Sweet Summertime

Ollie, Piccadilly and I have headed South for the beginning of our summer. And it has been sweet so far!  It has been exciting to introduce some summertime fun to Ollie.  Starting with the all-American road trip! Of course, this is isn't his first road trip (he wouldn't be a true 'Oliver' if it was). But it is the first one with a picnic stop for lunch and an attempted and failed pull off to a dairy. 

We arrived safely at our destination of Alabama, just in time for record highs to roll in.  Now, I can't be too bitter since the record highs are hitting our hometown in VA as well.  But I am very grateful to have some extra helping hands around to manage taking a dog out in the crazy heat and leaving the baby inside where it's cool. 

And speaking of cool, some of the tastes of summer Ollie has been trying are just the thing for these hot days! Ollie has tried some watermelon and a popscicle.  He loved both!  We have even gone as far as to give him some frozen watermelon and the little man was in heaven.  Ollie has also been trying some grilled veggies and loves that as well.  There is no doubting that his appetite in in tact.

Watermelon is delicious!

He cried when it was all gone. 

In addition to some taste of summer, we have been enjoying some summer activities.  Like riding in our new red wagon!  We left the little red car behind and were concerned about what 'ride' Ollie would have.  But a quick trip to Walmart lifted our concerns and Grandma and Grandpa are now proud owners of a new Radio Flyer wagon!  Ollie helped Grandpa put it together and we enjoyed an early morning walk today. 

Wheels look like fun.

So that's how that works!

I want them down, Grandpa!

Early morning stroll and it was still HOT!
Thank goodness my wagon comes with a cup holder for my water.

And what kind of people would we be if we left out water in the summer play!  Before we left VA we had some fun with water in bowls on our deck.  We also got to play with bowls of water at our friends C and Davids place on the way down.  It's been a little too hot to even go outside with water here in AL, but I'm sure the water table will make another debut soon.  Since we haven't played with water outside, we have played with bubbles inside. 

We are really getting into splashing now.

Helping himself to a drink.

Catching bubbles in Grandmas kitchen.

Bubbles feel funny on my face!

And we have been keeping in almost daily contact with Ryan.  Ollie recognizes his voice instantly and his face lights up when he gets to see Daddy.  Here is a great picture of us talking to Daddy on the iPad.  We miss him so much and wish he was with us.  But it is a small comfort knowing he can share it all through videos, FaceTime and iMessages!  We really are lucky to be able to 'see' him so much.  Some military family's don't have that luxury. 

So happy to see Daddy!

Sandy Toes

Before Ryan left we went on a 2 week vacation to visit with family and have some fun.  The first big event was Cara's wedding and from there we headed down to Panama City, FL!  This was Ollie's first beach experience.  And he loved it (eventually)!  My Uncle Joe and Aunt Cathy have a beach house in Panama City and very generously let us stay there for a few days.  We were lucky enough to also get to spend a day with them at the beach! My parents were also there for the beach fun.

Ollie was not sure about the water at first.  And I couldn't blame him! I let out a cry when I first got in.  It was a little chilly.  But once you were in, it was just right.  So after an initial cry from Ollie he got in to the groove.  And started splashing and even began to fall asleep!

Ocean Love!

Grandpa, Grandma and 'Bubba'

Photo Bomb, thanks honey.

Hanging in the shade with Grandpa and Dad.

Outdoor shower to clean up and outdoor drying!

Swimming is exhausting! 

Look at the gorgeous water!  It was perfect!

Happy baby, happy mom!

Aunt Cathy, Cousin Anna Beth, Baby and Mom

Sandy toes!

She went to the chapel...

Over Memorial Day weekend Ryan's sister, Cara, got married!!  We were very excited to be joining in the weekend of festivities and celebrations for Cara and her new hubby, Dustin!  They chose a beautiful location in Western Georgia, Barnsley Gardens (you really should check out their website, it was like upscale/updated Dirty Dancing lodgings!).  The weather was sunny and warm and just beautiful for the day!  The ceremony was very personal to both Cara and Dustin and their personalities. Dustin serenaded his bride with a beautiful song that he wrote for the special day.  And the attention to detail done by Cara and her mom where just picture perfect.  Ryan and I were honored to be a part of their day and witness their start as husband and wife!

In true Ollie form he slept through the majority of the ceremony, but was a champ for the reception.  Needless to say his dance card was full all night and he pushed his bedtime as much as he could!

Here are some pictures from the weekend!

The rehearsals we all know and love!
Start where you end and end where you start.

Dustin's Grandfather was the officiant.

The ladies!

The happy parents of the bride and the soon to be newly weds!

Dustin gave Louisville sluggers as the groomsmen gift.
There were a lot of happy groomsmen!

The grooms gift to the bride at the rehearsal!
So sweet.

Ollie's outfit of choice for the ceremony.

Here comes the Bride!

The handshake.

Mr. and Mrs.!

Bridal Party.

Grandma and Ollie.

Ollie hit the dance floor before anyone else.

Ollie and all his grandparents.

Elsie (Ollie's Great Grandmother), her children and the bride!

Me and my man.

We got their car! 

9 months

This month I was on top on things and actually took Ollie's 9 month photos on his 9 month birthday!
It was significantly more challenging this month, since we now have a very mobile and active little boy.  Piccadilly was the more well behaved and laid down nicely as I chased Ollie around with the camera around my neck just trying to get some of the shots.  Plus he is getting much bigger and the laundry basket proved to be too small and very uncomfortable.  But in the end we got the pictures taken.  I can't believe there are only 3 more months until Ollie is 1 year old.  Everyone was right the time does truly fly by.

As far as some stats for his 9 months we don't have any yet.  His 9 month appointment is this Friday so I will be sure to update when we have them.  But I do have some 9 month facts!

Ollie now has his first tooth!  It, of course, decided to show its self the day after Ryan left.  So 3 sleepless nights and screaming days later his front-bottom-left tooth has emerged.  

Ollie is crawling, pulling himself up and even working on standing with out holding onto something! The standing was something Ryan worked hard on with him before he left.  And now Ollie is starting to 'let go'. Oh my! His favorite spots to crawl to are: Piccadilly's water bowl, his activity table, and to anyones feet.

Ollie is very ticklish under his armpits!!

And he still eats pretty much anything you put in front of him.  We have started giving him small bites of solid food (bananas, cherries, green beans, potatoes). He is doing a pretty good job with the chewing motion and is working on his pinching to pick up food on his own!!

Here are some of the pictures from our photo shoot yesterday!

Sitting on the couch doesn't last very long

'Mommy, I don't fit in here anymore!'

A little better.

Notice all the snot from our teething fun!

He sits next to Piccadilly now.

Farewell for now

Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Ryan as he left for his year deployment.  I know that it was probably harder on Ryan, but it wasn't easy for any of us.  As far as I go, I'm not really good at goodbyes and typically don't really like to even think about them until the goodbye moment is gone. Which means, for me, I live in a wonderful disillusion that all is normal with our world and a year is no biggie.  Until it's day 8 of just me, baby and puppy.  The puppy just threw up a sock and Ollie has spit up on his 3rd outfit change and we are out of formula.

But even reading that very likely scenario, I still feel ok with it all.  Why? Because we have had nothing but love and support from all of our friends, family and neighbors.  I know help is just a phone call, scream or knock away.  The tricky part for me will be making sure I use it.  Another thing that might bite me in the butt with this deployment is how often I talk myself out of asking for help.  So I have committed to Ryan that I will work on this and make sure I ask for help before I end up too frazzled.

So what are we going to do on this side of the deployment?  We are going to get into a schedule (of sorts), make lots of fun plans with said supports, and think of Ryan an awful lot throughout all of it.  We will Skype, write letters and send pictures.  Ollie and I will listen to the books Ryan recorded and talk often about Daddy. I will continuously remind Piccadilly that it's Daddy's fault she thinks we need to wake up at 6 am for breakfast and that she needs to go back to sleep.  And most importantly look forward to the days we get to start talking about daddy coming home.

Here are a few pictures from the recent past to show how we worked on saying goodbye.

We did our normal bedtime routine!  

We took Ollie to his first swim lessons!

We snuggled.

We went to the ocean! 

We had a party!

We worked on standing.

We celebrated Aunt Cara and Uncle Dustin's wedding weekend!

We went to a baseball game!

And we had some professional family pictures taken! 

Another favorite with from our family photo session!
With our airman!