good days...

what a good day! i'm up earlier than livi this morning~ which has to be a first~and just enjoying the quiet of the morning. it just came a little summer thunderstorm here & now it smells so wonderful outside. we've had fun the past few days. first, we went to the new williamson county rec center right behind our house with livi's cousins(briley, brax, & barron). they have a big pool with water slides & the kids had a lot of fun... court & i had fun getting a little sun & just catching up!

then, friday livi had her first "professional photos" taken @ bj tucker's studio in dickson. let's just say livi was less than thrilled by the event & refused to smile for anyone. bj, her mom, & i sang & danced around the studio for a solid hour in an attempt to capture a smile. (i even tried the running man & roger rabbit which always works @ home~ but no luck) then we went to spend the afternoon with livi's new cousin, zander (& zade & julie too). we ate hamburgers for lunch with mom & dad & just enjoyed a relaxing day...

And, livi's 4 month birthday was this week so i better post a pic of that...

livi's daddy... drae b.

just wanted to add one more post tonight with some pics of livi with her dad on father's day last weekend (i know i'm behind). livi is already so totally into her dad. you can just tell by the way she gazes @ him that she already knows just how great he is. as for me, i have loved drae for so many years & didn't know that my love would ever increase. but, watching him love our daugther over the past few months has been so rewarding for me. livi & i are the two most blessed girls in the world to have him in our lives...

rice cereal...can be very dangerous it turns out.

well. we had a wonderful weekend- just the 3 of us. livi had her 4 month check-up with Dr. Brooks on friday. she is 25 3/4 inches long & weighs 15 lbs. 10 oz. which puts her above the 90th percentile in both categories... not sure that her dad & i are thrilled about this but Dr. Brooks insists we are not over-feeding her & that she will "thin out as soon as she gets mobile." she is still waking up @ least 3 times per night so he suggested we start her on rice cereal.... it did not help with the sleeping but she is IN LOVE with rice cereal! it is amazing what we do for entertainment these days now that livi is here... even rice cereal is a big deal. for her first "meal" we decided to eat dinner outside on our new table (mom & dad brought it over for drae for his early birthday~ thanks!). so we set her up in her chair, put a bib on her, and i started to feed her. however, as soon as it hit her tongue she lost all sense & sensibility. she started slurping it off the spoon with loud gurgling noises, using both hands to push the entire spoon in her mouth, and kicking her feet wildly. then only 2 spoonfuls into it, the tiki torch drason lit right beside the table ignited into flames... the entire thing! flames were 4 feet from livi's head so i jerked her up as drason stamped & sprayed with the hose (he had put some "alternative fuel" in it thinking it was the same difference... he he he :) with livi now hollering angrily @ being interrupted we plopped her back in her seat to eat but, at this point, she was so mad she kicked the cup with rice cereal out of my hand. it hit the ground & shattered and glass went in my big toe (yes, i know. no glass for kids, lesson learned). but, did livi drae care? not one bit. she was still DEMANDING that she be given more cereal! so i ran in, made some more, (glass still in toe. blood on kitchen floor) and let her dad finish feeding her. needless to say, our first feeding experience was crazy but our little livi is thrilled with her new nightly treat!

a little flashback....

thankfully, drason & everyone made it home safely from iowa thursday night- even flying around some tornado activity on their way home. God gave me so much peace while he was gone & i was able to get some freedom from my flight anxiety (for those of you who don't know background on this- it doesn't matter- it is really not important- i'm getting over it!).

we don't really have any plans for this weekend & that is actually a good thing! we are hoping to just relax a little bit & enjoy drason's first father's day on sunday.... livi is pumped about giving him her gift. anyway, this will be kinda a random post as i wanted to include some pics we took @ the zoo a few weekends ago & also get caught up on posting livi's last 3 months of "how i'm growing pics". (thanks to tif & court for telling me to do these every month) sorry the pics are all out of order... i'm still learning.

long days & nights....

well,

drae has been out of town at a healthcare conference in iowa since sunday. i miss him when he is gone & i guess livi does too. she has been on a crazy schedule this week where she wakes up about 2:30am wanting to party... i guess she thinks she can get away with it since dad is out of town. my sweet parents came and stayed all day on monday while i worked and cared for livi. she loved having her grandmother & grandfather there & i am so thankful to them for giving of their time to help me & love on her. mom spent the night & also relieved livi's sitter, steph, @ 5:30pm yesterday too since drae is not able to. but, today is finally my last day at work this week and livi's aunt tiff & uncle nate will be picking her up from sitter @ 5:30pm to keep her till i get off tonight. (thanks so much to them for that!!) then, hopefully drae will be home tomorrow night as scheduled. however, with all the flooding in iowa they evacuated the town they were in today & the rest of the conference was canceled. when i talked to dana (several people from TLC are there) she said there was water in the streets, some bridges had been washed away, and the entire town was filling sandbags trying to save the city from the rising waters. so, they evacuated the hotel, were shuttled to the airport & tried to change their flights to come home. but, they couldn't get anything so had to check back into a motel & wait till their scheduled flight tomorrow. crazy. i'm including some pics of their adventure this week.

HAPPY 50TH BIRTHDAY TO MY SWEET SISTER SHALIA!! YOU ARE FABULOUS!

back to the real world...

i started back to work this week after 3 months on maternity leave. i was so anxious about returning but had prayed for some time for peace. i did miss livi but have adjusted pretty well so far. however, i found out three 14 hour days away from your little one will make you appreciate your days with them so much more. so on thursday & friday of this week we layed by the pool with friends & just enjoyed life. in the picture with livi is her friend, beckham weed, who is playing with her dress. he is 8 months old & pretty into livi- he also sucked on her toes for part of the day but i won't include that pic :) i will also include a few pics from my last day of maternity leave where we hung out with my childhood best friend, beth, & met drason for lunch.

let's start from the beginning....

olivia drae beasley was born february 25, 2008.

she was alert & chubby & beautiful.

she was truly more to me than words can describe.

her father & i have been totally transformed in the past 3 months by her presence in our lives.

she is the reason i wanted to start this blog... life with her is so much more than it ever was before.

ahem....is this thing on?

ok. not sure what i'm doing with this blogging thing. i have so enjoyed reading the blogs of friends & family members recently & just wanted a way to share pictures & stories of my little lady livi drae. i am technologically challenged so please bare with me throughout this process... here we go...