Olive lately...   Poor girl, I haven't really taken the time to write about her milestones and all that she has been up to!  I looked back at the blog when it was just for Emma and I wrote ALL about her almost daily!!!  I guess that is normal for the second, but STILL!

So...  she is a little talking queen.  ALWAYS talking, ALWAYS something to say!  Da da da da is a favorite, among many other gurgles, coos, consonants and vowels, grunts and low elongated noises.  She cracks us up with her expressiveness.

She started eating cereal or veggies with us at Lunch and dinner, and she still enjoys waking up in the night!  Usually twice.  I KNOW I could let her cry it out and she would probably stop, and maybe I will sometime if Emma is gone, but I haven't the heart and I don't want her to wake Emma up...  So, I can deal.  Emma was 11 months, that isn't long off:)

Olive loves to chew on anything and everything, especially her spoon, her bib, or just about anything else you set in front of her!  She also like to shake things to see if they make noise, and if they do she will carry on and on.  She is sitting up nice and strong and work as hard as she can to get to what she wants, especially if it is an electronic of some sort - a remote, a computer, and iphone:)  Olive seems especially sensitive to noises and pays close attention when she hears something different, or if something is loud.  

She is as easy going as they come, as long as I am around (and she is getting that way with my mom as she has had her two days a week).  She has come to rehearsal with me on a couple of occasions and will just hang out, enthralled by the dancers, take a little nap when she is tired, and then join us after a bit!  She will go just about anywhere, and even nap at the raging loud Mall of America amusement park!  She has finally gotten on a sleep schedule, a nice long nap in the morning and afternoon, to bed by 8pm...  of course that can all change if we have to go somewhere or do something, and I certainly do not go home just so she can sleep, like I did with Emma!!!

Ok, that's a good start:)\po;o

 Emma checking out the cars with her birthday binoculars from papa and nana

My dad came out a week ago and took some head shots for me.  The girls were up and got in the mix....  sure do love them more than I could have ever imagined!

Emma P and OG

btw - I just looked back at what Emma was at 6 month.... 19 pounds and 28 inches!!!! How crazy is that???

Happy Easter 2012

Easter 2012 - I could write for forever about all that has been happening lately - but it seems I never have the time! On another note, I have no idea why this is hyper-linked - ugh.

So I am going to be quick...

Em found baskets for Olive and herself when she woke up early Sunday morning. We then went to church with my mom (where El and I were married) and had dinner over there as well, with Bec, Chris, Cousin Landon and Peter. It was a lovely day and we feel very fortunate to be close to at least some of our family! However, as always we miss those who are miles away.

The girls in their matching dresses!!!! I NEVER thought I'd dress them alike, but man is it fun, and Emma gets a kick out of it.

Bali and Emma

Olive - 6 months old!!!!!

18.7 pounds 28 inches long

Cousins - Landon, Em and Olive - Leave it to Emma to keep the kids wrangled in!

Out little peonie sound asleep

Daddy and OG

Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt - 15 kids!!!! That's not including two babies, two in the way, and two out of town... AND about 10 8 houses left to be built on our block alone!!!!!

Happy Spring to all....

She's 5!!!

Some how, Elliott thought it would be a good idea to get Emma a new puppy for her fifth birthday!!! So we went a week before Emma's birthday to meet this little girl, and we both fell in love (let it be known however that I could have resisted - for example, she is at this moment trying to chew on the rock on our fireplace!). She is very light blonde, and almost white on her tummy. She is sweet as can be.

Elliott went to pick her up about 8pm the night Emma's birthday (which is also Elliott's birthday!) and we let her sleep in bed with us. Emma, who was finally sleeping in her own bed in her new room (more on that later), woke up in the middle of the night to crawl in to bed with us. Below is a picture of her and "Bali" after the reality of a new puppy set in - at 2am!!!!

Best buddies the first morning... Bali has been lying under her chair, and the kennel is in Em's room. Bali has lost sleeping privileges with Emma until she is better potty trained/

You can see the color of Em's new room below. We were fortunate, that Elliott found a set of furniture that had been used for staging in a house for sale. A rocking chair, bed, armoir, night stand, all for $750 - the original price of the bed alone was near $1000!!!! Then, the owners threw in EVERYTHING in the room once they met Emma! Stuffed animals, bag, golf clubs, shelf, china set, shelf, etc. We all LOVE IT!!!! I told Elliott I was jealous:)

On Saturday, early evening, Emma had a gymnastics birthday party with her friends from carol's and the neighborhood. It was a little rushed at the end, but we had fun!

My mom made Emma a Sleeping Beauty cake, which I know took her hours!!! So we were thankful for that!

My mom also made a skirt and matching outfit for em's American Girl doll - here they are in a picture together. Em trying to get Bali to pose correctly!

Watching Star Wars for the first time!

So, in passing Elliott happened to mention that he'd had a Walrus cake that he LOVED when he was about 6. Of course my mom overheard and came up with this one for Elliott on Sunday!!

The birthday kids... Best Buddies!