Our 8 Month Cutie

It is hard to believe she is 8 months old already..where does the time go?

 She is getting more and more interactive and Madeline loves playing with her.  She is a great prop for Madeline to use while playing school, house and chef.  Chef is especially fun, as Olivia is willing to try anything!

 

 She got to swing for the first time and absolutely loved it!  The smiles on her face were super adorable!

 Playground fun generally involves putting the sand toys in your mouth

 ....and eventually ends up looking something like this.

Oohh, bubbles!

First Mardi Gras bead catching experience!

First trip to Seattle and experiencing the Seattle coast

First Valentine's Day!

She's still not crawling or scooting, but she'll get up on all fours and look around.  She's super happy that she can easily toggle between all fours and sitting!

She is super happy and content

She's gotten super giggly, which is a lot of fun.  Madeline is the one who can always get her going.  Just tonight, they caught a case of the giggles during bath time.

Happy Valentine's Day

The girls each got to celebrate Valentine's Day with a classroom party and a few treats at home after Madeline's dance class.

All dolled up!

A new book!

Little cutie

"Ohhhhh, I wonder what this could be!"

"Mmmm, tastes like chocolate!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Seattle

This past weekend we ventured out to Seattle and both girls got to add a new state to their list of places they've visited.

Madeline was doted on the entire weekend and loved being the little cousin.  It was fun watching her interact and play with her older cousins.  They were great with her and humored her while playing along with her 3 year old games.

On Saturday, we checked out Tacoma and visited the car museum.

Slot car racing with the cousins

Sunday took us to Fort Casey State Park where everyone enjoyed exploring the old bunkers, playing on the beach and taking in the beautiful Seattle day.

Cannonball...

Happy cannonball!

Playing in the wide open spaces

The whole crew (minus Brian, the photographer)

Mommy and the girls

Playing on the beach

Choosing the perfect rock to toss into the ocean

Look what washed up on shore

Loving the great outdoors

So happy with daddy

Piggyback

Exploring some tunnels

Cousins

On Monday, the girls and I were on our own.  We checked out the Seattle Children's museum and Madeline had a great time playing and met a little friend that played with her for nearly 3 hours.  That makes mommy's job much easier! :)

I can reach it!

She is really wanting to crawl.  Check out this sequence of events.

I know I can do this

Boom

 The next picture is missing, that of her in tears.  She was so disappointed :(

The disappointment didn't last long, though!

 Of course, a visit to Seattle requires the obligatory picture with the Space Needle in the background.

Thanks to Uncle Mike, Aunt Majken and cousins Sana, Bassie and Adama for a great visit and being such wonderful hosts!

Happy Mardi Gras!

We enjoyed a festive day in Galveston partaking in the Mardi Gras activities.  We started the day with a fun Mardi Gras treat....King Cake all the way from New Orleans, compliments of my colleague who was here for business on Fri.

Posing with the king cake.  She was fascinated by the sparkly purple parts!

Such a beautiful day..hard to believe it is early Feb!

Ohhhhhh.....beads!

Happy sisters

Beads, beads, beads

Madeline getting in on the action.