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