Sunday, June 21, 2009

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Words

Liv is talking more and more everyday. She hasn't completely mastered sentence construction yet (she frequently sounds like Yoda!) but hey, she's not even 2 so we'll give her a little more time.

Today she was in the bathroom giving the (closed!) toilet a pat and saying "Mommy potty chair!"

Yes, we have gotten out the potty chair and Liv is in love with it. She somehow knew just what it was and told us all the proper steps of using the chair in the correct order the first time we let her sit on it! She hasn't actually done anything on it yet but she is excited about sitting on it and that's a start, right?! Potty training tips anyone?


Oh, and did I mention that she's in LOVE with this skirt? She'd wear it all day everyday (and night!) if I'd let her!

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

It's been awhile...

I know I've been a huge slacker... sometimes I'm just not in the blogging mood. :) Here are some pics to catch up on the last few months!

Eilee got this cute little kitchen set for her birthday. Liv thought it was pretty cool and they had a fun morning playing together!


In March our friends Jason & Janeen and their son Ethan came to visit. Kurt grew up visiting his grandparents in New York every summer and got to know Jason while he was there. Their moms are friends, their grandmas are friends and their great-grandmothers were friends! Ethan and liv are the 5th generation of friends in these two families! It was fun to have them here and show them around southern California! Liv really liked Jason... especially when he read to her! :)


Liv & Ethan at the fountain in the circle.



We went down to Balboa for a while one day. We rode the ferry across from the island, then played a bit on the beach and finished up with lunch at Ruby's on the pier.



We had fun showing Ethan Liv's favorite rides at California Adventure. Here are the daddys and kiddos waiting in line for something in Bug's Land (Liv's favorite!)


Janeen had never been to California and Jason had never been to Hollywood so they wanted to go up and check it out. You can see the Hollywood sign up on the hill behind us if you look closely! I think this is the first pic we have of the three of us with Liv actually smiling! Yay!


The day Jason & Janeen left we went to our neighbors' wedding out in Temecula. It was at the Wiens' family Cellars and it was beautiful! We wished that we could have been stow-aways in their luggage as they left for their month long South American honeymoon!


Liv loves the tea cups at Disneyland!


The day before Easter we went down to Carlsbad with my parents to check out the beautiful flower fields there. I've wanted to do this for a long time and am so glad we finally made it happen. It is absolutely incredible. I LOVE ranunculus and there are so many there... and they are so stunning!


Liv refused to look at the camera but I love this shot anyway.


The beautiful flower fields!


Running through the sweet pea maze.


Checking out the poinsettias with Grandma! I never knew there were so many types!


Kurt has a new hobby... golfing. Figures that he would pick it up after we've moved away from one of the nicest courses in Orange County! Anyway, he's been going to the driving range at lunch with a couple guys from work and wanted to show off his skills to me & Liv one night. We had fun hitting (is that the right word?) a bucket of balls at our local cheap driving range. I have a feeling we'll be doing this again! :)


This is what Liv looks like after her nap with two crazy pig tails. She rocks some awesome bedhead!


Finally, Kurt and I were so excited to be able to go away for a weekend by ourselves! I got a great deal at the Westin Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage. It was SO lovely! We haven't had a trip like this since before Liv was born. We spent time relaxing by the pool, eating, walking, napping, planning for the future and enjoying a diaper and toddler-free weekend! They have an awesome pool there...



Dinner out at "the River"


We had a great weekend! Thanks Mom & Dad for taking such good care of our nugget so we could have some much needed time together!

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Today I am...


funny how that doesn't really seem that old anymore. :)

Monday, March 30, 2009

Liv's favorite friend


Liv & Wallace don't have any choice in the matter... they basically HAVE to be friends and they HAVE to hang out. I'm sure there will come a day when Liv would rather play with a little girl but for now her favorite friend is Wallace. She LOVES Wallace. She says his name probably 20 times a day and whenever we are getting ready to go somewhere to play with anyone she asks if Wallace will be there. They don't even play together that much yet but I know Liv likes having him around... good thing, because they have years of mandatory play dates ahead of them!

Monday, February 23, 2009

Stuff

We've been really enjoying our Disneyland passes and usually end up going about once a week or every other week. It is so fun to experience it all through the eyes of an almost 18 month old! Liv loves going on all the rides she can and is itching to grow a couple inches to get on some of the more intense rides! It rained this day and it made for some beautiful skies!


I love this shot of Liv & Kurt. Liv always has to step on anything that looks different than the regular ground around her so she was having a ball stepping on the rails. :)


This past week Cassi (who is due with her baby boy in just a few weeks!) and I went out to visit Bretta and her kiddos again. It's so fun to see Liv with my friends' kids! She's finally getting big enough to actually play with other kids. She had a blast playing dress-up with Hannah & Jackson! They are both so sweet with her.



Yesterday we had a little shower for Meghan & her baby girl, Skyler (also due in a couple weeks!) It was a lovely afternoon with good friends!

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

It's 85 today...

It feels like summer. It's supposed to rain in a few days but it sure feels like June, not February around here. I decided it was high time to get Liv her first pair of flip flops.


They were much needed after I gave her a little pedicure this morning! :)


She thinks both the flip flops and the painted nails are pretty cool. That's my girl!

Friday, January 9, 2009

Hey!

Happy New Year! We had a lovely Christmas and New Year's and are now sick. Yuck. I hate being sick. I hate when Kurt is sick and I really hate when Liv is sick. So I guess I'm full of hate right now. Hmmm... Here are some pics from the past month:

We've really been enjoying our Disneyland passes. We finally stayed for the snow after the fireworks one night. Liv LOVED that! I can't wait to take her to real snow someday!


Liv loves the carousel! I tried to fix her red-eye but I think I made her look possessed!


We had a lovely Christmas. Kurt's mom bought the cute little pram for Liv and Kurt thought it would be fun to just have it out waiting for her. When she came down Christmas morning she saw it and said "Oh WOW!!" and went running over to it! So cute!


We spent the morning together as just the three of us and it was so fun to open presents with Liv! Needless to say she was a bit more into it than last year!


Can I just take a moment here to brag about my husband? Not only is he a true man's man (he went to a shooting range just last night with some buddies!) but he can make beautiful bows! Look at this beauty that sat atop one of my presents. I know it's not a super important life skill but I love that he learned how to do that for me. I love making packages look lovely and he has perfected this so that I have beautiful packages too. Thanks, babe! :)


Later on my parents, my uncle, Michael & Pam and Gray & Heidi came over for more gifts and a delicious ham dinner. It's really nice to have a bunch of family around for Christmas! Last year my brother was in Iraq, Pam was with her family and Gray & Heidi were in North Carolina so it was good to be with all of them! We had a great meal and played games til way too late but it was really fun! Liv just adores her aunts and uncles. Here she is playing the ever-popular "Smash your face against the plastic" with Gray.


Lara & Joe's boys made a surprise entrance to the world a few days before Christmas. Xander and Jax are doing just fine and are both home now! This was taken when they were 8 days old. They are so sweet and so tiny! I can't wait til we are healthy so we can go visit them again!


Liv is really good at being a messy eater... and don't you love that haird0?


December 29 was Pam's birthday AND the long anticipated ultrasound day! They found out they are having a GIRL! Yay for baby girls! My brother was convinced it was a boy because he wanted it to wear dickies and be cool just like him. I found this little girl Dickies outfit and bought it a few weeks before the ultrasound on a hunch! We can't wait to meet this little girl in May!


Liv likes hanging out with Uncle Mike! He's really sweet with her. :)


New Years Eve started out as a mellow gathering but the guest list grew and it was such a fun group to welcome in the new year with! Kurt and I always forget to take pictures of us together so before everyone came over, we did!


Drew spent a lot of time by himself in the corner, wistfully looking out the window and wishing Leslie didn't have to work. ;)


We played Beyond Balderdash (love that game!) and some mean Boggle... Gray won, of course.


Dick Clark even stopped by... told you we had a crowd!


New Year's Day we went to Disneyland for a few hours and Liv got to meet Santa. This picture is pretty awesome! Love that we have this for her to look back on!


Liv got this little baby for Christmas and she is so sweet with her. She snuggles her and cradles her and pats her. And then when she's done, she throws her on the floor. We have some work to do before we leave her alone with a real baby!


Finally, Liv has a new trick... undressing herself. This is how she was when I went to get her after her nap yesterday. Silly girl. She thinks it's hilarious and says "Uh-oh!" over and over. I never know what each new day will bring!

I'm excited about 2009 and what is ahead. I turn 30 in a few months, big changes are coming to Hilmerson Photography, there are lots of new babies coming (no, not in this house!), and so much more. I think it's going to be a great year!