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Craig and Olivia, March 2010

Things have been a little crazy around the Altom household. We just had a busy but wonderful weekend up in North Salt Lake where we blessed Olivia on Sunday. We took some really beautiful pictures of Livie with my parents' camera. I will post them as soon as my brother uploads them onto Facebook. I am crossing my fingers he will get them up soon.

Olivia has been growing a lot lately. She is now just over four months old. Her girly nature is definitely beginning to manifest itself, too. Screaming has become one of her new favorite things to do. She screams when she is happy, bored, and mad. She is no longer our sweet, quiet little thing.

Along with screaming, tummy time is also her new favorite thing. She loves to dig her face into and slobber in the blanket, and she is beginning to master the art of rolling over. Today we set Olivia down on her play yard mat and she began to scoot. I am scared.

{ As you can see, she loves to be upside down }

The Right Way To Do Neutrals

Check out my latest post on my design blog: The Right Way To Do Neutrals

WE ARE ALIVE!

This is Craig and for those of you who have followed our blog of recent, you'll know that I don't blog anymore. Jacquelinne has done such a great job at keeping it up to date that I've been able to focus my time and energy on work, school, and family. However, you'll notice our blog hasn't been blogged upon for a few weeks now. The reason being, our internet is down at home. Hopefully the dilemma will be remedied without much delay. Until then, thanks for those who have checked up on us in other ways. Our phones still work and we'd love to hear from you. We love you.

Felicitations,

Craig

The Best Valentine's Day, Ever!

On Saturday afternoon Craig went to get a haircut and when he got back he surprised Olivia and me with flowers. I can't tell you how special this was for me to watch Craig give a beautiful bouquet of spray roses to our daughter. It made me cry.

I get very emotional about my little Olivia and her dad. It makes me overjoyed to see their love for each other grow everyday. I can't describe how special my relationship with my dad is to me, and it brings me so much happiness to see Craig and Olivia develop a wonderful daddy-daughter relationship.

I am so grateful that Olivia and the rest of our children will have such a wonderful dad and role model to look up to for the rest of their lives and throughout the eternities. I know they will love him as deeply as I love my Dad, because Craig is such a good man and already an amazing Father.

these circus roses are the same roses that were in my wedding bouquet. My favorite!

Thank you for a very special Valentine's Day, Craig. Thank you for loving me and Olivia so much. We love you very much, too. Xoxo -Jac

Dear Bed: You're In Need Of Some Serious Color

Make sure to check out my newest post on my design blog, Dear Bed: You're In Need Of Some Serious Color.

Opinion: how do you feel about vibrant colors in your home? Like or dislike?

Olivia is 3 Months Old!

3 months today!
Things to remember about Olivia at 3 months:

• She is teething! About two weeks ago we noticed that she is getting her bottom and top two teeth. We can't believe it! She has been a bit fussier lately.
• Her hands are always in the way! We can't even swaddle her anymore without her pulling her arms out. At night when I hear her stirring in bed, I know it is because her hands are out of the blanket and she's hitting herself in the face with her hands. Darn hands, keep them in!
• She is smiling, giggling and telling me jokes all day long. I can't get over how smiley and cute she is all of the time. She is very animated, now.
• She is finally sleeping most of the night! Hallelujah! She is only getting up once around 5:00 to eat and then goes back to bed until 8:00.
• She slobbers and grabs onto everything. I had her in the carrier at the store the other day and I looked down and she had been eating and slobbering all over the side panel of the carrier. Oh, dear, that is not to eat.
• She loves to engage in conversation. My mom and I went to a store to get some flowers yesterday, and when we were debating which ones to get Olivia didn't hesitate to give us her opinion. She thinks she can make big girl decisions, now. Meaning she gives me quite the attitude, sometimes. So funny!
• The blow dryer is still our secret weapon. Nothing will calm her down quicker from any kind of fit than the blow dryer. Love it!
• She is sporting a terrific mullet. Yes, business in the front, party in the back. Some days mom hides it behind a headband, and other days she lets her wear it proud. It makes us laugh. A lot!

Stuck Behind an Accident featuring: Olivia and Me

Olivia and I were headed home from a dear friend's wedding reception on Friday night. We were driving home alone because Craig came straight from work to meet up with us for the weekend in his car. Craig left the reception a few minutes after us. He was probably only a bit behind us.

We had just passed the bend on the freeway right before 2600 south in Bountiful when I saw the cars ahead slamming on their breaks. I had only a split second to decide whether or not to take the exit at 2600 south. I was in the middle lane and really couldn't get over in time to exit. We'd just have to wait it out.

At the time Olivia was sound asleep. I could only pray that she would stay asleep and we could get moving, again. We sat there. Waiting. And waiting. I knew that Olivia would be getting hungry, so I sat there, anxious, knowing that when she woke up she would be really upset.

I watched as people behind me were backing up in the emergency lane to get off the exit at 2600 south. It was pretty scary. Ahead, I could see cars backing down the on ramp. I was just waiting for an on-coming car to hit one of the cars backing up. This was not good.

To make matters worse, Olivia woke up and started to cry. Before I knew it, she was crying so loud her hollers resembled a siren. After waiting 40 minutes, I was about ready to tear my hair out. I could not calm her down. And we weren't moving an inch.

Finally, after an hour of waiting, we started moving. I was so relieved that we would be home soon. I was sick, because my phone had died earlier that day and no one could communicate with us. I knew everyone would be worried and have no idea where we were in the mess of cars.

I pulled into my parents' driveway where my mom was waiting for us and immediately opened the garage door. Her motherly instinct must have told her I had a screaming baby in the car. When we went inside my mom told me that Craig was out looking for us. They could see that there had been another wreck on the freeway and were worried that I was in the other because I had been gone so long. Craig had even called highway patrol to see if a black Mazda6 had been in the second wreck. What a sweet, concerned husband I have. I felt so bad.

Long story short, we are all safe and sound. I learned a good lesson this weekend, though--It's really important to always have a means to communicate with others. Always charge your cell phone, because you never know what could happen.

Summer Can't Get Here Quick Enough

I was online this morning making sure I hadn't missed anything new and darling for Olivia and I freaked out over these swimming suits. Hope Miss Liv loves water-can't wait for summer!



I think my favorite is the first one. Which one do you think?

Pretty in Purple

Over the past week and a half I have watched
Olivia's hair start to thin out. I thought
we were going to be lucky enough to keep that
cute white head of hair. I am very sad.

Due to recent balding, I am pushing the need for
headbands, again. She has protested them for the
past month and a half, but with half a head of hair at the
moment, I am glad that she is cooperating.

Lucky girl, if you look real close, you can see her beautiful blonde lashes!

FLAT TIRE!

It's never a good thing when Craig comes back in the bedroom after he's said goodbye to head to work. This time Craig was bringing news of a flat tire. Not cool.

After 20 minutes of slowly jacking the car up and 30 minutes of kicking the tire madly, the flatter than flat tire finally was off my car. Poor Craig, I felt so bad. This will be our second flat tire of our marriage.

You'll die when you see what caused the flat. It's crazy!

Party At My Crib 3:00

This morning at two o'clock I heard Olivia making noises in her crib. I ignored it for about an hour and finally, it was driving me so crazy, that I went to see what she was doing. When I got over to the crib and our eyes met, she grinned from ear to ear. My reaction, of course, was not as pleasant.

Maybe she just wanted a diaper change and then she would go right back to sleep. When I laid her on the bed she started squirming everywhere. She was laughing, lifting her back up with her legs, and trying to roll over. Where did this super strength come from?

I had to wake Craig up to show him how humorous this situation was beginning to be. I really had never seen her so animated and excited. Of course, Craig started to egg her on and I instantly had to remind him, "I don't want to be up with her all night. She needs to settle down."

Luckily after swaddling her and laying her back in bed she was asleep in just a few minutes. I was worried she would have put up a fight because she was so wound up.

In the mornings before Craig leaves for work Craig puts her in bed with me.
The spoiled miss Liv.

{ 10:00 this morning..still peacefully sleeping. So unlike her! }

{ 10:30 she awakes.. }

{ What, mom? What?! }

Finally Over It

Olivia is such a happy baby. She has even started to laugh.

Olivia Grace 2 1/2 Months

Sorry we haven't posted for quite some time. Olivia has had RSV for the past three weeks and I caught a really bad cold, too. It has been a long three weeks. But we are better for the most part, now, and are happy to be getting things back to normal.

Olivia went in for her two month visit with the Pediatrician today. We had to keep rescheduling because she was sick, so we finally made it three weeks later. She weighs 11 lbs. 10 ounces now and is 22.5 inches long. I told Craig that it is a good thing Livie has so much chunk on her, because that was probably what sustained her the first week she was sick when she was only eating once or twice a day. It was really scary for us to see our little girl so weak and sick.

Olivia has been such a joy for us. She has started to develop the most colorful, humorous personality. She has even started to give us quite the attitude--wonder where she would have gotten that from? Grandma Evans could probably answer this question without any hesitation.

Olivia went to her very first track meet last Saturday. She didn't really care for the loud noise and all of the people, but we'll just blame it on being sick. We were able to watch my sister, Amanda, run with the high school girls in the BYU indoor track invitational. It was fun to see her do so well. Hopefully Livie and I will go to many track meets in our day. Mom could only hope she would run and love it as much as she did.

Check out my new blog

Check out the latest post: Fiesta Flare

Deer Valley Design Project

I should be packing for Mexico, but I'm so excited that I finally got my hands on the Deer Valley Condo pictures, I just couldn't resist uploading some!

I hope any of you out there that are trying to do your spaces on a tight budget are inspired by some of the great finds and deals I got! I did this project in 3 weeks, had to fully refurnish and accessorize the house, and had a budget of $5000..and didn't go a penny over!

Hope you enjoy!

Love my houndstooth, lumbar pillows. A great find from TJ Maxx at $5.99 a pillow!
And that headboard, also a great find on KSL for $50! The lamps are also
fabulous, another great Finer Consigner find at $39 each.

This room went from an awkward dusty rose red to a soothing, cozy
(curl up in me) red with the right bed spread.

Spread: Tuesday Morning $89
Zebra Pillows: The Finer Consigner $12.99 ea
Lamps: The Finer Consigner $79 ea

Table Scape: a collection of fabulous napkins, placemats and flowers from Home Goods $25
Darling red dishes: on sale at Kohl's $49 for the entire 32 piece set!

Coffee Table: The Finer Consigner $129
Vase of Poppies: Micheal's and my handywork $30
Rustic Entertainment Armoire: The Finer Consigner $699

This rug was the greatest find of the entire project. An 8x10 hand
knotted Pottery Barn rug, $150 on KSL! Smashing! and completes the look!

Not bad for Craig and my first upholstery job. We had fun
re-doing the awful purple checkered headboards.

Twin bed spreads: The Finer Consigner $99 for the set (also an incredible find!)
Wall Clock: The Finer Consigner $29
Table Lamp: The Finer Consigner $29
(and to think, Julie almost donated that poor little thing;
I always knew it would be darling in the right space. It shines
here--Julie would be proud!)

Darling X-detail Sofa Table: The Finer Consigner $179

Country Inspired Christmas Tree

I told my mom that I would put up some pictures of our country inspired Christmas tree.

The tree is made up of ornaments from my parents' Christmas tree when I was growing up. Gazing at the tree, I am reminded of wonderful Christmases past and I am glad that I can have that memory in my home.