Olivia is 11 Months Old!

Our little Livvy is 11 months old!

I guess that there is really no hope of slowing this year down as our little Missy is now only 1 month away from her first birthday.  It just doesn't seem possible...she still looks so much like a to me baby!

At 11 months old, there are so many things that we love about our Vivia!  Just like her big sisters, she has a personality all her own, she is sweet, she is playful, and just so dang happy. She is the most easily pleased of any of our girls, but also starting to be a little bit opinionated and definitely not going to be pushed around by her rough and tumble sissies.

I adore her laugh and will do just about anything to hear it, so it's pretty awesome that she's an easy audience.  We also happen to know just right where her sweet spots are and she  absolutely squeals with laughter when she's tickled.

Olivia is becoming a total flirt and will make eyes with any anyone she passes and she is probably the most expressive of our 3, even though she doesn't talk yet, her face says it all!  She also has a bashful side and will tuck her face and give a shy smile when she catches someone's eye.  I love her sweet snuggles as she burrows into my neck and then pops back up with a smile. 

We are seeing more of her playful side these days and she loves to play peek-a-boo and pat-a-cake with her sisters.  She loves being sung to, reading books in our lap and playing with her toys.

Life will Olivia just keeps getting better and better!  Happy 11 months baby!

1st Day of First Grade!

Riley's first day of school is here!  Woot woot!  I think that she has had a pretty awesome vacation, but she is fully ready to be back at school now with her friends and Mrs. Maugh.

In preparation for back to school we did a little shopping and also got a new 1st grader haircut.  She absolutely LOVES her new bangs!  I'm not gonna lie, they have had to grow on me a little only because I'm not quite ready for how much older she is looking with this new hair cut. 

Our 2 little sisters are really going to miss hanging with Riley during the day.  On a side note...it's possible that Piper is not quite ready to give up our lazy mornings.  She was a little bit sleepy for our 1st day of getting up and out!

Riley's school has combined grade levels, so it is awesome to be sending her back to her same classroom and teacher.  She is so thrilled to be the upper classman now and cannot wait for the "first grader work". 

We are also excited for her and can't wait for the year ahead!

Summer

I absolutely cannot believe that it is August already!  Our summer literally flew by and now school is just right around the corner.  We haven't taken any vacations over the break, but we have tried to pack in every ounce of fun we possibly could...which still doesn't stop me from having that back to school panic, where I feel like we need just a little bit more time.  Oh well!

 

 

 

In June, we added a fur baby to our family.  We have a new dog, Baxter, a 4 year old golden retriever that we have all fallen in love with!  

There was lots of swimming, playing at the park playdates with friends around Denver and camps for Roo.  Riley learned to play golf, started gymnastics, worked on her swimming and went to zoo camp! We also went on our first family camping trip and we all lived to tell about it. 

 

The girls were beyond excited about the idea of sleeping and Riley summed up the experience of all 5 of us and our new dog sleeping in such close quarters "We were all really comfortable...except for daddy."  Poor Kris!

 

 

Riley also got to have her first big sleepover! 

I decided that we all might benefit from some unscheduled time during our break, so during July we just got to be spontaneous.  We swam, had tea parties, read books, ate ice cream, rode bikes, took hikes and pretty much just hung out. 

 

 

 

 

We've checked out new parks, played at the museum, worn flip flops everyday, eaten lots of ice cream and spent plenty of time in the sunshine.  Even though I am sad to see summer coming to a close, I can already tell that Riley is ready to get back to school and we will all be ready for a little routine to come back into our lives.