Olivia - 3 Years Old

We had a birthday girl in our house a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately I just haven't gotten around to posting about it until now.  Olivia turned 3 on September 6th and I am not sure if it the fact that she had a birthday, or the fact that we had a new baby just shortly before that, but Olivia is seeming like such a big girl lately.

We didn't have a birthday party for her this year.  I decided that planning that on top of Abbie starting Kindergarten and us having a baby would have been a little too much.  Plus I knew she is still young enough that it wouldn't really matter to her and she would be happy just celebrating with family.  She's pretty flexible that way =).   Here are some pics of her special day!

She requested strawberry cupcakes with blue frosting and sprinkles for her daycare treats.   

3 balloons and a "3" balloon for our 3 year old!!!

Her teacher at daycare made her a birthday crown.  I love this picture of her and Abbie - they have their difficult moments but really are becoming good friends.  I thought it was really sweet that Abbie was almost more excited for Olivia's birthday than Olivia was.

She requested Chick-Fil-A for dinner - her favorite!

Abbie had told me about a month before Olivia's birthday that she wanted to get her a Hello Kitty doll for her birthday gift.  We found this one, holding a little birthday cupcake and Olivia just loves it.

A new bike helmet!!!

Crazy socks for our crazy girl!

Dear Olivia Corinne -

You are changing a lot and growing up literally before our eyes.  I wouldn't say that your 2's were terrible by any means but we may just have to watch out for your 3's.  Already, you are much more emotional (still not quite up to par with your older sister) but you have such a kind and teachable heart.  You are SO stinkin funny - I am frequently brought to tears because you make me laugh so hard.  You are thoughtful of others.  You are shy in public (which I think is SO ironic given the amount of talking you do at home.)  You LOVE your baby sister and are such a good helper to me.  You love your big sister too but you know how to be an instigator of conflict.  You have the most amazing facial expressions of anyone I know - probably has something to do with those big, beautiful, brown eyes.  You LOVE peanut butter - it probably deserves it's own food group in your life.  You are currently a fairly picky eater but haven't always been that way - I'm hoping it's just a phase.  You are learning your letters and figuring out how to draw very basic pictures (sun, smiley face, etc.)  You are memorizing verses but you tell me that you are too shy to say them to your teacher during Sunday school each week.  You are learning to help with chores around the house - making your bed, changing the trash bag, cleaning windows, etc.  You love to play outside.  You love to make a mess - with anything.  You are crazy strong - I can even see your muscles.  You love to do hair - people, dolls, your own - and you are actually pretty good at it.  You can even put your own hair in a pony tail.  You like to cuddle and have been known to use that to manipulate another cuddler in our family...eh hem...Daddy.  You  take a long time to wind down at night, you sleep well, and always wake up happy in the morning.  You are an observer - I love to watch you watch people and oh how I wish I knew what you were thinking.  You have a good memory - you even reminded me to spank you recently when I had totally forgotten that I said I was going to do it once we got home.  You are sensitive and sweet and we couldn't be more thankful to be your parents.  You are an amazing gift from God and we love you beyond what we could possibly express.

Love you Livie Lou!  Happy Birthday!

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Labor Day Family Camp

Peter and I had originally decided that if our baby was born a week or more before our annual Labor Day camping trip, that we would still go.  Thankfully Savannah came almost exactly a week before and so we packed all of us up and headed to Hidden Acres this past weekend.  Were we crazy to take a newborn camping???  Maybe.  But believe it or not, we had friends there that had a baby that was 3 days younger than Savannah.  And also, let me set something straight.  When I say "camping" you must know that my parents have their camper there...with AC, running water, etc.  So Savannah and I enjoyed luxury camping while Peter and the big girls slept outside in the tent.  Savannah will graduate up to the tent over Memorial Day!

We had a great weekend - the weather was nice and we kept things pretty low key (do we have any other choice with a newborn?)  Savannah did great as did Abbie and Olivia.  We were all pretty tired after the weekend though.  I took very few pictures (poor third child) but here are a few of the highlights!

Welcome to the great outdoors Savannah!

The first evening we were there, Grandpa bought Olivia an ice cream cone...RIGHT BEFORE DINNER.

Savannah getting passed around - meeting camping friends.

Daddy's version of the swaddle.

 During Memorial Day family camp we could never have a fire in the evenings because it was SO windy, but this time the weather was perfect and we enjoyed campfires both nights.  All the girls getting some cuddle time - Olivia and Grandma Linda playing games on the Kindle.

She finally did it!  Olivia has been a little scared to ride a horse up until now, but this time she did it!!  Grandma led her around the ring twice on her horse Durango.

Abbie is an old pro at this now - Peter leading her on Cadence.  Maybe we will try an actual trail ride with her next time.

My silly girls.

Abbie and Olivia with their friend Bre (and Kujo the dog.)  We only see their family when we go camping and the girls love to play with each other.  They are all looking a little tired here (this was on our last day there.)

A little blurry, but this is our first family picture of ALL 5 of us.  It only took us 10 days to get around to taking it - UGH!

Sometimes they can be so sweet together =)

We are so thankful for a weekend together as family - to spend with our families (we hit Ames on the way to camp and back so got time with Peter's family too.)  My family has been camping at Hidden Acres for Memorial Day and Labor Day family camps for 24 years - since I was 7 years old.  The only time I have ever missed was when I had Olivia (since she was born on Labor Day weekend the year she was born.)  It has been fun to introduce our girls to a place so dear to us - we just figured we wouldn't waste any time getting Savannah used to it as well.  We hope you all had a nice extended weekend too!

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