Can you say cheese?

8 months ago today we welcomed Olivia into the world. She is such a fun and happy baby. I am now officially a stay-at-home mom for right now and cannot wait to see her develop more. I think often of how lucky we are to have her here.
I will never forget the day we were told I was going to miscarry. Each week, to my OBs surprise, I was still pregnant and ultrasounds showed that Olivia was still alive, heartbeat and all. Finally the day of Jake's Spinal surgery we were given confirmation that the blood tests that were taken for the second time showed drastic changes from the first and that it appeared that we would continue with this pregnancy.


We are thankful everyday that we get to enjoy are children good times and bad. The Lord has blessed us with 2 amazing daughters.

First of many, hopefully........

Well, I did it.....I went on my first official motorcycle trip with Jake yesterday afternoon. The views from the bike are awesome.

I was soooooo scared at first because I like to have control of my enviroment, but after the first 30 minutes on the bike I really got comfortable with being a passenger.

Jake was awesome with the bike handling to ensure that I would feel safe. I am so glad he decided to get the bike.

We went and bought a helmet, chaps and gloves for me and I was pretty comfortable in the gear. I have to say I am surprised I am not sore today. I was stiff yesterday after getting home, but this morning woke up feeling completely normal.

It's a girl! Gladys Buell!

Jake gave birth to a 2008 Buell Lightning XB12ss yesterday afternoon. Her name is Gladys. He has been anticipating this birth for several months now.

The bike finally came off the truck from the manufacturer yesterday. And we picked it up on our way home from Olympia.

Here he is tucking in his new baby last night.

Here is Jake and his dad before they left for their ride today.

Ashlyn was sooo excited about the bike. She really wants to ride, but the law says you must be 5 yrs old to be a passenger. She will have to wait one more year. She did however get a Harley Davidson hat from the dealership yesterday. This is the cute hat in the pictures.

Another trip to Olympia

The girls and I went with Jake to Olympia again this week. We spent Mon-Fri in a hotel. The week was rather long because the weather was not the greatest and when it did get nice the hotel pool was broken. I had to be creative with our days since we were not able to swim everyday this time. One of the days we spent the afternoon at the hands-on children's museum. Ashlyn had a great time dressing-up and playing.

All of us woke up on Monday with colds. This was Olivia's first official cold since she was born and for being sick she did not lose her fun personality.

The shirt she is wearing in this picture is too cute. Her favorite things: Daddy, Hugs, and Kisses. That really is true. She LOVES her Daddy.

Please, excuse the runny nose. :)

On one of our many walks we stopped at the lake to look at the scenery.

Ashlyn chased all the ducks back into the water and died laughing when the ducks quacked at her. She said, Look ,mom the ducks are talking back!" I laughed so hard. The things this girl comes up with!

And of course we had to spend lots of mornings at the park to keep motor mouth Ashlyn occupied so I could spend a few minutes without constant chatter in my ear. Not much longer and I will have 2 chatty Kathys on my hands. Help!!!

Needless to say, I was soooo glad to come home on Friday!

Olivia is sure growing fast

Olivia is nearing her 8 month mark. I can't believe how fast time flies. She has 2 bottom teeth now and loves to eat as many finger foods as we will let her. She thinks she is a big girl now and expects us to feed her whatever we are eating.

She lets us know when she feels we are not being generous enough with our food.
Olivia is now an expert at sitting up. She has lots of control and can go from the sitting to laying position when she feels like it and not when she just falls for lack of strength. She really is not in a hurry to crawl.
She loves to roll wherever she sees that trouble is.

Here she was thinking she was quite funny!

Water Slides!

We had a fun day at the waterslides yesterday. We spent the entire day in thewater having fun. Ashlyn was not so sure about some of the slides because she has decided she does not like being splashed in the face.

Ashlyn going down backwards!

Olivia's first icecream cone from Grandma Jan (my mom)

Here we are! I got Jake to smile for the camera, which is next to impossible.

Olivia's dedication

We dedicated Olivia at church on Sunday. The pictures of us up on stage did not turn out like we had hoped because of the lighting.

Ashlyn and Olivia with their new Sunday dresses on. Very cute!