O55 & D35: Starting Anew

So I've wavered, I've wobbled - all in all I've pretty much fallen flat on my face trying to get these newsletters started. But I know I need to do better. So I am going to do better.

I've never been one for outspoken and obvious New Year's Resolutions and really anytime I h ave been it's about being healthier in order to lose a little weight, or being more organized in order to to... be more organized - all of which sort of just HAPPEN in January because I'm a nutcase. But mostly, being pregnant this time around, I happened to stop and think about non-physical resolutions. I wasn't going to start jogging (well, and then subsequently go into labor, lol) or eat less - by gosh darn it, I AM going to do newsletters!

So I'm starting over strong in January of 2009 with a double whammy and a little dose left over from Christmas.

You both grew so much last year, both physically and mentally. It's hard for me to even look at photographs of you and realize that you weren't always the size you are now. Last night, during my mini nesting session, I organized photos from earlier in your childhood(s) and was just blown away by how your sweet little faces were just basically now glued onto bigger bodies! Duncan will always be one of those kids that loses the "Who Is This Baby?" contest because he will look EXACTLY the same for the rest of his life. Olivia has changed enough that she could pass for an older sister of the said baby in the photograph, possibly tricking some but not enough. The real giveaway would be a video of her incessant chattering, IDENTICAL to the incessant chattering that occurs every day.

Olivia and her new purse from Mimi & Papa
Taken 12/25/2008 at the Wagners' Home

You were both fascinated again by the snow this year, despite it's late arrival, and begged to go out in the snow and play. I, of course, caved and allowed you to do so - only to be thanked by the hysterical crying faces of "It's COLD out there!" Gee. Perhaps that's why it's SNOWING.

No matter how much I bundle you up, you both always manage to find a way to get cold or snow INTO your bundles and burst into hysterical crying spells beyond comforting. Duncan tends to be less emotional when he's interested in being outside. By the time he's bored or done, he figures, cry with Liv - we'll get a quicker response.

Duncan and his new football from Mimi & Papa
Taken 12/25/2008 at the Wagners' Home

You're still doing very well playing together, we get a little over the top at times, but you're at the age where you easily entertain each other. Putting the crib up in your room has been an interesting adventure. You both refer to it as "Baby Rachael's Bed" and know the rules about using it to climb or scale other objects and comply fairly easily. It will be interesting to see if the addition of an actual BABY inside the crib will change that.

Olivia, and her cousins Kyla (4 yrs) and Kortney (2 yrs)
(all eating Mimi's chocolate, lol)
Taken 12/25/2008 at the Wagners' Home

We went to IKEA over the weekend to pick out some things for your room and also to pick up the linens and things we wanted for the baby. Both of you were very excited to be able to see that Rachael was going to have matching linens and that we bought special curtains JUST for your ROOM! It's frustrating being in an apartment and not being able to paint. The whimsical animals that go along with the IKEA line we've picked for your room would be adorable on the wall. That's part of the reason that I love these curtains, they bring color AND fun little animals onto some very basic, boring, wall color.

Duncan, and his cousins Zachary (10 mths) and Jordan (4 yrs)
(They were playing "drums" on the popcorn tins from Grandma Martha Wagner)
Taken 12/25/2008 at the Wagners' Home

It's so cute to see you with your baby cousins (who are rapidly racing towards their one year mark, hardly babies anymore!) and to see you making comparisons to Baby Rachael. Of course, it will also be interesting to see how disappointed you are when Rachael's not able to walk or play with the toys you've reserved for her withing 2 days of being born. Some things just take time and I'm curious to see how else you'll strive to play and connect with her. Rachael will be lucky, much like my sister Maddie, to be born into a family that not only has a Mom and Dad but also a big sister AND big brother - best of both worlds.

Well that about wraps up this month's double newsletter. And you WILL be seeing more next month. Bet your bottom (Shrek: "Bet my bottom?!" Haha, inside 2-year-old joke...) dollar and more photos to accompany them.

Duncan (2) & Olivia (4)
Christmas Eve

Love you two. :)

O53-54: Olivia - Christmas Photo Special

Well, due to my lack of ability to keep up with Newsletters, I'm carrying on nonetheless. And with the Christmas spirit! This is your mini Christmas Photo Special, Liv. :)

Christmas 2004

Your very first Christmas was at your Gma Bonnie's house. We lived there at the time and you were SO cute. :) You still are cute, but MAN you were cute when you were a baby. And you didn't fuss when I did you hair (the little I could do to it) that helped with the cute factor seeing as now you act as if I'm sawing off a limb each time I reach for the brush...

Regardless, you were cute. This was in front of the tree wearing your Christmas dress, you had just gotten your photo taken with Santa at Clackamas Town Center for the first time. You did very well for a baby, I've seen (and I was) much much worse. :) They even gave you a tiny tree when you were done!

Here's the Santa shot. No, you weren't smiling. But, hey - you weren't screaming! And for a baby, that's an accomplishment. I was very proud of you and you were SO cute. It was a great First Christmas shot. :)

On Christmas Eve the tradition has always been that we open one of our gifts. This was started partially because your Pa's (My mother's father, your great-grandfather) birthday IS on December 25th! Growing up they used to open all their Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, they'd wait for it to get dark and go to town! Christmas morning, Santa would have filled their stockings, and it was Pa's birthday!

So when I was growing up, we began opening just one gift on Christmas Eve night and when I had you, I passed it along as well.

Here we are in front of the fireplace at Gma Bonnie's house. This was on Christmas Eve as well after you had gotten in your Christmas PJs from Mimi (my mom). You gave a good smile and it ended up being a favorite from that year. :)

This was one of the shots that was taken while opening gifts, you were so funny and excited to see all the boxes and paper and bows, probably more excited than you were for the gifts. :)

Christmas 2005

Your Grandma Cole (my father's mother, your great-grandma) sent you this beautiful dress for Christmas and you looked so darling in it I had you stand on the coffee table for photos, lol. I wasn't as able to follow you around that year as I was about 8 months pregnant with Duncan but I couldn't resist. :)

This is the closest I got to a Christmas "Santa" photo for this year. Grammy (my mother's mother - your other great-grandma) made this dress for you in a beautiful blue. You looked wonderful in it. While we didn't get a Santa picture, having you next to the tree was just as sweet. :)

Christmas Day we went to both Gma Bonnie & Gpa Bill's house and Papa and Gma Tanya's house to celebrate. You were still so little and you loved running around amongst all the noise and busy Aunts and Uncles.

Here you are with Papa and Gma Tanya (my parents) during our Christmas dinner? lunch? I can't remember... I think it was a lunch.

And, of course, your favorite activity for almost anywhere you went. A calculator.

Christmas 2006

We spent Christmas 2006 with Daddy in Utah! It was your first real trip anywhere that you would remember and you had a lot of fun.

But - first, we had a lot to do before we left. The above photo was from visiting Papa and Gma Tanya to open some presents at their house. Here you are with your first one, smiling away. It's so weird to me how old you look here compared to the previous year. You had grown up a lot. :) (I also love your little white and pink Nikes in this shot, you loved wearing them and they were so cute on you. Gma Bonnie bought them for you and you came home wearing them, they were SO cute!)

We also stopped off at Grammy & Pa's house in McMinnville. This was your Christmas Dress that Grammy made for you this year. The only good shot I got of you in it was this one in front of Grammy & Pa's tree. You would dart out of the way... made it a little difficult. :) I regret not taking off the pink socks...

Here's a video of one of the days we were there and waiting for Daddy to get off of work:


The Aunties Taught Me This! from Melissa Wagner on Vimeo.

While in Utah we stayed with Grandma Cole in her apartment by Capitol Hill in Salt Lake City. She left to spend Christmas with my Aunt Laurie and Uncle Wes in Neola, UT before Christmas day. So we had a little more early gift opening so Grandma Cole could be there when you opened your gifts from her. You were so excited to get this Dolly and quilt that she had made for you. Though you didn't quite understand who had given it to you... check out this video:


From SANTA! from Melissa Wagner on Vimeo.

We were able to get a family shot this year of the four of us at Temple Square in downtown Salt Lake. It was so beautiful and lit up everywhere. Unfortunately, the person who we asked to take the photo ended up taking one with the camera focused on all the lights! It still turned out okay and we were happy to have a family shot. :)

You and Duncan always had so much fun with Daddy, especially at this age. I love this shot that I took of the three of you the morning that we were to fly back home to Oregon.

Christmas 2007

That year we went to see the lights again and Daddy took this cute shot of the three of us. I wish we would have been able to go this year, but, being 8 months pregnant with Rachael this year it didn't end up working out, too much walking without bringing on contractions. We will definitely go next year though. :)

You and Daddy made Jello shapes on Christmas Eve and had a GREAT time eating them up. While I didn't participate in the eating I took photos and you and Duncan "taste tested" enough to feed an entire country.

This is the first Christmas AFTER the big hair cut. Can you tell? (I mean apart from the fact that you look like a muppet...) Nonetheless, you were cute as a button and VERY excited to open your Christmas Eve gift. :)

And, of course, Christmas morning! Duncan was still asleep. You were stoked beyond belief to have found that Santa left you and Duncan a Dora and Boots table and chairs! And look! The milk is gone and the cookies were eaten! Such excitement!

Later that day we went over to Mimi & Papa's (daddy's parents) house for a Christmas meal and more presents opening. Mimi took this photo of the four of us.

You saw both the Macey's Santa and the RC Willey Santa for Christmas of 2007, but I can't find either scanned version on the computer. I'll have to find the hard copies and scan them in when I get a chance. Regardless, there are a lot of good ones here. :)

Good memories, good Christmases, and - most of the time - a good girl! ;) We're looking forward to this Christmas and the many Christmases to come. :)

O51-52: Okay. Yeah. I need to get on it.

My sweet girl, one day you'll grow up and smack me in the shoulder and beg the question: "ONCE A MONTH MOM! You couldn't handle once a MONTH?"

I'll get better.

I hope.

Taken 11.25.04

This little face. I've been seeing a lot of this little face lately because I've been hurriedly transferring the photos documenting your ENTIRE life onto my "I" drive (my external hard drive) so that you and your brother will have photos if for some reason our computer is wiped out. So over and over I've cursed myself for dating things like "060604" Well, to me, I see that's the day you were born. Except that, sitting right next to it is: "060605" Your first birthday. Suddenly 12 months is gone and I'm lost. I didn't discover the wonders of "2004_0606" until sometime later. That way, I can go month by month, small description by description and actually FIND what I'm looking for.

Then of course, we have the ones where I felt the need to label the folder of photos with the date they were DEVELOPED. Why, you ask, are we opening Christmas presents on January 13th? BECAUSE MOMMY IS A DO-DO HEAD.

I got the mess sorted out, and SO FAR, I've got from your Aunt Brinsley's soccer game on November 1st, 2003 to Christmas 2005 (you were 1-1/2 then) at Papa's house. Not too shabby. But organized none the less.

Wonderful example of the new found organization. Taken 12.25.05

I'm continuing to work on this day by day. Duncan's semi involved as I'm pregnant in these Christmas photos and beginning to show. (Don't worry D, I've got plenty of embarrassing photos coming for you.)

You quickly grew from that teeny tiny girl in embroidered, semi cotton, wannabe-linen shirts to where you are now. For some reason, much like my photo organization, your little face remained little until you suddenly grew up and hit Preschool. Yet... you still manage to look the same in so many ways.

Taken 09.03.08

Okay more teeth, more hair, bigger bows... all that good "grown up" stuff.

Down to business.

This month, and last month, I've been mentally preparing for baby. It's been an interesting task but it has definitely come to a HUGE visual point as we have the crib up again. Soon we'll be to IKEA for bedding, curtains, wall decor, etc. I'm excited, and I know that you are as well, to get all this fun stuff for your room.

During preparation we pulled out some baby clothes and you immediately saw all of the outfits you wore for the first few weeks of life. Oh wait. Only ONE fit. :) You put them on Baby Chou Chou and took her to Preschool for show and tell. I realize now I should have sent you with this photo as well, if only for the amusement on Miss Denise and Miss Debby.

Taken 06.13.04

Yes. You were VERY tiny.

Preschool has definitely opened you up though. You're excited every day to go, you always participate, complete all of your artwork, sing the songs, sit on the rug, etc. You're a good girl and you listen (minus the times where you feel like continuing to color and most likely just to poke at your teachers), we're very proud of you.

Every night when your Daddy gets home, the two of you go over what you learned that day. I'm so glad he wants to be involved and enjoys helping you remember all of your material. He's been incredibly busy with work and school and all that he does for us and it means a lot to me (and to you, I'm sure) that he takes the time to do this with you.

You had your first field trip last week on Monday, we went to the Sandy Fire Station and after a few bumps of shyness you had a fantastic time.

Taken 10.06.08

You still own a suffocating amount of dresses, but have grown mature enough - most likely from experience - to know that here in Utah, it's not as much fun to PRETEND it's warm outside. When momma says it's 34 degrees, she's NOT KIDDING and you put pants on without a fuss. It, of course, helps when they involve flowers, princesses, or other pink accessories. Along with your new staple: the pink Nikes from Mimi in Oregon.

It's hard to find new things other than the basics to write about each month. You get older as time moves on but you definitely haven't changed that much... you're still the same sweet little girl, plus a few hormones here and there, as you always were.

And one days you'll read this and be horribly embarrassed by the fact that I publicly leaked the fact that you snorted right after your first cry when you were born and I knew, without a doubt, that you were our Olivia. :)

And you wouldn't be, if I managed not to hear about this.

So, please, don't let me down. ;)

O49-50: The continuing birthday and plans

Even after your birthday, you continued to go on and on about what you WANTED for your birthday. I tried to explain to you that your next birthday wasn't for another year but you refused to listen. And so the planning began for your next birthday.

But not really.

You've been doing a great job with your bike. Suddenly being just a little further off of the ground on this new bike you have a new fear of going "too" fast. Too fast meaning anything faster than having to pump as hard as you can on your pedals while going merely an inch. Daddy lowered your seat to help as much as we could but you'll get used to it eventually.

Being 4 has hardly changed you a bit, imagine that. The bedtime crisis has begin since June but suddenly you've decided you enjoy food and you like EATING it with the family! It certainly makes meals easier. To my disbelief you ate Sloppy Joes last night. I nearly died. Of course you decided that cooked tomatoes are not as good as fresh tomatoes and you picked them out but you ATE Sloppy Joes.

Brinsley is here for 3 weeks this month and before she got here you would not shut up about her coming. Every day we had to save the last fruit snack, save the last drink of juice, save a stuffed animal for when she sleeps here, etc. It was very sweet how much you anticipated your Auntie's arrival and even got Duncan to practice saying her name.

You're gaining more and more opinions about what we do during the day and your routine for bedtime is beginning to help. I have no doubt you're half to maybe a little more of the motivation for Duncan to continue coming out of his room every 10 minutes but you do at least stay in your bed. :)

You love to read books, going to the library is the highlight of our week. Not to mention the cycle of Barbie Mariposa, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, and of course the available Princess movies, Dora movies, etc. That's by far your favorite thing to watch though - Barbie! She's become a new interest for sure.

You've worked very hard with your piano book that Great Gma Cole has sent you and you can play many of the songs all by yourself matching the numbers and colors to the various keys. You know the black notes are for the black keys and while you use everything from your right hand to your left foot, you recognize the Treble Clef and know that you should be using your right hand to play - but you're definitely not one to conform. :)

Daddy and I are so proud of you and can't believe how far we've come. You may still have a lot of attitude in you (surprise surprise, I can just HEAR Mimi thinking that...) but we're very proud of all that you do. You're very excited for a new baby brother or sister and ask about how big the baby is and what it's eating, if it can hear you, all the typical questions. You're favorite thing to inform me of is simply that we ARE having twins and that one will be a girl named Dora, and the other will be a boy named Diego. Cameron thanks his lucky stars every day that your prediction has not proved to be accurate thus far.

Such a silly girl. :)

O48: My BIG birthday girl!

Oh Livy Liv, you are so sweet. And a PAIN some days, but I'm a Mom, I have this wonderful ability to deal with you screaming all day and then one cute moment turns it all around. ;) We love you so much.

I can't believe that on Friday you will be 4 years old. I remember holding you when you were so tiny... and unlike your brother at birth (over 8lbs) you WERE tiny! Just 6lbs 7oz, 18-3/4" long, such a sweetheart. I thought your newborn clothes were tiny until I saw you, haha. You wore a preemie suit for the first few weeks of your life - we had TWO of them and I didn't mind all the wash - made me feel like a MOM. (I was SO NAIVE.)

We're having a small cake-eating, present-opening party on Friday. I asked you what you wanted for dinner on your birthday and you respond "Chicken Noodle Soup." How BORING, lol, so I picked up what I needed, including tangly noodles aka egg noodles which are by far your favorite. We're having a white cake with frosting of who-knows-what-we'll-decide. You've changed your mind over and over. I can't wait for you to see the surprises we have in store for this year. Having a girl party is different than a boy party - especially with your brother who always wants Banana "cake" and Chicken Crescents for any event or holiday we've ever experienced.

You've learned a lot this month. As much as I've tried though, I think you've learned more from Diego about wildlife than anything. "MOM the butterflies are HERE! Maybe fruit will fall from the trees and we can watch them drink and help them and say 'DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!' cause they're tired from their flying jobs." To which Daddy is COMPLETELY confused and looks at me, then you. You reply "Butterflies eat fruit that falls on the ground. I saw it on Diego on NickJr." Believe me, everyday we thank our lucky stars that Utah isn't known for it's urbanized spectacled bears and three-toed sloths because you're all but a NOVICE on those topics. Thank YOU, Diego.

You're still superbly dramatic and love to ask to watch NickJr. at 6:30pm while Daddy is watching his news. "I want to watch NickJr."
"NickJr. is only on in the mornings."
"WELL IT'S STILL LIGHT OUTSIDE!?"
"Liv, it's not morning. NickJr. isn't on."
"WELL, CARTOON NETWORK!?"

You still, of course, are constantly in Princess mode. It's an amazing daily LEAP if I can even get a SKIRT on you. Because skirts are not dresses, MOM. You love playing outside and I have no doubt that once it begins to snow again at the end of this fall that you will continue to ask if you can wear a sleeveless dress and "flips" into the 13 degree weather. Can't wait for those debates to start again.


You're such a big girl Livy, and I'm so proud of how smart you are and how protective you are over your little brother (in between the clobberin' time WWE matches we all have daily) . I just can't believe you're going to be 4 - once so tiny, and now... okay well still tiny at just 3 feet. But much bigger than my previously new-mommy-mind would allow me to even believe 4 years ago. I'll treasure my bedtime huggies and kissies before you're too cool to even THINK about public displays of affection and begin calling me and your father by our first names. Ahh... *sigh*... girls.