Birthday cake yummmmmm

Tentative first bites.
Enjoying a licorice antennae. (She likes black licorice, just like Uncle Matt)

Olivia did a great job eating her cake and opening her gifts. She dug in, smeared frosting on her face, had food in both fists, and cried when we took the rest of the cake away. She ate mostly the eyeballs, and preferred the chocolate icing over the butter cream. After the cake, and a quick bath, we opened gifts. The biggest hits were the cars and the air ball toy.

Ladybug Cakes

Okay, I know I'm not nearly as talented at cake decorating as Ter or Mom, but I'm still pretty proud of Olivia's first birthday ladybug cakes.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday Olivia.!

Here is a montage of some her past Pooh Bear Month by Month pictures. I'm amazed at how quickly she has grown up.

A hilarious web page

Is this the same man or just the same politics?

Okay this is not the funniest one of all, just the most ironic. Matt Cannon sent this web page to Terri and we have spent half an hour laughing and scrolling through page after page.


see famous look-a-like faces

Fall is in the air

I love the changing of the seasons. I didn't know how much I loved the changing of the seasons until I lived in California, where it is a perfect 75 F all year long. The difference between summer and winter in SoCal is the sunny and the rainy season. When Matt and I moved back to Los Alamos, I realized how much I love the seasons.
Fall in Los Alamos means the air is cool and crisp, but the sun is still powerfully warm. You can sit outside and get a sunburn and be cold at the same time (wicked!) Fall in Los Alamos also reminds me of building Homecoming floats, running cross country with my friends, and eating apples at Ashley Pond. Fall here also reminds me that my days of running around with complete freedom are over, even though school usually started a month earlier. Now I have come full circle. Fall today also means my days of freedom are over. I start back to work on Oct 1st. Now, I love the people I work with, I love the work that I get to do (nano technology vs. molecular biology), but I hate the idea of being at work. I also can't stand my division and generally despise LANL. But what it boils down to is, I do need adult conversation, and no matter how many times I read 10 Little Ladybugs, I just don't get enough mental stimulation. All in all I guess one can't have summer freedom forever, because it makes those long hot days of summer all the better.
Anyway, One final thought. Last year at this time I was anxiously awaiting the arrival of Olivia. I didn't really get to enjoy fall last year because I was so nervous. I didn't know when she'd show up, and she didn't even have a name. Finally Dr. Combs gave me an "ultimatum" date, and low and behold, Olivia arrived on Wed, Sept 26th at 5:30pm. I just mention this because in three days my baby (really she is still my little baby) will be a year old. My "little ladybug" aka "peanut" aka "Olivia the Destructor" will be one year old...Yikes

Remote walking.

Okay, I'll admit this is sort of mean. Well, really mean. But she got her prize in the end. And don't worry she didn't get hurt.

Let's take a bath.

Proof...of walking. Please also notice how she does not mind her parents!

Walking Baby

Olivia is walking...I've tried for almost a week now to get a decent video of her, but every time I pull out the camera, she falls, or cries, or throws a tantrum. So, you'll just have to believe me. She is so funny, she even plays games. Sunday afternoon, Matt and Sophie came home from camping, and Olivia and I were waiting for them at Mom & Dad's house. When Olivia saw Matt, she walked the entire length of the driveway. Then when she saw Sophie, she would walk to her, and when she was almost to her big sis, she'd turn quickly and walk away. She did this about five times. Olivia was laughing and so was Sophie. Olivia clearly new she was playing a trick. As soon as I get a good video I'll upload it.

Sophie's first soccer game!

Sophie had her first Soccer game of the season today. The weather was perfect, cool and crisp with a nice warm sun. She was very excited and couldn't wait to play. She even got herself in her shingards and soccer socks (which she hates) without any help from me. I had to miss the end (to teach yoga), so Grandma Lil took some pictures for me. According the the grandparent report....take with a grain of salt.....Sophie almost scored four goals, and saved many from being scored aginst her team. She played well.

Defending her goal. Sophie really played great defence.
Sophie and AnnaRose (I think they are fighting for the same ball.) Notice that Sophie should have been given a pentaly, due the the excessive shoving.
More Defensive skills.

Taking the ball away from the other team
Sophie's breakaway. Sadly, the ball went wide of the goal.

Florida Vaca The rest of the days.....

Did you know that Sophie is now a Jedi? Yep, she fought and defeated Darth Vader.

Okay, I realized nobody wanted a full play by play of each day, (plus they are all now one big blur). So I just picked some of my favorite pictures. I love the one of Sophie in front of "the big golf ball" jumping up in pure joy. Olivia's chillin' in the stroller cracks me up, and so does the "mom I'm going to run up to you as fast as you can so take my picture." But all I got was her eyes. Anyway, we had a blast.

Florida Vaca...Day 4

Tuesday, Sept 2nd. Animal Kingdom and some Epcot. We really enjoyed both places, but because the lines were so short, we got through all of Animal Kingdom in the first day. Sophie was sooooo scared in Dinosaur, her little heart was racing when we finished and there were tears in her eyes. I spent the entire ride covering her eyes, hugging her tight and telling her it was just for fun, and that nothing was going to happen to her.

I love this picture of Matt and Sophie with their mouse ears, and the one of all three of them in front of Paris is just so much fun.


I had to include at least one sourpuss face from Sophie, because this was her only sad face!

Florida Vaca....Day 3

Monday, Sept 1st. We have finally arrived at the Magic Kingdom. I'll admit that I am a big kid when it comes to all things Disney. When Matt and I lived in So Cal, we'd go to Disneyland most weekends & evenings. We'd go to eat some dinner, ride a few rides and catch some fireworks. Ahhh, the days when we didn't have to lug a stroller, and huge volumes of diapers, snacks and toys. Sorry back to reality. Here is Sophie driving the boat on our Jungle Cruise. And here is Sophie making a fun face on the tea cups. We had a great first day. Olivia really enjoyed the rides she could go on, and would point her little finger at stuff, then ooh and ahh. Sophie and I rode Space Mountain right away, and it scared her, but then she hopped right onto Big Thunder Mountain and we ended up riding it five times during the trip.

Florida Vaca...Day 2

Sunday, Aug 30th: Day 2 started about the same as day one. We had made arrangements with Grandpa Stan to spend the day with him. He and Sis live in Ocala, about an hour and a half north of Orlando. However, on Saturday, we couldn't get in touch with him. Nan called Matt and she said she'd try to get in touch with Grandpa Stan. But to no avail. Turns out his phone was out of service. So...we couldn't call him. We got on the road about 10am, and Matt found a shortcut on the map. Only problem was, it wasn't a shortcut because the road had multiple detours and we didn't have a compass in the rental car. We couldn't call Grandpa Stan for directions, we couldn't get a hold of Nan for directions, and finally (imagine a trumpet...do doo doo doooo!) Terri, the ever ready map quest/Internet lady saved us. Our trip took almost four hours. Both Olivia and Sophie were super good, and when we finally got to Ocala, we were greeted with smiles and hugs. Both girls danced some polka, and Olivia even found a new use for a bucket (nice hat!) We didn't get to spend as much time as we'd have liked, with the Ziembas, but the time we did have was really nice. When we finally got back to the hotel room, we were beat, but Olivia enjoyed a nice apple.

Florida Vaca...Day 1

Day one. We had a late flight, so we had time to get a good breakfast at home. I even had time to go for a run. That is where the fun started. During my normal AM run, I tripped, and fell! Now, Matt has run many marathons in his life and has logged many more miles on the pavement then me, but he has NEVER fallen and injured himself. I've done it twice this summer. I guess I'm just uncoordinated. Anyway, I fell hard and ended up somersaulting and landing hard on my left shoulder. It hurt quite a bit, and I thought, okay I can either lay here and cry about it, or get myself up and run home (I was about 2mi from home.) So I got up, found my hat, and took off for home. My shoulder was really hurting, but I didn't worry too much I mean what could be wrong? When I got home, I couldn't lift my arm, I couldn't get my shirt off to shower, I couldn't even wash my hair. Yikes what a way to start a vacation. I had some major road rash, and a pretty good bruise, but fortunately today ( a week later) I am hardly soar at all. Matt really was super helpful and held Olivia, carried the bags, and helped me out. Phew. Well....here are some pictures of us on the plane ride to Orlando.

We are home!

We made it home. As Sophie said today, "Momma, I like being on vacation, but I can't wait to get home and sleep in my snuggly bed." We all had a great trip, and I'll start blogging about it as soon as I get everything unpacked, and everyone in their snuggly beds.