Great Grandpa and Grandma Mandeville

Veteran's Day weekend we took a rode trip down to see my grandpa and grandma Mandeville.  We had a wonderful afternoon visiting and eating lunch.  They hadn't seen Olivia since she was two weeks old so they soaked up as much time with her as they could.  I love that she is so social and will go to just about anyone.



From my grandparents' front window you can see the Manette Bay Bridge.  The Thursday before our visit, my grandpa was in the newspaper.  He was one of the first people to cross the bridge back when it was built in 1930; he was nine years old.  The bridge was rebuilt this last year and he was again, one of the first people to get to cross the bridge at 90 years old. 

Four Months

At four months old Olivia is as social as can be!  She LOVES to play This Little Piggy, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Buzzy Bee.  She laughs and laughs when playing.  She loves to play with her ocean wonders gym, tummy time on the floor with her taggy or Ellie her elephant, and she loves other kids and babies.  Some of her favorite peeps are her cousins, Emily, Jack and Charlie, and her best little buddy, Kellan.  She can reach and grasp for her toys, and often brings them to her mouth to chew on.  We haven't figured out if she is beginning to teeth yet, but we think so.  Against her momma's wishes, she likes to suck her thumb.  She's always sucked on her fingers and/or fist, but this last month she began just sucking on her thumb.  Although I wish she wouldn't, it really is pretty cute.  She is very aware of her surroundings, and often turns her neck as far as can be to try and watch TV since she knows she's not supposed to.  She rolled over this last month from her tummy to her back.  She also puts her knees up under her when she's on her tummy and tries to scoot across the floor.  She melts my heart every day with her warm smiles, adorable coos, and belly laughs.  Zach and I still look at each other at least once a day and say, "We did good, we did good." 

Playtime

We have been SO fortunate to have my mom stay with us while I am back at work.  Olivia has had hours and hours of playtime with her Grandma Emily.  Grandma Emily got out Olivia's "Bumbo" seat and Olivia LOVES it.  She sits in it playing and playing and playing....

She loves her blue elephant...

She also continues to love playing under her ocean wonders gym.  She is talking so much these days...

This is just the cutest thing EVER!!!  We captured her last night laughing and it is the best entertainment.  I'll spend any Friday night like this... 



Fun with family

Last week Zach had to work all weekend so Olivia and I packed up and left for a trip to Mount Vernon with Grandma Emily.  We spent time visiting with our favorite cousins, Great Grandma and Grandpa Fox, and Grandpa Jim...

Grandpa Jim just had ankle surgery last week, so Emily and I decided to make him some of his favorite cookies, oatmeal raisin.  Emily needed to taste them first to make sure they were tasty enough...

Grandpa Jim has to stay off his ankle for three months, so we brought him lots of goodies and things to read...

Playing peek-a-boo...

The next day we went to visit Great Grandma and Grandpa Fox.  Olivia was her normal happy self, smiling, laughing, and talking to her great grandma. 

I forgot my camera when we went to Auntie Anne's.  Olivia was spent a lot of time laying on a blanket playing with Charlie.  He absolutely loves her and sqeals with joy everytime he sees her.  While Anne and I were busy getting toys out for them to play with I caught Olivia rolling over out of the corner of my eye!  We couldn't believe it!  She rolled from her tummy to her back.  This little girl isn't wasting any time... and I'm not sure that is a good thing.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins and a Halloween Party

Monday evening before Halloween we loaded up and headed to Fall City Farms to get our pumpkins.  They were a little more expensive, but we were happy to support our local farmers.

Daddy found the perfect pumpkin right away...

It took Mommy a little longer to find just the right pumpkins for her and Olivia...



The Friday evening before Halloween was the annual Pumpkin Carving Night at my school.  Tiffany and I have run this event for the past three years.  This year Zach and Olivia and Patrick and Kellan joined us!  We hadn't carved our pumpkins yet, so Zach brought them along.  The best part was we didn't have to clean up a big mess at home!

Saturday evening we were invited to a Halloween Party at Scott and Shanna's house.  It was a kid friendly party so at the last minute we decided to go.  We didn't have costumes and didn't want to spend a bunch of money so we decided to get creative.... Zach went as me "Vice Principal Mitchell" and I went as him "MT Electric Worker".  He wore his shirt, tie and slacks with my lanyard.  I printed out a picture of him and taped it to my ID badge.  I wore his construction t-shirt, sweatshirt, and hard hat.  It was perfect!!

 
Ty was a priest and Beth was "Snooky" from Jersey Shore...

Captain Morgan was my favorite costume of the night...

All the ladies...