Out of Retirement

My grandma sewed many, many quilts for her loved ones with this old sewing machine.

She had A LOT of grandchildren and all of us have one {I have several} of her quilts. Even Ollie ended up getting one! She had so many "extras" that even after she passed, my little Oliver got one of Grandma Perkins quilts.

I had leftover fabric from making Jordan's Man Quilt, that I decided to ALL ON MY OWN {without my mom's supervision} make Ollie a Little Man Quilt using Grandma's old sewing machine that I gratefully inherited. It has sat in my spare bedroom for three years, pretty much unused. {Except when my mother-in-law comes to visit. She puts it to good use. But it has been unused by me.} So, grandma you made hundreds of quilts with this old sewing machine for those you loved, and now I have made one for someone I love. 

I am grateful for my mom, who took the time to teach me how to accomplish such a worthy task. I am grateful for my grandma for leaving me with all the tools needed to complete this labor of love. She left me, with sewing needles, quilting needs, thread, a sewing machine, and even the smell of her house when I open up the table . I have felt nearer to her these last few days & I am grateful for her company. I know she would be proud.

Fifteen Months

Oh, Oliver! You are getting so BIG!

You have been a little Mama's Boy lately.

You are obsessed with SHOES! At church, a little girl caught on to that fact {after you stole hers several times} and when you came towards a group of other kids she yelled, "Look out! He wants your shoes!" Notice the shoe on his hand...always...

Yesterday, you got 4 shots! Boo! It was really sad, but a DumDum sucker put that smile back on your face!

***Weight - 23 lbs. {60%}

***Height - 32 inches {78%}

You are so much fun to be around {most of the time} & you sleep like you love sleep as much as your Mama!

You eat everything which is such a relief! You love to explore and be free! Getting into a car seat, shopping cart, the highchair, or getting your pants changed is torture for everyone involved. 

You love to read books and you make lots of funny sounds with your mouth - you can make the drum-roll sound, blow raspberries, talk like Donald Duck, and you talk nonsense like "Goalie, goalie."

As for your older brother, Cadbury, you are learning how to pet him softly. We are grateful he is ever so patient with you...

& me. ;)

The Philbrook

Ollie & I were so excited when we found out we could fly with Grandma & Grandpa Rogers on our way back to Tulsa! They were coming for a visit just as we needed to get back home {for their visit}. 

They were a HUGE help & I really wish I could take them with me every time I have to fly with Oliver.

We decided to take them to see the Philbrook since it was so lovely outside. The Philbrook is an old oil money mansion 

that was donated by the family to become a museum. The grounds are absolutely gorgeous.

 {Koi pond}

Finally! A decent picture with all three of us!

Catch that baby!

Ollie {& Jordan and I, of course} LOVED having his Grandparents here visiting. 

Thanks for coming to see us! As always, COME BACK!!!

Newport 2013

Ollie & I flew to Arizona so we could drive with my parents a few days later to Newport, California.

 Cadbury tried to go with us...

{Cadbury HATES when we get out our luggage...he sulks. He also hated being put INTO our luggage.  :) }
I owed my mama a birthday cake & I made good on my promise to make her an Italian Creme Cake.

Mmm...it was tasty!
Ollie LOVES my dad.

& I love my dad - he babysat A LOT for me and without any complaints from either of them. One night, dad even put Ollie to bed for me. That night Ollie slept something like 17 hours!!!

The morning after the sleeping marathon...

Oliver also LOVES shoes. I mean, he LOVES LOVES LOVES shoes. {And I hate hate hate his love for nasty icky shoes.} His very favorite, was trying on Grandpa's {clown} shoes.

 Seriously, look at that face. :) 

 He also enjoyed exploring Grandma & Grandpa's house. He did find a small amount of trouble while adventuring on his own without supervision.

The backdoor had a window that was perfect for the little guy's line of sight.

He liked peeking outside to see what was going on out there.

Uncle Ben let Ollie try on his awesome Beninem hat

gifted by Lucy two Christmases ago.

We obviously enjoyed ourselves for a few days before we all loaded into the car and headed for Newport!  Ollie slept all of 30 minutes out of the 7 hours.

However, he laughed hysterically for the last two hours of the drive, thanks to the ever entertaining Uncle Ben.

While in Newport we enjoyed the amenities at the condos - like the swimming pools!

Jordan joined us for the weekend!

Ollie & I never did make it to the beach - I know, right. He wasn't exactly easy for the week we were in Cali. He was {and still is} cutting his top two teeth & was a little out of sorts. We enjoyed the time spent with family. I especially enjoyed going to Disneyland

with my sister and her fam while Grandma & Grandpa babysat!

It was an absolutely fabulous day!

{For the record Disneyland...the scores on this next picture are totally wrong! I got my highest score ever - - 120,000 +!}

I wish I could do it all over again, and again, and again! Thanks Mom & Dad for watching the littles while we had a total blast! You guys are the BEST!
Beth's kids entertained Ollie the rest of the trip which also was REALLY nice. He stole everyone's shoes and followed the big kids around imitating them to the best of his abilities.

We put together a couple puzzles,

watched The Voice, ate like kings {thanks to our talented & vacation experienced Mama!}, Dad took me to Pinkberry and Nora drew everyone pictures.

It was sad to leave.

{And really sad to sit with Ollie in the car for the last three hours of the drive home. He was NOT a happy camper.}
Once back in Arizona,  Ollie and I had a couple more days until we flew back to Oklahoma. We spent ALL of that time working on a quilt for Jordan.

Thanks Mom for the hours of service & fun! Jordan much prefers this new, Man Quilt to his old one that was actually mine originally - it had pink and purple flowers and the binding is completely ripping off.