The Sound of Laughter

This has been a week of lots of laughter. I had my birthday. The official answer is "30!" And I had my first Mother's Day all in one week. What a glorious time this has been.

My birthday celebration started the week before with a combined party at Granny White's house. Then on the actual day Andy, Olivia and I went to Barnes and Noble, found some new books, had some Starbucks coffee and just generally wasted time. It was lovely! Susan took Andy and I out to eat for dinner, complete with "cheesecake Olivia" from the Outback delivered by singing waiters. While Granny was still babysitting Andy and I went to see Ironman. What an excellent movie--if you haven't seen it, go NOW. It was great. All-in-all, the perfect day!

A few days later was Mother's Day--another perfect day. We went to church Sunday morning to see Granny White, followed by lunch at the Crocketts. It is just so nice to have loads of family around to celebrate. It feels as if we celebrate all the time! Sunday night Granny took us to dinner with Christina, Olivia's birth mother. She is doing well and is busy between work and school to become a Certified Nursing Assistant. We still don't have news on the new baby. She was not able to see her doctor on Wed. Those OB's are so undependable (is that a word)--he was off delivering a baby. So, we wait for news about when (exactly) and what (boy or girl).

I am busy making moses baskets, among other things, to sell at Annual Conference the first week of June. We are raising money to support this new adoption. I am also working on a newsletter/update to send out regarding Olivia and our new adoption--look for yours in the mail soon! Take a look at the basket I made for the new baby, it matches their nursery sets (still working on those). The ones to sell will be different fabrics, but similar ideas--some will be fancier with skirts too!

Please continue to pray for our adoption, our well-being and peace of mind. We are trying to wait peacefully for the new baby and the move, but that is harder to do than it sounds!

By the time we got to church on Sunday...
Olivia was fast asleep and missing a shoe.

Olivia loves her standing/sitting activity table!

The only problem is sometimes a dog comes
along and smells your diaper...how rude!

Olivia Laughing!

Andy was feeding the dogs Olivia's left over cheerios. He was throwing them and they were catching them in the air, which (as you can see) Olivia thought was hysterical! I think she thinks her Daddy is the funniest guy around (next to Uncle Lance).

New Developments

Olivia has had a really good couple of days since we went to the doctor on Tuesday. I think the increase in her reflux medicine has meant she is feeling better! Yesterday we had a joint birthday party with me, uncle Lance, and Colleen (who turns 10 on Sunday). Olivia had a great time and fell asleep with Granny in the rocking chair. Today she has just been in the best mood and has been practicing her walking, crawling and clapping. She would much rather walk, but she is attempting to crawl too.

(Please excuse the mess, we have had a busy couple of days...)

Olivia Walking

Olivia Crawling

Olivia Clapping

Please continue to be in prayer for Olivia's birth mother. She continues to struggle with life. Just lift her up, Christina, whenever you have a chance. She is trying to make decisions that better her life and that of her son who lives with her, but it is hard when you live far away from family, have little support and limited means. Her doctor's appointment for this week was rescheduled, but she is going next Wed. So we continue to look forward to that and hope to find out the sex (and health) of the new baby. Only three more months until the big day!

Viva Fiesta!

Last Friday we took Olivia to her first parade. Every year San Antonio celebrates Fiesta. On the Friday of Fiesta week the schools are closed and many people celebrate the Battle of Flowers by going to the Battle of Flowers parade. That's where we row on the 7th row of the military bleachers, right under the overpasses where two highways intersect. It was a great day! We all had a great time. Olivia waved at all of the passing floats and people. She made friends with two little kids sitting near us and was very well behaved--even after 4.5 hours!

Mommy and baby in matching Fiesta dresses.

Olivia in her daddy pack.

Why aren't you watching the parade?

A few hours into the day...

All of the balloons had to be lowered to get under the over passes.

The Dallas Cowboy's cheerleaders.

The Queen and her U.T. boots!

The back of her dress, with the capital building. Lovely!

Of course there are lots more pictures but we didn't want to bore you with all of them. It was a day that we will not soon forget! Happy Fiesta everyone!

How Did She Get Over There?

Okay, now that I have found the video thing on the camera I might be dangerous. Olivia is at that stage of trying to move around. She crawls/scoots a lot and tries to stand up. We were having some floor time this morning and as I was blogging, somehow she got about 10 feet away over by the kitchen table and was sitting up. She wouldn't come back for me, but it was too funny. I had to get it on camera. Next time I will turn the TV down. We were having a Grumpy/Grumpier Old Men film festival this morning.

After that mysterious trip this morning, I blocked her in with pillows from the couch. She looks like she is up to something!

Olivia and the Bluebonnets

Olivia and the Bluebonnets.

What a nice girl!

My two favorite people!

Okay, if you are from Texas then you know that every year parents drive from all over the state to find Bluebonnets. One of the best fields in the state used to be on the property of a church Granny White served. This year the Bluebonnets have been kind of sad because of lack of rain at the right time. We have been meaning to take a drive to find some Bluebonnets some where and just haven't had the time. Then we saw this little clump of them right here at the apartments where we walk the dogs. So, we sat Miss Olivia down next to them and got our Bluebonnet picture. It's not the picture I have been dreaming of, but it will do.

I also accidentally took a short video. I thought I would post it just for the heck of it. Enjoy!

Olivia Goes to the Zoo!

On Tuesday we finally went to the zoo. The last time we went we met 5 school buses full of kids there. Well, there were at least that many there this time, but we decided to go anyway. The ticket lady said there were 1100 Catholic school kids there. I had forgotten just how big the San Antonio zoo is and we hardly ran into any of them. It was a beautiful day, sunny and cool. We had a great time and got lots of exercise walking around and around. Olivia loved every minute of it!

Olivia and Dad pet a goat in the petting zoo.

Neither Olivia or the goat knew what to make of each other.

Baby goats...

It was such a nice day that all of the animals were out. Some of the even posed for us or came right next to the fences were we were standing. It was really great!

Mr. Grizzly sat up and posed!

Olivia and the flamingos, our favorite!

Well, you know who that is.

Nothing like being in pecking range of an ostrich.

A Sumatran elephant, they are small.

The zoo has two American Bald Eagles that can no longer fly because they have lost part of their wings. It was really special to be able to see these great birds, but sad to know they cannot fly.

Our Aussie cousins...napping!

As you can see it was really a fun day. Now we wish we had invested our entrance fee towards a family pass. It was such a peaceful place to be we felt as if we could go back once a week and never get tired of it. If nothing else it is great exercise!

Olivia is doing really well. She is growing! She sits up and tries to take off and crawl. She seems to be within seconds of either crawling all over or standing up. She can't make up her mind and often when she tries to crawl ends up trying to stand up. We got her a ball last night that lights up and makes noises, hoping to encourage her to sit-up and play with it or to chase it crawling. We'll see.

We also invested in some BPA free bottles. That is a very long story and something we have been considering for quite some time. If you haven't read about BPA, it has been on the news of late, it is really scary. Although it has not been "officially" labeled dangerous, it has been suggested not to use plastic baby bottles with BPA or to heat food or liquids in BPA plastic as it leaches into the contents. It has been linked to cancer, endocrine problems, and even type II diabetes in lab tests.

Well, Olivia is getting tired of her sing-a-long DVD and is ready for some more breakfast. Have a happy Thursday!

Olivia is Eight Months Old

Hmmm...they look like they are up to something!

Oh, it's okay. Olivia is just eating my cell phone.

Sleeping baby

She is really growing!

A girl needs a teddy.

Now Granny comes over to give me a bath!

Just give me some tupperware and I am happy!

Well, Olivia is just growing by leaps and bounds. She has had her intro appointment with her new pedi and we just loved her. She is an award winning doctor who was recommended by Aunt Lee Ann. Olivia is doing well. She is average height and a little slim, but next month will we switch from formula to Pediasure which will add some extra calories to her diet. We also found out today that her bladder infection is finally gone, so we are antibiotic free for the first time in almost two months! Yay! Of course, the Dr. confirmed what we (as all parents do) already know, Olivia is advanced for her age and very smart.

Tomorrow (April 9) at 10 am we have our home study update for the new baby. It is not nearly as nerve racking as it was the first time. Things are moving along as planned. We saw Olivia's birth mother yesterday. She has gotten a new job and managed to stay in her apartment, but she is looking for a better job. We took her over to University UMC where Mom used to work and she applied for a job. This would be a great step forward for her because they have a large staff and like to promote from within. They also have a day school where she might be able enroll her son.

Andy is doing well with school and is getting ready to speak at the Bishop's Evangelism Fiesta this Saturday. There are almost 50 people signed up to take his seminar. He is also busy helping Mom this week as she has lost her voice again as we all continue to share this chest/throat cold this Spring. I was in bed with it last week and now Granny is suffering again.

Please continue to pray for us as we get ready to become parents again. Pray for adoption process and for Christina, the birth mother. Also, please be in prayer for our time here in San Antonio that it will be fruitful and a blessing to God.