Flashback Friday (kinda)

My dad gave me a small photoalbum that I'm assuming my mom put together a long time ago. It looks like most of the pictures were taken between 1973 and 1975, before I was born. I love looking at pictures of them when they were so young! People have always told me that I look like my mom and I have always agreed. In the top picture, my mom is bottom left. In the other picture, she is far right. Also in that picture are her sister, brother, and mother. What a great looking bunch!!

First Day of School

This is Olivia on the first day of school last year.

And this is Olivia on the first day of school this year. Believe it or not, she has grown over an inch. And she has grown up a whole lot this summer!!

Olivia has had a fabulous first two days of school and she loves her teacher. She has told us that she is thrilled to be able to sit at ANY table in the lunchroom while she's eating lunch. And next week she gets to choose her new permanent seat in her classroom. We hope this is her best year so far!!

Middle of August

I have been working on this post for a week and tonight I came across the first picture below. This is Erin exactly one year ago! Look how small she was...and that ever-present drool. She was just about to cut her first tooth and she had just started eating baby foods. She liked squash and pears the best. I had given up on feeding her in her bouncy seat on the table because it was too messy. I then tried feeding her in the Bumbo seat and that was equally as difficult. I finally got her highchair a few days later. It was one of our best purchases!!

This is Erin now at 17 months old. We took her to the mall on Saturday because we were dying to get out of the house. Erin took her first ride on the carousel and you can see how excited she was. Not even a smile!! I knew she was enjoying it, though, by the way she watched all of the horses and everything else around. I took her back to ride the carousel tonight and she had the same stoic reaction. Only this time she didn't cry when the ride was over. We got off, got a banana smoothie and strolled through the mall. She loves her little umbrella stroller and I love how easy it is to use.

On Saturday we also went to Janette and Gary's house to celebrate Ryan's second birthday. Erin loves being around other kids and this was no exception.

Where did this one come from? Oh well, we'll keep it. Isn't she so squeezable with her little yellow bow?

Erin played with Ryan and Claire at the party. Is she caressing Ryan's hair?!? If she is, he doesn't seem to mind.

Granny's House

On Saturday, we drove down to Waco to visit the Johnson clan at my Granny and Papo's house. We got to see my Uncle Gary who was there visiting from California. My dad's twin sister, Charlene, was visiting from San Antonio, and my dad and stepmom drove in from around the corner. Well almost. We thoroughly enjoyed seeing everyone there. It had been a while since we've seen them. This was Gary's first time to meet little Erin. I love seeing my family get excited to see her. It's a feeling I just can't describe.

When we first got there, Erin was a little overwhelmed with all of the attention. She loves being the center of our attention, but when it comes to others, she gets all shy. For about half a minute.

OH NO...more attention....

Granny got Erin to giggle and I think it made Granny's day!!

Erin settled in with Gary quite quickly. She missed both naps this day and tried to get comfy on his lap. But by this point she was too tired to sit still for very long.

Papo and Erin became buddies, too. Doesn't she look comfy?!

Bows

Last night Erin brought me her package of bows and wanted them all in her hair. As you know, Erin doesn't have a whole lot of hair to work with. But we managed. She sat relatively still and waited for me to put in all of the bows. I think that's quite cool because she couldn't see what I was doing. She often brings me her shoes and wants me to put them on her feet, but that's something she can see. The bows are in a place she can't see.

She couldn't resist pulling the bows out of her hair. That must be the fun part of the whole thing. We did this for a good 15 minutes. I put them in and she pulled them out. Over and over and over again.

Here's a shot from above. Isn't she adorable?

This is one of the best ones. I had just shared an Oreo cookie with her and the evidence is still on her face. This kid loves food. As soon as she sees food (or we're in the grocery store) she calls out "BITE, BITE, BITE". She's real persistent.

But that's a whole other story. For another day.

Little Fishy

Every single time Olivia gets in the pool, this is what I see. Erin stands at the door and watches, usually crying and moaning, begging to go outside.

This time she got to go outside and swim. Lucky Dog.
Erin loves her big sis. And I love this picture! I'm holding the camera and Tony is holding Erin, but guess who she's looking at.
She can't get enough of being underwater. See that smile on her face??? She comes up excited. every. single. time.
See??Makes me want to squeeze and kiss all over her!!!