The Oliver Christmas Festivities

The 2009 Christmas festivities have come to an end. We again had a great holiday and had a chance to visit with all of our family. We can see that each year will only get better as we see the joy of Christmas through our kids eyes.

This year our events were spread out over 2 weeks, so Tessa just thought you get up, drive somewhere, and you tear open paper and surprise...toys!! She was quite the professional at opening gifts; tearing little pieces and even puting them in the trash bag. She was of course completely spoiled by everyone; and we were all so thankful for everyone's generosity! We tried to mostly take videos of her opening gifts this year, but I do have a sprinkling of pictures from the events...enjoy!

We thought she looked so grown up here!

Daddy's Girl

Mommy's baby

Her first experience "out" in the snow!

Merry Christmas!

We turned her carseat to face forward this month. Even though she looks all but thrilled in this picture she really does seem to enjoy the car rides a bit more.

Tessa and Aunt Janelle

(this was our table when we were little)

Christmas outfit #1

My Dad's Family Party

Christmas outfit #2

My Mom's Family Party

She really knows how to have fun, even all dressed up!

Mamaw, Jerry, Papaw, Grandma, Mary

Opening gifts, one shred at a time

Christmas Eve

Mommy and Tessa went to church, and Daddy was home from work when we got home!

Playing with some of her new toys....she is seriously all girl!

Christmas with Grandma, Grandad, Janelle and Matt

@my parents' house

Tessa is really into "dipping" so appetizers were her fave. Behind her is her new playset from Grandma and Grandad

We hosted brunch at our house for Dan's family. Tessa had a blast with all her new toys.

Our nephew David is getting so big and growing up fast. We got him a digital camera and he was taking pictures of EVERYTHING. Tessa loves him so much!!!

Christmas is not complete without writing your thank you cards!!!

We begin our next year of excitement, fun, and love. Happy New Year!!

Catching Up Before Christmas...

Well, I am definitely behind on posting since Tessa's birthday! Many things are easier now that Tessa is 1, but it also seems to have its challenges. She is still changing so much every day. She is not saying much except uh, uh, uh but it is working for her because she manages to get everything she wants!! I am not exaggerating when I say she understands EVERYTHING...even things I swear I've never even said to her before!! We've switched her car seat to face forward and she seem to appreciate this. I am busily trying to find new and interesting things for a 1 year old. Our newest adventures include coloring, doing laundry, and doing group activities at the Fishers library. I don't know if I've already said this but she is completely off the bottle at this point. We have transitioned to 1 nap, which works really good some days and others she is exhausted. She is completely obsessed with babies and cooking. It is so entertaining to watch her play, she has a huge imagination and you really see it when she is playing. It would be great if she could learn a few words because she knows exactly what she wants, but gets frustrated with us when we can figure it out fast enough...which eventually leads to a tantrum, but we'll figure it out soon I think! We're all ready for Christmas, just loving life and every day as our happy little family! Enjoy the pics from the last few weeks....

We went and visited baby Gabe again!! Tessa loved holding a REAL baby!

He is growing fast...what an innocent face!

Our friends Becca, Shelly, and Layton came too. Here are all the kiddos, how sweet.

O.k. so I said that Tessa loves to cook, well it borderlines on obsession! She will be in the playroom and if the oven beeps here she comes rushing down the hallway. She will open the drawer with the oven mitts, go stand in front of the oven, and uh, uh, uh, until you check it!!! Here is the play by play in pictures :)

One way to entertain a 1 year old; make a craft! We made an ornament for the tree and it will be fun when she is older because she will be able to see how tiny her hands were! She did have a little help :)

Tessa's buddy Cole came over to play for a couple hours. This was just too cute and innocent!

And last but not least we had our first visit with SANTA!! We had our annual Christmas get together will all my wonderful work friends and our kiddos and we were so surprised when Santa showed up! They were all completely terrified!!! So we got the classic first pic with Santa...screaming! Or in Shelly's words "Bri, take her she isn't breathing!!"

Poor Santa didn't get much love!

We also tried to get a picture of all the kiddos. Here are some of the best ones (it was a challenge)

(Mya, Tessa, Ayden, Gabe, Layton)

(Adelyn, Mya, Tessa, Ayden, Gabe)

I think I'm also required to tell of my Mommy mess up this month!!! I locked Tessa in the car at Kroger! Wait, before you judge let me tell you the story.... I went to the grocery with Tessa and as usual she was beginning to get over it by the time we were loading the car so I let her play with the keys while I loaded the trunk. Just as I closed the door my brain said "I hope she didn't push the lock button"...and of course she DID!! O.k. yes instant panic, so what did I do...call my Mom. I obviously wasn't very rational because by the time she got there and I went home to get my spare key it was going to be way too long. So I stood there in 28 degree weather in a t-shirt and waited and cried (only once) Then I thought "maybe I should just call the police to come and unlock the door" and someone was watching over me (a bit late) but as I turned around there was a policeman driving through the parking lot. I waved him down and he began to tease me about locking myself out, but after I said I locked my 1 year old in there he slammed the brake, jumped out, and had the doors unlocked within a couple minutes. I called my Mom and told her we were all safe, and she followed me home to entertain Tessa while I put away the groceries and chilled out. So....lesson learned keys are not a toy!

Callie is Here!!!

My good friend Julia and her husband JR welcomed their baby girl today!!! After a few unexpected weeks on bedrest Callie was delivered by c-section because she was breech! This girl is full of surprises for her Mom and Dad, the final surprise was she was 18inches long and weighed in at

9lbs 1oz!!

Both Mom and baby are doing great, minus the pain of a c-section; and Daddy was beaming from ear to ear and holding her every time I visited their room :) They were planning to go home Thurs...here is their address in case you want to visit or send them a card....

8935 Jaywick Dr Apt 206

Fishers, IN 46037

She looked so sweet in her bow!

She was the most alert newborn ever!!

She also has the most full beautiful lips

One Year Photo Shoot

My friend at work Megan Doddridge came over to our house and took 1 year pictures of Tessa. She did such a great job!! As I've mentioned before I've been having a hard time getting good pictures because Tessa is always moving around so much and I'm not fast enough or my camera isn't; so it is so great to have some AWESOME pictures of her now. Enjoy!! (This is just a sampling of some of our favorites)