Oliver Russell - 11 months

My sweet baby boy turned 1 this past weekend. I absolutely can't believe how fast this year went by!  I have a bit of OCD so instead of writing about his fun party and how we celebrated our birthday boy I'm going back to share his 11 month pictures...because even the thought of doing it out of order gives me anxiety. 

These pictures were a bit rushed.  I was pretty late on taking them, Ollie wasn't really in the mood and I was trying to sneak them in before Elle knew what we were up to.  Because if she knows she wants a sticker as well, but a new one...not the sticker Ollie wore once he is done.  She wants to take pictures, if she can't find her camera heaven help me.  Girlfriend is a great helper but we were circling on nap time and things can go south pretty quickly around that time. ;)  So I scribbled some things on a chalkboard, got some smiles out of the sweetest boy around and called it a day.

My Ollie boy.

Oliver is into everything!  Crawling on the fireplace...check! Grabbing for an possible breakables...check! Pulling puppy dog tails...check! Being so sweet I could just eat him up...check! check! check!

He is starting to get really angry when you tell him no to something.  He either drops his head and starts crying or screams in anger.  Eric says I baby him because with either reaction I scoop him up for a hug. :)

Ollie loves to stand and walk behind toys, he took his first steps a couple weeks before turning 1 but steps after that have been few and far between. 

He is a pretty good eater, a bit picky but not terrible.  The only fruits we can get him to eat are apples, pineapple and blueberries.  Spaghetti is a favorite, he looooves spaghetti! Must be those Italian genes. 

Oliver still loves bath time and having water poured on his head.  He loves throwing a ball and crawling after it. He loves playing peek a boo and destroying castles Elle and build with blocks.

I had to call poison control one morning.  Elle was coloring at the kitchen table, he was playing on the floor and I was doing the dishes.  An uncapped marker rolled off the table without me noticing and he picked it up, scribbled on the floor and then put it in his mouth. When I noticed his little face was covered with brown marker. Fortunately it was completely harmless. Little stinker!

My sweet doodle!

Quantock Court

A couple weeks ago Mary and I took the kids to church and then we stopped by the house we grew up in.  The day before I saw online that they were having an open house and we decided to go walk through it.  As we were pulling up Mary made the comment that she was already sad. It is so crazy walking through a house that holds so many memories, that house holds our childhood.

The house was completely empty, no one was currently living there.  As we walked through each room we would make comments about how our furniture was set up or a memory of that room.  

The door in the living room that opened to the garage is where we would take pictures before our first day of school....and where a baby Will would do headstands.

The stairs we walked down on Christmas morning to our mound of presents.

Where mom kept her calendar in the kitchen.

The duck bathroom.

The AC unit outside that we all but ruined by pinching the sides.

Seeing who could jump down the most stairs into the basement. (I'm the champ, only one to jump from the living room down all the basement stairs. :)

Where I broke my arm in the backyard.

Staying up late and playing the Nickelodeon Double Dare game.

Will's room where he cut all the hair off a two of my dolls under his bed. (Elle still cannot get over this story! She brings it up quite often about how Unc was so rude to my babies). 

The list could go on and on and on and on.

Mary and I in the room we shared. Her "MM" initials still have not been painted over in our old closet.

A mini Mary and Katie in our old room.

I loved taking these babies in and showing them around our old house.

Just pretend that Ollie's head is Will. :)

The Mulligan 5 had some pretty great memories here. :)

Life Lately

It's Friday and we have hardly any plans this weekend, lazy weekend...yes please!

A couple Friday's ago I came home from work with surprises for Elle Belle. My friend at work, Sally, brought her a pink jewelry box and necklace and Elle loooved it.  She immediately went to her room looking for the perfect spot for it (aka: somewhere Ollie couldn't reach it).  I had also found her a new comforter from Target. It's Paris themed and she loves it. She has been sleeping in her bed the past few weeks.  I always start in bed with her and we watch a movie on the iPad and I rub her arm. Lately we have been watching the American Girl movie Grace in Paris or the new Frozen short Anna's Birthday.

The weather has been all over the place.  One weekend it's really nice and the next it's freezing and snowing.  Taking advantage of one of the nice days by playing outside. 

One of our Christmas gifts from Mom and Dad was dinner at PF Changs and babysitting.  Here is Elle all ready to head to the popcorn party at MawMaw & PawPaw's house. She had so much fun!!

And how adorable is my girl. I just adore her. 

The six of us out for a fun dinner!  We had the best time!!

The morning after the popcorn party.  I think she was coming down from a sugar high.  This was her smile.

Coloring an Oliver Russell original. 

And an Eleanor Bailey original painting!

After lunch we were waiting for the cable company to come for some upgrades we added to our service.  I was calling out to her from the kitchen and when she didn't respond I realized she had randomly fallen asleep again! 

On this morning Eric and I took Elle for a tour of the preschool she will be attending in August.  She was so excited to go to school, she even wanted to wear her backpack.

She was very quiet during the tour, which didn't surprise me.  As we were walking to the building she told me she was going to tell them her name was Buzz. :)  Once inside she was pretty quiet and didn't answer any of their questions (name, age, etc.).

After our tour we took her out to breakfast where she told us over and over that she was excited. 

I am so nervous for her first day, for both her and me.  Eric has said he's not sure if he wants to be off of work her first day or just work so he can miss the tears...I'm not sure but I think he is referring to my tears.  I told him he has no option, he has to be there to physically remove me from the school.  It's only a couple days a week for a few hours a day so I pray it's a smooth transition for her.  Can't believe my sweet girl is already old enough for school. 

This boy is a big fan of peek-a-boo.  He was lifting this cover over his head and playing with me. 

Chick-Fil-A date with our favorite peeps!

It is so crazy that Mary and I are now to the point where we can just grab a table right next to the play area and the kids are old enough to play by themselves while we sit at the table and talk.  Well, Oliver sits with us at the table but he is pretty content sitting on my lap. :)

I love watching our kids interact with other kids in the play area. Our babes are pretty talkative and crazy but if you are someone new they won't make a peep. They are starting to open up when playing with other kids. Elle told me later that one little boy was saying she was a baby but another kid stuck up for her and said "no, she's a big girl!".  It may have something to do with Elle telling them she was 5. The girl knows she is 3. 

This baby Bear was happy to smile for the camera. How stinkin cute is he?!!?

And my Hensy, the life of every party. 

Sharing their ice cream with Ollie.  Ollie LOVES ice cream!!  He gets so angry if you don't have a bite ready for him. 

Super Bowl party at mom and dad's house!  All the babes making their bets. 

See that glass bowl of chocolates...I'm fairly certain Elle and Henry polished that off before kickoff.

Movies are starting to hold Ollie's attention.  Toy Story, Minions and Elmo are his favorites.  Oliver wanted to lay on Elle's purple couch so badly!! My birthday boy may be getting one of these very soon. ;)

We headed to Jen and Cory's house earlier this week to see Elle and Ollie's new cousin, Conner.

Oliver looked so big sitting at the table!

Elle loved Conner, when he would cry she would say, "I think he wants me."

The oldest Hylton cousin and the youngest.

This silly boy is all over the place. I don't remember Elle being so into everything at this age. Oliver loves to grab anything he can off of shelves, the fireplace, doors, cabinets.  Everything.

He wants to be just like his sissy!

At our house we will be having a lazy weekend with some Valentine's day celebrating on Sunday. It's a family holiday for the Hylton's so we are thinking maybe some takeout and we have some gifts for the kids.   Should be a fun weekend. :)

Life Lately

I'm overdue for a life lately post, so this one is overflowing with pictures of my babies. :).

I ordered these flower cookies from the bakery that did Elle's birthday cake.  We gave them to all her friends at the party as they left.  She loved them!

Elle got a new Elsa dress from MawMaw and PawPaw for her birthday.  She accidentally knocked over some of our Christmas cards and she told me she froze them with her ice powers.

Crazy Uncle E!

Ollie boy isn't sure who to root for. :)

If Elle falls asleep in the car her nap for the day is ruined.  Even if she falls asleep as we are pulling into the driveway I can't get her back to sleep once inside.  So if I want her to have a decent nap Ollie and I entertain ourselves in the car while girlfriend sleeps. 

Oliver loved ripping the bows off everyone's presents before Christmas.  He made it his personal mission to ruin every bow I placed on a gift. 

Unc and Aunt Paige weren't able to come to Elle's birthday party so they came over the next day to hang with the birthday girl. She loved seeing them and had so much fun painting with Aunt Paige and crawling all over her Unc. 

Testing out her new mermaid blanket from MiMi. 

And she looooves her new shoes from MawMaw and PawPaw.  She calls them her Dora shoes even though there is no sign of Dora on them. :)

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So that was some of Elle's birthday goodies. The girl was seriously spoiled!

Here she is wearing her Christmas gift from Ollie. 

One serious cowgirl!

How big does my sweet boy look on his cool new ride from MawMaw and PawPaw?!

She got these headphones from Will and Paige for Christmas and she loves them!  I let her watch a movie on her iPad while I watch The Bachelor on Monday nights. Mom of the year!

I put off going to the grocery store all day so around 5 I finally decided to go. Knowing my two would be hungry and therefore grumpy I had the brilliant (in my mind) idea to stop and buy a happy meal for them to share while I did my shopping. 

Smoothest trip to the grocery store to date. 

The queen of play dough!

Elsa dress and magic Elsa gloves.  Lookout, she will ice you!

Our New Years Eve was super low key.  We went to the Voss house, ate appetizers, the babies played, the guys smoked cigars and we left around 10:30.  I was 7 months pregnant last year and still stayed up until midnight but this year I was sound asleep by 11:30. #lame

My baby boy loves playing peek-a-boo with these curtains.  It is the cutest thing ever!

He looks so much older all of the sudden.  I can't believe my baby is almost 1!!!

One night Mary, Mom, Paige and I went out for dinner, margaritas and some shopping.  I came home with matching robes for Elle and I and she was so excited!

Brushing Buzz'a teeth before bed!

This boy.  He loves the dishwasher, I am always so afraid he is going to loose his grip and take a tumble!

Ollie is all about pointing at stuff right now.  He usually grunts while he is doing it like he is trying to tell us something. 

Our big girl. :)

My two babes love visits to the library!  

Elle got brand new car seats for both mine and Eric's car and Ollie is now out of his pumpkin seat and in the car seats she was previously using. Eric is so done buying new car seats!

One of Elle's favorite things about my work is my "phone with a string".  PawPaw brought her one home from his work and she loves calling Henry, Bink, Boke, Jesus...everyone!

He has mastered standing, time for this babe to take his first steps!  I think we are really close!

Elle and I decided to have a slumber party in the living room one night.  We popped popcorn, watched a movie and camped out on the floor.  Mary, Will and I used to do this all the time when we were little. Hopefully this is something that Elle and Oliver will loving doing together too. 

Apparently Hermann thought he was invited to the party. :)

We woke up to our yard covered in snow.  Elle was so excited to go outside and play. 

Oliver doesn't have a snowsuit so I just bundles him up with several layers and ended with his little Truman Tiger costume my parents got him when he was born. 

Oliver lasted long enough for my to sled down the hill once with Elle before I took him inside.  Eric stayed outside with Elle and Ollie and I headed in to make grilled cheese and hot chocolate for lunch. 

My family. :)

Elle has always been so good with pens and markers.  I never had to worry if a pen was left out because she never ever misused them. 

I got this picture from Eric when I was at work one day.  Girlfriend went to town with a black marker!

Ollie loves blowing bubbles with his mouth.  He has also started using his hand to make silly noises with his mouth. 

Our entertainment at lunch one day.  This started out as an accident and she held on as long as she could.  Laughter turned into whimpers before I was able to help her down. 

Just wrecking havoc on sissy's book shelves. :)

Elle and I went out to do some grocery shopping and a trip to Starbucks...just us girls. The other day she told me she wanted a sister.  When I told her I would need to be pregnant again and then we would have another baby and I would have two little girlfriends she immediately decided she did NOT want a sister. haha 

The custest little cook around. 

I think I have mentioned before Elle's fear of mice.  Well Cinderella has completely changed that!  She still thinks there are "scary mice" out in the world but now she also thinks some mice are nice.  Here she is holding her two mouse friends.  I believe their names are Chimp Chimp and Angie.  The things this girl comes up with!

Hen had a slumber party at our house one Friday night.  I picked him and Elle up from my mom's house after work and we headed to QT because Elle had a request for slushies.  Hen had a request for taco's so we headed to Taco Bell for dinner.  Super healthy night. Once we were home they painted letters for their room then just ran wild. :)

Doodles wasn't quite sure what to think of them. 

I could just kiss her little face off!!!

Helping me decorate for Valentine's day.  Notice the princess dress.  She rotates pretty evenly between being a princess, Elsa or Buzz.  If she is Buzz Oliver is Woody, I am Jessie and Eric is "the other Buzz". In Two Story 2 (her favorite of the trilogy)  there are 2 Buzz's.   She stays in character too, we can be strolling through Target and she will only refer to me as Jessie. 

Elle and I went to Target just the two of us.  She had to stop to try on these Cinderella shoes. She's hoping the Easter Bunny brings them. 

One Sunday we went to Costco and Homegoods.  As we were in the car driving home Elle told me she had to go potty.  This is huge for her!  So we stopped at a Bread Co. and got a snack. She has been doing SO much better about using the potty since this day. There are still accidents and I still remind her to go 90% of the time but she is getting there!

Snowball fight at MawMaw & PawPaw's house!

This sweet boy was all ready to leave when the snowball fight started.  He just waited patiently with the door open enjoying the breeze. We had snow on the ground still but the weather was amazing!

A stomach bug hit our house the next day.  Elle was the only one to catch it and it lasted less than 12 hours but it was a rough 12 hours.   After her afternoon nap she sat up and asked for pizza.  She was hungry and ready for her favorite food! Baby wants, baby gets. 

Oliver felt fine (thank God) but he didn't make taking care of my girl very easy. This boy is everywhere!  As a baby I don't think Elle ever touched these shelves...with Oliver almost everything has been removed from the bottom 2 shelves because he little hands love to grab anything and everything. 

Our diaper delivery came the day she was sick and she was so excited to color in the box.  Notice Ollie trying to grab the marker while she isn't looking. 

That's life lately!  Yesterday Elle went on a tour of a preschool she will be going to in August and today Eric took her registration paperwork in to officially sign her up. I need a Xanax. :)