On the move . . .

constantly! These were the only shots I could get of my girl today. No wonder the doctor says she is so skinny: she just does not sit still! I love that my daughter is so energetic, curious, and eager to learn. She just wants to explore and experience everything!

Earlier this week Olivia and I went to the aquarium to meet up with some other moms and kids from our church. The aquarium wasn't nearly as good as the one in Boston, but Olivia had fun! This was the only picture I could get of her. She is not content to sit in her stroller in public places anymore!

A Typical Sunday

I love Sundays like today. Today we got up and went to church at 9 (almost made it there right on time today too--I'll keep trying!). My lesson to my primary class went well. Even though there were nine children today (in a small classroom) they weren't too rowdy and actually seemed to listen.

After church we came home, Olivia went down for a nap, and I made my Dad's famous mac'n'cheese for dinner--Mike's favorite. After dinner we both took naps and then did some reading together; I made cookies; and we went for an hour+ walk. It has been so nice and warm in Salt Lake lately, and Mike and I love exploring the neighborhoods in the hills south of our home. There are some gorgeous homes, views, and parks really close to us, and it is fun to just walk around and enjoy the nice atmosphere and walking trails. All the neighborhoods behind our home are so idyllic: there are so many parks with lots of families out walking, neighbors outside visiting with each other, and just lots of friendly-seeming people in general.

Olivia got very restless with her stroller and shoulder rides upon Daddy, so she did lots of walking "all by herself." She seemed so proud to do her quick baby shuffle down the sidewalks and walking paths.

It was just so nice to enjoy time together as our own little family without a lot of other demands or distractions.

Here are some pictures of our typical Sunday happenings. Me making cookies (of course, we all know I have a bit of a sweet tooth), and Mike enjoying the spoils as well (he's going to kill me for posting this picture).

I forgot to get pictures of Olivia doing her cute, little, independent walk today, but as a substitute Mike got these irresistibley cute pictures of Olivia sleeping tonight. We don't usually make a habit of taking pictures of her at night while she's sleeping, but we peeked in on her tonight and just couldn't help preserving this image of our little "Woogie-Boo".

P.S. Erin, we are anxiously awaiting the setup of a Passmore-New Zealand blog!

Yummy Dinner

Since there is only the two of us (Olivia can't eat anything we eat because of her allergies), I usually don't make a huge deal about preparing an elaborate dinner for just Mike and me.
However, my new favorite website is allrecipes.com, and browsing through all the creative recipes on their site always inspires me to want to try new recipes. I've found that I love cooking (and eating!) new foods.

Here's what we had for dinner Monday night:

White Chicken Chili
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cha-Chas-White-Chicken-Chili/Detail.aspx

I have actually made this recipe before for Mike's family and really enjoyed it. However, I like my chili thick and this recipe is very soupy, so I altered it a little according to my tastes. I added only 16 ounces of chicken broth, and I made sure to drain all the liquid off the canned beans before adding them. I also added a drained can of corn (this is a must!). When the chili was well blended, I mixed in about a half cup of sour cream. I think these changes really made this recipe extra yummy!

We also had strawberry spinach salad
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Strawberry-Spinach-Salad-I/Detail.aspx
I added red onions. Mike was very skeptical: he doesn't like "chick salads" with fruit in them. But, he ended up pleasantly surprised!

Pumpkin muffins: These are so easy and so good!
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Pumpkin-Muffins/Detail.aspx

Per the reviews of the recipe, I sprinkled the unbaked muffins with brown sugar to give them kind of a crunchy sweet topping.

We really enjoyed our good meal. Whenever I cook a big meal like this, we always eat the same thing for days due to all the leftovers. Both Mike and I HATE wasting leftovers. So its always a lot of pressure when I cook: I feel like the meal has to be sooo good, we won't mind eating it for lunch and dinner for the next three days!

Most of my day Tuesday was spent trying to keep Olivia entertained while at the same time studying for my ASL test that evening. My teacher pulled out a few signs that were not in my notes, but overall I think I did well.

Thursday I present a group presentation on a chapter from the book When the Mind Hears. The book is a history of Deaf schools and education from the 18th century on, primarily focusing on France. It is old and long and filled with numerous facts about people I've never heard of. I thought it would be dry and boring, but, surprisingly, I love it. I highly recommend it; it is a very enlightening read that has helped so much more fully comprehend the education of those who are deaf, the beauty of signed language, and human rights.

Go Cougs!

Here is Olivia showing off her new BYU tee. She looks so happy, because, in an effort to get her to stay still for the picture, I was letting her hold the TV remote.

Nicknames

(What do you think, Any resemblance to Gollum? I think not . . .)

I thought it would be fun to document all of the nicknames we have for Olivia right now:

Woogie Boo

Woogie Boo Bear

Woogie

Woogs

Smeagol (like the character from Lord of the Rings)

Smeag

Olivia Boo Benson

Chubs

Livie-Lou

Olivia Louise

Sweetie

When Olivia was first born someone gave her a bright fluorescent pink stuffed teddy bear. In her early months, she would smile when I waved the bear in front of her face and said, in my most over-the-top baby voice, "Woogie-Boo bear!" Soon the nickname just transferred over from the bear to Olivia. Anyone who has seen Lord of the Rings knows of Smeagol and his immortal lines, "My precious!" Well Olivia certainly is "my precious," and as a little baby she was beautiful and cute, yet I couldn't help being reminded of a bald and hunched over Smeagol!

Growing up my dad always had creative and bizarre nicknames for me and my siblings, so I guess a bit of that rubbed off on me. My Dad's nickname for me was Boopsie (have no idea how he came up with that one!). Some of the names he had for my brothers and sister include: Rinsy-G, Fredrick (for my brother named Timothy???), Ed (again for my brother named Tim!), Bubbsie, bubba, Gonus, and Doodie Dango (actually I think this was a nickname we gave my Dad-aren't we a weird family!). I know there were lots of other names my Dad had when we were younger, but I forget. Any of my siblings, if you are reading this, what were some of the other crazy nicknames Dad came up with?

Olivia's 1st Year

I stayed up way too late finishing this . . .