly colored eggs but not rocks... she was a little confused.

  We had a lot of fun at Grandma's house for Easter dinner and an Easter egg hunt.

Happy Birthday Liv!

We had a fun-filled weekend for Liv's Birthday.... so much fun that it's taken us all a few days to recuperate. Her actual Birthday was last Friday, April 15. We had her party on Saturday and went to the zoo on Sunday. Here are some pics of her party and a video of her eating her cake.

We had green eggs and ham for lunch. I thought a fishbowl would be a cute and inexpensive idea for a centerpiece. Apparently 9 pm on Friday night at Wal Mart is a popular time to buy fish... waited in line for an hour, but it was worth it. Liv noticed the fish the next morning at breakfast and loved them!  

A huge THANK YOU to my friend, Angie, who gave me the idea for the party and was so gracious to email me her templates for invites and games. Where would we all be without the inspiration of others?

Thanks a million, Angie!

Here is Liv's cake and the cupcakes for our guests.

      

Here are some shots of the decor. Brett was such a huge help... I can't thank him enough. He ran errands, cleaned the house, helped with the decorations, watched Liv and, most importantly, put up with my craziness. Love, love, love him! He's the BEST!

We had a few games but we didn't get pictures of the fishing booth and we didn't get a chance to play
'Pin the Bow tie on the Cat'

We had guests sign a Dr Suess Birthday book

Grandpa Joel made Liv a wonderful rocking chair and Liv hasn't figured out how to sit in the chair by herself so she stands on it and then yells to us to help her out. Here she is standing on it to get a better look at the gift table...

Liv opening her gifts

Thanks to all the friends and family for all of the wonderful birthday wishes! We sure missed our family out of state and those that couldn't make the party. I am so grateful that Liv has so many people in her life that love and care about her.

Happy Birthday, Liv. We love you so much.

Thank you for the best year of our lives!

Fun at the Pool

Our family has passes to Herriman's fabulous new rec center which is next to the new library. The center has a big, fun, indoor pool. This Summer, we are setting a lofty goal to go swimming or to the zoo every Sunday.

I couldn't get a great picture of Grandma Teri and Liv so here's the best shot...

Grandma was so great to snap picture after picture of us having fun.

The pool is always busy and often fills to capacity but Liv's favorite part is to watch all the kids.

Here is Liv multi-tasking: swimming and waving at all the people. She was sad to have to get out of the pool.

She'll be running soon enough....