The Fighter's

Yesterday was my 31st birthday...can't believe I'm 31. Seems like yesterday I was counting down the days to my 16th birthday!  Anyways... I had a fantastic day....dinner out at one of my favorite Italian restaurants with Doug, the girls & my mom, followed by a scavenger hunt with my girls to find my gift (they thought that was the coolest !) and a "dessert smorgasbord" - all put together by Doug (thanks babe!).  The girls made homemade cards and Ava wrapped a book of leaves that she made at school that day. ;-) And...I am SOOOO excited because Doug surprised me with a new "fancy" camera! I have been like a kid with a new toy the day after Christmas. I think I have taken pictures of everything in our house...trying to figure out the settings and features. I can't wait for a nice sunny day to take the girls to the park for a "photo shoot"!  Lots to learn...shutter speed, aperture, exposure, flash compensation...but I am having fun reading

Our sweet little Olivia is one!  We celebrated with a family dinner, cupcakes & presents! Grandma & Grandpa, Uncle Rob, Aunt Carly & Jet came over to help celebrate.  Livvy has brought so much fun to our lives.  She is curious, determined and makes us smile with her laugh, dance moves and silly antics.  Her sisters absolutely ADORE her...always trying to steal hugs and kisses.  She goes by many nicknames - Livvy, Liv, Lou, Livvy Lou, Boo, Sissy and Moo Moo.  Olivia weighs 21 pounds and is 28 inches long (50% percentile for weight, 30% for height).  She says mama, dada, mama (grandma), "mil" (milk), "ayyigator" (alligator - which we think is a riot - out of all the words - but she loves her sisters' alligator song and tries to chime in and does a pretty good job!), doggy, up and all done.  She has been taking steps since she was 10 months...but is full blown walking now and able to crawl up steps.  Livvy is growing more and more each day - trying

Grammy sent a package today for Olivia's first birthday...and she (and her sisters) had a blast opening it.  She got two adorable outfits...thanks Grammy!!  Can't believe our girl is 1.  Sniff-sniff!!  She is so focused, curious, into everything...but also has a fun, light hearted personality...and a smile that can't be beat.  She enjoys soliciting belly laughs from her sisters with her antics (she's already learned how to make people laugh), giving high fives (see pic below) and joins in on her sisters' wrestling matches whenever she can.  She is tough and works her hardest to participate with Ava & Katelyn.  We love our Olivia so much!  She is a ball of smiles and joy and brightens all of our days.  Afterwards...pony rides from Daddy.  And...a quick picture of Olivia's spiky hair!

What's better than starting a Saturday morning off with family, coffee, crisp fall weather...and 3 year old soccer?  Doesn't get much better in my book!  Kate played her first soccer game and LOVED it.  Grinned ear to ear 98% of the time (the other 2% she needed a quick sip of water and pep talk by Dad or Uncle Rob on the sidelines...then back out on the field in no time).  Highlights of the game... She was on the receiving end of the first kick of the game...and used her hands to pick the soccer ball up. She had a huge, proud smile on her face.  Of course you aren't supposed to touch the ball with your hands in soccer...but that didn't matter one bit to her.  She had gotten that ball!  She is a little spitfire on the soccer field that Kate!  Her great attitude, participation and smile made Doug and I so proud.   And Jet, Ava & Olivia were cheering Kate on.  Like I said...what better way to start off a Saturday morning???

Just a few shots of my three favorite girls.  We are enjoying our September immensely (my favorite month by the way)!  Pre-school every day of the week (Ava & Kate alternate days), ballet (both girls), gymnastics (Ava), soccer (Kate).  Olivia is walking all over the place, starting to put together more sounds, drinking from a sippy cup, growing a toothier smile...getting so big!  Doug re-seeded the yard, I painted another room in the house and am now embarking on a project to organize closets (got rid of 5 big black bags of stuff a few weekends ago...yay!).  We are keeping busy but it has been a fun busy.  Now I'm playing catch up (AGAIN!) on the blog!!  Stay tuned for more pics (including California & soccer!!).  Happy, happy fall.  Enjoy the crisp air and absolute beauty of the season!! Ava dresses herself every day. Sometimes it's hit or miss.  I think this outfit is a hit as a miss!!   Showing off her butterfly painting from school. Sleepy Olivia...currently