Snowed in Again

This weekend we stayed put knowing that we would be getting a bunch of snow. I think we probably got 8-10" today, and hopefully it's done with. We were spoiled the last week with nice weather.

Last night we took Olivia to her first movie in the theater-Yogi Bear. Five minutes into it, she was asking to go home. I guess I thought it was going to be a little more animated than it was. But, she stuck it out and although she asked about every 10 minutes to go home, she was entertained enough by Yogi and Booboo to stay watching it. On the way home, Olivia and I were mimicking the line-"Hey Booboo-let's go get some picnic baskets" in our best Yogi voice. And today when she was trying to nap, we could hear her saying through the monitor "Booboo-let's get picnic baskets. Ok Booboo?" We laughed and laughed-the things she remembers and comes up with is just priceless.

Olivia and I made some chocolate chip cookies today. She was asking if we were going to make them with Grandma, like we did last weekend-I told her that she was at home & she said "I miss her". I agree-6 hours is just too far :( But-I was hoping to bring some of the cookies to daycare tomorrow, but every time I turned around to get something out of the fridge, she had a handful of flour or sugar in her mouth. She loved taste testing the batter too-just like her dad-couldn't keep her hands out of it. So not only was I not able to make as many cookies as I should have been able to, but her little fingers were all over in the batter. I think we'll just keep them for the 3 of us :) And the dogs-I'm sure they will get their fair share too.

Olivia's first Snowman

Olivia didn't have daycare today so I (daddy) stayed home with her. One of the many things that I needed to get done today was to wash her winter coat which was filthy. Washed, dried and spotless it waited for Olivia to wake up from her nap. I had promised that after her nap I would take her for a walk. We tried to go earlier but there was too much ice on the sidewalks. The first thing Olivia said when she awoke was "I want to go outsiiiiiiiiide". We got all bundled up and headed out. We took our time walking around about six blocks as Olivia jumped and stomped though the large puddles. After a few blocks of this we ran into a dry spell, no puddles. We went another couple of blocks and there ahead was a really large puddle. Olivia saw it right away and took off like a flash towards the puddle. Just as she was about to reach the puddle she noticed her shadow off to the side on the snow bank. Olivia glanced over and pointed to it trying to get me to notice the shadow when the next thing I know she is face planting into the puddle. Water everywhere. I raced up to her and got her up. She was laughing and enjoying the event which suprised me. Her coat however was almost black on one side. I picked her up and walked quickly back home to get her into some dry clothes. Changed and dry she insisted on going back outside. This time she really wanted to build a snowman. So I put her brand new coat on, since I couldn't find her old coat. Her pink one was back in the wash machine. I had text Jodi that I couldn't find the old blue coat and went outside. We just started on the base snowball when Jodi texted back "Do Not Use The Brand New Pink Coat in the front closet". One look at Olivia and we started back in. The phone rang...Jodi wanting to make sure I don't ruin the new coat. After carefully removing the new coat and replacing it with a sweatshirt and fleece we headed back out to complete the snowman. Once up Olivia commented that he needed eyes, nose, mouth, and arms. Just before taking the picture Olivia decided that the snowman also needed a hat. I asked her what kind of had and she said he needed a snow hat. So she helped me fashion a hat and I placed it on the snowman's head. Olivia looked him up and down and said there, turned around and found the first big puddle she came to and spent the next 10 minutes jumping and stomping through it. This was the first time we have been able to get out all Winter and we had a ball.

Valentine's Day Wknd with G & G Driscoll

Grandma and Grandpa Driscoll came to visit us this past weekend and we had a great Valentine's weekend with them. Olivia has had a cold the last 5 days (which Pat and I have now caught), so we didn't take her out of the house, with the exception of a walk around the block when the weather hit in the low 40's here on Sunday. But, it was a great time. Grandma and Olivia made Valentine's cookies. We had to keep her from eating half the dough, and then the frosting and cookies. And Grandpa & Olivia had a great time horsing around & playing games.

Someone's cute little paw prints that showed up in a lot of the dough.

Frosting the cookies-Olivia had her own bowl of frosting to use. She go b/w licking the spoon to licking the cookie, and then frosting it all over again.

Grandpa and Olivia building houses with legos.

Pat bought me a sewing machine for Christmas and my mom gave me a few lessons on how to use it. It's been a long time since home ec class!

Olivia is 2.5 going on 25

Olivia is 2 1/2 years today! She helped herself to my make-up while I got ready this morning and just loves it. She doesn't want to play with any of the brushes, or non make-up items-she always has to have the real deal. That's my little Princess!
Just some other notes our little 2 1/2 loves to do-she loves play-doh-it's almost a nightly thing. And of course her new monkey and many dolls-she loves being a mother to them all and talks to them quite a bit. One of the other things we do on a nightly basis is builds houses with her legos and blocks. I told her she can work for Justin when she gets bigger :) But, I think on the top of her list right now is Dora, Diego, and Kai Lan. If you ask her to count in Spanish, she'll say "uno, cuatro, tres". It's not in order-but so cute to hear her understanding what Spanish is. On occasion she'll tell you "Adios!" Maybe it's a sign she watches too much, but I guess she's learning too from it.
We're slowly learning the potty training. Tonight was the first night she used it since Sunday. And she was on and off it at least a couple dozen times. I was gone for a bit, but Pat had put her Kai Lan panties on her, and she ran back and forth- "I gotta go potty" and into the bathroom she went, pulled her pants down, sat down for a second, and was back out into the living room with them pulled back up, had Pat snap her jeans, and then that same routine over and over again. I'm glad she's finally liking it though and not afraid of it like she was. The paci-we are still down to 1 left-just waiting on the paci fairy to be ready to come and take the last one. Could go over well-and could be a nightmare. She has been pretty understanding of the one that was "taken for other babies that need them" last weekend.
Overall, our little 2 1/2 year old has just been a ball of fun. She keeps us going and is just a non-stop talker and very active little toddler. Every stage she's grown to, I think it's my favorite, but I'd have to say, this age is one of my all time favorites. Her little personality just shines and it's so much fun carrying on little conversations to see what she's going to come up with next.

Happy Birthday Pat!

We celebrated Pat's birthday at home with his favorite meat loaf dinner and cake. Olivia loves celebrating Happy Days (what she calls Birthdays) and had fun trying to blow out Daddy's candle. Happy Birthday to the most wonderful husband and Daddy!