Yet another reason why I love libraries

I have always loved libraries. As a child I would go to the library often, coming home with a huge stack of books each time. In high school I volunteered at the city library and was a library aide in the school library. My job for the entire four years of college was in the BYU library. I love them! I love the smell of them, I love the books, I love how helpful the librarians are, and today I found one more reason libraries are totally awesome.

Today they were having a book sale, so I hit it almost as soon as they opened, knowing the children's books would go fast.

I picked up some of my childhood favorites:

-The BFG --Roald Dahl

-Matilda -- Roald Dahl

-Island of the Blue Dolphins -- Scott O'Dell

-White Fang -- Jack London

-Treasure Island -- R. L. Stevenson

Some awesome children's books:

-The Very Hungry Caterpillar

- I'm Quick as a Cricket

-A You're Adorable

-A to Z -- Sandra Boynton

-Sheep in a Jeep

-Goodnight Gorilla

And a few others:

-A Treasury of Great Poems

- Tuesdays with Morrie

-Benjamin Franklin -- Walter Isaacson

All of these look either brand new or as if they've been read only once, and what did it cost me?

$6.50

Woo-hoo!

I could have kept going but Livia needed a nap...maybe I'll stop by again later this afternoon and see if I can find any more treasures.

olympics, here we come!

I know it's not the best somersault in the world, but I still think it's cute.

(And for some reason whenever I change the video format for streaming, it cuts out the sound at the end. So just imagine us cheering for her)

Sisters

The other day I was walking to the park with Livia and as I was passing a restaurant I saw a girl and thought to myself, "Wow! That girl looks so much like my sister, Laura!" About half a second later I realized that I was actually looking into a reflective window, and that the girl was, in fact, ME! People always tell us we look so much alike, and I guess there is something to it, after all. (And don't you dare tell me you've never done that before--seen yourself in an unexpected mirror and not recognized yourself right away. Chase says he's never done that, but I can't be the only one, can I??)

These are a few of my favorite things (about Livia)

1. Hearing the pitter-patter of her little feet as she walks around the kitchen. The uneven gait. The frequent stops to examine a forgotten cheerio underneath her high chair. I love that.



2. When she gets hungry in the car I'll often reach my hand back at a stoplight with a fishie or raisin. I feel her little fingers explore my hand, and then a tiny fist close around her new treasure. I love that.



3. How she wakes up so incredibly happy in the morning. Chase and I both love this, and he'll often wait a few extra minutes to go to work so he can be there for it. The tousled hair. The huge grin that spreads over her face when she sees us peeking in from the doorway. How she immediately flops down and rolls all over her crib, grinning and laughing all the while. I love that.



4. The way she tries to make a break for it when I catch her holding or doing something she knows she can't have/do. Either throwing the forbidden object away from her or clutching it tightly to her chest, she'll run as fast as her little legs can carry her. I love that (for now, while she's slow).



5. The look on her face when she develops a new skill: intense concentration followed by a beaming smile and an occasional giggle. I love that.

Happy Mother's day (early)!

Independence day

The other day I gave Livia a gogurt for the first time as she's become increasingly opposed to the idea of being fed with a spoon, and yet lacks the coordination to do it herself (although she is improving). Anyway, she loved it, and the second day I tried to feed her one, she insisted on feeding it to herself. I have never seen her so adamant about anything, and while I resisted at first, I finally gave in, reasoning that it would be messy, yes, but it wasn't that big of a deal. She had the time of her life, as you can see, and I did have to bathe her afterwards because yogurt was everywhere (all down her lap, etc.) The day after that I gave her one again. I anticipated another huge mess, as I had the first time I let her feed herself. Much to my surprise, this was the end result:

Seriously. She ate almost the entire thing, too. I almost felt like I needed to apologize to Livvy for underestimating her! They grow up so fast...

We'll see how she does today...I'm hoping yesterday wasn't just a fluke, but it probably was.

You decide

Chase thought she looked like a wizard.I'm thinking fisherman But it's open to interpretation

Carmel

This weekend we took a little trip to Carmel. It was a lot colder than we anticipated, but other than that it was a lot of fun!

We walked around the pebble beach golf course for awhile

Here's Chase in front of the 18th...

Livia was a great sport, despite the cold wind. But she had this thing against sitting back in her stroller. I tipped it back to try to get her to relax, and this is what she did instead...

We made a brief stop at the beach...Playing with Livvy:

It was really quite beautiful...

We went on a hike in Point Lobos and watched this mother seal (or sea lion?) try to teach her pup how to get up on the rock. They tried over and over again for about 15 minutes. It reminded me of teaching Livia how to walk (which, by the way, she's doing like a pro now)

Happy girl!We let her get out of the stroller and walk for a little while, but it was so rocky I had to hold her hands so she didn't fall.

Look! A little rock! Where did I find it?In Livia's mouth, of course. Yum! (And here she is going for it again!)

I seriously thought this squirrel was going to attack me. It came running at me and only switched directions about 6 inches in front of my feet. Yikes!

On the 17-mile drive

When I looked at this picture of myself afterward, I commented to Chase that it looked like I had wings coming out of my head. He took one look at it and said, "Actually, you look like a puffin." And then I couldn't help but laugh, because it's true!

See? (Okay, so technically this is a tufted penguin, not puffin. But it's the same idea)

We watched the sunset from inside our car (like I said, it was freezing!) and then headed back home. Such a fun little trip!