Looking for a photographer?

I wanted to give a shout out for Chris to anyone who may read this blog and may be in need of a photographer or knows of someone looking for a photographer. Chris just went through some major revamping of his business website and I wanted to share it with all of our readers. I hope you will take the time to check him out at: http://www.fallenleafstudios.com/. Chris' passion is with artistic photography and his prints are available for purchase. However, artistic prints doesn't pay the bills (or for the start of a business). Therefore he has also photographed weddings, senior pictures, engagement pictures, families, basically anything that people have asked for. Please feel free to contact either of us if you have questions and spread the word!! THANK YOU!

Olivia's FIRST Haircut!!

Chris and I had been talking about when Olivia should get her first haircut. It's not that her hair is necessarily long, but it is so uneven and constantly in her eyes. Well today I had an appointment to get my haircut and I knew that if my hairdresser didn't get the opportunity to give Olivia her first haircut, she would be really sad. :) So I talked to the salon and after my haircut, San trimmed up Olivia's hair. More than likely you won't be able to tell the difference when you look at her, but she really did shape up Liv's hair. San also said that her hair should start growing faster and coming in thicker. I really am excited to see what will happen now. Here are some pictures from her haircut.

Here's Olivia sitting in the "Big Girl" chair wondering what is going on.

Olivia did really great as San cut her hair. And my hat is off to San.

Liv would watch herself in the mirror, but of course she had to look

around and see what was going on. San did a great job moving right along with her.

I just love this look of "What is going on here?"

Just trimming up the back.

Now San is checking with Liv to see how she is doing.

And obviously Mom had to clap for Olivia and we all cheered.

A big thank you to Dad for taking these great pictures!!

Finally, here is a short video that Chris took during the haircut:

Happy 1st Birthday Olivia!!

We truly cannot believe that this day had finally arrived, but Olivia turned 1 on December 29. Since her birthday was on a Monday, we celebrated with family on Sunday. It was tons of fun watching her eat her cake and open presents. Being the center of attention certainly didn't bother her. Thank you to everyone who made this already special day, extra special.

Even though it didn't stay on all day, we couldn't resist getting her this hat.

"It's fun to be one"

Here we are singing "Happy Birthday" to our little lady.

Olivia starts off easy by checking out the frosting on her cake.

"Hmmm...what is this stuff?"

"Oh, wait a minute...it's squishy!!"

"And good!"

"Oh yeah. I am totally digging this!"

Next, it was time to open presents. Every little girl needs a popcorn popper.

I love this picture of Olivia throwing the tissue paper out of the bag!

After all of the practice at Christmas, Olivia definitely had the hang of opening presents.

Mmmm...such a soft coat. Perfect for winters in Michigan.

Olivia is clapping her hands here (I know it is hard to tell). Not sure if it is because of the gift she opened or is it because she is happy that she is finally done opening presents!

Merry (Belated...) Christmas!!

Okay, it may have taken me awhile, but I finally had a chance to post our Christmas pictures. It was definitely a busy time of year (as I am sure it was for everyone else)! Olivia really seemed to get the hang of opening presents and only occassionally needed our help. I went through all of our Christmas pictures and picked out some of our favorites....

Christmas always starts with a visit to Santa. Liv did great! This is one of the pictures we took with our camera. The one they took is much better!!

A day or two before Christmas we visited with Olivia's Godparents (Uncle Matt & Aunt Michelle). They had a special gift for her...her first baby doll! How cute.

Christmas Eve we spent with the Kovach family. As I was helping my mom get dinner ready, Olivia decided she needed to check out the Christmas tree. Here she is proving to me that this present really is for her!!

Olivia finally got to start opening presents.

Look how excited she is over her new outfit! She is definitely her mother's daughter.

When we got home on Christmas Eve, we let Olivia open her present from us. We got her a grocery cart and a bag of food to play with. She just loved the food!!! Eating it is her favorite activity.

On Christmas morning, Olivia opened up her presents from her Great-Grandparents who live in Virginia as well as the presents from Grammy and Pap who live in North Carolina.

I just love this look of surprise when she sees the clothes she just got!

After Mass we headed to the Fleck house and had Christmas with Chris' family.

Olivia just loves her right sized chair from Grandpa. Now she has her very own special place to sit at home.