Easter in Houston

Mom, Dad, Nina, Mike, Olivia and I piled into the Highlander and drove down to Houston to see the family for Easter.  It was Olivia's first road trip and she did very well with only one stop on the way there and one of the way back.

Alright guys, let's go!

First things first.  As soon as we got to the Turner's house it was lunch time for Olivia.

Then it was time to say hello to the family . . .

This is my Great Aunt Anita

Me and my cousin Caitlin.  She's holding my hand because I really like to pull hair.

I've got my Mr. Rabby so no pulling cousin Hayley's hair.

Playtime on the floor

Sweet Easter bunny

Lucy came over to say hello

Lunch time for the grown ups . . . guess who the centerpiece is.

My family

There is a story behind this photo.  5 1/2 years ago, Mike and I had been seeing each other for a month when I took him to Houston to meet my family over Thanksgiving.  We took this exact picture on that visit except the dog was different and there was no Olivia yet.  I will have to scan in the original picture so I can post them side by side.

Olivia's first Easter egg hunt

The day before Easter, we were invited to Marne's parent's house in Lake Travis for brunch and an Easter egg hunt.  It is always nice to get together with other families with kiddos.  Olivia was the youngest but pretty soon she'll be running around after eggs with the rest of them.

Look at me in my pretty Easter dress

That fat dog has a little head.  We love you Gunner!

Tennyson (Marne's son) did NOT know what to think of Olivia when we got there.  When she wouldn't stand up and walk around with him, he would just sit down next to her.

When Olivia turned around to say hello to Presley, Tennyson snuck in to check her out.

Animal disclaimer:  Marne contacted a petting zoo and a girl came and brought baby chicks, ducks, and rabbits for the kids to pet.  We DO NOT support the novelty selling of baby chicks and bunnies at Easter time.  Although some people do keep the animals and raise them as pets, a lot of people don't and it's cruel. 

Olivia was fascinated with the bunny.  She is still a little rough with the cats at home so Mike was helping her be sweet.

Gimme that bunny!

Super baby!

Mike helped Olivia find some eggs for her Easter basket

I'm pretty sure that there is supposed to be candy in these eggs but I have a sneaky suspicion that they were emptied before I got them.  Maybe next year Olivia.

I bought Olivia's Easter dress at our favorite resale shop, Once Upon a Child, but I noticed at the party that there was a sharp piece sticking up by the zipper that was scratching the back of her neck so we put painters tape over it :-)

A scratchy dress and the heat prompted an outfit change.  It was about that time that Tennyson warmed up to Olivia . . . or maybe he's just beside her because she has his football.

Cooper's visit

Ok, before I get going on this post, let me explain my "slacker" blogger status.  In addition to working and being Olivia's Mommy, I started school this week soooooo I'm kind of busy these days.  I'm going to do my best to keep up with the blog but I probably won't get to as many posts as I want to.  That means that every once in a while there will be a post with just a bunch of pictures that I want to write about but just don't have time.  That being said . . . .

Cooper, Mike's son, came to visit last week as it was his Spring Break.  He lives outside of DC and their Spring Break is much later than the Texas schools.  We were so excited to have him!  It had been about 9 months since we'd seen him and I was 8 months pregnant so needless to say, this was the first time that brother and sister met.  Cooper is 12 and TALL - I think 5'8 and towers over me.  He is an amazing kid, he really is and we just love having him.  I had to work most of the week (booo) but that meant that he got to spend some much needed quality time with his Dad and Olivia.

Now there aren't as many pictures as there would have been if I had followed them around all week with the camera but we still have some very cute shots . . .

I think this is the first time that he held Olivia.  She took to him immediately and thought that he was hysterical the whole time he was here.

Cooper and Mike did some yard work and brought Miss Olivia outside with them.  I about fell over when he sent me this picture - I mean LOOK at that outfit!

Dinner time with our sweet centerpiece in her Bumbo.

Mike, Cooper and Olivia went to Dave and Busters . . .

Olivia watched Coop play Wheel of Fortune . . .

 . . . and he showed her how to play skeeball.

Cooper zoned into Guitar Hero . . .

. . . clearly he's good at that game.

My 3 cuties.

That night, Mike, Cooper and I bowled on the Kinect and I won!!

Here's Olivia being helpful with the laundry

The day before Easter (Cooper's last day), we went to an Easter egg hunt at our friend's house in Lake Travis and then to see my parents in Spicewood where Mike and Cooper did some fishing.

Here's Cooper waiting for us to get ready with "his" cat Machaya . . .

. . . and his little sister in her Easter dress.

Olivia petting a bunny

Cooper's so good with her!

Mike and his kiddos

Brother and sister snuggles.  This picture makes me tear up a bit :-)

We love you Cooper!!!

While Daddy was gone

Mike went out of town last week to watch some of the Masters in Augusta and visit his parents in South Carolina.  Besides the fact that his travel experience was terrible (let's just say that he won't be visiting the Kileen airport or flying Delta anytime soon) he had a great time.  Olivia and I missed him very much but it was nice for me to have lots of baby time.  I was able to have friends and family watch Olivia for part of the day on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday so that I could go to work - thank you Melissa, Tonya, and Mom!  Here's what Olivia's week looked like . . . 

On Tuesday, Olivia went to Melissa's house

Nap time

This is me and my friend Dylan

Clean baby

On Wednesday, I stayed home because we were having our new entertainment center delivered

Gooooooood morning!

Time for a snack . . . I've got it Mom

So close to crawling

Night night Daddy

On Thursday, Tonya came over to hang out with Olivia

Play time

Olivia is so close to crawling that I told Tonya if she crawled for the first time while I was at work to just not tell me about it.  So when Tonya sent me this picture, she made a point to tell me that she is NOT crawling.

Olivia and I had some errands to run that evening.  Hello from Walmart!

On Friday, Mom (aka Granny) stayed with Olivia

Happy girl this morning

Mommy snuck into this picture

Mommy!  Go get ready for work!  You're cramping my style!

Night night Daddy . . .

 . . . and good morning!!  My Daddy comes home today!

Olivia and I had a great week but we sure were glad when Daddy came home!