May 6-13

We tried to build our prayer room in the driest section of our basement.  In fact, we thought we had picked pretty much the only section with absolutely no puddles.  As it turns out, however, monsoon season swept through our area last week, and we have puddles everywhere.  Judging from the carpet's tendency to get damper the longer one stands on it, I assume the puddles are also under the prayer room.  :(  We didn't attach the carpet or anything, so it's a simple matter of lifting it up and (hopefully) drying it out.  However, I think a better idea would be to move the prayer room, washer, and dryer to the attic and turn the basement into a swimming pool instead.  :)

My project Thursday and Friday was to make a purse like Justine's.  When Olivia and I visited, I took measurements of Justine's purse and wrote everything down.  I just got around to making it this week, and it turned out pretty well!  I still need to put a button on the front pocket so that I can use the buttonhole that I made (first one ever! Yay!)  I also added to the design a little: there are some pen loops and a pocket on the inside of the bag for easy storage.  I noticed how often Justine was losing her pens.  :)

Thursday marked one year since we signed papers on our house!

Sleeping through the night was successful.  ...For about a week and a half.  Then Olivia became proficient at rolling over and started flipping onto her stomach as soon as she woke up.  So instead of drifting back to sleep, she was just mad that she was on her stomach.  THEN she got better at sitting up on her own and pulling herself into a standing position.  It's hard to sleep when you're sitting or standing.

Little things:
-Jazz hands.  Instead of clapping, sometimes Olivia just does jazz hands.
-Crawling?  I catch her on her knees frequently now.  She still can't move on her knees, though.  I'm wondering if she's on her knees because she wants to crawl that way, or if she's just using her knees as a pushing off point for standing.
-Standing.  Occasionally, Olivia will pull herself up.  It's not frequent yet, but Friday morning she was suddenly standing behind my chair after scooting over and hauling herself into an upright position.  And Saturday Bryan found her standing twice -- once in her crib and once in the baby cage.
-Sitting.  I know, old news.  But NOW, she can get to a sitting position all by herself!
-Height.  Olivia is as tall as a card table.  I find that difficult to believe, and a I'm the one who measured her!

We got a "baby cage" last week.  It's a gate with a door that I can latch if I need to go switch laundry or something.  The rest of the time the door is open so that Olivia can get in and out as she pleases.  She took a few days to figure out that she could go through the opening, but now she's pretty good at it.


Pictures and Videos:

More playing pass, followed by Olivia playing "fetch" with herself.  I tried to split the video into two parts, but it didn't work (password BarhorstBrewed):

Playing Catch

There's food in my mouth, but I'm not
going to let you remove it.

This series reads kind of like a flip-book:

Reading books in the sun on the driveway:

In the baby cage:

Waiting for daddy to come out to the car:

Grandma got her sunglasses: