Halloween: 1 year later

Before:

2007 - 9 months old






















After:

2008 - 21 months old

* I debated whether or not I should post the most recent picture as some people might see this as a form of child abuse. Believe it or not, she was fine until I stepped away to take the picture! You'd think I was making her sit on a bed of nails or something!!!

Halloween Eve

Today I finally made it to the pumpkin patch with Olivia. Better late than never! Olivia had way too much fun trying to run away from me the whole time. And she refused to take a picture with me (in the one below she's trying really hard to get away from me.) So these are the shots I managed to take. I swear my little girl is part Tazmanian Devil.

Olivia's Friends

Olivia is so funny these days. As the days go on she is forming more and more attachments to "babies" or pretty much any doll or stuffed animal she can get her hands on. Recently she has been obsessed with the following: tiny Elmo (in her hand), soft Elmo, Brobee, about 5 baby dolls (some aren't pictured), Rose, and Mickey and Minnie (also not pictured.) She tries to take them ALL everywhere with her. Of course she cannot possibly hold them all so she ends up dropping one or two and then proceeds to not know what to do because she cannot leave any behind. It's the cutest thing!



She dances with them and sleeps with them. She actually sleeps with an elephant and a couple of bunnies too. They are only for sleeping though. And when she wakes up and it's time to go to Ama's she insists on taking all of them. I have to pack them all up every morning and then bring them all home with us in the afternoon. Heaven forbid I forget one of them!

I can't believe how many ideas have been forming in her little brain lately. I love watching her pretend. This is probably my favorite age as far as playing is concerned...so far anyway. Today she grabbed my sister's cell phone and opened it and said, "Hello Taryn? What you doing?" Hilarious!

Goodbye Weekend.

So another weekend bites the dust. I thought I'd share a cute picture with you before I go downstairs to attempt to catch up on Dexter (even though I know I'll be asleep in a few minutes...) Olivia and this little kitty seem to be having a screaming contest!

Side note: We went to our nephew Jaden's 6th birthday party today. There were a lot of really cute kids there and I realized that I felt totally out of place. We were one of very few couples there that only have one child (so far anyway.) It was crazy! My sister-in-law's sister-in-law (does that make sense?) has four sons and just had a little girl! They are all pretty close in age and she just looked so happy and together and she has FIVE KIDS! Another woman there has two sons and is pregnant with her third child. I don't know if there was a point to this story. I just thought it was a cool thing for Dennis to see... hahahahaha. ;)

Halloween is coming!

Halloween is almost here and I haven't even started Olivia's costume! Leave it to me to be so last minute. My parent's took Olivia to the Avila Valley Barn a few days ago. These are a couple of pictures they took when they were there.

crocheted critters

So I recently discovered a book about little crocheted animals or "amigurumi" which is the Japanese art of crocheting or knitting small animals. Needless to say, I love love love making these little guys. These are the first two I ever made for Ella & Owen, a funny little brother & sister monkey duo. Ella, the big sister, has button earrings and I added a bow for femininity (of course.) Owen, the tiny little brother, is so cute! I need pictures (Taryn: hint hint) of Ella and Owen (the real ones) with these guys. How precious would that be?




These little guys are for baby Christopher, my cousin Brandy's little guy. He is going to be a lion for Halloween, so I thought I'd make him some little friends to accompany him. The manes on these guys were a little tricky for me, but I think they came out ok. I hope Chris likes them! (Brandy: pictures please?!)

Crochet is a great form of therapy for me. I could sit on the couch for days (ask Dennis) and tune out the world and crochet away. Of course, occasionally I have to put the hook down so I can pay attention to other things i.e. Olivia or TV.

3 years ago...

...I became Mrs. McDonald. I cannot believe that it's already been three years since that magical day in the garden when we joined all of our closest friends and family to celebrate US! Since that day we've moved a couple times and oh we had a baby. She's a miniature replica of Dennis and I love that. We've been together for what seems like forever sometimes but I now know that God chose the perfect person for me. He is my perfect complement. I stress out a lot which is making me age at a supernatural rate while he retains the youth of a little boy. Just yesterday we were sitting on the couch both eating our ridiculous ice creams of choice (Take the Cake for me and peanut butter with Magic Shell for him) and it made me laugh because our little girl was sound asleep yet we were acting like a couple of little kids. :)

Happy Anniversary, Dooters. You're still my favorite thing.

Lazy Day

I feel like it's been a while since I've had a day to just relax and hang out at home. I guess a lot has been going on recently in my life...but today has been such an escape for me. Let me tell you what today has consisted of so far:

6:19 a.m. - Wake up. Hey I didn't say I got to sleep in.
7:30 a.m. - Yo Gabba Gabba marathon. Olivia really got into the WIGGLE WIGGLE WIGGLE STOP dancing while I sat on the couch and crocheted an owl. It is looking pretty cute.
8:30 a.m. - Breakfast. Olivia seems to only eat sweet things now. hmmm...I blame Grandma. She didn't touch her veggie sausage & toast...so I slathered sunflower seed butter on a piece of bread, drizzled some honey on top, called it "CAKE" and voila! Ok, she only ate 4 bites but that's ok. Better than nothing!
9:30 a.m. - Attempt to make bed, but SOMEONE loves jumping on beds now so...that was fun.
11:30 a.m. - Phone chat with Taryn. She's sick, poor thing.
11:45 a.m. - Olivia takes her nap, EARLY. Oh well, I get to catch up on Lipstick Jungle and The Ex List...which is actually a pretty funny show.
2:45 p.m. - WTF, Olivia is still sleeping. I could have cleaned the entire house during this nap but instead I decide to lounge around and do nothing.
2:53 p.m. - She's waking up finally...talking to Rose and saying "Mine" for some reason. Rose must be a blankie hog...

Gotta go! Off to the fabric store...it's Halloween costume time!

...my new obsession...

The other day I decided to buy this ice cream...and thank God I did because my life will never be the same. I AM OBSESSED. I haven't been this obsessed since I got hooked on Trader Joe's BBQ sauce. For those of you who know me, this is serious. hahaha. I feel like a five year old...what a silly thing to love so much. I mean it has sprinkles for crying out loud. I don't care though. Olivia better back off, because I'm not sharing.

Oh and in case you were curious, the flavor is similar to Cold Stone's cake batter flavor. YUM.

Owen Patrick

Owen Patrick Rittenhouse is finally here! He graced us all with his presence on October 1, 2008. One look at Taryn and I could tell she is already in love. But how could you not love someone so small, helpless and precious? Seriously though...that hospital brought back so many memories. Just a couple of doors down from the room Owen was born was where I waited for my Livi to come out just a short 20 months ago. It's funny how even after you have a child of your own, an infant brings back all of those old fears/concerns that you had before. Owen is just so tiny and it brought back memories of the first days in the hospital after I had Olivia when I was afraid to even hold her or change her clothes. Those fears don't go away! I was afraid to even lift the little guy out of his bed! Once I got my hands on him though, I didn't want to give him up. Infants are mesmorizing...you can literally just stare at them all day and just watch how their miniature expressions change while they sleep.

I am SO SO SO happy for Taryn, Shaun and Ella.

What a little glow worm...all bundled up in that green blankie. So cute.

This bottom picture is Ella...do you see the resemblance? It's crazy! I swear they could be twins!