First Words

At the beginning of last week, we invited the missionaries over for dinner. Oliver did what he does best with new people, stares them down.

 In an attempt to get the little guy to warm up to them, one of them handed Ollie a pass along card with a picture of Jesus on it.

After they left, I set it on the counter, forgetting about it. Throughout that week, Ollie had been paging through the pages of our Ensign and I would point out more pictures of Jesus. At the end of the week, Ollie spotted the pass along card on the counter so I handed it to him. I was holding him and talking to Jordan. All of a sudden we stop talking because we both just heard Ollie very clearly say Jesus, pointing to Jesus on the card. 

{A proud moment for Ollie's mother.} ;)

Ollie is learning new words every day. He currently says:

Hot

Spongebob {Ooombob}

Shoes

Hat

Mama

Dada

Bubbles

Fish

Bottle {Baba}

Jesus

Grandma

Grandpa {Both of these sound like Mama, only slightly different.}

He says other things, I just haven't gotten the ear quite yet to understand exactly what the heck he is saying sometimes.

What else have we been up to...

Target trips...

Ollie had his first taste of popcorn...

 and liked it.

He LOVES baths & as you can see, amuses himself...

The weather has turned LOVELY - which means playing outside, A LOT!

Cadbury got a spiffy new collar...

Ollie LOVES shoes {we all know this already}, BUT he finally has long enough legs to stomp around in Jordan's boots...

 {A REAL cowboy always has his trusted blankie.}

Oh, and he thought he would wear my slippers while taking a ride on Dusty...

Dinosaurs like to go for rides too!

The extra hour thanks to Daylight Savings, has not been an easy transition. {AKA - up late, awake early = crazy baby. Blah!}

And finally, this morning, Ollie pulled out this book about Thanksgiving. It has a turkey puppet that wiggles around when you put your finger in its head...

I guess he doesn't remember it because he was totally creeped out by the moving turkey head and chucked the book across the room when he first saw it. He is still unsure whether he likes it or not.

That pretty much sums everything up. 'Til next time! 

Little Man

Everyone keeps telling me Ollie no longer looks like a baby, but a little man.

It is true, he is growing up and looks like a big boy now.

Yesterday, was his 18 month check-up {a month late} and our boy is tall and skinny.

*Weight - 24 lbs. 15.5 oz. {53%}

*Height - 34 inches {84%}

Thankfully, Ollie only had to get one shot versus the four he got last time.

After Ollie's appointment we dropped in to the hospital next door to say hi to Uncle Gary and Aunt Kathy who are unfortunately held up there while Gary gets his heart fixed up. On the way home I stopped by Raising Canes for Ollie's favorite meal of all time, chicken nuggets and french fries. There's nothing a good meal can't fix.

This guy is so full of personality. He keeps us on our toes.

 Stopping to make a face for the camera while he eats. Cute, Oliver.

While he looks grown-up, he is most certainly my baby still...

Like this morning, when I got lots of snuggles after the little dude took one too many steps on the couch and face planted it into the coffee table. Ouch.

Thankfully, these little humans are resilient creatures and heal quickly. ;)
We love you, Big Boy!

Family Vacay

We just got home from a family vacay in Colorado.

Yay - Vacation!

Don't be fooled by this picture, the plane ride did not go smoothly. :(

{I captured the picture when I told Ollie to stand up and say "Sorry" to all the other passengers. He thought that was funny.}

We had so much fun visiting with Elyce & Anita. 

They are so much fun, generous, helpful, and loving. We always love to see them. Ollie warmed right up to Elyce, but was a little less sure about Anita.

 Didn't your mother ever tell you it isn't polite to stare, Oliver Rogers?! He stood in this comatose state for probably five minutes which brought about laughing fits by Elyce, which are always my favorite.

Once he realized she is equally as awesome, it was all good in the hood.

We totally ruined their diets by our visit because we ate like kings every day we were there. Ollie was a bit of a handful, but settled in eventually at each restaurant.

Ollie, Elyce, and I made a Target run and found this sweet hat. Ollie was hamming it up for the camera.

{My mom's response to these pictures: "He is special." Haha!}

Ollie isn't used to so much excitement and running so many errands in a single day, he got crazy by the time bedtime rolled around.

See for yourself...

I love my little buddy.

I was so glad I got to share him for a week.

Thanks for everything ladies! We love you and can't wait for our next trip to Denver!

Oh, and sorry again for the Cheerio's in your water jug -

And wherever else you may find them. :)

Faces

Oliver has lots of funny facial expressions lately. 

His favorite...

It's a mix of the classic Home Alone face and The Mummy sand zombie face. Do you agree?

I managed to capture the rest of them in a photo shoot that lasted all of thirty seconds. These are consecutive and show the range of emotion this kid is capable of in just a matter of seconds. Enjoy!

Weirdy pants.

Andolyn of Evergreen

Andolyn was her full name, but we called her Andi.

She was a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel {or whatever order all those words are supposed to appear, I always got them mixed up}. My parents got her right when I graduated high school, which made her almost ten years old. Gosh, I am old.

She was a sweet dog. SUPER soft and silky. She wasn't very playful and spent most of her time under a cabinet in the kitchen. She would have eaten herself to death if she had her way {much like Cadbury}. She really was sweet, but I swear, every now and then she was possessed...like with demons...which is why I sometimes called her Rasputin. {Sometimes she would be fast asleep under her cabinet and then wake up and start going 'bark' raving mad.} She hid from all the grandkids, understandably so. Except Lucy.

She was a tinge bit needy. See picture above...if you started petting her she would get up in your face and look longingly into your eyes begging for more.

I got a phone call this morning, that Andi had died. Blah. I hate when pets do that. It makes my heart hurt. Seriously. Anyway, I was told they had a nice little service for her and Nora and Lucy made this sign for her grave.

I know you made it to heaven Andini...despite the demons. I love you - thanks for being a good girl.

P.S. Cadbury gave me lots of kisses when he saw me crying after I hung up the phone. Sometimes he loves me as much as he loves Jordan. I thought I should document that. :)