Fall Retreat 2011...

We got back yesterday afternoon from 48 packed hours shared with 180+ students (54 of them freshmen!!!!) at His Thousand Hills camp. Despite VERY little sleep (Olivia just does not sleep great away from home and/or when she shares a room with her mommy and daddy), God worked in lives this weekend. I was personally challenged to share more time with him- not just academically, but in relationship with Him. It seemed like many students learned about God as Father- some quotes from facebook of what students are saying about the weekend:

"I may be weak,But your spirit's strong in me,My flesh may fail,But my God you never will.♥ Thanks to everyone for making this weekend awesome!"God is absolutely amazing. Holy, Holy, Holy is my Father."He has been so good to me, I can't help but be happy. :-)"

"I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!" -Job 19:27"YAYYY!!!!! Fall Retreat was awesommmeeee, talk to you soon!!! :)"~ from one friend to another after the fall retreat

From a Chinese student who is not a believer, yet :)
"I think what most attracts me to this country is its culture, belief and environment~ p.s. I love this retreat, love you all~ ^o^"


Just part of the huge group shot- which turned into a huge pile on as you can see:)Our fantastic staff team that made it all come together!
The junior women! We came to PSU when these women are freshmen and these are the women reaching out to freshmen now- I am priveleged to lead an Oaks Bstude with about half of them and meet one on one with at least two of them regularly:)
Olivia LOVED the retreat- we beleive she is an extravert for sure! She walked up the aisle all on her own to our friend Eric, who was talking at the moment, and said a few things herself to the crowd.
All in all it was a GREAT retreat- we are so thankful we get to be a part of this and for all of you who help us be a part of it too!!!

Yep- we are pregant and expecting a BOY!

Some photos, totally out of order..

At about 20 weeks...
When we found out... October 18th, 2011- Our SON!!!
Because she is just so dang cute!

20 Months Old- Almost!

Olivia is a joy to be around! She is so much a little girl and not a baby anymore- it kind of blows my mind. She has a will of her own and is not afraid to fight for her own way. But often she is sweet as can be- she says "Thank you Mommy" and "Thank you Daddy" and we encourage her to say "up please" "please" in general when she wants something- instead of her grunt- "eh eh!" She knows so many words and people are often impressed with her talking and vocabulary- which has really exploded in just the last few weeks.

Olivia is definitely an extrovert! She loves when we join our staff meeting and often asks to go see "Mark, Hope?" or "Jamie, Eric?" Our neighbors and co-workers. She comes back happy when we have been with others. She also looks at pictures and knows all our family members by name, which is SO exciting!

She is still learning about sharing when we are with other kids- she is often generous with her snacks, but its very much on her terms..."here ya go" in a whisper. We have no idea why she whispers this phrase, but she does :)

She loves to eat and often surprises me with what she likes. We joined a farmshare for the first time this year- something I never expected to do! And it has been GREAT! We learned Olivia LOVES tomatoes- often sneaking them from the fridge whenever I opened it and then asking for more. She loves blueberries and the biggest surprise of all was soybeans! The only food she really cant eat is lettuce- she cant seem to figure out how to swallow it quite right so it often just gets spit out:)

She takes one nap a day, after lunch. Sometimes short, the last few days, longer, which is GREAT!

And she is learning about helping and being a BIG SISTER!!! If you see her, you may even be able to find out our son's name from her:)

Three Generations

Three generations. All sitting on steps. Three generations. Each of them have now walked through the old rooms of this house and watched the sunset from the front porch. I think that's pretty cool.

14 Months

Olivia is growing up!  Some of her latest tricks:

WALKING- she had been able to walk between Nate and I for awhile- but last Thursday she started walking all over the place and by Friday morning, she was an independent woman.  Its so great!

Last Friday she also seemed to be back to her normal, happy, healthy self.  She had had a viral bug of some sort for a long while- it had gone away for a few days, but then something else came back and it wasnt awful, but she just seemed more like herself again last Friday and its kept up- sleeping well included!

She loves to "talk"!  She can be caught babbling often- seeming to have a great convo, though we really have no idea what she is saying!  She can for sure say many animal sounds:  moo, baa, woof; animals: kitty, doggy, maybe ducky? Can say milk, and more.  And I think is on the verge of many other words...we will see!

She definitely says Daddy- but no mama yet- we are working on it!  Tonight at life group our friends were watching her and taught her to say the other baby's name- Bre- whcih she couldnt stop saying all night! 

She can point to her nose, ear, mouth and head- and is working on the song, head, shoulders, knees and toes.

Pretty much we constantly say how cute she is and I wish I could capture it all with better photos and video.  Just posted some new pics to facebook- but here are some as well:

She contin

One year ago today...

We went to the hospital at 5 am...I was smiling and happy, despite the very early hour and at 8 am we welcomed Olivia June into our lives.  We cant beleive it has been a year, its gone by fast with many great times, and many hard times.  I am sure there are more to come.  But we are so thankful for Olivia and all the joy she brings!!

Some updates since i havent posted here in forever-

• She got a clean bill of health today at her checkup! (and four shots!- she did great!)
• She weights 21 pounds, 6 oz and is tall- but i forget the exact number and its in her room where she is sleeping.
• She has four teeth up top and four on bottom and I wonder if more are coming soon...
• She generally sleeps from 7 - 7 which is AWESOME- so greatful- and takes two naps for 45 min during the day.
• She LOVES to eat, especially whatever we are having:)  She says "mm, mm, mm" till she gets some.
• We are very nervous about discipline, well at least I am.  She has a will and a loud voice/scream, and I have little discipline, so we shall see:)
• She started crawling soon after christmas.  She now cruises all over, and can even stand for almost a minute on her own, especially if she doesnt realize she is doing it.
• She loves to say HI- hi hi hi hi- sometimes with a wave, wherever we go.  She can also say dada, doggie, maybe mama... we r working on it:)
• She can do "touchdown" with her arms up, or now we just say "yea"
• She loves to dance, whenever there is music on:)  So cute!
• Yesterday she was having a blast putting blocks in and out of her bucket.

Building during our staff in training meeting...she loves knocking things down, but this actually remained up for awhile.

Reading

Turning the TV on...

 Ok, this makes me laugh SO much.  The only "comfort" thing olivia really has is her pacifers, which she has 5 but they are in her bed only and go on trips with us for emergencies.  However, she has multiple soft blankets and stuffed animals that I personally would carry around with me if I could.  The other night, I had finished folding laundry and had a clean rag to put back downstairs.  I look over and Olivia is holding it close, snuggling with it!  a rag!!!  so I go get her three blanket options- she still wants the rag!!!  My only consolation is that the rag is one of daddys old shirts...so maybe it just reminds her of daddy:)  oh olivia!

Thank you Nate for a Great Bday and Vday :)