Hiking on Gray Wolf River Trail

This past Saturday it was an unusual warm sunny day, it was actually in the high 60's! We decided to capture this rare warmth and go for a hike on the Gray Wolf River trail, which is not too far from our home.
This was the first time we have used the hiking back pack with Olivia. We wanted to wait till she had good head control before using it. Charlie was having to make a lot of adjustments to make it fit him. I guess we sized it for me.
Her face reads, "Mommy do you really think this is safe"?
"Nope, I am thinking this is not safe"
However, when she got up high she was like, "Wow this is not too bad, what a view"!
Ready for business.


"Hmm...what can I bite on, this strap looks tasty".
"How much of this strap can I shove into my mouth"?
The view of the Olympics!
Beautiful leaves turning to fall colors.

Not even ten minutes in and Cha is already turning up his sleeves.

Making our way down to the river. Pretty much the hike was down hill and then up hill all the way back up.
Can you see me? I found my hobbit hole!
Trying to get through without being snagged.
Yay! We made it to the river. Now turn around and walk back up!
Olivia fading on the hike back to the car. I have never seen her fight sleep that bad.
Sunset along the Mountains.
The hike pooped Olivia out. I felt so bad because she only got an hour to nap before we meet our good friends the Santos's for dinner. She amazes me because I thought she would be cranky with no naps, but she was as happy and chipper as she always is.
Out cold!
Cha had the camera so close to her face and she still didn't wake up!
Our reward! Not only did we have Mexican food, but then a vanilla milkshake from the 101 dinner. Olivia loved the milkshake and almost pulled the whole cup off the table. We forget her good range at grabbing things. She has long fingers, like her momma. Hmm..maybes that's why I used to always knock things off the table when I was younger, leading to my nickname "Smashly". :))

Olivia is Nine Months

Wow! I can't believe my little girl is 9 months old already! Only three more months till she is a year! Crazy! It seems like yesterday she was born. It goes by as fast as people said it would, next thing you know she will be driving and dating boys. Both of which Charlie will try to post pone as long as possible I am sure.
Olivia's 9 month check up went very well. She had only one shot this time, which was nice. The whole time we were in the docs office she keep waving at the nurses and docs, which everyone was getting a kick out of. Waving is Olivia's new thing, as well as shooing with her hand.
Olivia's stats were good she is a tall lean baby weighing 18 lbs. (40-45%), 281/2 in. tall (75-80%), and 44.3 hc (55%). The doctor showed me the chart and said she is growing right on track and seems to be a perfect little baby. I couldn't agree more and thank goodness because if she wasn't I wouldn't be able to convince Charlie to have another one. :)
So much has happened the past 9 months, so I decided to include some pictures below of her latest milestones, developments, and activities. Enjoy!

As you can see Olivia loves strawberries just like her mommy! The other day she wasn't having a good day so I thought I could cheer her up with a strawberry and it worked. Even once she was down to the stem and leaves she wouldn't give it up. So glad she has reached an age were I can give her berries.



I have started putting barrettes in Olivia's hair since it is getting long in the front. This is what they end up looking like as she plays. Charlie calls this particular barrette the caterpillar, which is pretty accurate here.

Olivia's BFF, Sunny! Milo loves her too, but he is smart enough to keep his distance.
Tired herself out while playing in the exer-saucer.
I couldn't help including the next couple of pics because they are too cute. When we were shopping in Silverdale at the Baby Gap Charlie keep putting different animal hats on Olivia, it was pretty funny.
My fav was the giraffe, which we purchased.

Look very closely at Olivia's lower gums and you will see two little teeth. The tooth to the left was the first to pop through and then weeks later we noticed the second one. She shows no signs of teething, which we hope continues.
In the last days of summer, or at least days above 60 degrees in Sequim, we decided to take Olivia to the park on go on the swings for the first time.


Can you tell she liked it?

Hmm...where have I seen that face before, oh yes her daddy! :)
Olivia's first tastes of teething biscuits, which we have recently discontinued due to a chocking scare. I think we will wait till she has more teeth.

Another milestone is Olivia's ability to crawl/move backwards and roll. I love to watch her explore around the house. I thought it was funny when she trapped herself under one of the bar stools.

I love that face!
Olivia has been enjoying experimenting with solid foods, just as much as I have enjoyed making them. All of the produce comes from a local organic farmer, which I purchase every other week. I have also been experimenting with different spices and flavors, such as peas with mint. She loves it all, there hasn't been one thing she won't eat.

A visit to LA and San Fran in June!

I apologize for the great absence on my blog. I have been having problems downloading pics using Safari and Firefox, but just recently it started working. Go figure!
So much has happened since this last blog and I hope to get to all of it as soon as possible.
Anyway, around the first week of June we had been planning as a family to go to a U2 concert, which was a post B-Day gift to my mom. Unfortunately as most of you know Bono the head singer had emergency back surgery and the US tour was canceled until next year. Even though it was canceled I still wanted to come down since we were going to throw Erica a surprise wedding shower at a restaurant in San Juan Capistrano (pictured above and below). The shower was great and I was so glad Olivia and I could share the day with such wonderful ladies.
As you will see my trip to LA was anything but boring. I hope you can follow along with this post because it is jammed packed!

Erica's mom at the wedding shower loving on Olivia.
The bride to be!
Erica and my brother Chris just bought a townhouse and invited us over for a swim. Isn't she a cute duckie!
Olivia loves the water, so much that we can no longer bathe her in her baby bath tub. She likes a regular sized tub were she can splash around in.
Just dunked.

Right after her swim I took these close up pics. The light coming through the windows of Chris and Erica's house made for perfect pics . I just had to include all of them because she looks so pretty.



Another hard day of activities, so time to fall asleep on Uncle Chris.

As you are about to see I have tons of pics of Olivia with her Pop Pop. He calls her his little princess and absolutely loves her to pieces. It is really sweet to see my Dad, a grown man turn into goo over his granddaughter.
Grandpa and Olivia's favorite past time.
Just hanging out!
My parents wanted to see if Olivia would eat some cereal. I tried around four months old and she didn't seem interested in the least, but since she was about to turn six months I thought we could try it again. To my surprise she ate some, while making the cutest faces of course. Since that visit she has moved on to eating pureed fruits and vegetables, and I haven't found one thing she doesn't like.

One morning I came upstairs and found Olivia sleeping on the couch like a big girl. I about had a heart attack and told my Dad not to do this since she could fall off. Whenever I lecture him on her safety he just looks at me like I am a crazy mom. Why do I have a feeling this is how I was raised? :))
Since we were in SoCal Olivia had to of course get a new bathing suit from my favorite children's store Janie & Jack.

When our visit was almost up, Olivia and I were given the opportunity to extend our stay and attend my Cousin Elizabeth's wedding in San Francisco. I haven't seen my extended family for many years! It was so great to see them all and introduce them to Olivia for the first time. The above pic is breakfast at the bistro in our San Francisco hotel.
Can you tell she likes the hotel life.
Elizabeth and Damien's wedding at UC Berkley Botanical Gardens. My Uncle Tom gave his only daughter away. Elizabeth's beautiful bouquet was made entirely out of orchids.
Olivia's first wedding and she was a good girl as always.
The ceremony was held in a beautiful grove of redwoods.

My cousin Steven and his wife doting over Olivia. They don't have kids yet and since they held her they will now!
So sweet!

Olivia grabbing for the camera.
Olivia and Gramie.

Steven giving Chris a high five for catching the garter.

Olivia relaxing after the wedding doing her imitation of Napoleon.
Yay, we had a great time and a packed fill trip to CA. Now it is time to go home to Daddy.
After our flight back home I had to put on the baby harness, but to do so takes two hands. I have become very creative in traveling alone with Olivia and finding ways to achieve the tasks at hand.

As you can see she had no problem being wedged between my purse and backpack. She almost seems comfortable. In any case we had a great time and can't wait to come back for Chris and Erica's wedding in October!