11 months old...Where does the time go?

Olivia will be 11 months old in a few days. I can't believe we are already coming up on Christmas and her 1st birthday is just around the corner. This time last year we had been "active" and waiting for a baby for about 3 months. It was shortly after Christmas when learned of Olivia's birthmother and ask that our profile be presented to her.
We will be going to Florida for Christmas so thought I post this now. We probably will not have another post until after we get back so we should have lots of pictures to share. Here are some newer ones...

Happy Thanksgiving/10 months old...

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. Olivia is now 10 months old. She has 2 teeth on the bottom and 3 coming in on top. Her hair continues to get curly on top, but we have recently discovered head wraps which seem to be better than clips, etc. Here are some new pics of the stinker. She is into everything...

Happy Halloween!

Tonight was Olivia's first Halloween. We managed to get a few pictures before she got sleepy and cranky so we did not get to go trick or treating. She has 2 teeth now on the bottom with more coming I'm sure. Here are the best pics of the night.

Olivia and TJ, her buddy.

Olivia showing her "mean" face.

"Mad" Cow....hehe

I'll be watching the mailbox for a check from Chik-fil-A.

Another "mean"face! Look at those teeth...

A Tooth...Finally...

Olivia got her first tooth last week, finally. It is crooked but cute. We got a great deal on a used Winnebago so we will be going camping soon. I am on my way to Paris and Switzerland this week, so Brian will be taking care of Olivia all week. You may want to check on him to make sure he is still alive. Here are some new pics.

Her first pumpkin!

The Winny!


Olivia driving the Winny...

Learning to Stand...8 months!

Olivia has already discovered that crawling is not the only way to have fun. She is now pulling up and standing and also getting up to the fourth step. Here are some recent pics of her in action. We could not get her to smile since she is so focused on trying not to fall down... She is now 8 months old. We received her new birth certificate already and I went down and applied for a new SSN. All we have left is to get her a passport so she can travel overseas or on cruises with us. It has been a long road but we are finally happy to have all the paperwork and everything in place now. Here are some recent pics of her... and one of me playing in my kickball league :)

Learning how to get up the steps...
Enjoying the picnic....
At the park...
At the park...

Being silly for the camera.
Concentrating on standing.
You caught me!
Olivia in baby jail (we had to put up the gates).

In her walker...
Being silly...
At the Ft Worth Zoo...

7 Months Already...

I cannot believe that I am sitting here typing this 7 month post already. This year has flown by so fast and we are heading into the Fall shortly. It has been extremely hot this summer here so we will welcome Fall with open arms. Plus, Olivia cannot wait to try out her Fall wardrobe. No dr appt until 9 months so no stats update this time. We think she is somewhere around 20 lbs. She got a whole bunch of new age appropriate toys (way overdue) and a froggy swimming pool this weekend. She loves the water and that makes Brian very happy. Here are some pics of her enjoying the pool today.

We're Final!

Last week we received the final judgement from Illinois so Olivia is officially an Ellis! It will still take 6 months or so get her new birth certificate and SSN. Hopefully, we have all that in time for tax season. In other news, Olivia got her ears pierced in celebration of the finalization. Below are a few pics. She did really well and only cried for a minute. She also started crawling and saying "da da" a week or so ago. She is getting so big so fast!