My Birthday Party- By Olivia :-)

I would have written sooner, but I have been busy taking care of Mommy and Daddy and going to the doctor for my well baby check up. All three of us have colds!!! And you know what that means. Yes! I, Olivia, has to hold and cuddle with them to make them feel better. The doctor said that I will feel better soon and that my ears look healthy, so we all should be feeling better really soon. Sick parents are a bummer. But it is funny when they blow their nose. But it is not a bit funny when they wipe my runny nose!!!

So, about my party! It was so fun!!! There were so many people there and I love everyone of the people there!!! I think there were just under 60 people. It was loud and and there were lots of kids running around and lots of food and lots of playing and happy faces!!! Yeah!!! Perfect!!!! I remember that a year ago I did not like a lot ... make that ANY.... noise. But now I love a noisy party. Especially if that party is for me!!

So here are some photos from my party and a little bit about the party:

This is my cake!!! It had words on it that commemorated the special events in my first year of life: sitting, rolling, NICU, adoption, Baptism ect....

This is all the food for the big people! I ate my soft food, which is very delicious!
This is me with my sweet sweet cousin, Emily and her son Marcos, and my cousin, TJ!! Those boys are so fun!!! I loved pulling TJ's hair!!! He is a great cousin!!!!
This is my friend Lolo. She is the first friend I ever made who is also awesomely chromosomally enhanced just like me!!! Her Mommy is really awesome and so is her big sister!!! I bet that some of you reading this BLOG who also have awesome kids with T21 recognize my friend and her Mom from BC!!! Yay BC!!!!!
This is me with Grandma Kate. She and Grandpa bought me this cool wagon!!!! It is perfect for greeting my loyal subjects.... I mean wonderful guests.
This is me with my neighbors who are more like grandparents!!! I love them and I don't know what we would do without them !!!!! They are awesome!!!!!
Me and my adoring fans and my present from my cousin, MaryJane and Gregg :-)
This is me and Mommy with my cool cake that Daddy and the baker designed. It commemorated some of the highlights of my first year of life! Too cool!!!
This is me posing with some cool Baumgartners: left to right: Uncle Dick!! Grandpa!!! Anne!! Jack!! Me!!!!!!! Mommy!!! Y!!!!!!! And Uncle Doug!!!! Yay!!!!
This was really fun!! We all sat on the floor and played and opened my presents! I think we should do this again tomorrow! As soon as I got home from the party, I told Mommy that I was ready to go back. I had slept in the car on the way home, and was ready to rock n roll!!!!
Mommy's friend was holding me and her daughter got jealous and came up to her signing "Mommy". I think she was trying to remind her Mommy whose Mommy she was! I saw the whole thing!! And, I saw how it all worked, so now I am signing Mommy too! I had not been doing it even though Mommy and Daddy were teaching me. But now I sign Mommy and say Momma! And the great thing is that if I do this I get loads of attention and praise. So, I am planning on learning more signs and more talking, because I LOVE attention and praise!!! I have this thing figured out!!! Yay me!!!

This is me with my Aunt Suki. Yes! You have read about her!!! She is the sweetest aunt ever I think!!! She sent my Mommy flowers on her very first Mothers Day!!! Wow!!! I tell you!!! That meant more to Mommy with each passing day!!!! I love you Aunt Suki!!!!! :-) The scrapbooks of me from you and the wall hanging from you are so awesome!!!!
Now everyone take a good look! You cannot get 4 moore beautiful women together for a photo if you tried!!!! Mommy and Daddy love all four of us!! They say that they love all four of us moore and moore everyday!!!

This is me with my Aunt Jen. She is a Montessori teacher like my Mommy, so she knows just how to make me happy.

What An Awesome Birthday

Hello, its me - Olivia Annemarie. I am one-year-old today. Since I am so grown up, Daddy figured I could post and tell everyone about my awesome birthday. First off, I had a second tooth pop through today. Hopefully that will help all the awful teething pain to stop.

Here I am opening one of my awesome presents. I got lots of gifts ... haven't figured out whether it is because I turned one or because I am such a wonderful kid. Hmmm ... maybe that being a wonderful kid clause is for a different holiday.
Of course, I spent time playing with the new toys ... which is great because it left less time for physical therapy.
More gifts ... will the pile ever get smaller?
I got to see my Grandma B. She thinks I am a very special little girl.
Then "the adults" had me take this silly Polish test that is supposed to determine my future. Heck, I am Irish, did I have a choice in what I pick? I quickly grab the Bible after the shot glass ... I guess I can drink on Saturday and go to Church on Sunday.
I got this really cool Birthday plate with my name on it. It is almost as big as I am :-)
I also opened a bunch of cards
By this time I was pretty tired, so I got some kisses. I am kiss powered.
Then we took a road trip to St. Joe, MI. It was weird since I was sitting in the back seat all by myself facing forward. I kept telling Daddy this isn't the way it is supposed to work.
I ate my snack at an outdoor cafe. I realized that my parents have been depriving me of chocolate and coffee my whole entire life. Maybe one of you can talk some sense into them.
Then we went to see Lake Michigan. I had never seen it before. Boy is that one giant bathtub. Mommy told Daddy he couldn't dip my toes in the water. I guess that is because someone forgot to run the hot water long enough before filling it up.
Of course, more kisses to keep me going.
Then we went and sat on the beach. Once I realized how neato sand feels between the toes I had lots of fun. I also like pouring it out of my hand.
Dad got silly and buried one of my feet.

I hope all of you had a great day as well.

Now that I know how much fun birthdays are ... I am planning to have one every day!

Love, Olivia

Happy First Birthday Olivia!

Today is Olivia's First Birthday! It seems impossible that it has already been ONE year!

She has filled our lives with Joy and Wonder beyond belief! She is truly a Gift from God!

This is our first look at Olivia one year ago!!! Hard to believe it is the same little girl.

This photo was taken on her second day of life.
And these photos were taken recently. My goodness! How far Baby O has come!!!!


I would write a book entailing the wonders of Olivia and our life with her, and all sorts of interesting thoughts, but Olivia is done napping, so back to enjoying life with our precious sweet baby! (Olivia's first nurse would always call Olivia: Sweet Baby! And how appropriate!