You've had a birthday shout hooray!

On February 25, 2011 our sweet little Olivia turned 1 years old. Isabelle was so excited for the big day and spent countless amounts of energy decorating, shopping, wrapping gifts, baking and lots of running around making sure everything would be perfect for her little sister's special day! She chose a Sesame Street theme and filled the house with baby Elmos and Big Birds. Olivia loved all of the decorations and ripped several of them down to help celebrate! We ended up celebrating for three days because we went at Olivia's pace and let her open a present her and there and whenever she was interested. She loved all of the wrapping paper and bows and of course loved playing in the boxes as much as with the actual gift.

Belle planned an outing to a mini-golf course and we enjoyed the beautiful weather while Belle putted the golf balls and Livi chased them and often caught them before they made it to the hole. We then celebrated at Alamo Cafe and both girls ate their favorite dinner...quesadillas. We decided to try a new recipe and made Olivia some Red Velvet cookies which Isabelle iced with homemade icing she dyed lilac purple. Despite the weird color combination they were delicious and Olivia loved when we sang to her and let her blow out a giant #1 candle on her cookie. The highlight of the entire birthday weekend was each time we sang Happy Birthday to You, Livi pointed to herself with glee!





Top 10 Things about Olivia at Age One:

1. She loves pat-a-cake and knows all of the actions. Her favorite part is when we throw it in the oven!
2. She is a talker!!!! Her words of choice right now are: Belle, Ma ma, Da da, Hi, Ugh Oh, All Done and Grandpa.
3. She is not a good sleeper. She is a cat napper just like Belle was, but hasn't become a great night sleeper yet either. We blame it on the fact that she had fluid in her ears for 3 months straight and are hopeful for the future.
4. She LOVES Isabelle. Most mornings her first word is Belle and if she ever hears Belle's voice she instantly starts looking for her.
5. She loves things that go. She got a new riding toy for her birthday and insists Belle push her on it all day long. She also cries to ride Belle's scooter and/or tricycle, etc.
6. She is a messy eater and is picky too. One day she will eat a banana and the next day she will throw it over her highchair. I always have a big mess to clean up after dinner.
7. She is a climber! She climbs out of her highchair, onto the table, in the window sill, etc. Anywhere there is a little spot for her foot to fit, she can climb.
8. Speaking of climbing, she is obsessed with the stairs but refuses to use them correctly. She climbs them quickly but won't go down on her tummy like we show her. She is sure she can walk down just like Isabelle. It is a constant concern at our house.
9. She likes to shower and sometimes takes 2 and 3 showers a day. If Ben is in and she can climb in, she does. Then again with me and then at bedtime as well. She is a clean baby!
10. She is a lover! She gives all of her dolls in her bed a "love" constantly and gives her family "loves" too. She is a much more cuddly baby than Belle was and I don't think any of us will ever tire of holding her and giving/getting some love.

When you ask Olivia how old she is, she happily holds up one tiny finger! What a doll she is! Happy Birthday Olivia!!! We love you!!!

San Antonio Snow Day

Isabelle has never seen real snow before. We have travelled to snowy places in the winter with her too and as luck would have it, it never snowed. She even sat on Santa's lap once in Macy's New York and didn't see a single flake! So when she came home from preschool one day this February and told us that her teacher said it was going to snow tomorrow in SAN ANTONIO, we were worried. What were they teaching her? Yet, much to the entire city's surprise, her teacher was almost right!!!

We woke up to what the rest of the world would call a heavy frost, but in South Texas it is called a SNOW DAY! Schools were cancelled and freeways were closed. All the neighborhood kids were thrilled and flocked outside in their best winter gear to "sled" and make "snow angels." The funniest part was that all of the kids were using their swim accessories since no one seemed to own a real winter toy. Belle was pulled around on a boogie board for a while before we blew up her swim-tube and pushed her down the street.

Olivia and I came outside for a minute or two but spent most of the time watching from the windows. However, Isabelle and Ben stayed outside for a couple hours playing and frolicking in the "snow" before coming inside for hot cocoa. Much to Belle's dismay, the sun came up quickly and by lunchtime our snow day was over. Everything in town was closed but you couldn't tell that we had even had a storm. It was back to 70 degrees and life as usual before we knew it.

It was a real snow miracle for San Antonio and it was just enough fun for Belle to think she has really experienced winter now. She had her fill of the cold and is now looking forward to using her inner tube in the swimming pool instead!

Let's Rodeo San Antonio

We never like to sit still for too long, so just 2 days after Olivia's surgery we gave her new ears a test and dressed in our boots and hats as we headed to the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo. This is one of the highlights of Isabelle's year always and she makes plans for the next years outing as soon as we leave the arena. We always like to bring our resident cowboy with us too, so Grandpa Elmo and Grammie made the trip over as usual and we feasted on cowboy food while we cheered all the cowboys on to victory with their 8 second ride!

This year we were entertained by Lady Antebellum following the rodeo and Isabelle and Olivia both danced and sang along with the band. Like always, the louder and wilder the better for those two cowgirls!

Ben and I took advantage a second time and snuck away on Valentines Day evening to get our country on again, but this time to the tune of a certain favorite of mine, Gary Allan. We were lucky enough to have Tara and her friend Bobby visiting for the holiday too and again had fun eating and singing the night away!

Isabelle would spend each night of the short rodeo season in her cowboy boots, so we headed over on last time before the 2011 season came to a close. This time we enjoyed all the grounds had to offer outside watching pig races, cow auctions, riding ponies and so on. Isabelle rode several carnival rides and I even snuck a "too small" Olivia onto her first Merry-go-Round before I was told by someone "official" she was not big enough for any more rides.

There is one thing I know for sure, for as long as we reside in San Antonio we will anticipate and thoroughly enjoy the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo! After all, we have two little native Texans living under our roof!!

Olivia takes a turn!

Dr. Beidiger blames it on me...my girls have very tiny Eustachian tubes and they get it from their mother! I have heard the story numerous times from my own mother, about how I had such bad ear infections as a tiny child and I even have the 30 year old bottle of medicated ear drops in my medicine cabinet now that I remember using on many occasions growing up. We all know Isabelle was/is plagued by Otitsis Media regularly and it looks like it will be Olivia's weakness as well.

Olivia got her first bad ear infection on November 7th and exactly 12 weeks and 6 antibiotics later she went under the knife and had a double Myringotomy with tube placements. It was a long three months of sleepless nights and we are having to reteach our big girl how to sleep again now. Olivia went happily in Dr. Beidiger's arms into the operating room and as usual, the meds were the hardest part of the surgery. Once they wore off and she was truly awake, she made a quick recovery and was happy to finally have the ear pressure relieved.

Of course she wanted to test her new tubes out right away and within a week of her procedure I was having to wipe her ears, rather than her nose, right along with Isabelle's! Now they both wear ear plugs in the bath tub and visit our favorite doctor together regularly. Like we've said before, we are grateful to live in a time of modern medicine! What a blessing!

What are little girls made of?

At the end of January Olivia turned 11 months old! She has become such a little wild woman...walking, talking, climbing, teething, etc. She cut her first two teeth but just to make sure she beat to the rhythm of her own drum, she cut the top teeth first. (Still no bottom teeth to balance out the top.) She loves to play with Isabelle and likes things as fast and loud as possible. She has already learned to push herself along on Belle's Hot Wheel and has learned how to open the gate, which is suppose to be keeping her out, and climbs the stairs in 6 seconds flat! So far I have only discovered one solitary difference between Belle and Livi and that is their hair. Livi's is a little darker in color and is thicker in the back but shorter on top and even has a little curl near her neck (that I am praying doesn't disappear). This month, we tried out her first ponytail and it was tiny but stood straight up all day!

I thought I was busy before but Olivia has taught me a whole new level of craziness! Thank goodness for Isabelle who is constantly on call and is getting very good at carrying this little nut around! Sugar and spice, and everything nice, that's what little girls are made of!

Off with a bang...

January has a bad rap for being a long and dreary month and unfortunately at the Cosby home many of the first few days of the new year felt just that miserable! Isabelle and Olivia were both sick off and on all month long and it seemed like the cold and flu season may last forever! Ben worked and traveled like usual and I tried to keep up with all the wants and constant needs of the family. None of us slept and the days seemed to blend into the nights and vice versa. Yet, despite the dark cloud, we squeezed in some fun days and even remembered to grab the camera once in between the many meds.

The first weekend of the new year we boarded a quick flight to Houston and enjoyed a weekend with Aunt Alee celebrating the near birth of our new baby cousin. Aunt Tara met us there and all of the "big" girls enjoyed Alee's baby shower together. Isabelle was exited to be included and felt so grown-up going with her hair all curled and fancy. We had a wonderful time like usual and wished we had extended our trip longer when our Monday morning flight arrived much too soon.

The next weekend Grandpa Van and Grandma Ruth came for a visit and we enjoyed going out to lunch and playing, playing and more playing!!! Grandma brought the girls both a Belle costume and they wore them all afternoon as they played make-believe. In fact, I think Grandpa Van played almost every character in the story except for Belle over the weekend. Isabelle loves company and traveling and even with the fast paced lifestyle we maintain, our little Jelly is always sad when the fun has to come to an end.

Despite the activities, we literally spent most of the month in and out of doctors offices and at home trying to beat the constant illnesses. (On a fun note, we actually met our 2011 health insurance deductible by the 2nd week of February. Wahoo!) We were so excited to learn our new baby cousin Leo Nicholas Vernon arrived safe, (BIG) and healthy on January 26th and have been waiting and waiting for the germs to pass so we can go get our hands on him! Congratulations Alex and Nick! Isabelle is quite sure she can take care of Leo herself and I just know Livi and Leo will be the best of friends!