The Simple Things

Frank and I didn't spend a ton of money on Christmas this year. Good thing. She was thrilled with the boxes that everything shipped in.

Lesson learned.

40 Before 40 Checklist

If you read the post from last year, you'll learn I don't really make resolutions. I set goals, which some people would argue is exactly what a resolution is. However, I'd like to think of a goal as having an end date, a moment in time when you can check the item off the list and say, "Done." Resolutions are often ways people try to make themselves healthier, wealthier, or wiser but tend to be vague, such as "Go to the gym more." Maybe it's my profession, but I want these things to be measurable!

Last year, I put a big priority on weight loss, and I am pleased to say I lost 20 POUNDS! My BMI is slightly above 25%. I finally found my happy pace, and it's about 1 - 1.5 minutes quicker than a year ago. I can fit in almost all of my pre-baby clothes, and what could not be salvaged was donated to my sister-in-law. So, it's time to set my sights on other things. Having crossed the age barrier and entered the 30s, I've decided to make this more of a 40 before 40 list. That means, when next year rolls around, don't complain; some of these items will be checked off in future years.

Here goes:

1. Run Broad Street with Frank.

2. Learn more about my new camera, including reading a book or taking a class, so that I can use the aperture.

3. Bake a flavored cake from scratch (forget vanilla or chocolate, my sights are set on bigger and better things!).

4. Take Liv on a plane.

5. Buy a new-to-me car.

6. Baby numero dos.

7. Lose 10 more pounds and be below 25% BMI.

8. Blog more than 35 times per year (shame on me for 2010!).

9. Buy a new computer (which will help #8).

10. Get my insurance fitness reimbursement AGAIN!

11. Run the Disney World Princess Half-Marathon. In a tutu. And a tiara.

12. Learn to knit. Make a scarf.

13. Renovate our kitchen.

14. Renovate our bathroom.

15. Buy a single family home with 4 bedrooms and a driveway.

16. Unpack the office.

17. Go to San Francisco.

18. Buy a coffee from the first Starbucks in Seattle.

19. Take a piano lesson. Or two.

20. Consign any clothes that our child(ren) have outgrown at least once.

21. Take a baking class.

22. Take another cake decorating class.

23. Repaint the living/dining room.

24. Replace the hardware on all the doors in our entire house.

25. Write a letter to the editor.

26. Grow an herb(s?) which is then used in our family's cooking.

27. Baby numero tres?

28. Move to any of the following towns: HT/HF, Na, or WW.

29. Run a mile with Olivia, who will also be running.

30. Volunteer with Olivia once per year.

31. Run 500 miles in one calendar year.

32. Make a speech at an event.

33. Read a "classic" novel.

34. Learn and then do some DIY home project that would usually involve paying someone.

35. Sew or make a school costume for Olivia (or any other future child).

36. Pay off a credit card or debt (note: just one, not all).

37. Swim for fitness (meaning go to the gym with the sole intent of "swimming laps" or whatever that means).

38. Have dinner at a 5 star restaurant.

39. Go to Europe.

40. Write a chapter of a novel.

Snow Day

Things are getting better with the computer but still ever so slooooow...

As I sit snowed in for the third time this winter, I have been attempting to patiently update the blog and add some pictures. Included here are pictures I took of Olivia decorating the tree.

For Christmas, Santa gave me a Canon EOS Rebel XS DSLR, which I had been begging for. I was getting annoyed that all my pictures of Olivia were coming out blurry, an unfortunate by-product of having a mobile child. Sidenote: we are incredibly happy to have a mobile child after watching her develop post-DDH surgery & cast. However, my point-and-click was NOT holding up. So Santa did me a solid and Black Friday shopped.

The pictures are coming out amazing, but it's totally accidental. I have no idea what I'm doing. If I see something that I think would look pretty as a photograph, I try to quietly snap the memory. Look for future pictures to come. I will say, I'm deleting more than I did previously and editing as best as possible. I'll be looking for more information on how to use the camera, which is currently set to basic sport mode.

The other delightful outcome of this holiday season was that Olivia completely understood it! Her Christian daycare instilled the idea of Jesus' birth, so she sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus the entire month. On Christmas Eve, she knew that Santa was coming and bringing her presents but only if she was asleep. It was perfect. I have a lot of photos to sort through, so look for those in the, hopefully, near future.

But our holiday cards came out just lovely. So thank you, Santa, for making me quite the happy mommy this winter. And a happy mommy means a happy house!

Happy New Year!

We are alive and well.

My computer, however, is not. I type this from a distant land known as "the in-law's."

Please [continue to] be patient as I figure out how to get blog posts up without my computer shutting down.

In the meantime, enjoy any remaining holiday cheer with your family!

PS: Half-marathon completed in 2:34!

Belated Birthday!

I figured I'd finally post pictures of Olivia's very first birthday. We were blessed to be surrounded by family and friends as well as to have a gorgeous day. Olivia enjoyed everyone's company and was the ham that we know she can be. And to everyone who attended or sent a gift, we appreciate all of it... our thank yous are just a little behind. I wonder how much longer I can use our new house as an excuse?

We decided to make the birthday party a Yo Gabba Gabba! theme because Olivia LOVES the show. She lights up when DJ Lance Rock walks out in the opening scene, and lately, when she dances, she dances just like they do on the show. Single? No kids? Haven't a clue? Honestly, check it out. Frank and I find the show hilarious, and the little known bands they showcase are pretty awesome, too. I could go on and on, but if you're ever bored, catch it on ONDemand or NickJr.

Does your child love Yo Gabba Gabba! as much as ours? Thinking of planning a shindig, too? Well, it was far easier than you'd think, especially with the help of the Gabba Friends website. I'm going to post specifics about the cakes I made in a later post, but this website inspired everything.

The balloons:

The cakes:

At first, Olivia didn't know what to make of the cake. She stared at it and wouldn't touch the thing. When we tried to put it in her hand, she shook it off! She did NOT want to get dirty. But once we put a bite in her mouth... look out, world! Olivia LOVES cake! Although, you still wouldn't know it from the pictures...

Showing off a present:

And tuckered out from a long day of partying:

At 1 year old, Olivia [could]:

weighs 20.7 lbs.

is 30 1/4 ins. long

says cat, dog, hi, bye, mom, dad and uh oh (sometimes Pop Pop & baby)

crawls all over

stands up by pulling on something

cruises (walks holding onto furniture or hands)

stands on her on for about 3 - 5 seconds

throws balls, even to others (or Monty the cat)

points to things and says "Dat!" or "Dat?" (want and what?)

claps on her own and when told to

dances to music

does easy shape sorter pieces

gives hi-5s

LOVES Monty the cat and will play with him and try to pet him

wears size 3 diapers

wears clothing sizes from 6 mos (onesies or tops) all the way up to 18 mos (pants)

eats 7 jars of baby food every day!

feeds herself puffs and teething cookies

puts her arms up for SO BIG!

PS

Oh yes, and we've had some fun things happen in the past few days (namely New Year's) of which I have no pictures so here is a list:
1. Grandma Jo visited.
2. Aunt Ra visited and brought Hanukkah Harry.
3. Liv went to bed right on time and slept all the way through until New Year's Day (yay!)!
4. Frank and I did not go to bed on time.
5. We all went to New Year's Day mass at OMGC, the start of their Jubilee Year!
6. We all went to a Timmy and Danielle's for a little New Year's Day party. Yay for brownies!
7. We saw Mom Mom, Pop Pop and Aunt Gina on Saturday.
8. We laid low on Sunday so we could all mentally prepare for going to work on Monday!

And that is a summary of our very exciting & busy life. This post occupied a good minute of your life that you will never get back. Good luck with that.

All I Want for Christmas...

is my lower front TOOTH! Lost? It's ok, let me fill you in.

On Wednesday, December 9th, Olivia started to get sick (two days before a well-visit - that's why I remember). It was a tiny cough. Nothing to be worried about. At her well-visit, Dr. D. checked her lungs (fine) and determined that it was probably from all the congestion and post-nasal drip (yummy). The following week was filled with a very sick baby who spent two days home from daycare coughing thick, mucousy coughs (I think I posted about that, though not in such tantalizing detail) and another trip to the doctor (again, just a cold). This led to the snow weekend where both Liv and Daddy were sick (I definitely posted about that) and Mommy wished school hadn't closed (I'm being honest - it's MY blog).

Side note: Olivia has been sleeping through the night since she was about 5-6 weeks old. This bliss came to a tragic end the week of Christmas when Olivia decided sleep was not her style. Admittedly, she also had that amazingly hacky cough. There were several days - er, nights - in a row where she was up from about 1am - 4am. This created some super cranky days... for everyone... Ev-Ree-One.

So Frank and I were going back and forth -- teething? Just sick? She's been feeling better (still coughing like the dickens when she wakes up) and sleeping through more of the night, so we assumed it was just a blip. A sickly, hacking blip. Then, last night, Mom Mom found it. Found the poke of her first tooth breaking the gum. And today it was the tiny top ridges of the lower [her] left front tooth. Of course, she's still miserable but all in all much better. Cross your fingers for a full night's sleep!

Since we obviously don't have any pictures of her tooth [yet], I'm posting pictures from Christmas (you know, that minor holiday we just had) which was full of fun and excitement. Olivia did eventually get the hang of opening gifts. She loves her maraccas and drum, courtesy of Santa, and her homemade board book, courtesy of Mommy (there will be a future post about that). Frank videotaped the entire hour long event, which we are going to try to edit and get online somehow. And Ive decided I need a better camera; one that takes good, clear, non-flash photos when other people use it.

We Need a Little Christmas!

One thing that the "snow day" this past weekend helped us get done: decorate our tree! The poor thing had been standing in our family room all alone with just the lights (to be fair, it's a pre-lit tree) looking very sad. Not being able to go anywhere allowed us to get the job done. The tree turned out beautiful this year (Amen to Pier 1's day after Christmas 50% off sale!!). Thank you, Rebekah for the blog post on taking a quality tree picture.


Liv helped in her own way, very much enjoying the sparkly garland.

And when all was said and done, I snapped these two Sears-esqe shots of Olivia in front of the tree. I'm still impressed that she sat still long enough to get a non-blurry shot!

Olivia Meets Santa(s)

At the encouragement of Grandma Jo, Olivia had a photo with Mall Santa back in November. She didn't cry which was shocking because she tends to cry with new people. She did, however, make a great "who the hell is this guy?" face.

This encounter seemed to help the next one at the D'Amico Family Christmas Party go well. Not only did Olivia not cry, but she seemed to enjoy being with Santa. Initially, she still made a "what the hell is up with you bearded men in red suits???" face, but as you can see it quickly turned sweet. Apparently there are even pictures of her laying her head on his chest floating around out there somewhere.

I smell Christmas cards!

The Many Faces of Livie

Here are some pictures of Olivia taken at random times during the month of November. They make me smile, and since this time of year is a tad stressful, smiling is oh-so-very important! Hope you smiled, too!

Fun in Clarks Summit

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we trekked up to Clarks Summit to meet Grandma Jo for a few hours. Olivia had a great time visiting and was super fantastic at the restaurant. This was the first time EVER that she was able to sit in the restaurant high chair. Check out how little she looks! We could barely see her head over the table. She had a blast, though, playing with toys, Grandma Jo, and puffs... which made for a very messy floor!

Hmmm, why is her mouth open? Does she know her mouth is open?

Mom, you saw that, right? She's crazy!

Crazy FUN! You should have pulled this out earlier!

Grandma Jo is the best. I can't wait to do this again!

Afterward Liv meant Santa for the very first time! Check out her reaction in a future blog post!