olive's super cute videos

this is olive's first laugh. she apparently thought it was funny that she had gone from a size 1 to size 2 diaper. i didn't care what it was, i just wanted to keep it going! how precious is this?



this is olive every morning when she wakes up. she has been sleeping so good at night and boy is she happy when you come to get her in the morning!



sometimes olive just has to get away.

olive and her mommy hit beckley

it had been so long since i had seen beth and noah we decided to all meet mom at beckley. i was a little nervous to take the trip alone with olive but we did just fine.

noah had gotten so big and was always keeping us laughing.

he was very interested in olive and would love and pet her- so sweet.

mom looked great and was in her element with her two grandkids.

beth looked beautiful too. it was so great to have time to laugh with her.

she is such a good mom and noah just loves her to pieces.

well, her and mayonnaise. :-) 

the time was short, we had to soak up everything.

the next morning noah had to get some more olive loves before hitting the road back to north carolina.

it was great being able to get together and to introduce the cousins. i miss my ladies!

what's new with olive?

she is getting much better holding her head up on her own.

so strong.

she is getting very touchy and lovey. she loves touching faces, hands, anything.

she loves to read and even turns pages occasionally. the pages get turned backwards not forwards but it is cute nonetheless.

she is teething. teething is easier when you have a buddy.

she is learning how to hold things. she loves this ball her gram made and uses it to practice picking up objects.

she loves hands.

and spending time with daddy.

she had a cold, but is better now.

she started wearing bibs to combat the teething drool overload, and looks beautiful doing it.

she watched veggie tales for the first time. sat through the whole thing and even smiled a couple of times.

she loves watching and listening to her rattles. always sure to put a smile on her face!

art show at the old jail

daniel and darrell had a show at the old jail in town. it has been renovated into an arts consortium.

here is one of his new works. i was so proud of daniel he has worked very hard and had some very beautiful and impressive work in the show.

he did such a great job!

darrell was at the opening with kristin and evy of course. we couldn't believe how evy had grown. such a beautiful little lady!

it won't be long darrell.  i will catch up to evy.

olive loved looking at her daddy's woodcuts. she enjoys the contrast.

evy showed a little interest in olive. she would watch her and wave to her.

it was so warm that day we parked in front of a vent and got a cool breeze going for miss olive.

darrell had some lovely work in the show as well. the boys had put so much time and effort into the exhibition and it really showed. nice work guys! 

graham visit 09

we had our graham family visit in early august. this was the first time olive was held by her cappy.

and of course she remembers her gram.

abbie and eldin flew in from florida. it was the first time abbie got to see olive.

they liked each other quite a bit.

abbie decided she wanted a change on a stormy day of the visit.

so i cut and died her hair!

getting our sassy gear on.

meanwhile gram and cappy enjoyed watching the grandkids.

and voila!

one beautiful refreshed abbie!

olive was a fan of her new look.

abbie played itsy bitsy spider with olive and showed her how to count to five.

olive was entranced.

while daniel's dad was in, their special project was daniel's truck.

it had been hit by an 18 wheeler and the bumper was gnarled up. so much so that you couldn't open the tailgate. well, that was no match for the graham men.

while they were at it they gave the truck an overhaul...putting on new shocks and a number of new additions!

even though it was hard work in the hot august sun...

they had so much fun working together.

and when they were done it was like a brand new truck! good job fellas!

olive has mastered the art of independent naps and looking cute while doing it!

while the boys worked on the truck the girls took the kids to the park.

eldin had such a great time climbing steps, going down slides and swinging.

and we had fun watching him.

olive couldn't take all the excitement and fell asleep.

when we got home everyone was so hot we tried to relax and cool down.

eldin, do you think it is time for your first haircut?!

abbie asked if i would do eldin's first haircut as the back had gotten a lot longer than the rest.

i agreed and off we went. eldin did great. when he got too active we distracted him with a graham cracker.

ta-da! the finished look.

after that a boy needs a special treat.

graham family ice cream time!

this day we all went for hot dogs at sam's hot dog stand.

when we got back someone was so tired she required a nap on gram.

i don't think gram minded too much.

looking pretty in her summer outfit, hanging out with her aunt abbie.

say what?

on abbie's last day we took the kids to the pool.

olive had never been to a pool. this was her first time dippin in.

she seemed to like it, it was hard to say because she was so sleepy. but she took it all in for the first 10 minutes or so.

missy met us there with her little ones.

and of course sonya and guy took right to playing.

judah did great in the pool. you could tell missy had really worked with him.

and of course eldin knew what to do being a florida boy.

he is an ol' pro.

enjoying the lazy river.

little bit tuckered out quick so i sat the majority out holding her and watching the festivities. everyone had a lot of fun!

the day before everyone started heading out, john drove in for a very short visit! it was such a wonderful opportunity since we never get to see him. he and daniel raced around town getting everything done they wanted to do together. including a long round of golf with his dad! a lot to do in a day, before he had to go back, but so worth it!

it was a fun week.

it is always great to visit with family.