Auntie Kim and Uncle Chris get into Spokane!

Kim and Chris made it to Spokane today! They got in earlier than expected and I was still at work. I am doing some hours this week as my boss is out of town. So I decided to go into the office this morning before our company got in. The people I work with were so excited that I brought Olivia in and she met some people for the first time. Just as I was getting ready to leave the office, Olivia decided to wake up. I knew that I could not just leave without feeding her so I went upstairs to a back room to feed her before hitting the road. As I was sitting there, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs. I quickly covered up as one of the guys in the office slowly came through the door. I think that I startled him more than he startled me. Oh the joys! :)

Olivia spent the afternoon looking around and snuggling in uncle Chris's arms. We took her to a restaurant for the first time today, Puerto Vallarta, and thankfully she slept the whole time! It was a rough day for feeding though; she may be going through a growth spurt. She was also more awake today and just hanging out more than she has been. It always seems to happen when we have company. We wish that she would just lay there content when she is just with mom and dad!

Well, she didn't watch but the Hawks did end up winning!

Look at that little bottom!! <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You never really understand the struggles of splitting holidays between families unless your parents are divorced, you are married/in a committed relationship, and especially not until you have kids....  

We were brainstorming ideas the other day as we looked at our up coming schedule and came up with an AMAZING idea. Let's see what you all think :) I do not think it is fair to drag an infant around to at least three different houses every time we travel to the west side; nor do I want to do that (BACK TRACK: Mike and I used to head home the night before Thanksgiving, do dinner at three houses in one day, and then drive back to Spokane on Thanksgiving night in order to be at work bright and early on Black Friday..... YUCK!). So here is what we came up with:

We know that all three sets of grandparents want to spend time with Olivia; who could blame them!? She is pretty adorable ;) We also know that college is expensive. So we figured that when we travel to the west side, we could sell raffle tickets to the grandparents and have a drawing to see who we spend that trip with. And the money that we make on the raffle tickets will go directly to her college fund!! Isn't that an awesome idea!?! LOL. Then for the next trip, the person who won the first time would not be able to buy tickets... Not sure if this will fly with the grandparents, but it was fun to think about. We do not want anyone's feelings to be hurt but we are bad at coming up with plans and sticking to them. We are open to ideas! And at the same time, we are not sure how many trips we will be making as we want to start some of our own family traditions. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So many thoughts! I find myself starring at my beautiful little girl while she nurses. I love the way that she moves her tiny jaw up and down. Over and over, I think about who she is going to be when she grows up. Who's laugh will she have? How stubborn will she be? Will she play and instrument? Will we get along as mother and daughter? I say that because I have never really been an emotional person and do not feel that I get along with girls very well. Will she have her daddy wrapped around her finger? How soon will Mile buy a gun to protect his baby? Haha! Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Olivia is growing up so fast already! Auntie Kim pointed out today that Olivia has very fuzzy arms :) I did notice that she has fuzzy ears but I had not looked at her arms. Her eyes are still a deep blue and her hair is so long in the back! It almost looks like she is starting a mullet. 

It has taken me a while to get her to finally fall asleep this evening. She really enjoys the rocker that grandma Sheila got her. That is where she is now. I have tried to put her in her own bed after she has fallen asleep three times already and she wakes right up. At this point, I may just leave her and sleep on the couch next to her. Whatever needs to happen so that I can get some sleep! People keep telling me to enjoy how she is now, which I am, but I cannot wait until her daddy can make her laugh and smile. That is when they will really start to bond since making people laugh is what Mike loves to do. I cannot wait until she starts to crawl and can sit up on her own. I am looking forward to when she smiles at me while she is awake. Oh the many memories that we will have to catch and document!