Winter months

In these long winter months, we are struggling to stay creative with activities for Olivia. We signed her up for Gymboree class that she does 3 times a week, and she has been having so much fun.
She is now talking, and has been saying words in both English and Croatian. I would say that she understands Croatian more, which is understandable given the fact that our au pair Marica is with her most of the time.

Oh yeah, and now she gets to clean the house every 3rd weekend.... (see pic below)















reading on a Sunday morning...


















my favorite spot


















arms down....


















arms up


















At Shedd Aquarium in Chicago

Basketball Game

Olivia went to her first college basketball game this past weekend.  Valpo was playing Loyola in Chicago so we went to see our alma mater hand it to the Ramblers.  After the game, Olivia met a friend playing on the court.  They had some serious fun...

Olivia and Tanja

Puppies

Video of Olivia with Fitzy, Fenway and Foxy

Christmas

Christmas was a lot of fun for both Michael and Olivia as they both got tons of presents.

Michael, Olivia, Grandpa Don and me

Marica and Olivia 

Santa's little helpers cleaning up after they "cleaned up"

Christmas feast

Grandma and Grandpa wrapping gifts

Yeahh.......!!!!

What could that big one be???

Boy and a girl

:( this is the only puppy that Tata will ever let me have...

One more?

Customized luggage

The sculpture named "The Pink Pile"

Fitzy takes the pony for a ride

Holidays in Beantown

Ok, I know I have been slacking recently with new posts, and I will try to make it up today.

We spent a week in Boston during this holiday season.  Our trip was to begin in the midst of a huge snow storm that hit the east coast, and we were really lucky to get there.  We stayed at Kelly's house where we met Karen's parents as well.  We were excited to see everyone, but especially Michael. 

Olivia is a huge fan of snow

Making cookies with grandpa.

Morning with grandparents.

At dinner in Providence, RI.  Dan and Kelly treated all of us for a dinner and the Wicked musical show.

Olivia sporting her Harvard shirt. Never too early to dream big.

Kelly and Michael.

Olivia and Michael

Art class

Whadup cuz?

Go Red Sox!!!

Tis the season to be jolly....

... Fa la la la la la la la la!!!

Thanksgiving and more

We had another Croatian Thanksgiving.  This time hosted by the Dukan family.  The menu is slightly different from your traditional Thanksgiving dinner, but the overindulging part is the same as anywhere.

This was Olivia's 2nd Thanksgiving dinner, and the first one where she could taste a whole variety of foods.  Below are some shots of her with Duke and Toni (for the Croatian reading crowd, Lambasa is still in action).

Posing in her outfit.

Olivia loves to read!!! Every night she brings us books and wants us to read to her.  Thankfully, we are fully stacked with children's books in both English and Croatian. 

Last week, Olivia got her first haircut.  The bangs were getting a little too long, and something needed to be done.  This is Olivia before the action started.  What followed could not be filmed...

She also loves to play with blocks.

On Saturday, we went to get some professional pictures taken.  During the photo shoot, she acted like a Diva and would not cooperate much.  We still managed to get some good pictures.  This is the outfit that she wore.