July whoas

July has not been the best month in the history of our family.

• Over the holiday weekend, our air conditioning went out. The replacement unit was $2500.
  
• Charlotte decided to swing from our chandelier, which fell down into thousands of small pieces of glass.
• Our blender, which has faithfully been making us smoothies all summer, burst into flames.
• A once-promising garden has all but died, due to lack of water and abundance of weeds.
• Helaman's schedule has been terrible, and his dept is having "trouble" finding the funds he is due for two weeks of his pay.
• Olivia has had massive 18 month old sleep regression. Won't go down, nap, etc. without hours of crying. Separation anxiety is at a peak as well.
  

However, there is an upside to each problem. We didn't have to replace our entire AC system, no one was underneath the 50 lb. chandelier when it fell, Breville is sending a free replacement blender, and our basil is thriving. Helaman has a job, however cruel and unusual, and Olivia is... so cute! See? Thanks for listening to my ranting.

Milestone

My little baby is 18 months old today! Which means, of course, she goes to nursery officially. She has been going to nursery unofficially for a few weeks now, and though there have been rough weeks, hopefully she will warm up to it soon.

We love Olivia! There is so much to love about her. Most of all, I love her cuddling. Many times when I am sitting on the couch she will come up and just snuggle up next to me. She loves to give hugs and kisses, and all of her chubby baby rolls just make her deliciously squishy and fun.

She loves to play with people - especially Charlotte. Swimming in our blow up pool, hide and seek, peek-a-boo, rolling balls, and barbies are her favorites. She makes hilarious faces and is able to say a ton of words. Several times a day she will come up to me with a book and command, "Read!"

Olivia also loves to sing and be sung to. Most of all, she loves the Primary songs. She's never been a great car traveler, but once I burned a CD with primary songs on it she has been great in the car. When she sings, she doesn't enunciate her words perfectly, but her tone is great, so you can tell what she is singing!

We love you Olivia, thank you for being part of our family. It wouldn't be the same without you!