14 months

I'm not sure why this little milestone is getting to me...maybe because summer life has slowed down just enough for me to realize that Livi is one month older! With every month that goes by, I am sad that my little baby girl is growing up, but it sure is fun! Livi is such a sweet little girl! She absolutely goes with the flow of our crazy little family. When it's time to run someone to practice, or swim lessons or a play date, she's just happy to be along for the ride. Livi isn't too interested in walking, but she's mastered climbing. She likes to climb just about anything; couches, ladders, chairs...and she's good at it too! YIKES!! Although she doesn't have a ton of words, she does make her wants known! She loves to say dog and "bark" when she sees one. She waves hi and bye with the cutest little wave and she is the sweetest at blowing kisses! Livi is a total water baby! She just loves to blow bubbles, kick, splash and float in the water. We're having such a blast this summer! This sweet little princess is such a blessing, and I just thank God for her every day!

Summertime!

We are finally here! It's summer! Blue Valley decided it would be fun to be the last creatures on the planet to start summer break this year! Fun! Sammy made it through a wonderful year of preschool as a peer mentor with the same preschool teacher Will had for 2 years, and loved to pieces! We will miss her a ton! (She's definitely our pick for Livi when she gets to preschool!) Sammy is super excited for all day kindergarten! She's got that S flipped the right way, and she's ready to read! She's made some great friends who she'll see in kindergarten, too! We're just crossing our fingers that she gets the same teacher Will had this year! Will exceeded all of our expectations in Kindergarten this year! He is now a reader, artist, and athlete. He has a bright, bright future ahead of him! Livi and Sammy spent their days this year between Grandma and Caitlin. We have to say goodbye to Caitlin as our sitter for next year, but we get to look forward to having Mandy watch Livi beginning in the fall! Mom will still help out, too, thank goodness!
Now it's time for the kids to sleep a little later (not me, I still do my Jazzercise every morning at 5:30), pool hop, and play! Will has already started soccer camp, and he's in the thick of his baseball season. Sammy starts a Hip Hop dance class in a couple of weeks, and she's pumped! She told me that she never wants to play soccer again because it made her sweaty! (Oh, Sammylou!) Both kids will do swim lessons next week and, that's it for scheduled stuff. I've already knocked out a few projects that have been waiting to be done, and have created a few more for my list. It's super weird to have days open to do what we want, but I so LOVE it!
Livi is on the verge of walking, and seeming to form more and more words by the day. She can sign "more" clear as day now. Miss Livilea is a definite pointer! She has learned that with all of the helpers around, she just has to point it out and she'll get it. Why talk? The other day we were swimming at Mom and Dad's. Dad was mowing and she was super concerned with where he was the whole time. Every time she saw him she just pointed. One time when she was hunting for him, I swear she said "Papa"! She just loves her Grandma and Papa! When we talk about going to see Grandma she gets so excited!

Here's to a fun, relaxing summer loaded with awesome memories!

ONE

Olivia Lea,
One year ago, we didn't know if this day was going to be celebrated with colorful polka dots or baseballs! We knew we were about to have a beautiful new baby, but we didn't know it would be our sweet Olivia! In fact, Livi, the majority of our close family and friends predicted we'd have another boy! We went along with their guess, and thought we'd be welcoming Thomas Ryan to the world! We were so happy to hear the doctor announce "It's a Girl!" I just cried, knowing that our new little baby Olivia was here with us! You have been such a sweet little girl from day one! You have the best big brother and big sister in the whole wide world, which makes life just that much sweeter!! They love you to pieces and have since the first second they met you! You have your daddy wrapped around your finger, which works out nice for extra treats and cuddles at bedtime! Livi, you are just such a gift to all of us! We love to hold you, cuddle you, play with you, and laugh with you. You are a bright light in every one of our days. We are blessed to have you with us. As we celebrate your first year, we are just so excited for the year to come. We know you will just continue to blossom. You already say mama, dada, duck, dog, and no. Who knows what all we'll hear from you in the next year! You still just crawl around, but I'm sure you'll decide to walk sometime soon! Livi, you're off the charts according to the doctor's height and weight graphs. We know that just means you're bound for a super-star future!!! The sky's the limit, baby girl!

 Livi's favorite food! Spaghetti!!

 Cake!

 Opening presents with Mommy!

After bath time with Grandma!

Easter '11

 Easter was so fun! Sam and Will are now masters at egg hunting, so it goes without saying that we have Easter candy coming out of our ears! Livi discovered chocolate, realized it was in the eggs, and the hunt was on from there! Aunt Stacy got the girls darling matching dresses for their birthdays, which worked out perfect for easter dresses! Livi's had cute ruffles on the bottom, too! So darling!

Sammylou my love

Our sweet Sammylou turned 5 years old yesterday! This sweet little 7 pound baby girl graced us with her presence 5 years ago, and has never failed to amaze us since! She's always been a calm, calculating little being. She absolutely knows what she wants and will fight to the finish to get it!! I will just never forget that one of sammy's pediatritians said that she would someday be a great lawyer. She would always check people out before letting on any feeling, opinion, or reaction.

Sammy is a girly-girl! She loves her Barbies, makeup, mani/pedi's and perfume. She can also hold her own with her big brother. Sammy is a strong, kind, sweet, helpful young lady. She is an excellent big sister, who dotes on her baby sister with the same conviction as I did with my baby brother. She's so similar to me, I sometimes get chills! Sammy loves friends, love, hugs and singing. She is nuts about gum, candy and broccoli! Sammy is a beautiful little girl that we love to bits. We hope and pray that she will always feel happiness and love.
Happy Birthday to our Sweet Samantha Grace Huggins Petzold!!!!!

Catching up

I feel like everytime I have the chance to sit down and write, I'm just catching up. I had every intention to write over spring break, but time just got away from me! Speaking of spring break, it was great. We just stayed right here in good 'ol Olathe, but had a ball. We got together with friends, went to lunch, played outside, cleaned, cleaned, cleaned the house, went to the park, and relaxed. It was hard to go back to school after that week!
Now we're looking forward to Sammy and Will starting soccer this weekend. Both girls have birthdays in a few weeks. Easter is coming up. It's springtime, and we love it!
My countdown to the last day of school has already begun. (2 months from today!) I just cannot wait until we have time to not constantly rush. I know I'll be rushing around trying to keep Livi out of everything, but that I will welcome with open arms! It'll just be one more tool I can use in my "get in shape girl" plan! Speaking of that little stinker, she just pulls up on what or who ever is closest. EVERYTHING goes in her mouth! She is pretty well done with her bottle and moved on to milk. I think at this point if we gave her baby food, she'd look at us like we're nuts!
We're all ready for some beautiful warm weather so we can celebrate spring!

 Livi was munchin' on some dirt and grass. Yum!

 My little spring chicks!

 Will's spring break was spent shooting hoops 90% of the time!

 The Fam

 All ready for St. Patty's day!

Q-t-pie!

Missing You

The hardest part of all of this is seeing Grandma's heartache.

She tries so very hard to keep us all from feeling it along with her, but I know she's suffering. I just wish I could save her from it. What do you do when you've spent the past 63 years of your life with someone cooking their meals, caring for their needs, putting them first? What a loss.

I just wish I could take it away so she didn't have to deal with it. I really don't think she ever dreamed she'd be the one left here on Earth to deal with the grief. She is struggling and I hate it!

I miss him when I'm there. I miss his presence. I miss his wisdom. I miss his strength.
I miss saying "I'm going to Grandma and Grandpa's house." G & G are now just G. That is just foreign to me. I want to save her from her heartache.