Dear Olivia,

You started to show a desire to walk again today. All day long you have been trying and trying to take those steps. If you continue, I know you'll be walking in no time! :) I love seeing you walk around. Though it does make me realize you are quickly leaving babyhood and entering the crazy world of a toddler. I'm excited and nervous to see what it's like having two completely mobile children. I'll let you know how that goes! :)

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Can I tell you how ironic it is I talked about you walking in my last letter to you on 09-08-14?? So September 9th rolls around. I am sick. Your Dad is sick. We both have the flu, thus we both have to call out of work. Your Dad tells you "Livvy, today is the day to walk. We're all home." I guess you listen to your Dad because you walked! We were all lazing around on the couch watching a show. You were standing holding onto your little green chair. Suddenly your Dad starts saying "Kayla, Kayla!!" I look down and you just start walking. You took 3 steps before you fell down! We exploded into cheers! I couldn't believe it! Your Dad said he just had a feeling you were going to walk! My smart girl! :) It just goes to show you, God really does work in mysterious ways! I didn't think he was going to answer my prayer by giving me the flu, but because I did, and your Dad did, we both called out and were home to witness you walk! I didn't miss your first steps and I am so incredibly grateful! Seeing these little firsts happen mean so much to me! I love you baby girl! Thanks for waiting for us all to be home!

Love,
Mom

P.s. There has been no change on the walking front since that day. You have absolutely refused to even try. I have no idea what's going. Feel free to keep walking! :)

Dear Olivia,

You are getting so close to walking. I am so excited and pray every day I get the chance to witness those first few baby steps! It would be even better if your Dad and I could both be there, but beggers can't be choosers! ;) I thought you were going to do it today, but you chickened out last minute. You can stand forever on your own, so I know you have the balance. But you just don't have the courage to take that first step! Don't you worry baby girl, I know you'll do it. :)

You hair is getting so dang long. Okay so, it's still short, but it's long comparing where we started from. It's to the point now that I feel like I have to pull it up or something, otherwise you look like a little rag a muffin. I cute one, but still. You hate it when I do your hair! I wish you were more patient because I'm thinking I could probably do two tiny pony tails if you would just sit still. But if there is one thing I am learning about you, you are a stubborn girl. You know what you want and you will work till you get it.

Still no new words. I think you just like observing people. And you point to most things you want so that makes it pretty easy to figure out! :)

Still just 4 teeth. I think you might be teething because you sure have been wanting to nurse all the time. Yes we are still somewhat nursing. To be honest I don't know if I have much to give anymore. You nurse so sporadically I'm never sure when you are going to want it or not. Though you are my first child (I know I only have 2) that has asked to nurse. I mean you don't say the words but you'll tug on my shirt or hit my breasts. It's kind of strange. Bently never did that you and haven't till now. I honestly don't mind nursing, I just am getting ready to be done. I'm willing to go with the flow though! :)

I love you so much my beautiful girl. Today I was watching you crawl on the floor and I just kept thinking "I can't believe I have a daughter." It's so incredibly strange to me that I have a little girl. It seems more and more real as you get older. I love it when you cuddle your baby dolls, or when you let me put your hair in a tiny ponytail. I can't wait for all the memories and adventures we're going to share together! I love you more than anything!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

I just realized I never wrote to you about your very first camping experience! Okay Daddy always tells me you went camping with the White side of the family but I don't think sleeping in a cabin counts as camping! This was your very first in a tent camping trip! Let me tell you, I was nervous. Going camping with little kids is never easy. I was especially worried about you falling asleep, and your lack of walking. Both fears turned out to be true. You were so frustrated being in the playpen all the time but quite honestly, I didn't want you crawling on the dirt. There was bugs and sharp rocks and other nature type things! ;) You actually did better than expected at the sleeping part. You threw a fit for about 20 minutes but as soon as I nursed you, you conked straight out!

Camping was fun, and I think you enjoyed it over all. You loved all the food, but that was no surprise. Me and you, we like our food! :) I think the food was probably your favorite part! It was also fun watching you interact with your cousins! Henry was there and so was Gunner! You loved them, sometimes a little too much. At one point you and Gunner were in the playpen together and you started smacking him. He didn't seem to mind and you were laughing, so we let it continue! ;)

You fell asleep on your first hike and it was pretty adorable! I was worried you wouldn't like being in the hiking backpack but you didn't mind at all apparently!

I love you Olivia Beth! I love experiencing all these firsts with you! It's so much fun to watch you explore the world!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You my dear, are getting more and more active by the day. You get into so much trouble! I swear it's at the point of craziness! Today you were getting into every drawer in the kitchen, dumped comet on my rug, pulled out ever cd case we have sitting on the computer desk, pulled out all the recycling, stuffed your toys in the kitchen drawer, threw your whole plate of food on the floor, and so on and so on. You definitely keep me on my toes kid! Every time I turn around you are into something else. I can't even begin to imagine what it's going to be like when you can walk!

Speaking of which, today we went to the splash pad. This August has been strangely rainy and cold and today was so nice I knew we had to go have some more summer fun before it was over! You loved it! At first you were hesitant and just wanted to sit on the bench by me. But then you started playing in the water and you had a blast! You giggled and laughed and splashed! I had a blast just watching you. I began to notice though, that your knees were getting all red from crawling on the hard floor. So I reached down took you by one hand and you walked around the splash pad. I think that is the most walking practice you've ever had! You did great! It was fun to see you on two feet walking around, even if you did have assistance! :)

We then went to the park and you loved it! You have no fear my darling! You climb up everything, go down all the slides, all without assistance. I basically just followed you around and prevented you from crawling on the VERY hot playground ground.

You are so much fun Olivia. I'm sorry I'm so bad about writing to you. I just love every second I get with my beautiful little girl. You are so stinking adorable and you just melt my heart with your smile and giggles. I hope you always know how much your Mommy adores you!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

Your Dad called me at work on August 9th to tell me you did something amazing! You guys, Dad, You, and Bently were having a dance party in the kitchen. Suddenly you were standing there in the middle of the kitchen bouncing up and down on your feet! You got to standing all by yourself with out any help! I was so jealous I missed it! Later that night Grandma Kay Lynn came over and your Dad of course began to brag about your new found skill. Grandma then informed him while we were in the temple for Valerie's wedding (8/8/14) you did it like 3 times! She thought it was something you had done for awhile so she didn't mention it to us! So I guess your Dad and I both missed your first time that you got yourself to standing! ;) I love you beautiful girl! I cannot imagine you walking! I feel like you are getting so old so fast! I can hardly believe it!

I love you with all my heart!

Love,
Mom

Dear Olivia,

You are one year old. I can't believe the day came and went so fast! It was a great day! I'm not gonna lie! We woke up and took our beautiful birthday girl to breakfast! That was a little rough. You were impatient and for some reason IHOP was very busy! ;) We walked around until our food arrived. I think you enjoyed your eggs and pancakes! :)

We basically spent the rest of the day getting ready for your party. We really didn't want to have your party on your birthday but there was no other day to do it on. I spent the day baking and getting things organized and then finally it was time to head up to decorate. Let me note, when we planned your birthday we didn't even consider the Bountiful City Pioneer Day Parade. I assumed that the parade would take place on the 24th, but nope. It took place the 23rd exactly the same time as your party, 6 o'clock. It was crazy traffic at 5 when we headed up to the park. This caused many of our guests to either be very late or not come at all unfortunately. :(

You sat in your high chair while we decorated the park! It looked pretty good! You spent your party being passed around from person to person. Luckily, you are doing better with people who are not Mom and Dad. We had 2 games at your party, one was guess how old Olivia was in each picture and the other was a quiz about you! Valerie Eddings and Sue Hyer won the picture game and Ron Hyer won the quiz about you. We then opened presents. You weren't quite into this part. It was weird, every present that was given to you was in a bag. You didn't open a single wrapped gift. They were all in gift bags. You had a hard time when we would take the toys away. It was so sad, but adorable.

Then it was time for the cake smash. I had no idea how it was going to go. You love your food, but your brother barley touched his cake. We sang to you and I made it through with crying, though it was a close call! It's always my favorite part of any birthday and yours was no different. There I was, crouched down next to you holding your cake and thinking about all the beautiful and wonderful memories the past year had held for you and me. From you being a tiny infant to a crawling almost toddler. I loved looking around and seeing all the amazing people who love you! We are so lucky to have such an incredible support system! And of course I was looking at you. My incredibly smart and beautiful little girl who was leaving the baby years behind her. Birthdays are so bitter sweet but I sure do love celebrating them!

After singing I set the cake down in front of you and just watched. At first all you could get was frosting and you started to get done really fast. (It was VERY rich frosting) But then when you started getting to the cake you got so excited! Once you had enough cake and learned how fun it was to take both your hands, raise them above your head, and smash them down on the cake. You threw that cake every where. You literally had a cake smash! It was so cute and fun to watch! I love that you were so happy!

We used some of Sue's emergency water to wash you up. Luckily it was very warm since it had been in the car! You loved that almost as much as you loved the cake smash itself. Daddy washed you up and I loved getting to just watch your relationship with your Dad. He loves you so much! You guys just laughed at each other as he wipped all the cake off your face, tummy, arms, and legs!

Then we cleaned up and hauled everything home. By this time it was almost nine. As much as I knew you needed to get to bed, I wanted a moment to just sit, enjoy you, and have some quiet family time. So your Dad, Bently, me, and you all sat in our family room read some of your new books and played with some of your new toys. That was one of the top moments of the day. Just enjoying you and watching you interact with Bently and your new toys. There is something magical in little perfect moments like those. I hope you always keep your eyes open and notice them when they come around. Those are the moments that make life worthwhile.

I love you my beautiful one year old. I love watching your personality develop and I love watching your grow and learn. I am grateful to have you as my daughter.

I love you forever!
Mom