Is It Really Thanksgiving?

Olivia turns one!

Oh my where has the time gone?  I hope that everyone had an wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.  The big question that was throw around this weekend was, "is it really Thanksgiving?"  The fall season has begun and we are enjoying each moment, as we realized it goes by so fast!  If I had to recap the fall in one sentence it would sound like this: We are thankful for the two front teeth Olivia has now, a happy healthy, 20 pound one year old, who has learned how to walk and talk, and blah blah

Since the last entry in September, we visited two farms, the Maryland Zoo, gone apple picking, traveled to Rochester,  traveled to Ocean City and spent time with the Wittmans,  grew two front teeth and have four more that are working their way through,  celebrated Halloween and a first birthday, started really talking, blowing kisses, giving kisses, and most importantly started walking! Of course and most recently, celebrated Thanksgiving!  Now do you understand our lack of attention to the blog?!

The following descriptions are in no particular order and are brief descriptions of our adventures! There are pictures on Picasa Web Albums that show off our events in more details, if you are more visual. 

Fall Festivities

Watch out sheep, here comes Olivia!

Olivia has always loved Hurley, but we recently discovered a love of all animals .  We went to Elioak Farm with friends in October and they have a petting area. She was enthralled with the animals!  She was practically crawling over the fence to get into the pen!  We also visited the Maryland Zoo on Friday after Thanksgiving and were able to walk around the petting area and she was trying to hug all the goats in the pen.  She was so excited and provided us with several laughs.

Chowing away on the apple

We also discovered another love of Olivia's, apples!  Tyler went along with us in October to Larriland Farm to pick apples from the orchard.  Olivia was in the stroller because she was not stead on her feet.  She was very interested in what we were doing.  Of course when you apple pick, you need to eat an apple.  She kept pointing at our apples,  so we found a baby like apple and bit off the skin, then handed it to her.  She was in her glory!  She gnawed on that apple the entire time we picked apples!  It was quite a sight to see.   We realized she prefers bigger bites of food.  Once in a while she will eat a bit that is too big, and she will spit it out. She is doing quite well I if I say so!

 Girls Weekend to Rochester   

The first weekend in October my Mom, Bethany, Kym, Olivia, and myself made the journey up to Rochester for a girls weekend, and to celebrate the baby shower of our good friend Amy Knight (Scata).   It was a bonding experiences for us and Olivia was a fabulous little traveler.   It was great to for her to meet her Uncle Ron, cousins Colin and Andy, and of course to see Greatest and Uncle Ken again.  She missed two naps, went to bed late both nights, was in the car seat for 17 hours and hardly complained!  The best part was on the way  home she sat and looked at her books by herself for more than a half an hour!  My mom would just give her an new book when she threw one on the seat!  The weekend was great and my sisters and mom were a great help with Olivia.  We missed Dan!  I think he enjoyed his bachelor time, but was ready for his girls to get home.   

All the Cousins Together

The Puryear, Wittman, Wambolt Cousin Photo Shoot

-The Girls-

As some of you know Jill and Steve Wittman, Dan's sister,  moved to Geneva, Switzerland for three years.  We miss them very much, but keep up with them using Skype!  Before they left, they spend some time in Maryland, visiting the siblings.  Steve flew to Geneva before the rest of the family, so Jill and her two girls, Emma and Ava, spend  time in Ocean City.  We visited them for the weekend.  The three girls together was so much fun!  The weather was lovely and we walked on the Boardwalk, went for two boat rides, and played outside.  The Boardwalk area in Ocean City has huge wooden play toys, which are great in the off season because they are not overrun by kids.  Emma and Olivia had the best time discovering, crawling, and running (well Emma ran), all over the toys.  Olivia loved the sand, of course, and this time was more mobile in the sand.  We had to keep an eye out for her because she kept trying to escape.  We also had two boat rides on the Cris Craft.  Olivia and Eva joined us for one and then Emma, Jill, Dan, Lee, and I went on a two hour tour for the second ride.  O and E were so cute in the over-sized life jackets.  The weekend was bittersweet because we had to say good-bye to the Wittmans. There are great pictures from the weekend and a cousin photo shoot on the photo link!  We are looking forward to seeing them at Christmas time.  I am sure we will have lots of good stories now that Olivia is walking and Ava is crawling!

 Teething

No longer a toothless grin, Olivia's bottom teeth came through at some point in the spring and her top two teeth broke through in the late summer, but it was mid-October they became cute little fixtures in pictures!  She is now cutting the top two "fang" teeth and the the bottom two as well.  I looked into her mouth the other day it the entire top of her mouth looked like it was white and swollen with tooth buds.  It must me awful, but she is holding on.  She loves the frozen teething rings.  Last week I discovered her fingers had scrap marks all over and I realized she was chewing her hands.  So I try to save  her fingers by handing over the Soothie things. It is a pacifier for infants because it has a place to put a finger in for a baby to suck on.  She LOVES to put her own finger in it and that has really saved her fingers. 

Talking and Talking

Talking up a storm!  I think her first official word was Daddy, but she had since learned, light, yes, mommy, Hurley (yes she says some of the word), cheese, please, and a few others I cannot think of now.  It is amazing that she can communicate with us, she can sign to us, but usually prefers to point at the object and make a little noise.  We are well trained and usually give her what she needs, but we always name the item.  I guess we should encourage her to sign or use her words more!

 Halloween Time

All bundled up ready to go outside!

We did celebrate Halloween with a party at our house, a Maryland tailgate, and good old fashioned trick or treating!  We usually have a Halloween party, and this year I think at one point there were more kids than adults! Olivia was a pumpkin and looked so cute.  We put the hat on her several times and she kept it on most of the nights.  We are a family were a pumpkin patch this year.  Not very creative, but the price was right.  Pumpkin carving was a family affair this year and Olivia like to put the top on her pumpkin and then take it off.  She sat in her highchair for quite a while, while we finished carving.  Tyler came over to trick or treat.  We went out for about forty five minutes and Olivia had a little stash of candy that Dan and I ate!  Next year will be fun because she will be able to really walk around and say,  "Trick or Treat!"

First Birthday Celebrations

Our little one year old!

Just dive right in!

Finally, she turned one!  We had two birthday bashes, lots of cake, and plenty of gifts!  My parents and Grandma Mary Lou came over for a birthday dinner on Monday, her actual birthday.  We dressed her up in tutu and matching pink sparkly tights.  She looked like a little princess.  My favorite part of the evening was the smash cake!  We sang to her and put down a little cake.  She had not trouble putting her hands right into it and licking it all up!  At one point she just put her face right into the cake!  We all had a good laugh, and then we opened presents.  She received a few gifts from Tyler, Grandma, and Grandpa, and a few from friends who could not make the party on Saturday.  The best toy gift was the walking toy from Skylar and Bryce.  That was the catalyst in giving her the confidence to take her first steps!  The evening flew by and soon it was bed time.  Dan and I can hardly believe we have made it a year with a child!  Our life is drastically changed, but we cant remember not having her in our lives! 

We had huge bash on Saturday for Olivia. The theme was pink and the number 1! We served chili, bread, some appetizers, and of course cake!  There were about 25 people who came to celebrate and it was a tight fit for a while, but well worth the closeness!  She received so many gifts and had some help from Brooke to open them all!  We played a few games, but the most fun was that smash cake!  We felt so blessed to have the love and support from our family and friends on her Birthday and throughout the year! As people started to leave the party, Olivia climbed up the stairs and went into her bedroom, pulling her blanket from crib and laying down on her rug in her room.  So I put her into bed, exhausted by the day, she slept for a little while!  The day was certainly memorable!

 Walking and Other Developments

As I close this LONG and DETAILED entry, I must add I am astonished how quickly she develops a skill!  Take walking for example, she was cruising for weeks,  then on Saturday (November 20th) she was walking around the living room table and stopped.  With a second thought she let go, and started walking towards the dinning room where we were sitting.  She stopped half way to clapped, then continued on towards her toy!  I was crying and I realized she is a little girl now!   Now she has taken off!  She walks/totters/falls everywhere, and has even started to climb!  She has been clapping for months, but waving bye bye, blowing kisses, and giving kisses, just started happening before her first birthday.   It is like one day in her brain, things start to click and she can do all the new tricks we have been encouraging her to do all along! 

So our live is a whole new crazy now, keeping up with her!  We absolutely LOVE it and cannot ask for anything more!