Dear Olivia,

I am horrible at writing these letters! I try and be nice to myself by saying I will be grateful even for the few I do have! :) So here I am writing you a letter, you lucky girl!! :)

You do so many cute things right now! You've always talked a lot, but some how lately, your speech  has just taken off. You never stop talking actually! It's not so bad, I really love listening to how you say things! My favorite thing you've started saying the past couple months is one more minute. Whenever we need to leave something fun or go to bed, "one more minute!" Usually you hold up your fingers when you say this. Sometimes it's one finger, but mostly its' 2-5. :) The funny part is one time I told you you could have 2 more minutes. But you insisted you wanted 1 more minute! ;)

The other day we were looking at a house. We're in the middle of possibly buying a house. It's exciting and terrifying. Any ways. We were all in the backyard of this home. You, Bently, The house owners son, Dad, me, Logan (the realtor) and the lady who owned the house. Well all the adults went into the giant shed in the back to check it out. We were probably in there, 5 minutes maximum. When we came out immediately your Daddy noticed you were gone. We began to look around and that's when we saw you, in the house, crying. I immediately went to you and picked you up! You were hysterically crying! :( I asked you what was wrong and you said, "You can't leave me, I'm just little!" It was  heartbreaking and adorable! We have since had many conversations how your mommy will never leave you!

Whenever we go down to Davis County to visit family we always take lots of kid movies. Let me tell you how spoiled you are with getting to watch movies in the car! Well for some reason, you usually insist on holding all of the DVD cases. I don't know why, but it's a major meltdown if you drop one or notice you are missing one. I have no idea why you like holding them so much. Most of the time the stack you are holding is just short enough for you to peak over and watch the movie.

With all the cute sure comes a lot of crying though. You are really good at throwing tantrums. Lately you refuse to wear anything but Pajamas. Normally I don't think it's worth the fight. But sometimes I get really embarassed taking you out in the cold with nothing but your pjs on. The fights we have pretty darn epic. I've learned that it's easiest to convince you to wear a dress. It's not much warmer than pjs but at least it's counted as clothing! ;) I always remind you how much you look like a princess. Everything is better when princess are involved, according to you at least! ;)

I let you wear lipstick for Halloween and now you want Lipstick every day! Today I recorded you saying lipstick because how you say it is stinking adorable! Usually I let you wear some lipgloss. People can judge if they want, it makes you happy! Plus, you lick it off really fast so it's all gone in about 2 seconds! :)

I love you so much my beautiful 3 year old! You keep me laughing and smiling every single day! Our life sure would be dark without you!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Yesterday we told you something pretty exciting! You're going to be a big sister... again! :) I was going to wait to tell you till our first ultrasound but I was too excited! You have been begging for another baby forever! You were pretty cute. I don't think you quite understood at first. But you caught on pretty fast! Then you kept insisting we needed a girl baby! I sure hope it's another girl! Mostly because I want you to have a sister! I guess we'll find out in January. It seems so far away! :)

I love you cute girl! I'm in love with how you say pregnant and talk about your little sister! I think you will be very disappointed if you get another brother! ;)

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia and Bently,

You both are in this phase where you ask me how to spell things. A lot of things. It usually happens while we're in the car driving somewhere, but we also do it at home. You say, "How do you spell, House." Then I spell house. I don't know why this game entertains you so much. But you both love it and want to ask me to spell things all the time. Sometimes I don't mind, sometimes it's pretty annoying! ;) It sure makes me feel like I'm in a spelling B! It also reminds me how many words I don't know how to spell. Sometimes I have no idea what Olivia is saying so I just make up a spelling. I figure, you're not going to be able to remember it anyways! :)

You both love each other so much. It has been so much fun watching your relationship with each other grow! You can fight like none other, but you also play together all the time! :) Sometimes, if one of you isn't coming fast enough I threaten to leave you. This causes the other sibling to go into hysterical crying and screaming! Today I just walked out of the house ahead of you and Olivia began to scream, "Don't leave Bently!" Then she ran to Bently who was sitting in the hallway, helped him up and brought him to the door! It was pretty adorable! I love the fierce loyalty you have to one another! I hope you always feel protective of each other! :)

I love you both so much! I hope you know that!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Tonight at dinner you excitedly ran off and grabbed your Elsa Microphone.You see, sometimes you and your brother will perform for us during dinner! It's as adorable as it is annoying! ;) Your microphone plays two songs from Frozen. "Let it go" and "In Summer". You always sings the let it go and Bently does the Olaf song. It's cute but after you've sang it for us 10 times in a row, it looses it's cuteness somewhat! ;) But you are always so proud of yourself! You always make sure Dad is watching and get's mad when he doesn't. So all of your Dad's and I dinner conversations are had while not even looking at each other! The joys of parenting! :)

Today after church you randomly started singing "Jesus wants me for a Sumbeam!" I didn't know you even knew that song till you started singing it! You basically only know that line and sing it over and over again! You also did a pretty cute rendition of "Popcorn Popping!" I'm so glad you are learning something in nursery. You still cry 90% of the time I drop you off! I always feel a little guilty leaving you but your nursery leaders assure me you cheer up fast. I guess I should be fair, lately you've been so much better! You have a favorite nursery leader you will usually go to without crying. I pray she isn't released till after December! (In which time you will be in primary and the blows my mind! I don't feel old enough to have 2 kids in primary!)

Your birthday is in a short 13 days! Crazy! You will be three! I can tell you are the 2nd child. I feel guilty sometimes for not having the time to teach you as much as I did Bently. I laugh because you can never answer how old you are now, but you know you will be 3 on your birthday! 13 more days and you will be able to answer the question, "How old are you?" :)

I love you beautiful girl!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You my girl are always keeping me laughing. Whenever I am angry at you, or I am telling you something you don't want to hear, you pretend to be asleep. You turn your head away from me and close your eyes. Every single time. It also happens when people you don't know very well talk to you. It's adorable, and slightly annoying. Especially when I'm trying to have a calm conversation with you!

You are doing really well with potty training. Since your first day you've only had 2 accidents. Both times it was in the morning. I learned I need to put you on the potty right when you wake up or you won't remember to do it! I love having you in underwear. Even with all the negatives. One major one is I think you are scared to have an accident outside our house. So whenever we go out, you go potty all the time. I mean every 15 minutes you want to go sit on the toilet again. It seems to be slowly getting better. But it hasn't been no picnic! :)

Today we went out to Steinaker Reservoir to hang out at the lake for a minute. I guess I should tell you the back story. When we went to California, our first night there, you ended up going underwater longer than was comfortable. Ever since then, understandably, you've been afraid to go in the water. This has been awful considering summer just started! We went to the Roosevelt pool and you were terrified the whole time. I felt awful! You refused to be in the water unless you were clinging to Dad or I. So today, I didn't expect anything different from  you. In the beginning, that's exactly how it was. You wouldn't go near the water without Dad holding you. I don't know what changed, but by the end of the trip, you were jumping all over the water. I think you enjoyed how slowly it got deep. You could walk quite a distance before it hit your chest. You were so proud of yourself. You kept saying, "I can swim!" You loved it and didn't want to leave. :) I am so grateful you are slowly getting braver in the water again! You loved the water before and I really hope you will again!

I love you Miss Olivia Beth!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You are in a total princess stage! You love princesses! Especially Anna from Frozen. She is your all time favorite princess right! The other day you were playing that you were Anna and I decided, what the heck, and got out your Halloween costume from last year! You've now worn it for the past 2 days! You love it. You get on your Anna dress and your princess crown, your plastic high heels, purse, and your baby, and you look adorable. :)

For awhile now you love to be called other names. I'll say "Olivia come here!" And you'll say, "No I'm the mamma!" So then I have to call you mamma. Today you weren't Olivia you were Anna! It's so stinking cute! So all day we called you Princess Anna. At one point Dad even added, "Of Arendale!"

I love you my beautiful big girl! In case you were wondering, today is day four with no accidents from you! It seems to be too good to be true! I never thought it would happen with how against it you were! But you've really come around! Thank goodness for bribery! :)

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You my dear have started doing something amazing! It all started when you stopped telling us no every time we asked if you wanted to go pee on the potty. You see, before this, it was always a fast and stern no from you. You even told daddy you were going to were big kid diapers. I was without hope for sure. I knew from potty training Bently it was pointless to force the issue on you. That would just lead to tears and frustration on both sides. But as of late, you started telling us you wanted to go pee on the potty. It might have helped that I told you only big girls can go to Lagoon. So if you didn't go pee on the potty, no Lagoon for you! Friday night we went to the store and picked out a little potty. You are going through a fears stage and you told us you were scared of the big potty. So we dropped a good amount of cash on a dang little potty! The first day you did.... okay. You had 3 accidents and 4 success. One of those success though was a poop! So that made me happy. But still just over 50 percent success rate wasn't my favorite. Especially because you peed at McDonalds about 2 minutes after I asked if you needed to use the potty. I was ready to give up but decided to give it one more day! The next day was a busy day. We went to the fair for 4 hours and also to the store. You stayed dry the whole time! No accidents! I was so proud of you! Today again you've had no accidents! I am hoping this sticks around! The only bummer part is I constantly have to ask you if you have to go. So far you haven't been consistent in telling me when you need to go! Hopefully that skills is learned with time! OH and I forgot to mention you have stayed dry all 3 nights. We've put a diaper on you, but so far, it hasn't been necessary! :)

I love you my big girl! I can't believe I have two kids in underpants! :)

This is totally off topic but I have to mention is you have a new phrase you say quite often. You will ask, "what funny?" whenever we laugh. It's pretty darn adorable and hilarious! We usually laugh at you asking us what's funny!

I love you miss thang!

Mommy

Dear Olivia,

Yesterday Dad and Bently went to the movies together for Daddy son bonding time. That means you, me, and Lincoln were left behind. Though of course you were sad at first, we ended up having a great time together. I tried to focus on you while they were gone. I talked to you and tickled you! I just enjoyed being with you. We went to the park where I pushed you on the swing the majority of the time! I loved getting the opportunity to just sit and talk to you. You have SO much to say lately! You are a little chatter box! I love getting to listen in and see what's going on in your head!

I love you so much my beautiful girl! :) Thank you for spending the evening with me! It truly was magical!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You never go anywhere without your baby and your purse. If you forget, it's an epic melt down! You have a baby in a purple outfit that you have name "Bincoln Brother" and she is never far from your side. It's stinking freaking adorable! But it can also be a real slow down. You have a hard time walking up 3 flights of stairs carrying your baby and your purse. Also, when we get in the car, Bincoln Brother has to sit in her own seat in the back by Bently, and your purse must be on the seat by me. Then you can finally be buckled in your seat. Then when we get out of the car, you must gather them all together. Now I can not help you put the baby or purse in their spot or help you gather them. It is quite the process! :)

You don't eat much now except cereal or mac and cheese. You have moment where you will eat a ton! But mostly I wonder how you live on how little you eat! :)

I love you so much beautiful! You have the most contagious smile and giggle. I do a lot of silly things just to hear that giggle! It is stinking adorable to say the least!

I love you!

Mom

Dear Olivia,

Let me first say, you are an adorable child! I wish I could bottle your personality and show it to you when you're older! Because it's freaking adorable! That said, you are also very emotional and very stubborn. As I type this you are sitting on the counter in time out for hitting and screaming and disobeying in general. Girl you give me a run for my money. I love you but boy can you throw a tantrum. I mean an all out crazy tantrum. Like right now. I'm also meaner than your Dad. I'm willing to let you scream it out till you're ready to listen. He doesn't like that part so much. Neither do I but to be honest if you learn and grow from it, it's worth it! Oh and you may ask why you're on the counter. Well I've learned a neat trick. See you don't stay in time out. And I very dislike holding you in time out. I've learned if I sit you on something high, you can't jump down and you will just sit there. So that's mostly what time out is made of lately. :)

Another thing I struggle with is you love Dad WAY more than me. I mean it's crazy ridiculous. It actually really hurts my feelings. You are my only girl (so far) and you don't even like me that much! Maybe I'll touch more on this later but right now you really are melting down! I love you beautiful! Tantrums and all!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You have the most adorable personality. I wish I could bottle some of it and put it here for you to enjoy! I love listening to you talk and could all day long. You have the cutest little voice! And when you get excited your eyes go big and your whole face becomes animated! I love it! I'm going to have to start filming more so you can look back and see how adorable you! :)

We made a goal to show you some of the classic princess movies. We rented Snow White from the library and showed it to you yesterday. It was going quite well and I thought you really liked the movie. I never really like the classic princess movies so I was excited you liked them! Well after the movie is over all you would say is, "Snow White is scary!" It was adorable and sad! ;) You also requested to watch Beauty and the Beast today. You've seen the movie before so I was surprised when you snuggled up to dad and told him you were scared of the beast! The best part is we asked you if you wanted to turn it off you told us firmly no! It does seem you are entering the fears stage. I think we will have to be more careful with what we show you! ;)

We went to Dinosaur National Monument yesterday with Melanie and you loved every second of it! We had a blast! You of course had to carry your Elsa tin with you everywhere. We bought you a purse for Easter but for some reason you still like to carry around the Elsa tin! Well you always have toys in their but as we walked all around Dinosaur you had to add rocks from everywhere we went! It was adorable watching you collect your treasures!

We went swinging in the park today. You still LOVE swinging! You kept telling me you wanted to swing high with the birds. And of course you pretended to be "buzz buzz light year!" You are very into Toy Story right now. You love it!

I love you beautiful girl!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You had a very special evening with your Daddy tonight. Vernal holds an annual father daughter dance! You have been looking forward to this dance for a very long time! Constantly you would tell me, "I'm going to a dance with Daddy! Not Lincoln, Not brother (Bently), Not you. You stay home." The night finally arrived! It was a wee bit crazy because I was sick the night before and still not feeling 100%. But the real problem was that Bently threw up a couple hours before the dance. It was nasty! But luckily you show no signs of throwing up so Dad and you and Uncle Cole and Emma went off to the dance. I got you ready before the dance. As I sat there doing your hair for your first dance I couldn't help but think how fast other dances will be coming. Dance class, prom, college dances, your first dance, and of course, your Daddy daughter dance at your wedding. I prayed in that moment for time to slow down. Those other dances can wait! I'm going to sit and enjoy our living room dance parties, soak them in before they're gone! 

Daddy met you at the door with flowers and kisses! You looked incredibly beautiful in your gold dress and pig tails! You were jumping with excitement. There was one bad moment when you hurt Lincoln and I told you that wasn't a good thing to do. You burst into tears and in classic Olivia fashion, stormed out of the room exclaiming you didn't want to go to the dance! I thought it was very dramatic, even for you! ;) But you cheered right back up when Dad told you you were going to get cheese burgers for dinner! :) 

As for the rest of the night you will have to ask your Dad how it went! :) I love you beautiful! I hope you had a fantastic time at your first dance. 

Love,

Mom

Dear Olivia,

Today you started playing this game where you went to work. You packed up your bag of things you need and left for work. Of course kissing me goodbye! A couple minutes later you would return with big eyes and tell me all about your day at "work" with your big brown eyes full of excitement! I loved every second of playing this game with you! Your excited voice and facial expressions are just the very best thing in the entire world! I can't even tell you how much I enjoyed watching you run away with your little curly pointy bouncing as your feet went faster than your upper body. Girly you melt my heart every single day. I just think you are the cutest thing I have ever seen in my entire life! I love you so much darling! :) I am so lucky to be your Mom!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia & Bently,

Sometimes I catch myself getting caught up in things that aren't important. I'll tell you no or later because I have to clean or do things on the computer. And while those things are important, I'm trying very hard to stop telling you later. You guys are going to be big and old and grown before I know it. I never want to look back and say I wish I would have played with them more. Or cuddled them more. So today I stopped what I was doing and made a very sad make shift tent in the family room. I don't know who came up with the idea, but I know both of you wanted to do it. Unfortunately, when it was done, Bently wanted to read books and not play with Olivia in the tent. So I suggested we read books in the tent! So that's what we did. We read our library books in our tent. It was magical. It was perfect. It was a moment straight out of my head of what being a Mom would be like. I wish you guys could remember these moments! They are fantastic and magical and hilarious! You both say things that make me laugh all the time. I was sad when Lincoln woke up! I love spending time with you guys! You make me smile and laugh every day. I couldn't ask for a better job than being your Mommy! :) Thank you for reminding me to slow down and appreciate the moments!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You have your brother (Bently) and Bincoln Brother (Lincoln). I think it's super funny that you don't call either brother by their right names. Bently has always been brother. From the very beginning. It's very rare for you to call him anything besides brother. And now you have another brother. So he is Bincoln Brother! You also have your favorite doll that you carry around all the time. Her, yes her, name is Bincoln Baby! It's pretty adorable and hilarious to listen to you talk about all these people! :)

We kinda tried potty training, for a day. You told me you wanted to wear underwear so I let you. You actually did pretty good over all. You had 3 poopy accidents but I think that was only because you had diarrhea at the time. You went pee on the potty once. I then asked you if you had to go a hundred times that day. Including sitting on the toilet 3 times while we were at Walmart. But to no avail. You peed yourself at the dinner table! I gave up. You want to do it, but you don't at the same time. You have been wearing diapers again for the past couple days and you haven't mentioned underwear since.

You are becoming more and more independent. You are always saying, "No I do it myself!" It's very different then your older brother who still begs us to do everything for him! I love it, but again it is time consuming. You are learning and growing so fast! You half birthday is 4 days away and I can't believe pretty soon we'll be closer to 3 than 2! Three is old! I can't even believe that my second child is going to be 3. You're making your Mommy feel OLD! ;)

I love you beautiful. Even if you love your Dad more! ;)

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Yesterday when we went to the store and again today taking out the trash, you insisted on not only taking your doll. Oh no. You had to take your doll, her pillow, her rattle, and her bottle. It's a adorable and annoying. :) You walk really slow carrying all that stuff which  makes the store/taking out trash time consuming. But I do love looking back to see you carrying around your baby doll.

Love,
Mom