The Olson Odyssey

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Christmas Cheer!

Christmas this year was amazing! There are NO WORDS to capture how much joy Dillan brought us this year. To see the Christmas season through his eyes was such a gift. We had quite the busy season (shocker!) but it was so fun to spend time with friends and family and to celebrate Christ's birth with the people we love most. The first thing we had to do to start the season off right was to pay Santa a visit! Dillan was really into Santa from afar, but not as big of a fan close up. He wouldn't quite go for the lap, but was content to sit next to him:)

Dillan, say hi to Santa!

What a cutie!

After we had seen Santa, Dillan was ready to start the celebration. We started celebrating our family Christmas at our home on the morning of the 23rd. We exchanged our gifts and had a yummy breakfast together as a family. So fun to start our own family traditions!

Hey, what's in here???

I got a new harmonica!

Crossword boxers for daddy

Daddy showing Dillan how to play his new guitar

A new willow tree from Dust...a mommy

and her two boys

After our Christmas we headed up to Pasadena to stay at Oly and PJ's for a couple of days and celebrate with the Olson clan. We had so much fun with Boe, Chrissy, Charlie, and Oly and PJ. They SHOWERED us and the boys with awesome gifts and we had such yummy food! We even got the special gift of finding out we are going to have another niece! Boe and Chrissy will be welcoming a little girl in May....we can hardly wait!

PJ's pretty tree

Oly reading Dilly the book about baby Jesus

being born on Christmas Eve

Stockings!!!!!

Helping Dillan with his stocking

Charlie Boy

Bros and their boys

A new outfit for Connor!

A new double jogger from Oly and PJ!

Dillan's favorite gift....a BUZZ car!

He was a pro!

Going to Christmas Eve service at Lake Ave

After our time with the Olson's we headed over to Papa and Yaya's house for more celebration and LOTS more food! My mom cooked enough food for an army and we were so spoiled by all the yumminess! We celebrated the day after Christmas so Drew and Jordyn could be there! Being home is amazing and mom and dad always make it so special!

Connor's crib bedding from Papa and Yaya

Clark Griswald's house....aka, Papa's house

To infinity and BEYOND!

Hanging out with Riley!

Matching Jammies for Beebs and Dilly

Christmas kisses for mommy

Me and the babes

Dilly's new truck from Uncle Drewbie and Auntie J

The coolest kids on the block!

Dillan opening his new Mickey Mouse book from

mommy and daddy. He was so excited!

Family Photo Shoot

Our friend Ani, who took my maternity pictures when I was pregnant with Dillan, is an awesome photographer and knows some great spots in OC. So we hit her up again for a little family photo shoot that would work for a family Christmas card as well as some maternity pics round 2:) I really love how they turned out (especially considering getting a good shot with an 18 month old is quite challenging!!!!!) Here are some of my favorites!

Thursday, December 16, 2010

32 weeks

OK. I am officially huge. Not sleeping well. My back REALLY hurts. I am ready to not be pregnant anymore. I guess this means I really am in the final stretch:) Two more months and Conman will be here. He is currently the size of a jicama. He moves ALL day and night long and he has the hiccups all the time, which makes me laugh. I have been thinking a lot more about what Connor will look like and what it will be like to have an infant around. GETTING EXCITED! We painted the room and I really like the color. This weekend we are putting up shelves and putting the crib together, which is great! After Christmas it will be time to get all the tubs of clothes down and wash and organize them....that will be fun! It is so wierd that this time around we have everything, we just have to dust it off and it will be good as new: infant tub, infant car seat, breast pump (AHHHHH!), and all the little toys and binkies. The final countdown has started!

The belly in all it's GLORY!

Seattle Babymoon

I am pretty sure no one ever really knows what the hell I am talking about when I say babymoon, but I have adopted the word into my vocabulary. Just like you have a honeymoon to celebrate your love and your wedding day, you can have a babymoon. A chance to get away with your love before your world gets rocked by an infant! We had our babymoon before we had Dillan in Hawaii and this time we went to cold, rainy Seattle and had a blast! I had never been to Seattle and we wanted to go somewhere that actually felt like winter! We bundled up and walked the city streets, did some shopping, saw movies, had amazing dinners, and slept in!!!!!! I LOVE spending unadulterated time with Dusty and this trip was the perfect time for us to connect and catch up on rest before little Connor arrives. We also got to visit and spend the day with our good friends, the Bentley's who moved there this last year. We got to hang out with their little guy Camden, who is SO CUTE! Crystal and I are two weeks apart in our pregnancies and both having baby boys again, which is so fun! We even got to have a fun dinner together that night. It was great to catch up. Thanks to both of our parents who watched Dillan while we were gone (which in this case also meant taking care of Dillan while he had the flu and then all catching it). Thanks to my husband for working so hard so we could take this fun trip together and for treating me to the most unbelievable day at the spa that I have ever had! I wish I could live there sometimes:)

Dinner the first night at Palisade .....

an amazing restaurant with yummy food

and gorgeous views of the city

Walking to Pike's Place....it's chilly!

I wanted to eat everything in the fish market....

is that wierd?

Christmas tree lot by the market

Camden being silly

The preggos

Our buddies

A little day trip to Bainbridge

Pike's Place Market

The VERY 1st Starbucks!

Coffee....yes please!

Beautiful Seattle night

Yummy Ruth's Chris dinner

Dusty's two favorite things....wine and steak:)

7th Annual Christmas Party

Nicole and I are going 7 years strong hosting our annual Christmas party! This is such a fun thing we LOVE to plan together and we have kept up the tradition and hope to for many years to come. We changed the venue once again to accommodate everyone's growing families! The Olson's hosted this year and it was such a hoot to see how many kids were there running amuck......I LOVE IT! This year we changed the menu a little bit as well. Instead of a ham, we went with lasanga and garlic bread and it was a hit! We had some people bring some killer desserts and had LOTS of food. The highlight every year is the white elephant gift exchange game and this year did not disappoint. We had everything from a DVD of ELMO's potty training to yoga video for people with IBS to used rollerblades! The best part is being together as family and friends and celebrating Christ's birth!

The hostess'!