A Look Back

I cannot believe how much our boy has grown & how quickly the last year has flown by.  It goes without saying, it has been the BEST year of our lives. Thanks for giving our lives purpose Ollie! We love you to the moon & back!

♥♥♥♥♥

Newborn

 

one month

 

two months

 

three months

 

four months

 

five months

 

six months

 

seven months

 

eight months

 

nine months

 

ten months

 

eleven months

ONE

This calls for a   celebration!!!

Wouldn't you agree, Ollie!?!

 



Eleven Months

We are just ONE month away from having a ONE year old! I can't even believe it!

A few days after getting home from New York, Ollie got some kind of stomach bug. :(

He got lots & lots of baths - which he loves.

 

 

Anyway, that kept us cooped up at home for about a week.  We were excited to get out finally and as soon as I thought I could trust his explosive buns on an airplane we set off for Arizona . {My judgment was off because we had 2 glorious trips to the airplane changing table.} In the past, Ollie has been super friendly with any strangers, but this trip he was a little more wary of the faces he didn't know. He REALLY didn't trust Grandpa Rogers & we happened to capture the greatest pout of all time on camera during that re-introduction!

He warmed up eventually and now thinks his Grandparents are the BEST EVER!

 Grandpa Shill needs only to walk in the room and Ollie breaks out in a HUGE grin.

At eleven months old, Oliver is learning so much each & every day.

His favorite book is Mr. Brown Can Moo. He picks it up, drags it to me, sits on my lap, and I take it from there.

If he is in the right mood, he shares kissies with everyone. {The best are the open mouth slobbery ones.}

He will wave to you if you wave to him. He is beginning to eat more & more 'normal' food & currently eats handfuls upon handfuls of Cheerio's. Yesterday he had his first experience with drinking out of a straw & he thought that was about the coolest thing in the whole world. He is getting closer to walking, but still a pretty cautious guy and doesn't seem to be in a hurry with it. He can walk with the assistance of this nifty toy borrowed by Aunt Beth...

 

He also loves being chased while he tries to crawl quickly away {And I enjoy it obviously for the giggles, but it wears the little monster out.}

 

We are definitely enjoying ourselves in Arizona  & aren't in any rush to get back home.

Jordan visits on the weekends that he can & when he can't Face Time is an amazing thing. Ollie likes to chat with Dad & Cadbury each night. 

We have been able to see old friends. Marianne & Peter have made 2 play dates with us! The boys play nice together while the moms have a good time catching up.

Peter is going to have a little sister in Novemeber & Marianne bought this cute lamb beanie for her, but I think it might be too big since it fits this guys big noggin.

Ollie loves swimming! I need to get some pictures, but he lets me hold him like a baby, he relaxes and nearly falls asleep! {I get my snuggles in, since on dry land he has no interest in snuggling with mom.}  He has also enjoyed watching all his crazy cousins when they come over to play. We are both loving the family interaction and we are soaking it all up. Ollie is sleeping so SO good here {naps & all}. I may never take him home!

We all LOVE this ELEVEN month old

& think he is the most handsome guy around!

 Kissy??!

 



New York

For months, Jordan has been planning a trip for him & I to visit London & Paris.  Being an employee for American Airlines has its perks...
We had grand plans. We were going to take a 777 plane first class to London {those tickets are over 20 grand for regular folks and supposed to be the 'best of the best' as far as first class goes}. We were going to see the sights & get away on a much needed vacation. Keep in mind, we do have a child now so it was going to be a quick trip. Jordan's mom flew into town to babysit. We had our hotels booked and made last minute 'we're going out of the country' errands in frantic searches for electrical converters.  It was pretty stressful, but we would have time to decompress on our Europe vacation so it was okay. The plan was to fly to Chicago and then to London. The flight from Chicago to London looked a little tight {keep in mind we were flying standby} but we were mentally prepared for that and were okay with getting stuck in Chicago for one night.  What we hadn't mentally prepared for was never leaving Tulsa. That spoiled the entire trip. It was already going to be a short trip and not getting on that one flight made it impossible for our Europe trip to happen. Oh, did I mention that one of us, ONE of us could have made it...there was ONE seat available and the flight attendant asked if we wanted to split up. NO! {Originally the flight from Tulsa to Chicago left no doubt in our minds we would at least make it to Chicago. They ended up switching planes last minute and the new plane had 10 less seats than the original plane. This is the kind of luck Jordan and I ALWAYS experience.} Anyway, we sulked around for a few days and planned a quick trip to New York instead!

We pretty much saw everything there is to see in New York...
Central Park

Pizza

More Pizza

Statue of Liberty

 

 

Times Square

Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges

 

We saw Phantom of the Opera which was for sure the highlight of the trip!

Empire State Building

Which I totally thought the Empire State Building looked like this...

But apparently THAT is the Chrysler Building. A little disappointing when the Empire State Building ends up looking really quite boring, but the view is fabulous.

9/11 Memorial

The Survivor Tree

We walked A LOT, ate A LOT, and even took a nap! I would call that a successful trip {even if it wasn't London & Paris}!