Olivia, Livia, Livia

My little bubba-do, what a silly girl you are! Olivia is really starting to understand some things we tell her. Recently, she will lay her head down and "go night-night" when we tell her. Here is a picture of her in the highchair. Terry said to Olivia "lay your headie and go nigh-night", so she layed her head on the edge of the tray. Too cute. I just wish she would understand that she doesn't have to chew on everything. I am constantly telling her no, when she tries to put things in her mouth. In some ways, she resembles a puppy. Here are a few examples.

Can you see the dog as it rides in the car with its head out the window and sticking its tongue out to get some air? Well, Olivia enjoys the concept! Here she is in front of a window fan and sticking her tongue out. She does the same thing when she is outside on a windy day!

Last night, we went to see my Mom and Rich. We ate deli chicken for supper outside on their patio. My mom stripped everything off a chicken leg bone and handed it to Olivia. She gnawwed on it for quite awhile. My mom said we did those sorts of things when we were little. Strange, but Olivia really liked it!

Fun with Uncle Mark

So last Sunday, my brother Mark and his fiance Cyndi went to Waverly to see a movie. We met them after the movie at "The Fainting Goat", a restaurant in Waverly for supper. Mark and Cyndi came over to our place for a little while after supper. Mark had some fun with the girls on the trampoline. Can you guess who had the most fun??

A Fourth Child

So are you expecting me to tell you that I am having another child? Ha! Not yet anyway. I couldn't imagine being pregnant when Olivia isn't even 1 yet! Plus, we haven't decided if we are going down the road of having another child yet anyway. It will probably be determined once Olivia turns one and once Terry knows what is happening at work with the contract.

The fourth child was my niece, Kendall. A few weeks ago I watched her because my sister's babysitter (my sister-in-law) had the day off. I thought I would be so busy that day, but actually they were all so good! Really Olivia is the one that keeps me busy - she is into everything. My sister is going to have our three girls overnight next weekend on Saturday because we have a wedding to go to. She will be busy because she is used to only one and then to have to add three more in - should be interesting. I told her to remember that Madison and Laci are good helpers! A picture of the four girls on the day Kendall was here. They were having a fun day together. Let's hope they are always close and have so much fun together.

Not doing so well...

Well, I thought with summer vacation I would get better at posting to my blog. That doesn't seem to be the case at all. Maybe the third child keeps me a little busy. Here are lots and lots of pictures from the last few weeks. Laci taking a nap in the living room in the recliner. She loves to take her nap somewhere other than her own bed, so we usually let her. She needs her nap, so whatever it takes!

Madison with braids one day outside on the deck! We haven't had extreme heat or humidity lately so we are spending lots of time outside.

Olivia likes to be outside too. We can put her in the stroller and she'll sit outside and watch things for hours.

This past weekend was Jesup Farmers Days. Thursday night we always head over to Jesup for a kids' parade and then the girls get to ride the rides. Thursday night they let you buy a wristband and then they can ride the rides all night. Madison and Laci wanted to go on the ferris wheel, so we bought tickets so their cousin Nicole could ride with them!

Kendall was anxiously waiting while Madison, Laci, and Nicole rode the ferris wheel, so she could go on rides too!

Riding the little semi-trucks. Laci is in front on the "passenger" side. Kendall and Madison are in the back.

All three girls in the boats.

Terry went on the merry-go-round with Madison and Laci. Olivia and I were standing and watching!

Madison on the motorcycles!

Laci on the motorcycles!

Madison, Laci, and Kendall on the helicopters (kind of hard to see Kendall). Madison would get so mad on this ride because she always thought one of the other helicopters was higher than the one she was in and so she would pout each time she went by us. She wanted to go higher and higher!

Friday we went to Sam's Club and bought a trampoline for the girls. It has the side enclosures. Here is Madison, she flips over in it already.

Laci jumping in the trampoline. A good way to keep them occupied for awhile each day - exercise too.

Olivia - a bit of a smile.

Cleaning

Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to clean the house. I am not the mother/wife who cleans once per week. I do it when it really needs it or the mood strikes me (which isn't very often). I wonder why this is because it seemed like I tended to like helping my own mother clean when I was younger. I remember cleaning the mirrors in the bathroom, spraying the shower and then squeeging it at my house growing up. I hate cleaning the bathroom most of all now! I also remember moving almost every small item out of my room and then vacuuming when I was younger. I do that occasionally here, but most times when I vacuum, it is just the big spaces that aren't cluttered! I also just get so frustrated with cleaning because with three little ones it doesn't stay clean for a minute! Well, anyway, I got the house cleaned yesterday which wasn't the brightest idea. Terry and I went out last night, so two high school girls came over to watch our three girls. When I got home, I could tell that I would be doing some spot cleaning this morning. It is done now, but I am sure I will be thinking in a couple days that I need to be cleaning again! Kind of like the laundry - it just never goes away. I need to be rich so I can just hire someone to clean and do the laundry! HA! Maybe some day soon I will have little girls who like to help their mommy clean too!

9 Month Stats

So Olivia went to the doctor today for her 9-month well-baby check-up. Here are her stats:

• weighs 20 lbs.
• length is 28 3/4 in.
• head circumference is 17 1/2 in.

When comparing these stats to Madison's at that age, Olivia is just slightly heavier and slightly longer. I don't usually compare to Laci's because she is by far the smaller of the two older girls. I know they are all different also, but it is sort of fun to see how they compare at those ages. I do think Olivia is the longest of the girls when I try to remember. Today also her weight was in the 80th percentile and her length/height was in the 75th percentile. I know she is doing well and I really had no concerns. I was also able to take her to this appointment by myself because no shots - I always drag Terry along and leave the room at the end of the appointment when there are shots. I can also schedule the next appointment and not have to hear my baby scream at the top of her lungs that she is hurting. Hard to believe that the next time she has to go to the doctor, she will be a year old!

8 Years Ago

Tuesday, June 23 was our 8th anniversary. It seems like so much has changed since then. Here are the beautiful roses that my husband brought home for me on Tuesday. A rare occurrence.

A picture of Olivia sleeping in her crib. She seems so long and she is almost 2/3 the length of her crib mattress. I guess we will see how long she is and how much she weighs on Monday at her 9 month check-up. I will also have to compare it to the other two girls' baby books, but so far I think she may be the one who will end up being the tallest of the girls.

Laci on her last day of swimming lessons. She said she wasn't going to go down the waterslide, but ended up going down 2 times. The second time she went down, the teacher wasn't quite ready for her. Luckily, she had a life jacket on.

Madi at the top of the waterslide on the last day. She was in level 2 this year and will have to take level 2 again next year. She is doing much better, but still really needs practice at face floating and back floating. Hopefully, one more year of level 2 and she will be ready to move on to level 3. I am not trying to rush it, but I do want them all to be confident swimmers some day.

Olivia Rae - in the basement today after her nap. She is into EVERYTHING! I don't get much down time with her unless she is napping. She is constantly in motion or wanting to EAT! I guess it keeps me from eating so that is the only benefit - Mommy's workout!

It sure will be interesting to see what the next 8 years bring to our family. Maybe one more child at some point, but not right now. It is also a decision we will have to make after Olivia turns 1 because I don't want to wait much longer if we do decide to have one more because I am not getting any younger and neither is Terry. I am also ready to decide if our family is complete and be done with the baby stage in the Even household. They are so fun, but a lot of work and it is hard to divide the time with the older ones. I know we make it work, but you always worry about being there for all of them! Plus with Olivia getting to be so big already, I miss the baby stage too! It is so hard to see them grow up so fast, but I am enjoying every minute I have with them now!