Future Linebacker

I've been setting aside any Olivia's clothes that were gender neutral in hopes of using them for Nathan. Below you'll see Nathan wearing one of my favorite outfits that she's outgrown. Difference is Olivia was wearing it when she was 10 months old and nearly walking! Something tells me we have a little boy who's going to outgrow his big sister in no time flat!

Happy Halloween!

On Tuesday, we traveled to see George's family in Livingston so Olivia could go trick or treating with her cousin Aiden.

Olivia and Aiden getting ready. Aiden decided he DID NOT like the scarecrow costume so...

Kitty Kat and Skeleton went to see Grandpa at work.

Olivia was not one bit shy about sticking her bucket out for candy.

It's scary how CUTE we are, isn't it?

Despite the fact that I left the main part of Olivia's costume (the black velvet bodysuit) at home (blame it on sleep deprivation?), we still managed to pull together a pretty cute outfit for her. Most importantly, she stayed warm and had FUN!

Can't wait till next year!

Pop Rocks!

Bag of Pop Rocks: 98 cents.

Watching Olivia have pop rocks for the first time: priceless.


Being a parent is all about introducing your children to new experiences right? It was hilarious to see Olivia enjoy the Pop Rocks phenomenon for the first time. I tried to prepare her best as I could so she wouldn't be scared by the sensation. I told her it would feel funny in her mouth. She laughed and we laughed, then she said, "More pop pop!"

Silly Girl

Olivia is always cracking us up. She is definitely worth her weight in entertainment value! Here are some pictures of some of the silly things she's done lately.

Olivia split open her Elmo Halloween bucket and put it on like a hat.

She thought Nathan might like to play with her Elmo giggle ball and plopped it on his lap.

Buster's not safe either. She thought he might need a hat too.

Well needless to say, all the laughing helps us cope with some of the challenges of raising a toddler. She certainly is a character, and we look forward to enjoying more of her little shenanigans!

"Little" Man

It's hard to believe our little man is 2 months old. He's really starting to interact, hold our gaze, and coo at us. He has the most precious dimples when he smiles (and even when he cries). He goes in for his check up on 11/2 and we are very curious to see how much he weighs now. It sure seems like he has gained a lot! Olivia loves her "baby Nate." She likes to rub his head, and she wants to give him lots of "huggies."

Livy's Chompers

Back in April, Olivia only had 6 teeth. As you can see in the picture on the right (taken yesterday), Olivia now has a mouth full of teeth. She is really beginning to look like a little girl now.

Today at lunch, we told her she needed to use her chompers to eat. She thought we were making a reference to the Gator Chomp, and replied, "Go Gay-gay!" That is Olivia-speak for "Go Gators!"

Our Little Boy

Announcing Nathan Dean Alkire
Born 9/2/07 at 2:03pm
8lbs 14 oz and 21 1/4 inches long

Old Made New Again

We got a big surprise today! Grandma and Grandpa in Florida sent Olivia the baby crib that I played with as a child. They had it refinished, and Grandma constructed a new mattress with cover, pillow and blanket for the baby dolls. There was also a new baby doll complete with diaper bag. Olivia is trying out the bottle!

Apparently, this crib is quite the antique. It was manufactured in the late 40s, early 50s, and my mom paid 50 cents for it at a garage sale when I was Olivia's age!

County Fair Time

The Ravalli County Fair is here! We started the day off by watching the parade downtown, and then met George at the fairgrounds after work. Olivia rode the carousel (she wouldn't sit on a horse), visited the animal barns, and shared some elephant ear with mommy. It was great fun! Then I got to play "wee" with daddy and Grandma Theresa on the way back from the sheep barn.

The BIG Project

So I had this grand idea to install a 6' x 10.5' Noah's Ark Wallpaper Mural on the wall in the kids' room, but since we are renting, we can't wallpaper. We decided to mount the mural on plywood, and attach that to the wall. George's boss helped him create a fancy framing system, and Olivia decided to help George with the paint! Good thing it was latex paint!














We're pretty excited about the finished product. Olivia is really enjoying it too. She wakes up from her nap and says, "Wow!"

Dressing Up

Olivia has become very interested in trying to put her own clothes or putting clothes on her dollies. This time, she somehow managed to pull on a pair of her Elmo panties, and then finished the outfit with a pair of my underwear twisted in a figure eight between her head and her leg! Don't worry, the underwear were clean! LOL

Future Makeup Artist?

Yesterday we had some friends over for a BBQ. While we were busy visiting, Olivia snuck off into my bathroom and raided my makeup bag. By the time I realized she was M.I.A., she had devoured an entire Burt's Bees tinted lip balm, and had started mixing in some mascara! Never a dull moment around here!

Momma's Helper

Well I've had that spurt of energy, so Olivia and I tackled washing the car. She had lots of fun playing in the suds. We also straightened up the garage and got the infant car seat installed. Now we are just waiting on the little guy to join us!

Eerie Evening

This was the view from our front porch on Sunday nite as a result of the forest fires. It was a really creepy shade of amber. Monday morning, there was actually soot on my kitchen windowsill!

A Berry of a Good Time!

Last week we drove up to Lost Horse Creek in search of huckleberries. All the berries at the lower elevations were shriveled up, but we were able to find a decent patch a little further up. Olivia had so much fun eating the berries (notice the huckleberry goatee)! Afterwards, George's friend Jesse did a little fly fishing in the creek. He caught a little trout and Olivia got to touch it. She had fun in the cold creek water too!

Happy Girl

Olivia is the happiest when she's following daddy outside around the yard, watering the plants and moving sprinklers. She has recently discovered the joy of splashing in puddles too!

Skalkaho Falls

On the way back from visiting George's family in Livingston, MT, we took a different route home: The Pintlar Scenic Loop. Most of it is only open in the summer time because a good portion of the road is what George calls a "windey goat path." About 20 miles from home are the Skalkaho Falls. Made for a great photo op, and the water was nice and cold so Buster got to have a little sip. As you can see, Elmo was along for the ride!

Lake Como

We took Olivia to Lake Como, which is about 5 miles south of town. They have a sand beach area with a little wading area for the kids. It was so nice! She wasn't so sure about getting in the water, but explored a little with daddy by her side.

Country Weekend

Many of you razzed us when we moved from the big city onto Hay Field Lane. On Friday, the hay field adjacent to our yard was getting it's first cut of the summer. That night, I was doing dishes as the smell of manure wafted thru the open window. Made me think of the Green Acres tv show. I was feeling a bit like Zsa Zsa.






Last nite we loaded Livy up for her nightly walk around the neighborhood. Poor Buster, who turned 12 last week, is having some trouble with his back leg. We tried to load him up for the ride. He only made it to the end of the driveway before jumping out. He laid in a shady spot on the lawn until we got back. On the way, daddy picked Olivia a morningstar, a buttercup, and a wild rose which she ate, petal by petal. We also saw a deer on the far end of the hay field by some brush. We've seen tracks on the dirt road, and some deer "berries" in our yard so we knew they were amongst us. It was neat to see one!

The Family Wagon

So, we finally decided to get rid of our gas-guzzling SUV. We'll miss the extra space, but we won't miss putting over $60 in the gas tank at a time. Since I grew up in a family of station wagon lovers, this 2003 VW Passat Wagon was a natural choice, and we love it! It's got a 4-cyl turbo engine with a manual transmission. It's fun to drive, and comfortable too. Livy likes to look out the window and say "neigh" or "moo" depending on the animal we drive by. Not sure what she'll say when we drive by our neighbor's buffalos or the llamas in town. LOL Probably, "Oh wow."

Duck Pond

Olivia got to see lots of ducks and geese up close and personal at the local duck pond. She kept running around saying, "Bawk bawk!" The pond is also stocked with some pretty big trout. No fishing allowed. :-(

My 1st Haircut

Olivia had her bangs trimmed on 6/2 and she was very cooperative. I think she likes the salon as much as her mommy does. :-)

I'm Baaaack!

Well it has been over 3 months since I've added any new posts. My apologies. Between work and the first trimester fog, I just couldn't find the extra energy to post anything. Since my last post, a lot has changed for us...we've moved from Seattle to Montana (George's home state) and he has a new job working for Glaxo Smith Kline. We're only 4 hours from his parents now so we've been fortunate enough to see them 3 times in the last month, even if the visits were brief. I am finishing up my health coaching job so I can spend more time with Olivia before the new baby comes. At some point I am hoping to get a per diem position at the hospital in Missoula so I can keep my clinical skills up.

We go in for my 20 week check on Tuesday, and the BIG ultrasound. Any guesses on the gender of "little bean?"

As for Olivia, she is doing great! She loves our big yard, and is doing the typical toddler things. We got her a wagon so daddy can pull her down the road to see the neighbor's horses, and she loves to bounce around the yard in it too. We had a bit of a scare with her yesterday. First, the neighbor's lab knocked her down, actually just laid her out, in the gravel part of the driveway because he was too excited about playing fetch. She got two big goose eggs on the back of her head that even had little lacerations from the rocks. Then, last nite, she was following daddy into the kitchen, and she slipped, and landed right on the back of her head again. We were worried sick all nite about a closed head injury or some other worst case scenario. She got a good nite's sleep though and has been playing all day. She's a tough little cookie. Doesn't stop the worrying though.

I guess that's all for now. Thanks for hanging in there during my absence. I promise to be better!

Olivia Loves Disco

Baby Loves Disco - Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Well it's hard to believe that 2007 is just about here. 2006 was such an exciting year for us, and it turns out that 2007 is going to bring some excitement of it's own.

George came downstairs this morning and was a bit confused when he read Olivia's shirt. I had to prompt him, "well what would it mean if Olivia was a big sister?" And then he caught on to the secret that Olivia and I had been keeping from him since yesterday...

We're Expecting!

No, it wasn't planned, but it is a blessing, and we are very happy to be adding another little one to our family. As best as I can estimate, I am about 11 weeks along. We'll keep you posted!

Happy New Year!

Olivia with her new Bounce & Spin Zebra!

Christmas Eve

Olivia is wearing her special Christmas jammies and hat which say

"Dear Santa, It's my 1st Christmas and I've been soo good."

This picture will make you wonder if Livy got onto the "Naughty" List instead. Look at that face!

I guess Santa decided to drop by anyway!

Bath Time

Olivia has just recently started taking a bath in the "big girl tub." She loves to crawl around and splash.

Little Hands

Sometimes you get discouraged

because I am so small

I leave my little handprints

on furniture and walls.

But every day I'm growing,

I'll be big some day

and all my tiny fingerprints

will surely fade away.

So here's a lasting keepsake

so you can still recall

how sweet my little hands were

when I was very small.

Back in October, Olivia and I attended a Pattycake Prints party, hosted by one of the ladies in my Listening Mothers group. We had lots of fun having her hand and foot print casted in clay, but we had no idea how precious this little keepsake would turn out to be. The poem above was included in the box, and brought both Daddy and Mommy to tears.

We love those little hands with all of our hearts!

Olivia's Photo Shoot

We spent much of yesterday afternoon setting up a photo shoot for our first family Christmas card. Olivia was the star, of course! Could she be any cuter?

We've decided to reveal the cutest pictures on the Christmas card instead of posting them here. Don't want to ruin the surprise!

Happy Holidays!

BabyLegs!

As you can see, Olivia is having fun with Daddy and Ginger while I'm off at my 12 step program...

Hi, my name is Karen, and I'm a BabyLegsaholic. Ok, I admit...I'm an addict! I can't live without this new product I've stumbled upon...baby leg warmers! Olivia is sporting her new pair, which George says reminds him of Mork and Mindy, and then he proceeds to make the "nanu nanu" sign with his fingers. But I digress...these BabyLegs are the coolest thing ever! www.babylegs.net So convenient for diaper changes, under dresses instead of tights, & to protect little knees from hardwood floors. I could go on and on! On Friday, my friend Carmen and I (whose little Emilia is one day younger than Olivia) went to the BabyLegs open house (they are based here in Seattle). I could hardly contain myself amongst the vast selection. Keep checking back for more picks of Olivia modeling her BabyLegs!

Fun Times with Dad

Daddy built Olivia a tent in the living room using two chairs and a quilt. They had lots of fun playing in there. Ginger did too...she has to be right in the middle of everything! Speaking of Ginger, she's a permanent fixture next to the highchair when Olivia's eating. Somehow, Olivia has gotten the idea that it's ok to feed the dogs her puffs and wagon wheels! I guess I should be glad we have dogs around to "vacuum" after mealtime.

Quack! Quack! Quack!

Olivia just recently became fascinated with ducks. Her Great Grandma Shirley gave her a duck that quacks and waddles. When we turn the duck on, Olivia flaps her arms and laughs, and then grabs the duck by it's beak. For a video clip of her playing with the duckie, click here http://home.comcast.net/~gralkire/MVI_0009.avi

On Wednesday, we finally had a break in the torrential rain brought to Western Washington by something called the Pineapple Express. We decided to take advantage of the good weather and go for a walk at our favorite place in Seattle: Green Lake. We stopped along the walking path to see some ducks, and they started coming towards us. Olivia was so happy...just giggling away! A little farther around the lake, she got to see some duckies swimming.