Happy 7th Anniversary!

I just wanted to wish my wonderful husband a very happy 7th wedding anniversary.  It's hard to believe that it was 7 years ago today that these pictures were taken.

That day was one of the happiest in my life.  And one of the most fun!  I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

I love you John!  You are my best friend and I have no doubt the next seven years will be just as wonderful as the first seven.

Austin and more . . .

I went to Austin a couple of weeks ago to do some wedding stuff with my mom and sister. It was a blast. I documented it on the travel blog I co-own with my friend Jenn. Find it here. But here are a few pictures from dinner on Friday night at a restaurant called, appropriately, Olivia. (Awesome, by the way!)

Mom and Danny
Me and Erin, ready to eat

Olivia is a piece of work. I guess that's a nice way of saying it. She had her 15 month shots last week, but we will have to go back for her flu shot soon. They didn't have their shipment in yet. She is into everything and is extremely smart, if I do say so myself. She has her daycare lady and dad figured out, but hopefully not me yet. I don't let her get away with as much. Yes, I will be/am the disciplinarian when it comes to her. Her hair is getting really long and floppy and, combine that with the fact that she won't leave barrettes in her hair (she likes to pull them out and then try to put them back in herself), it seems that it's always falling in her face as you can see below.

My little girl LOVES LOVES LOVES to be outside. She was scared of her sandbox at first but now she can't get enough. I think she likes the cleaning off part just as much because she gets to sit on the sink in the kitchen and play with the water coming out of the spout. Luckily it is finally getting cool enough where we will be able to start going outside in the afternoons and evenings to take walks and play at the park.

She does manage to get sand all over herself, including in her mouth.

I don't know why she just decided to lie down on the floor, but she did. I guess it was nice and cool.

Some of O's favorite things are: toothbrushes (she will gnaw and gnaw on them), yogurt melts (she has figured out how to open the pantry and other doors - not good when you are trying to go to the bathroom), going outside - especially to the front yard, Elvis - she chases him and gives him her bibs to wear, her ladybug and sheep lovies (Ladybug seen in the picture above), anything with buttons and makes noise - especially remote controls or the lock/alarm key fob for the cars, BOOKS! - which I am so happy about, and anything that mom and dad have - doesn't matter what it is. I think she's a pretty typical almost 16-month old.

She had just woken up and, while it's hard to tell, she has a sweet mohawk and kinda looked like Kenickie from Grease. =)

P!NK

Erin and I went and saw P!NK perform about a week and a half ago and she was awesome! It was a great show. And I do mean a show. There were lights, costumes, props, people flying through the air, and slides. Part of the stage shot out into the middle of the crowd on the floor and that is where she emerged from (through trap doors) to start the show with my favorite song, Bad Influence, off her most recent album.Two things I decided while watching was that I want her body. Talk about solid. And I want her hair. I had actually tried to have it cut like hers a while back and it didn't really turn out like I had hoped. I recently decided that I wanted to try to have longish hair again so I am now growing it out, but seeing Pink in concert may have changed my mind. So, my 4 readers, what do you think? Should I go Pink short?

While I enjoyed the performance one thing that bothered me was the song Mr. President. Not because I disagreed with the message but that it was there at all. Why does there always have to be some political statement made? What made it even more out of place was the fact that the song was directed to G.W. who isn't even in office anymore. I just don't get it. I don't want to hear an artist's political views, whether I agree or not, when I go to be entertained. Just sing your songs.

I know that I am terribly behind on getting updates of O up here. I plan on doing another post this weekend if at all possible. We had O's 15 month check-up last week and she is 32 inches (88th percentile) and 27 lb. 11.5 oz (95th percentile). Her weight has leveled off a bit so I think she may start going down in the percentile rankings. But she is happy and healthy so I am not that worried about it. I just wish she would start saying actual words! I will get more pictures up soon.

As far as John and I we are the same. Really. There is not much happening with us, jobs or otherwise. There still is no decision from the bankruptcy judge as to who won the auction, or if there actually was a winner. Gretzky resigned last week, finally, and the team has a new real-life coach. They open the season on the 3rd with their home opener on the 10th. We are looking forward to being there for the white-out that's planned. They will definitely be playing here for this year so the staff is getting to work making sure everything runs as it always has.

A budget still hasn't passed for the State and it's getting very frustrating. They have actually asked all agencies to do proposals for what would happen should they need to do a 15% decrease or a 20% decrease. I don't know what that means for me. Nothing as of right now, but who knows. I do know a bill was passed a couple of weeks ago that will require all agencies to reduce positions by 5%, effective immediately, to be completed by February. Keep your fingers crossed that it's not me!

Don't show John!

First, I just wanted to say Happy 28th Birthday to Erin and Happy 35th Anniversary to my parents. Both were yesterday. We love you guys!

John will have my head if he sees what shirt Olivia is wearing in these pictures. Danny got it for her for her birthday and I finally put it on her last night to sleep in (while John was at his softball games - I knew he wouldn't see it). He hates the University of Texas and was dead-set against her putting it on even once. Too late. I hope he'll forgive me. I got some cute pictures last night of O and me that I wanted to put up. I haven't put up pictures in a long time so I figured an update was needed.

I love her big blue eyes!

Chillaxin' before bed in her Barbie papasan chair

O is doing great. She is about 14 1/2 months and is all over the place. Walking, trying to run, babbling up a storm, squealing. Sometimes she is extremely loud and we all know where she gets that. Definitely not from John's side. Her hair is starting to get pretty long but also super crazy. It sticks out, hangs in her eyes, and easily gets food in it. It doesn't help that she likes to put her hands in her hair when she's eating too.

Stuck in her book basket - she wasn't happy shortly after this picture was taken

John and I are doing well too. Still waiting to hear about all the Coyotes stuff. The next important days are September 2 and September 10. Hopefully there won't be another delay. I am headed to Austing September 11-14 to do wedding stuff with my sister and my mom. I'm so excited! Dress shopping, visiting the reception site, etc. I don't know yet if O and John are going to come with me but I'm hoping they do. It'll be nice to get away from PHX for a while but John doesn't want to be gone if something happens with the Coyotes.

Also, we are having a margarita night on the 29th! A great group of friends has been assembled for the night. We have Margaritaville margarita mix in regular and mango flavors. Yum. Also, we have the tequila ready to go, and a new blender. We're planning on tacos/fajitas for dinner. Who else wants to come?!

Shopping for me? What's that?

I did a little shopping yesterday and realized how much fun it was and how much I missed shopping for myself. I had actually gone in the store to get O some sandals and ended up finding something for myself. Something that I didn't NEED. I can't remember the last time that I did that. Shopping has taken on a whole different meaning for me now that O is here. It's not about what I want anymore. It's about what she needs (or what will look cutest on her). John got me a gift card to Old Navy for my birthday and said I could use it with one stipulation: that I spend every last cent of it on me. I promised I would do that but it's not going to be easy. I love getting O stuff, and let's be honest, she looks much better in her clothes than I do and that makes it easier. I'd rather she have the cool clothes, shoes and accessories. I don't mind shopping at Goodwill for myself as long as she has what she needs and wants.

That being said, I LOVE MY NEW SHOES! I don't know the last time that I bought shoes just because I wanted to. But I am so glad that I did. Here they are:

I can wear them with a lot of things because they are a neutral color and will work with skirts, jeans or walking shorts. I am wearing them at work today and they're awesome. Everyone needs to go right out to Payless and get some.

Other than the excitement over new shoes we're still hanging in around here. Last week the bankruptcy judge opened up the Coyotes' auction to bidders looking to relocate the team as well as those wanting to keep the team here in AZ. That makes it all a whole new ball game. On September 2 the judge is supposed to rule on whether Balsillie's bid will be considered since the NHL owners have already voted to not accept him as a team owner. Right now he has the highest bid at $212.5 million. The next closest is $148 million and that's the Reinsdorf group's bid. It's fairly interesting to follow but it's also incredibly frustrating and stressful. Just figure it out already! Is the team going to be moving or not? Is John going to have a job or not? Seriously, how much longer can this go on!? As of right now, September 10th at least.

Delay

So the sale of the Coyotes has been pushed back to September 10. Great. Now John gets to sit around for another month waiting to hear what is going to happen. And, to make things even better, Reinsdorf's group (the only real legit offer) is threatening to pull their bid because some confidential information was leaked and has been all over the media. Ugh. John might actually have a chance of keeping his job if Reinsdorf takes over. I think all the other options will involve a relocation. So more waiting for us on that front.

We moved Olivia to a new day care last week. It is the in-home place I blogged about earlier. We really like it so far, and so does O as far as we can tell. Those of you who know me and my family (well, my mom anyway) well will appreciate the following story that the woman who watches O told me last week. Olivia LOVES animals and the woman has 2 cats and a dog along with other barnyard animals. Apparently one of the cats, Wolfie, comes in a lot and hangs out and O just thinks that is the best. So she goes after Wolfie and squeals, screams and laughs at him. One day last week as this was happening the woman's son says, "She's loud." Yes, O has gotten my voice, and my mom's voice. We call it our "gymnasium voice". We hear it all the time at home now too and it can do some damage to the ears if she gets super high-pitched. We're going to have to watch the screaming in the future. =)

On another note, O has her third tooth! Yes, it is only her third, at 14 months. It's her top front tooth on the left side. You can't really see it yet, but you can definitely feel it. I am so glad she is finally getting more!

Also, congrats to my dad who is now officially retired! For the second time! Yay Dad! You deserve it!

Lay-offs - Round 2

Ding ding! Round 2 of our lay-offs are over and, once again, I made it through. Thank goodness! There are no guarantees that there won't be anymore lay-offs in the future, but for now my group is okay. Phew!

John and I are looking into finding a new day care for Olivia. The cost is just killing us, and I've been seeing an ad for a woman with an in-home daycare for a couple of months now, in several different places. It finally clicked with me that something is telling me to contact this woman. So I did, and I think she is great. Olivia and I went over to meet her last week, and John is going to meet her on Friday. I was ready to say yes, but John is still concerned about safety and all of that since the home daycares that aren't affiliated with the AZ Department of Economic Security aren't really regulated. But I've talked to 3 references (one of which was a family law attorney who joked that she and her husband say that this woman raises their kids better than they do!) and I felt comfortable while I was there. They are within a mile of our house, have land with grass (!), and have 2 cats, 1 dog, goats, chickens and ducks. It's like a farm. O would love it. So we'll see what John thinks on Friday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Olivia's Walking!

Here is a video from the day care of Olivia walking for the first time. She is still being shy about it at home for some reason, but she'll get it. She will take a few steps if John and I are sitting on the floor and she can walk between us, but she still hasn't taken off on her own like she does here.

This is what happens when dads try to dress their daughters

Well, this is what happens in our house. I had laid out an outfit for O to wear on Tuesday. John takes her to day care that day so I don't see her in the morning to dress her. This is what I laid out. It has pastel butterflies on the skirt, and some pink socks. John called me at work and said that she wasn't wearing what I put out for her. When I asked why he just said "She has a huge head". So apparently her head wouldn't fit through the top of the onesie and he got out another onesie. I just said that we'd use another shirt with it tomorrow and he said "Oh, she's still wearing the skirt. She may not match though." Sure enough, I show up to pick her up and this is what I see. Still wearing the pink socks, no less.I know it could have been much worse than a primary colored heart onesie paired with a pastel butterfly skirt and pastel pink socks, but it still made me laugh. This is the same guy who paired pink striped socks with a blue and brown outfit. I'll give him some slack though, those pink stripes are pretty light so he may not have been able to see them.

Just everyday stuff

First, I just want to say congrats to Renee and Travis on their pregnancy. Little Rogers is on the way and I am so excited for them. Renee, I hope you've read my past posts so you know what is in store. Of course, I won't sugar-coat anything for you so send me your questions!

Jenn made O a hooded blanket and I finally remembered to send her some pictures. Here are a couple of the better ones. It's getting difficult to get a good non-blurry picture of a 13 month old.

Yes, this is her smile for the camera. I don't know why she scrunches her nose like that.

She is very good at getting food in her hair. Somehow she ended up with a yogurt melt and some broccoli up there. I used to not have to wash her hair more than twice a week. Now, it's almost every day.

O had her first taste of a sugar free kool-aid like drink and she loved it! But also got it all over her. She looks like a demon child in this picture but really she is smiling her crazy smile again.

Aunt Erin got O a bathing suit and a hippo pool for her birthday and the next pictures will tell you kind of how she feels about the pool.

Don't feel bad Erin! We're working on it. I think she's just a little frightened of the hippo head at the top of the pool. She wasn't a huge fan of it deflated either. We'll try again another time.

Our fourth of July was a nice one. We went over to Kyle, Andi and Landon's house for a bbq with them and their friends Shawna and Aaron and their son (who live in The Woodlands - small world!). We had a really great time hanging out and watching tv. No fireworks for us though. Olivia was asleep before they really got started. Hopefully one year we'll live somewhere where it is actually comfortable to go outside on the 4th and enjoy the fireworks. It's not so much fun when it's 105 out.

We also took Olivia to the mall for the first time (and to try on bridesmaid dresses for Erin's wedding - both she and John were SO excited to do that). She had a great time in the pet shop and loved laughing at the dogs play fighting with each other. Of course she enjoyed watching all the people around but got tired of sitting in her stroller so we left because dad was not about to carry around a 26 pounder the rest of the afternoon.

O had gotten an adorable 4th of July outfit from my Aunt Robin and Uncle Andy. It's a bit big on her but she wore it anyway. How cute!

These last pictures are from the Coyotes first open house which was a huge success! The city really came out to support the team and keeping it here in Phoenix. The auction for the bidders interested in keeping the team in Arizona is on August 5. Hopefully there will be a new owner soon after and decisions will be made as to cuts, jobs, etc. We're keeping our fingers crossed that things work out the way we hope that they will.