To leave or not to leave

With Hurricane Gustav almost in the Gulf of Mexico the question is..."To leave or not to leave?" Yesterday afternoon after I got home from work Peter and I discussed whether or not we should leave. What we did decide was to make reservations at a hotel and then we would go from there. We wanted at least some kind of back up plan. We called hotels all up IH-45 just before Dallas and not a hotel room could be found. So we started calling around San Antonio and found a room in Sequin and booked it but we had to cancel by 3:00 pm today if we decided not to go. I am sorry but we probably won't know if we should leave at least until Sunday morning or afternoon. So I called and canceled our reservations. During the time of calling hotels yesterday, my mom and I were on the phone and were trying to decide what to do. I have an aunt that lives in Denison which is about 6 hours away. I am in no mood to drive 6 hours or more depending on traffic and then turn around the next day and drive home because we were spared from Gustav. Guess what??? I forgot I have a cousin that lives in Austin. My aunt (her mother) lives in Baton Rouge and have left already and are heading to Austin. When my aunt talked to my cousin she said that we were all welcomed. So I have called her and left a message and praying she calls me back today. My mom and dad are coming to my house tonight so they can be at least and hour and a half closer to Austin and if we are spared then the drive won't be so bad. Do I think Gustav is going to hit us? No. The hurricane models continue to show it moving into Louisiana and that hasn't changed in 24 hours so no I don't think it will hit us. Am I going to be prepared to leave just in case??? Yes I am.

Olivia the Mommy

A couple of days ago we found a baby bottle that went with one of her baby dolls and immediately she wanted to find a baby doll and feed her. This morning she got her bottle and bib and was ready to feed her baby doll. Well one thing was missing... her rocking chair. So I had to go get it from the den and put it in our room. Olivia sat down and proceeded to feed her baby. It was so cute. She was rocking her baby and humming to her while she fed her. Before she left for school she made a makeshift bed for her baby. She put her Elmo chair on its side and put the baby down and covered her with Olivia's blanket. Her imagination just amazes me.

Fun at the mall!

Today we met Sherri, Zoe and Ruth (Sherri and Will's exchange student from Hong Kong) at Memorial City Mall. Olivia got to ride the carousel five times and loved every minute of it. We went down to the Picture People to have Olivia's picture taken. We haven't had her portrait done since the Easter before last so I felt like it was time. Our appointment was
at 11:20 and we got there around 11:10 so of course we had to wait a little while. It was just me and Ruth with Olivia and Zoe. Sherri had gone down to have her eyebrows threaded. Instead of waxing they use regular thread to shape and trim your eyebrows. It is amazing. I had it done after Olivia's picture was taken. I must admit it did hurt a little. It was a different pain than having my eyebrows waxed.
Anyway while we were waiting at the Picture People, Olivia and Zoe entertained themselves by twirling around and around on the chairs. They both were really good but they were everywhere and instead of walking they ran. We went to lunch at Chik fil A and they both got a bookmark with a magnifying lense so instead of using it as a bookmark they tore the bottom off and just used the
magnifying lense. It was so funny. They would stop and get on the ground with their lense and pretend they were looking for clues. I wish I would have taken of picture of them doing that. Well after lunch and getting my eyebrows done we went back to view Olivia's pictures and buy them. I love Picture People because you get the pictures the same day. After getting everything done we
decided to go home. We had been at the mall since 10:30 and it was around 1:45 by the time we left. We weren't in the car five minutes and Olivia was out. She was a tired little girl.

Princess Olivia!!

When I went upstairs this afternoon to get Olivia up from her nap she had a crown and a princess dress in her bed... it was not there when I put her down for her nap. Even though I tell her not to get out of bed she doesn't listen to me. I will put her down for a nap or for the night and she will have a few stuffed animals in her bed but when I go get her she will have diapers, clothes, books, more animals and dresses in her bed. I can't see how she sleeps with all that stuff in her bed. This weekend we are going to go get her a full size mattress set and set up her new bed. Her baby bed converted to a toddler bed and now we are able to convert into a full size bed. Here are a few pictures of princess Olivia.

Party at the Pink Pokka Dot!!

Today Olivia and I went to a birthday party for the "other" Olivia at the Pink Pokka Dot in the Heights. It was a lot of fun for all the girls and it was fun for all the grown-ups watch them play. They got to put on princess dresses and make-up on, have a tea party, listen to a story and dance around. It was a perfect party for a little girl. I am thinking of having Olivia's there next year. Enjoy the pictures.

Proud of our little girl!

I have to brag on Olivia because she has been waking up with dry panties for the past week. The first part of last week she woke up two days in a row with a very wet bed so I started asking again if she wanted to wear a diaper at night and her answer is alway no. Her little potty has been in her room for about 6 weeks now and we have told her if she needs to potty to get up and go but she hadn't done it until this past Sunday night. Monday morning she and Daddy came into the room I was in and I noticed that she was dry. I said something like good job and then Peter told me she got up and went potty sometime during the night. I was so proud of her. She has probably gotten up about three times this week. Peter was up late last night and heard her over the monitor get up around midnight and go potty. She is doing such a great job and Peter and I are so proud of her.

Gymnastics

Olivia started fall gymnastics today. We attended the summer session on Mondays but have decided to change to Wednesday because there is no Mommy & Me on Wednesday. The kids from Mommy & Me tend to get in the way of Olivia's class the majority of the time so we changed days. I sit and talk with another mother and they changed to Wednesdays as well. She is in the preschool class for 3, 4 & 5 year olds and they split the class up by ages. She is doing well. During the summer they didn't get on the trampoline at all and Olivia loves it so today when they got on it I could tell she was very excited. The teacher kept telling her to do different things and all she wanted to do was seat drops. I like the fact that the trampoline tires her out. If we had a backyard I think a trampoline would be a good investment. Oh well maybe the next house.

I need to learn how to use the camera. I know there is a way to take pictures while the subject is moving but I haven't figured it out yet. I guess I will have to get out the instructions. So some of the pictures are kind of blurry.

Olivia & Zoe

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Mo & Poppy's House

Putting on Mo's lipstick.
Poppy showing Olivia the ducks.
Poppy coloring with Olivia.
Poppy reading to Olivia.
Olivia helping Mo make a necklace.
Olivia taking a bite of watermelon.
Chilling with Poppy.

Finger Painting

Snow White @ Chik-fil-A

Nora, Lauren and Olivia
Olivia & Snow White
Olivia the Little Ladybug
Nora, Lauren and Olivia

Olivia and I went to family night at Chik-fil-A tonight because Snow White was making an appearance. While we were eating some friends of ours, Miss Carmen and Christy and her son Trey and Lauren and Nora, from church showed up. The girls got their faces painted by Snow White and just had a good time.

The Backyardigans

We went see The Backyardigans tonight at the Hobby Center and had a fun time. The show was really cute and Olivia seemed to enjoy it. The only negative thing was the fact that you weren't suppose to have food or drink in the theater. We didn't eat before we went to the show because I thought we would be able to have at least popcorn and a drink. I knew nothing about the Hobby Center but everytime we have gone to a show like this we have been able get something to eat and take it into the venue but since this is a theater I guess they don't want it to get dirty. Anyway you could purchase food and drinks but you had to eat/drink them before you entered the theater but the snacks didn't look good so we didn't get anything. Well unbeknownst to me people brought their own stash of drinks and snacks into the theater. Well by the time intermission comes along Olivia is hungry and to make matters worse nearly every kid around us is eating and drinking. So of course she is talking about wanting a snack and she is hungry and she wants to go home. Well going home was not and option so we told her we would get a snack after the show and that did seem to apease her somewhat. Another thing all the kids seemed to have was a magic want and Olivia loves magic wands so Daddy being the good Daddy that he is goes looking for one during intemission. He comes back empty handed... the line was too long. Poor Olivia by this time she has started to whine a little bit and still wants to go home. Thank goodness the lights go down and the show resumes and lasts only another 30 minutes. We are leaving the theater and Peter tells me Olivia wants something so I look over at her and she tells me she wants a magic wand so I go ahead them to get in line. Well they catch up with me and she has changed her mind and she wants Tasha. So Mommy being the good Mommy she is gets Olivia both. And we say our child is not spoiled.

Daddy & Olivia
Sweet Olivia
Austin, Tasha, Pablo, Uniqua & Tyronne
Uniqua & Tyronne

Tasha (Olivia's favorite)
King Pablo
Uniqua, Tyronne, Tasha & Austin
King Pablo, the dragon and Tasha
Olivia and her loot.