Happy Birthday Olivia!

She's two! Olivia has had a party month! Nana and Gramp came to visit and she got a cool rocking chair. Then we celebrated again with the Hickox side the next weekend. Then on Monday May 11 ("real bday") she got to celebrate again with Mommy, Daddy, and Isaac. And we had some more cake today and sang Happy Birthday again! The picture story follows:

Yeah! I'm TWO! (and the bunny sings "If You're Happy and You Know It")

I made her a Cat Cake. Over this past year, she's wanted to draw "meow"s everytime she had something in her hands to draw with. Both Justin and I have drawn a TON of cats as well.

The final product.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Two candles. Two blows.

This was the messiest she got.

There was a clown at the party! She really did like it, you just can't tell.

She got lots of fun presents like: a kite, golf set, horse shoes, clothes, bears, bottles for her babies, play food...

And she played with her presents.

Monday May 11 Morning. She loves Cheerios.

Mom, Dad, Isaac, and Olivia went to the Aquarium in Gatlinburg.

These were one of her favorites. They were moving around/fighting/playing king of the rock. We laughed.

There was a cool walk through shark tunnel.

This was actually her on the way TO the aquarium. She was one tired pup!

AND.....DRUM ROLL..... She got rid of the crib! It's now in Isaac's room! And Isaac is out of our room! Yippy!

She likes the bed...and the fact that she can get out anytime she wants....ex: right after she's tucked in for the night!

And side note: Uncle Will, Aunt Tara, and Jackson are now living in Germany. Boo. We'll miss you!

Isaac is getting BIG!

Turning the corner at age 2: Walking bare foot in the grass.

She got a "life suit" for the boat rides in the pond and lake.

I can't believe she's already two. She has been such a huge blessing to our family. We are treasuring every moment we have with her. I totally get why Jesus said "let the little children come to me". She is so precious, trusting, full of life, and loving. Having kids helps to understand how God sees us and what we need to be like towards Him as well. And all this applies to Isaac too. Two treasures. Thank you God!

3-0 and more

So I finally caught up with Justin. I'm 30. Don't really feel any different....although it's been easier to remember how old I am than when I was 26-29.

Justin said the #1 was because I am his #1 wife. (Ok, it was from Olivia's birthday...and it has to last until Isaac turns one.)

We all went to Calhoun's on the River in downtown Knoxville. I had steak.

Justin's parents drove down for the weekend to celebrate. Thank you!

Other pictures that have nothing to do with me turning 30.

His face is turning into a little man. I love him.

We made huge bubbles one day. Olivia and Luci loved them.

His first time holding on to his rattle for more than a couple seconds. What a pro!

I see some similarities.

I'm clean!

I see some more similarities.

We always read 2 books before bed. She gets to pick.

Easter 2009

Grandma and Grandpa Hickox enjoyed helping Olivia color eggs again this year.

Olivia's 1st Easter Egg Hunt out at Grandma and Grandpa's house in Dandridge, TN. Olivia's doing her best to point at an egg.

I found one!!! Yahooooo!!!

Olivia got a bit distracted after awhile during the Easter egg hunt by all of the fun lawn ornaments and statues.

It was rather funny.

Olivia showing off her Easter Squirrel.

She carried it around in her basket for some time.

Cooking 101 - Worzel, this is for you!

It's Turkey Parmesan Casserole. Crazy story really. Found the recipe online. Printed it and kept it for weeks. Sunday I was trying to come up with what to eat for the week without going to the store. I saw I had all the ingredients except for the turkey (only had 1 cup instead of 2 thanks to leftovers from Easter Lunch...otherwise I wouldn't have had any). I decide to make it Monday, although we were getting our taxes done at 4:30. I decided to be on the ball and cooked a chicken breast to go with the turkey, thawed the broccoli, and cooked the noodles. All I had to do was dump it together when I got home and bake for 25min. Low and behold, we didn't get home until almost 7pm. As I'm mixing it all together, I realize I have no cream of mushroom soup. Darn. Ok. So we had different leftovers Monday. Cook it Tuesday. Although glancing over the recipe, I saw I was supposed to have uncooked noodles. Darn again. Ok. We'll use the cooked ones later in the week. So I buy the cream of mushroom soup Tuesday. Right before Justin comes home on Tuesday, I throw the ingredients together to put in the oven. As I'm trying to add the spaghetti and "mix lightly" I'm starting to get real frustrated....what kind of recipe is this??? So then I go back and read the recipe. Yes, up top it says "uncooked spaghetti", however on bottom, it says "cook spaghetti and drain". WHAT?!?! Who writes recipes like this? I wasn't about to give up on this meal yet! So I start undoing what I did. That's when Justin walks in and has to take a picture. I pulled out most of the uncooked spaghetti, scraping as much sauce off as I could, then added the already cooked noodles I had in the fridge, and 25minutes later, we had Turkey/Chicken Parmesan Casserole. It wasn't so good. I probably will not make it again. (It wasn't the noodles or turkey/chicken, it was the sauce...bland flavor.)

It proves once again that I need my own cooking show. If I made brand new recipes without looking at it until I was on the show, I could make millions and get lots of laughs I'm sure! Katie, you could be my side kick!

Yard Work - Take 1

Here's a couple pictures of the back yard when we got the house...the previous owner kept his boat in this spot and the storage shed he had for it finished out the fence. One of my big outdoor projects was finishing it so Luci would have a place to play....ok, so we could let her out and not chase her around the neighborhood. I'll publish a new post down the road when I get a little more done around the deck/patio area. I turned the spot where his boat sat into the first Ford Family Garden. I'll post some pics of that down the road as it develops.

There's a pic of the fence getting done and a pic of the first work day in the garden. Since there's still a good chance of a frost or two, I've only got carrots, cabbage, lettuce, and broccoli out. Can't wait to get the rest put in and start watching it grow.

Another Ohio Visit

There was a "Celebration of Kids" Expo at the Dayton Mall. Super fun! Olivia got to play in some weird texture tables, got a fireman's hat, bear, and 3 books, made a sock puppet, and played with some sticks.

Uncle Will's Flight School. She passed with flying colors!

We visited Aunt Tara's Pedicure Studio. Awesome color!