celebrating livi.

saturday morning, afternoon, well the whole day, we celebrated the sweet little thing that made me an auntie. my doll face olivia anne. i covered her in as many kisses as is possible and i'm pretty sure she couldn't wait to get rid of me at the end of the weekend. poor thing. she's just too loved.

whit went with a minnie mouse theme because of livi's insane obsession with mickey mouse clubhouse. it's adorable actually. she loves the songs, the character's voices, and the whole lot of it. so there was lots of pink and polka dots and livi was dressed in the most darling tutu on the planet. when she walked, it totally accentuated every step and looked like she was swingin' those hips. cute little sass.

the frosting on her cake was her favorite. just like her daddy. she dug right in and didn't stop until she felt like she'd had enough. we ooh'd and ahh'd over her, because we couldn't help it, she got cleaned up, and then we watched her open her presents while we ate our dessert. she was way more into the wrapping paper than the actual presents. all of it wore her out and she was ready for bed as soon as her last present was opened. the birthday girl wanted her bed!

oh we love that girl. we can't get enough of her. the fact that she's one year old is mind boggling. she's grown up so fast and become such a little character. i can't wait until she can tell us what's going on in that cute little head of hers.

love you livi anne!

ANNNNND....


while we're on birthdays....



a HUGE


HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to my MIL Lisa all the way across the ocean in hawaii! we hope your birthday is full of sunshine, beach, your kindle, a tropical drink, and something pretty to open.  :)  We are sending our love and wish we were there to celebrate with you.

pure chaos.

remember when this happened back a couple years ago?

well...

we had a little deja vu of it last night (err early this morning). 

except this time, everyone was peacefully sleeping (except for me. sleeping without a husband, plus a wiggly toddler equaled not great sleep for me) and it was 4 AM. i had just rolled over onto my stomach when i heard a really loud fuzzy sound, almost like static on a tv. then, with a vengeance, water starting spraying out of the ceiling with the force of a hose on a fire truck. i scrambled to pick brooklyn up, throw off the covers, dodge the water, and get out of the room all in one swoop. i calmly told my parents that a pipe had burst and that water was going everywhere. 

the next thirty minutes were pure chaos.

the water was freezing cold and i got to work setting up plastic totes and buckets so as to catch as much of the water as possible. i also laid towels out to kind of fence it all in to just one area of the room. my parents were scrambling to turn off the water but were unsuccessful. my mom and whitney joined me in running back and forth from the flood to the bathroom shoveling buckets of water out of totes and into the bathtub. all the while, my dad was still trying to get the water turned off. it was outside and it was freezing cold. he called for reinforcements and not a second too soon, had the water turned off. we ladies were drenched and absolutely frozen. gosh that water was frigid. (haley also woke up during the chaos and entertained brooklyn until the water stopped.)

after the fiasco, some of us went back to bed (in a different room), while others had to be up for work shortly anyway, so going back to bed wasn't an option. 

i was one of those who got to go back to bed and i still feel like i've been hit by a train. definitely a surreal experience. luckily, we've all been able to laugh about it since. some took naps. some of us went to lunch in park city (whitney and i) and it turned out to be a pretty ok day. 

it was chili and cornbread for dinner and then we were all in a zombie like state for the rest of the night. but hey, great experience to share as a family. am i right?!

(brooklyn and olivia peacefully sleeping while their mommies went to park city)

and another...

from olivia's blessing on sunday.

p.s. happy 4 years to my bro and SIL. 

the night i became an auntie.

after james got off work, we headed to utah county. i couldn't have gotten there faster. i was so anxious to see my sister and know how she was doing. and obviously, i wanted to be there the second my niece was born. i couldn't wait!

we got there before anyone else and got to spend time with just whit and chandler. the epidural had been administered so whit was feeling good, and tired. she had been in labor since 3 that morning. brooklyn really wanted her auntie ween to hold her darn it, but whit was hooked up to too many things for that to be safe. 

so she let uncle chandler read to her.

the rest of the family got there, checked on whit, and then we went to the cafeteria for dinner. pastrami burgers and tuna melts all around. we ate quickly, checked on whit again, and then waited some more. 

the waiting room nearest whit's room had a tv and seriously, a halloween miracle, we found hocus pocus playing right when we turned it on. seriously, i was sad i hadn't seen it this year. i'm kind of a sucker for movies that go with their holidays. this one being one of my all time favorites! and being able to watch it with my siblings who love it just as much as I do, made it all the more fun!

whit progressed pretty quickly and olivia was born a little after 9 PM. i got the call from my mom who was in the delivery room and i heard that sweet baby cry. ahh. tugged at my heart strings. oh that baby. what a sweet little thing. so precious.

oh my gosh. i love her so much. my heart could just burst. 

her daddy thinks she's pretty special too.

she didn't let go of her daddy's finger the whole time she was getting cleaned up, poked, and everything else the nurses do in the first hour of a baby's life. she looked right at her daddy and held on tight just to make sure everything was going to be alright in this big cold scary bright world.

whit was a birthing champ. we also know now that she is a super duper cute baby making machine (chandler too of course). 

we left the hospital that night around near midnight with tired eyes and bursting hearts. provo was as far  as we made it before we crashed at a hotel for the night. only my little family of three was ready with over night stuff...so we improvised. kayla and haley took advantage of the fact that james packed for a week and used his basketball shorts and t shirts for bed. and all the ladies used my make up and hair stuff in the morning to get ready.

we anxiously headed back to the hospital as soon as we were all ready. i couldn't wait to hold that baby. my first niece. i could. not. wait. 

there's something about holding a newborn that is utterly and completely on a cloud 9 of its' own. it's indescribable. oh that sweet tiny baby. she just nestled into her blanket and slept peacefully. i wanted to just kiss her to pieces. i'm sure whit and chandler have done plenty of that today and yesterday to make up for all my un-given kisses. 

oh baby olivia, auntie nin loves you. just loves you.