It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, the Holiday season has officially begun in the Pilote household. Last night, we got out the tree! It wasn't the typical 'put up the tree' kind of night. Things have changed now that we have a 15 month old running around. 5 minutes into decorating we had one little noisy toddler in all the Tupperware and shortly after that a broken glass ball on our hardwood floor. Needless to say, we decided to finish trimming the tree once she was down for the count. She does love the lights though... can't wait to see her reaction when we get all the decorations up. I'm pretty pumped about them myself!

This morning, I was catching up on some emails in the kitchen while having my homemade gingerbread latte. It was super quite in the living room where Liv was, expect for the tunes of Mickey Mouse ClubHouse of course, so I decided to check it out. As I rounded the corner, there was my BIG girl, sitting in the big chair with her sippy cup and monkey, just watching TV. When did this happen? When did she turn into an independent toddler who doesn't need her mommy's help to get up in the chair? I'm not really sure, but I can't believe it!

As for recent happenings, last weekend we spent time with Jesse's mom's family for their family reunion. OK was right in the middle of all the big kids, pretty sure she thought she was one. She loves playing with other kiddos, big or small. There are lots of little girls on this side of the family that love to carry her around all day, and of course she wasn't complaining about that! Mimmie and Gottie were gracious enough to bring the 'bus' (that's their RV, the triplets named it that) up so Jesse, Liv, and I would have a quiet place to sleep. Liv and I slept in the big bed together... first time she has ever really slept with me. It was sweet, but I was pretty excited to get her back into her own bed Sunday night. At least with Jesse I don't wake up with feet in my ribs! All in all, it was a great weekend, with lots of food, and lots of laughs. What a blessing.

Liv had a special visitor this weekend too. It was her first time to meet one of my mom's best friends, who was like a second mother to me growing up, MEME! She has heard lots about her and finally got the chance to hear some of Meme's tall tales in person. I was so very happy to see her myself, it's been a few years now as she lives in Virginia. We really enjoyed our visit with her!

We are, wait I should say I am almost done with all the Christmas shopping! I love shopping early so I can enjoy it and it's not such a hassle right before the big day. We are looking forward to lots of holiday events around here. It will all be so different this year as we do not have a baby anymore, we have a toddler!! But we are loving every minute of it!


XOXO
J, C, and OKP

Olivia Kate helping Pops get ready for the reunion




Olivia Kate, Mom, and Meme

Shutterfly Christmas Cards

So, I mentioned this in my last blog post BUT would like give a few more details about Shutterfly and why we LOVE them for all our stationary needs. First, they always have a great selection… very colorful and contemporary items to choose from. We have done 2 photo books thus far for Olivia Kate, one for her first few months and one for her first year pictures. We are working on her first year book currently! Second, they run wonderful promotions which make their products affordable for us! Here is their current promo which will help us save on Christmas cards: Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… learn more: http://bit.ly/sfly2010 !! Lastly, we have always been pleased with our finished products from Shutterfly. We have used them for lots of invitations and Christmas cards over the past few years and have always loved how each turned out!
We have LOTS of family that we may or may not get to see on a regular basis and we love sending photo Christmas cards to them so they can see how Olivia Kate has grown! Below are a few links to the Shutterfly Christmas and Holiday collections… you should check them out:
• holiday cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/holiday-cards
• Christmas cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards
• greeting cards to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery
• calendars to http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars
• Christmas tags to http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-gift-tags
• wall art to http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art
• Choose your own card/invitation and URL from our Cards & Stationery page
Hope your experience with Shutterfly is as great as ours has been. Happy shopping!!
XOXO
The Pilotes

15 months already?!?

Friday was Olivia Kate's 15 month check up. Can't believe it. She weighed in at a whopping 19.7 lbs which is about the 8th percentile for her age and was 30.5 inches long which is fairly average. We didn't go down on the growth charts any which is great! Dr. LaLonde, our pediatrician, says OKP is growing just perfect for now. She's just going to be little girl and we are A OK with that! Liv got 3 shots at her visit and was such a big girl about it all... a few quick tears and we were out the door. She also said her development with words and motor skills was great!

Most recently, Olivia Kate has decided to start expanding her vocabulary. It's funny how it just happens all of the sudden! She can say (or attempt to say to least) just about anything she really loves... for instance~ Me for Mimmie, Mic for Mickey Mouse, and Mil for milk. These are just a few examples but we know that if she wants it, she will figure out a way to tell us. She still signs often too which is such a huge help with communicating with her. She tells us with her hands that she wants milk, more, to eat, she's all done, and just this week she has been signing please and thank you! We are pretty excited about that!

Can't believe the holidays are here already but we are SO excited about all the fun over the next few months. We are about 1/2 way through with our Christmas shopping! Can't wait to finish up so we can just enjoy the last 44 days left until the big day. This week I put our Christmas cards together on Shutterfly... they have a new promotion for 50 free cards when you blog about them and share it on your blog: Thanks to Corinne Reese for posting this so we could take advantage! That's about it for this week... Hope you are enjoying the start to the BEST season of the year!

XOXO

Recent pictures...

Can't believe how big she is getting. This was today before spending some time with Nana!

Life Lately...

Hi friends,

If you hadn't noticed, it has been quite a while since I posted an update! It proved much harder to keep up with the blog than I had originally thought. BUT, I am going to try to get back in the habit of doing some quick updates for all our friends and family both near and far.

What a great year we have had so far. Olivia Kate started walking in June, and turned 1 in July. I feel like life has been full speed ahead ever since. Of course she has grown so much over the past few months, so I will catch you up on some of her recent 'tricks' as we like to call them! :)

Some of her words include- dada, mama, dog, baby, ball and most recently to the great pleasure of her grandparents she has begun to say nana, pops, mimmie, and of course we are working on gottie

She LOVES animals, dogs in particular; she barks at anything that moves and is not a human. She also really enjoys books, stuffed animals, and other kids. She still doesn't love to eat but seems to have enough to get by. She is a pretty happy girl and the JOY of our life. Often we ask ourselves what life was like before her, neither of us can even remember because she has truly brought so much happiness to our entire family!

Jesse's job has been very busy lately. We are lucky to have a husband/dad that works so hard for us! Doesn't hurt that he loves his job and is great at it. I started work back in June and usually pick up 1-2 days per week at a local surgery center. We are SO blessed that my mom keeps Olivia Kate at our house on those days. She loves her time with Mimmie and it makes it much easier to leave her knowing she's in good hands.

The fall has been so fun thus far! For those of you that are not in TN, the weather here has been much warmer than usual and just beautiful! I went to Gatlinburg for my annual Ladies of Legacy women's retreat in late September. It's always a blast to spend time with 20+ great women. This year we learned about the legacy of life and loving the season of life you are in. Man did I enjoy it! And feel like the Lord truly showed me how to live in the joyous moments HE gives us daily.

Last weekend we had a huge fall fest at Jesse's parents house in Lebanon complete with pumpkin picking, a hay ride, and a haunted barn. A good time was had by all, but certainly by Miss Olivia Kate... she played until she passed out on Nana's shoulder! Already looking forward to doing it again next year.

We still have LOTS left to look forward to in the remainder of 2010. Olivia Kate will be the flower girl in our friend's wedding this weekend, Chris and Corrie Anderson! We are praying she walks down the isle, or runs. Just as long as she gets down! Pictures to follow soon. Of course we are excited about Livy's 2nd Halloween as she can really enjoy it this year. Jesse's family reunion will be in November followed by Thanksgiving, and Christmas! We always have a wonderful time through the holidays but they seem to be so much sweeter now with OKP around!

Finally, I should add how blessed we have been by our Lord this year! As always, He has showed up mighty in our lives, finances, jobs, families, and friends. We know that it is through His abundant grace that we are blessed tremendously with health and happiness.

Until next time friends :) (which could be a while but hopefully not!)

To the Zoo...

Yesterday, Olivia Kate made her first trip to the zoo! We went with Cindy (my sister) and her 4 year old triplets, Chase, Ella, and Austin. We had a great time strolling through the park. It was our first warm day here in Nashville, it actually got hot by the afternoon. Livy Kate loved riding around in her big girl stroller and watching all the animals and people. She wore the sunglasses a friend of ours got her... she looked so stylish. :) The triplets had a great time running around and playing on the amazing playground they have. We finished the afternoon with burgers and ice cream, for the triplets of course. Livy Kate enjoyed her bottle.... but we can't wait until she can have ice cream like her cousins!

Posing by the fish

Ella had to push her in the stroller :)

She loved her sunglasses!

Ella, Chase, Olivia Kate, Austin

7 Months Old

Well, we can't believe it but our precious little girl turned 7 months old on Sunday! She is such a sweet child, and seems to love everyone she meets. It is rare for her to get upset. Jesse and I are really enjoying watching her grow... though it seems to be happening way too fast.

Olivia Kate has lots of new tricks these days. She sits very well, but not for long periods of time because she has recently learned to go from the sitting position to the crawling position. When we put her down, she quickly moves to her belly so she can get going! She is trying hard to crawl. She can move a few limbs at a time, but can't quite figure out how to coordinate them all to actually crawl. If she can't get where she wants to go by way of belly, she usually just rolls there. It is super cute to watch her flip across the room, but we have to stay close because she can get to the TV or fireplace before we know it! We feel sure we will be chasing her all over the place soon!

After many months of drooling and fussing, she finally got her first tooth last week. I went to put orajel on her gums and there was a little prickly tooth. Though we are thrilled she finally got some relief with this tooth, we know there are many more to come!

Life is good these days. Jesse's job has picked up and he is working a lot. So, Livie Kate and I find lots of fun things to do. We visit Ma (my grandmother) one day a week. We also usually get to visit with my mom and sister on Monday mornings. We shop a lot.... which seems to be getting us into some trouble! And of course we try to find time to visit with Livie's baby friends every chance we get! We are looking forward to warm weather so we can get outside and enjoy the sun as much as possible!

In other new, Jesse's parents are buying a new house in Lebanon. It has a large yard and a wrap around porch... and hopefully a pool very soon! Jesse and I can't wait to get out and about this summer with Olivia Kate. We know she will love going up to Nana and Pop's new house to play!

We also can't wait for summer to come so we can take her camping with Mimmie and Gottie (my parents). The triplets have nicknamed my their new RV 'Gottie's bus' and we all really enjoy spending time on the lake with our family. We know Livie will have a get time at Gottie's bus this summer!

Here are some pictures we took of Olivia Kate on Sunday... her 7 month birthday!