Our Polka Dot Poser

At long last, it's happened - Livia has begun posing for the camera! Since she's had a camera in her face at least 50% of her waking (and sometimes non-waking) life, I was happily surprised yesterday evening when she said,

"Take a picture me, Mommy!"

Yes, she really did say that! Liv has been talking in full sentences for several months, but they're finally getting pretty easy to decipher.

At any rate, I clamored to get the camera before she changed her mind!

"I sit like Mommy!"

Were the words coming out of her mouth for this shot - and you guessed it, that's exactly how I was sitting.

"Cheese!"

Amazingly, she didn't do her usual open mouth 'cheesy' grin. That's almost always what happens when she says that magical dairy word... Like magic, she opens up her mouth like she's about to eat a huge bite of cheese.

"Me lay on belly, Mommy?"

Oh, is she really getting this posing thing down!

"Cheese!"

Doh! I guess I spoke too soon - this is her usual 'cheese' face... Still quite cute I must admit.

"I lay like dis, 'K?"

I could see her starting to get sleepy, but I didn't even care - I couldn't wait to see how she would pose next! And I just loved the little polka-dot outfit she had on.

"I holdin' my face, see?"

Ok, this one was my idea. But it definitely didn't come out as I'd imagined or even hoped - WAY cuter! I told her to put her face her her hands... This was when she was laying on her tummy. Well, she sat right up and did as I asked!

Livia was so much fun. Unfortunately my husband was out of town for a funeral... But after I emailed him one of these photos, his night definitely got a lot better. Bless his heart, he's had to drive so much the last 2 days (at least 7 hours each day). I'm thinking I should do something extra special for him. I don't suppose the dishes & laundry count, do they? Eh, didn't think so!

I love you SO much Perry... Last night just didn't feel right without you. I'm glad you're back home safely, and I'm even happier that we'll be able to have some family time to make up for yesterday!

Day of fun with a Superhero & Polka-Dot Tot

This past Wednesday, Livia & I got to spend the day with a Superhero - her cousin Nolan (Thanks so much for loaning him to us for the day, Kendra!)

We decided that it would be perfect day to go to the Children's Museum of Evansville (CMOE)

For THE first time in my life, we actually got there early!!! It opens at 10:00am, and we were there at ten til. I must say that I was quite proud of myself!

Livia was ready to go in - or at least try to get those neat things she saw in the window.

As soon as we got in, Nolan guided us to a fun & play stage area. He's been to CMOE several times, so it was wonderful that he knew right where all the fun stuff was!
Liv & Nolan played and danced on that stage for a good 10 - 15 minutes. I knew that Livia loves to dance, and I soon found out that her cousin does too!

Then it was off to the construction room...
I don't think Livie realized that she was being weighed in this picture... and I think she wasn't really on there long enough for it to register her entire weight. It took about 10 seconds to figure out Nolan's weight - and that's about 8 seconds more than Livia had to offer!

Then Nolan showed Liv the house you can "build" - or just climb!

They dug for dinosaur bones & fossils...

And then painted their faces!Nolan was the Incredible Hulk (hence the green)

And Liv was a little Polka Dot Tot

I just loved seeing my little girl have so much fun with her cousin! He watched over her, played with her...

And even took her down a little slide!

Livia really liked that room!

Then it was off to more adventures!

Nolan climbed into this huge nose, and I couldn't help but laugh - the Incredible Hulk kinda looked like an incredibly big booger!

Just kidding!

Nolan showed Livia how to hold the handles of this contraption... it actually beat a drum to the beat of your heart.

Then it was off to the funnest part of the museum - the water room!

Livie had SO much fun getting into the water

Even though it was really kinda cold, she didn't care at all

Nolan was working on trying to get a balloon to fly as high as he could while I chased Livia. In the water room - she was quite excited in there!

Finally, it was getting to be lunch-time, so we decided to leave.

It came as so surprise to me that after we left CMOE, Livia fell asleep even before we could get to our lunch destination! Nolan, meanwhile, happily played his Nintendo DS

After lunch, we went back to our house. Livia fell back asleep in no time, and Nolan went back to his video game. The Superhero quickly succumbed to sleepiness as well, and took a nap too. I couldn't be left out, so I took a little power nap as well!

Later that afternoon when both the Angels awoke, we decided to take a trip over to their Grandparents'.

I think the kids love all the toys their Grandma keeps over there for them - Nolan even has his own room over there!

Nolan got out the Lego's, and began building a fort...

Livia had other plans for the Lego's...!

I laughed so hard that I was lucky to get those shots!

Their Grandma then gave the kids some snackies & lemonade... And I tried to get a pic of all 3 of them.
The most successful picture I was able to get of the kiddos with their Grandma Trilby

Oh well. Hopefully I'll get a really good one next time.

Then it was outside to play!

Bill offered to take the kids in a ride around their place in this little wagon hitched up to the lawnmower. It was the first time I'd seen such a thing, and definitely got a kick out of it!
Nolan held Livia as they began their ride...

And thankfully, Livia had no desire to get up - she liked it!

It was so wonderful to have Nolan along to help with Livia. And she loved having a playmate all day!

All good things must come to an end, though. Shortly after the kids' fun ride, I took Nolan back to his home, and Livia back to ours. I couldn't believe it when I looked at the clock & I was getting back after 7:30 that evening!

Time does fly when you're having fun. And I just hope for more days that go by as fast & fun as this one!

Much love to you all & God Bless!

Polka Dot Party Extras

I got this idea from Joy - The Dr.'s Wife - hope you don't mind, but it's such a wonderful idea, I just had to copy-cat!

I wanted to show off all the decorations, party favors, & all the 'little bitties' from Livia's First Birthday Party. As you all know, her theme was polka dots - a very simple yet adorable theme! Her dress was the deciding factor on how the decor would go.

From this sweet little Polka Dot Dress, we found so many 'polka dot' things that were just perfect for the party. Like...

Polka dot napkins, and bright green plates and forks to set off those colors in the other decorations. Before I go any further, I must confess that I bought a lot of the supplies from clearance bins at various Party stores! That's definitely the way to go, too! And if I would have seen something that I thought I could use for upcoming years, you can bet I totally would have snatched it all up. Less than $1 is MUCH better than paying $4 or more on a pack of napkins!

I ended up with 2 different kinds of polka dot napkins, but I thought they looked pretty good together.

These picture frames were also in the clearance bins - I was going to make my own, but for this cheep I couldn't pass it up! I improvised a bit on the way the pic was held to the inside though... It came with little sticky tabs, but they didn't really work just right with the pic size (without cutting them all - too much time & work!) So I decided to quickly tape the pics to the inside. Which worked out great, because I was able to get 2 pictures in this way! This was a really great favor for all the 'big kids.' With the pictures inside and everything, they were less than $0.50 each.

For the smaller kiddos, I got balloons (enough for one each) and a coloring book. The balloons were just a few cents each, and I got the coloring books in a pack of 8 for $2! Very inexpensive.

Other favors I had included soap that had polka dots on the outside paper & wallet picture frames that had little jewels around the edges (again, from the dollar bins at Target!), small & medium notepads with polka dots all over the outsides, and candles (from Family Dollar!)

Other Polka Dot decorations I would have made if space would have allowed:
Big circles cut out of construction paper, hung from the ceiling...
Blown up balloons hung from the ceiling...
A big ole' piece of poster board with circles cut out for pictures (a collage of sorts)...

I also would have had this album (from Target) filled with vaious pictures of Liv througout her first year. But I knew that it was going to be so crowded & busy that no one would really get a chance to see it.
So now, I'll just use it as an album for Livia's first Birthday Party!

This is one of the gifts Livie recieved -Pink Polka Dots and everyting! How perfect is it?! It shouldn't come as any surprise that Kendra's Mom actually got it for Liv :o)

There was one more Polka Dot-ty thing I had there at the party...
A little polka dotted book that I had everyone at the party sign & write a little note to Livia on her First Birthday. It's just a little journal from the cheap-o bins from Target - $2.50. But I thought it would be a really great keepsake for Liv.

Here are just a few of my favorite excerpts from the sweet notes to Livia in that little book...

Livia,
You are a beautiful little girl and we wish you a lifetime of love and happiness. You are loved by many people who will help to raise you in faith and love. May your life be full of many magical moments!

Livia,
Happy 1st Birthday! We watched your mommy grow from a spunky, adventurous little girl to a wonderful and proud mother. You remind us so much of your mommy! We hope to watch you grow up just like we did your mommy. Always stay close to your family and God...

Livia,
...You are the cutest little girl and you look so much like your mommy! I hope that your upcoming birthdays are just as wonderful as your first! We love you, Livia!

Livia,
...Happy 1st birthday! You look so cute and I know you're going to have fun with all your presents. I love you & we'll hang out with you're older!

Hi Livia!
...You are really beautiful today... Your Mommy & Daddy put such a pretty dress on you. I can't wait to see how you'll grow & see how beautiful you are going to be!

Livia,
Happy 1st Birthday! I'm so glad I was able to be at your party. You are a precious baby & hope you will continue to visit me... I hope someday you'll stay the night at [my] house whole Mommy gets a break! I love you very much!!

Hey Livie!
Happy Birthday kid-o! You're such a pretty little girl & you'll only get prettier I'm sure! I love getting your big smiles! Now, when you get older & your folks make you mad, you just come to me & we'll hang out & make things all better, OK? :o) I love you Livia. Happy first Birthday

Livia,
You are so sweet and dear to us. We love you bunches.

Livia,
Your Pa-Pa loves you very much and you are very special to me.

Livia,
You are a very special little girl and we love you very much. Maggie, Nolan, and Garrett always enjoy playing with you. Maggie and I love our special girl time with you and your mom. Nolan loves to hold you and loves you very much. Garrett thinks you are so much fun because you are smaller than him! He also loves to eat your "puffs." Hope each birthday is filled with love and happiness just like your first birthday! We love you sweetie

Livia,
Happy birthday to a pretty little girl. You make such a nice addition to our family! We love you

Happy Birthday Livia - you are so beautiful and so loved

Livia,
Happy Birthday for your very 1st Birthday! You are a very special Great Niece. Pretty little girl, how you've grown!... You are loved so very much.


H
A
P
P
Y
~
B
I
R
T
H
D
A
Y
Love Michael
*Note - Michael wrote one letter on each page! His 'note' was by far the longest!

Finally, this took the most time and effort, but was also the funnest!

Livia Trivia!

5 full pages of fun & games dedicated to Livia! There were multiple choice, true/false, and fill-in-the-blank questions, 'Spot' Livie (finding how many times various pictures of her were on a page - there were other babies on there too, so it made it hard!), and last but not least, the history of Livia...

Perry wrote all this out for everyone:


Dear All,

Amanda & I decided that we would like to give a little background on where Livia’s name came from, and why we chose it. As soon as I found the name, I showed it to Amanda. We both immediately took a liking to it. And when Livia was born, the name just fit her perfectly! So here’s a bit of history about her name:


Livia has a very old name. It actually pre-dates the birth of Jesus Christ. The name ‘Livia’ actually was derived from the male form of the name Livius. Titus Livius, also known as Livy, was a Roman historian who wrote a history of the city of Rome.

The first female ‘Livia’ that history knows of was Augustus Caesar’s wife. She was respected as the most powerful woman in the Roman Empire. Livia assisted her husband as his trusted advisor, and Augustus himself is widely regarded by modern historians as the greatest ruler the Roman Empire ever had. Note: Long before American politicians in the late 20th century began running on family values as a campaign issue, Augustus used this as a platform in running his empire.

Many of you know the name ‘Olivia.’ This name is actually quite a bit newer than Livia. It is derived from ‘Livia’ and was actually invented by Shakespeare in the early 17th century as a character in one of his plays.

As Christians, we are often taught in Church about the corruption of the Roman citizens, and the fact that they worshiped multiple gods. We are told of how Jesus Christ was crucified under their hands, and that the Romans regularly persecuted Christians. What most people don’t know – and this is important – is that the Roman Empire became a Christian nation early in the 4th century. We may not realize, as Christians, that the Roman Empire probably did more to spread the religion of Christianity than any other people. Their Empire spread over 3 continents, and the spread of Christianity took off soon after it became their official religion. The Roman influence of Christianity still plays a very major role in our western culture to this day.


Again, sorry for this being such a long entry! I've given up on post-dating finally; I figure this isn't really as time-critical to me. I know - I'm silly! Thank you all SO much for 'celebrating' Livia's birthday with us. It has been very special indeed! Much love to you all - take care and God Bless!