The Best Name

I'm just going to go ahead and say it, Jeff and I picked out THE best name for our daughter!

Have you seen this movie?

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I don't remember liking the movie all that much, but I did LOVE one of the characters' name. I asked Jeff about it quick and we finished watching.

Fast forward one year:
When I found out I was pregnant with our first child I was so excited, I went and bought a blanket at Target. We didn't know the gender yet, but I can tell you the blanket I bought sure looked rather boyish! :)

A couple months into the pregnancy I was having some rather strange dreams, and they were all about baby boys. Here is the worst of them:

I was in the hospital with my new baby. The room was HUGE with blind less windows. I remember it being very high up too. I was loving on this tiny thing in my arms when I looked down and saw that it was a boy with full on chest hair and a head that looked exactly like this, ponytail Mohawk and all:

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Everyone should know who Sanjaya Malakar from American Idol season 6 is right?

I woke up horrified!

Lucky for us, we found out that we were having a girl, and after the initial emotions of knowing I was going to hold a sweet baby girl, I was just so happy to know that she would not look like Sanjaya!

We named her OLIVIA JOY. Perfect name right? It gets better.

Two weeks ago my Father-in-law, Larry was looking at family history sites online. His grandma on his dad's side passed away when he was around four or five and he didn't know much about her, but he knew people called her Mae. He and my Mother-in-law Renea have been looking for her name for a few years now, and could not come up with anything.

As Larry was looking at a web page he found by accident, there she was, HIS grandma.

Olivia Mae.

Her first name was Olivia and that is why she has been so hard to find.

Do you think it's the best name yet? It is perfect for our little family. We didn't have the privilege to meet Miss Olivia Mae, but I hope she is looking down on our family and smiles at our beautiful daughter. I know we will meet her someday.

We are so lucky to have Olivia and not a hairy Sanjaya :)

First day(s)

Olivia has started Preschool AND dance and I can't believe she is old enough for either one!

She loves going to Preschool and has adjusted so well to her classroom, teachers, and friends. I signed up to clean the classroom on Wednesdays which isn't at all a bad job. Only because I get to eat lunch with her before I have to clean :)

Today was her first day of dance. I'm very sorry about the blurry pictures, she was dancing around so much I couldn't get a good one. She LOVED it! She even showed me some moves they did on the bar and across the floor. I love my little Ballerina!

Landon:

- He has taken his first steps (September 1st)

- He waved goodnight to his daddy (September 7th)

- He loves music and starts to move his head

(Stevie Wonder style) whenever he hears it!

- He makes sure we're watching when he does something cute. He looks over and smiles at us to make sure we are paying attention to him.

- He knows his mommy and daddy love him by all the kisses and hugs they give him...

- He LOVES his sister!

Forever Families

How lucky am I to know that I can live with my family forever.

For some reason, the last couple months I have been picturing or worrying about something bad happening to one of my family members. First I envision Landon choking on a coin and because I'm "too busy" I don't notice until it's too late. Then I picture Liv being abducted from her preschool (she started on Friday). I also see Jeff getting into a horrible accident and not making it out alive! Horrible thoughts right? Thinking of these made-up events sometimes kept me up at night worrying, and I seriously had a hard time shaking the thought that something bad was going to happen.

My mind was not at all comforted until one day I was reading THIS wonderful talk by Dieter F. Uchtdorf. I didn't get to finish the whole talk because I kept reading these same words over and over again.

"I testify to you that our Father in Heaven loves His children. He loves us. He loves you.
When necessary the Lord will even carry you over obstacles as you seek His peace with a
broken heart and a contrite spirit. Often He speaks to us in ways that we can hear only
with our heart. To better hear His voice, it would be wise to turn down the volume control of
the worldly noise in our lives."

Life is great for me and my little family. Jeff and I are safe, our children are beautiful and healthy, my extended family is also healthy. I need to relax and enjoy the time I have with them. Who knows, that time may be short. And if it is, I know I can be with them forever through God's plan for us.

The other night a friend on Facebook posted about a family who a week ago had to say goodbye to their 7 month old daughter Ruby Jane due to liver failure. You can find her story HERE. Usually I don't read blogs of people I don't know, but I read this one and cried the whole time. I cried for the fact that I have an 8 month old who I don't know if I could live without in this world. I cried for this family who is surviving this hard time because of the knowledge that they will be able to one day see their sweet baby girl again.

Today in church, speakers talked about families and the Plan of Salvation. I had a hard time paying attention because of the toys around me. It seemed like I was playing with them more than my children (whoops). But I sure did pay attention when it was time for the closing song, and I couldn't help but get emotional as I thought about the words:

Families Can Be Together Forever

I have a family here on eath.
They are so good to me.
I want to share my life with them through all eternity
Families can be together forever
Through Heavnly Father's plan.
I always want to be with my own family,
And the Lord has shown me how I can.
The Lord has shown me how I can.


No matter what happens in this life, if I live a righteously I can always live with my family! I love them and I'm thankful for that knowledge.

Overload

I have so many pictures to post! I didn't think our summer was that eventful, but apparently I was wrong... Sorry for the picture overload!

We have a preschooler!!!

Olivia's Tangled themed 4th b-day party

Pin the tail on Maximus

Olivia's friend B had her mom sew her this beautiful Tangled dress!



Yeah, this cake was VERY stressful for me. I thought it turned out alright.

Frying pan plates

Our Saturday trip to Telluride!! This place is BEAUTIFUL! It's no wonder why Tim McGraw sings about it!

I think she loves the smart phone the most! :)

Fun week in Denver with my parents included the ZOO, Water World and.... Shopping!!!! :)

I love this pic of my mom and Landon.

This was one of the most fun food projects I have ever done. I can't take credit for the design, but it was a hit with everyone!

I couldn't resist taking a picture of his sleeping position.


Dolores River Fest. Flo Bots.

Yep that's it! Sorry I couldn't load more pictures for you. I know you are all wanting more :)

Half way mark!... and bugs

We made it! Our little boy is 6 months old and we can't believe it! He is such a little busy body and has to be doing something constantly!

Favorites:

- When holding a toy, he twists his little wrists (they are actually big wrists)

- He loves food. I give him vegetables first and after those are finished I give him fruit. It's so funny to watch that first bite of fruit. He puckers up his lips and really enjoys every bite.

- He loves to laugh and smile. He thinks Olivia is especially funny.

- When he gets excited he slaps his hands down on the ground or on his legs as hard as he can and almost knocks himself over

We love Landon and have been so blessed with an easy-going sweet boy.

Olivia is growing up WAY too fast! She is such a love bug but has also been into bugs. She likes to go exploring in the backyard to find rollie polies and worms. She was stung by a bee the other day. It was very traumatic, but she doesn't seem to be too bothered by them now.

Olivia's favorites:
- She knows what to do to when Landon is crying before I do. She often gives him her blanket or a toy if he is crying.

- She is constantly calling us on her "phone" to come play at her "house".

- She loves to sing with me and asks to sing songs over and over and over again.

- She gets so excited to see bugs!

Lions, Tigers and Bears

Okay, not so much tigers but I'm talking REAL lions and REAL bears!

My sister-in-law Raedene has cute parents who live north of Cortez on about 70 acres of land... where the elevation increases slightly and the population decreases. Her parents invited us and a few others to a Switzerlandian Mountain Goat roast. Sounds fun right? The meat was pretty good, and tasted mostly like beef.

After dinner the kids wanted to take a nature walk down the canyon. The adult tour guide (aka another parent) wasn't interested in taking children under the age of 8 down (aka my child). So Raedene offered to go and I said I would tag along.

As we were walking Readene informed us of the old black bear who was residing in the area. I don't think they have actually seen him, but have spotted tracks and had fur stuck in the barbed wire. Either way, I was nervous the whole trip down. After about 15 min of walking we stopped at a picnic bench her parents set up near a small lake (I like to call it a watering hole). This is about the time Olivia started dancing like she needed to go potty. Great, my newly potty trained 3 year old is a mile from a bathroom, how am I going to convince her to go potty in a bush. After trying to talk her into it she promised me she didn't need to go and we headed back to the house.

I remember getting in the car and looking at the clock because Jeff was stuck back at the house with a not too happy Landon and I realized it was way past his bedtime (Landon's not jeff's). It was 8:30! Sorry Jeff...

Sunday Raedene informed me that this is what her parents camera snapped the same night of our nature walk...

Are you kidding me?? Can you tell that's a mountain lion? Notice the time stamp. A little over an hour after we were at this small lake (watering hole) this is what their motion camera caught! We had been standing RIGHT there! He was sniffing our scent I know it, and now he knows what I smell like!! Pretty sure I'm never taking a nature walk again! Unless someone around me has a gun or slingshot or even a cell phone!

Oh my!

Easter

Easter 2011

We loved celebrating Easter this year. I feel so blessed to have shared it with such a healthy and happy family! I was explaining to Olivia that although the Easter bunny is fun, Christ's resurrection is the real reason why we celebrate Easter. I'm so glad she can start to understand what is really important! I love my family to pieces and I'm such a lucky girl to have them!

Side note: Olivia started calling The Book of Morman "The Book of Morning" :) I guess we need to work on that! :)

Side, side note: Landon tasted his first rice cereal yesterday! He is such a champ!

Three Months

There has been a lot going on around here! We have moved from Greeley and are living in Cortez CO. It has been a crazy month and I'm glad we are finally able to get back to normal life; growing boy, story time and tantrums (I swear we need super nanny to come to our house)!

Landon turned 3 months on March 2. He has been such an easy baby. He sleeps 7 to 9 hours at night, and loves watching the tv and Olivia play. He has become a mommas boy which makes the day VERY long!

We really miss Greeley, but we are glad to be here. The town is really growing on me, and I love looking out the window and seeing mesa and mountains. It sure beats looking out the window of our condo in Greeley and seeing another building.

Oh and one more thing.... Go U-N-C Bears!

Blessing Day

Olivia loves her little brother, and is so good with him!

Bath time! Getting ready for church

Landon had a great blessing given to him by his dad. Most of our family made the scary journey to Greeley in the snow to be there with us, and we are so glad everyone who did, came. We were even more glad they made it home safely! The white blanket was made by Great Grandma Luck.

Christmas 2010

Christmas Eve at Meme and Papa's house

Cute stockings made by Grandma Yarbrough

Santa gave Liv a Pillow Pet!

Landon gave Liv this train

What a fun Christmas in Greeley!