So, this is what we've been up to! ............

Olivia has been such a good baby and Brady has been a super big brother! He loves to sing to her, help change diapers and feed her, and talk to her in his "funny voices." Here they are sharing a special moment. Olivia is a week and a half old in this picture and at the time she weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. Now she is 3 1/2 weeks and is 9 lbs!

We had the pleasure of having Chris' mom, sisters and niece visit us for a couple weeks and had a GREAT time despite airplane troubles, BAD weather, a tiny apartment and a hectic "schedule!" We were lucky to be able to have Chris at home with us for several of the days and even got a couple sunny days here and there (thank goodness!!!)

The Houseguests:

Chris' beautiful mom, Julie Sister, Shawnae (17) Sister, Chelsae (15)

Chris' mom is Olivia's namesake: we combined her first name and middle, Ann for Olivia's middle name

Sister, Nickie and niece, Lexi

Day 1: (Friday, August 1, 2008)

I was rested and ready to go at 9 a.m. on Friday, August 1st when I got a phone call from my mother-in-law. She and the girls (Shawnae and Chelsae) had missed their flight out of JFK (LONG story, but basically they were told their flight WASN'T boarding and weren't allowed on the plane when it ACTUALLY WAS boarding, and then their names were never called...) Obviously sad and upset she apologized about the inconvenience and told me to "stay tuned!" about which flight they'd be able to catch into Portland, Maine.

After several phone calls it was detrmined that it wasn't possible for them to fly into Portland and that I'd have to drive down to Boston (2 1/2 hours) to get them there! By this point I was totally exhausted (it had only been a week and a half since having the baby and no nap that day!) So I called Chris and he got off work early and we headed down to Boston without the kids (first time leaving Olivia).

Nothing could be easy for these poor girls, their flight ended up leaving late and they had to wait on the runway in Boston too for their plane to unload. So, Chris and I hung around at the airport for an extra couple of hours and FINALLY were able to pick them up around 7:30 p.m.!!! We were SO EXCITED to see them!

Needless to say, we got in late and they were finally able to meet our dear little Olivia who had been in good hands during all of this fiasco (Thanks Mom!) They hugged and kissed her to pieces (and Brady too!) and then we all headed off to try and get some shut eye!

Day 2: (Saturday, August 2, 2008)

Thankfully the day was uneventful! We lounged around in the a.m., loaded up on TONS of groceries for the week and then went BACK to the airport (in Portland this time!!!) to pick-up Chris' sister, Nickie and her 11 month old little girl, Alexa ("Lexi!!!"). Their flight came in right on time and after lots more hugs and kisses we sped off to a local Mexican restaurant "Costa Vida" to get some grub for lunch! YUM!

Lexi's first airplane ride!!
(What a lucky girl- she got to come to Maine!!!)

At Costa Vida Lexi showed us her "scrunchy nose," which is the cutest thing, and just happens to be what her Auntie Shawnae used to do when she was a baby!!!

Day 3: Olivia's Blessing Day

(Sunday, August 3, 2008)

Just shy of two weeks old, Olivia JulieAnn was given her name and blessing by her Daddy at the Yarmouth Chapel, Yarmouth Branch, Augusta Maine Stake. Participating in the blessing were the Yarmouth Branch Presidency: Pres. Gary Hatch, Mark Spreuill, and Ken George. Also: Hannah's father, Paul Morgan and Hannah's brother, Andrew Morgan. Hannah's paternal grandfather, Owen Morgan, and good friend of Hannah and Chris, Jared Mulliner.

Chris gave a beautiful blessing and we were so proud to be able to share our little girl with all of our family and friends. Following the church services we went home and held a family luncheon and took some infant pictures, courtesy of my cousin, Crystal Reynolds a photographer (see her blog: http://crystalclearphotos.blogspot.com/) so we'll post more blessing pictures in the future!

My brother, Bryce got to meet Olivia for the first time! He and his girlfriend, Maddie came up for the luncheon

Brady and Lexi begin a friendship that will last a lifetime...


Day 4: (Monday, August 4, 2008)

We chanced the rain and headed off to a local waterpark: Aquaboggin and ended up having several hours of sunshine! The rain finally drove me, Brady, Nickie, Alexa and Shawnae home early but my dad, Andrew, Chris, Julie and Chels stayed until closing and figured "We're wet anyway! Might as well have fun!!!" If I'd been able to swim I would have stayed too! We all had fun mini-golfing, Brady loved the slide in the kiddie-area and Lexi just loved splashing and DRINKING the water! (eek!) It was a good time for everyone.

Day 5: (Tuesday, August 5, 2008)

Chris had to head back to work for the day but it was fairly sunny so I headed off to Reid State Park with the girls for a day at the beach. We had planned on going to a different beach, but because it was high tide we opted for this one because it has a lagoon for Lexi and Brady to plan at. Unfortunately the horseflies liked to play there too so eventually we headed up to the big beach where we lounged around for a little while and soaked up some sun! Good thing we did because it rained for the next FOUR days!!!! Aaahhhh!!!

Yeah! It's sunny! Heading to the beach!!!

Later in the evening we held a BIRTHDAY PARTY for Chelsae (July 7th), Chris (July 21st) and Shawnae (August 27th). We got the girls some small tote bags from L.L. Bean for their scriptures and Brady and I made them beaded scripture markers. We also gave them some scrapbooks. Chris got a Texas Longhorns ballcap from Nickie and one for Brady too, although it will take a few years for him to grow into!

For dinner we had Hawaiian Haystacks, Pani Popo (Hawaiian Coconut Bread) and a strawberry lime cake (which sounded better than it was!!!) It was a great night and a lot of fun to celebrate everyone's birthdays!

Day 6: (Wednesday, August 6, 2008)

You guessed it! It rained today!!! It was a crazy day because we had planned to go to a place called "Joker's" that is like "Chuck E. Cheese's." When we got there a huge bus pulled in infront of us and unloaded about 1,000 little munchkins wearing florescent yellow shirts! DAYCAMPERS! And, as we entered the complex we realized that this was kiddie-camper hell! Nothing but florescent shirts of every color. I guess the seven parked buses outside should have tipped us off! We let Brady play in the ball pit and go down the tunnel slide a few times and then we made our great escape and headed out to lunch at Panera Bread. (YUM!) That was great once we figured out who's food was who's and got our orders filled (they were out of just about every soup! Bummer- because their french onion is superb!)

Not to let the rain and foiled plans get us down we headed on over to introduce the Graf gals to some New England Candlepin Bowling!!! Chris was ecstatic because he LOVES bowling and is always up for some competition!!!

Chris celebrates a STRIKE!....................................................But it wasn't enough to keep Nickie

from beating her big brother! It was an intense competition right until the end when she won by 1!!!

After a disappointing loss Chris quickly recovered by beating Brady at air hockey!

Day 7: (Thursday, August 7, 2008)

In the morning I had to run a few errands so the girls took this as the perfect opportunity to suprise me with a baby shower! When I opened the door I was carrying up some groceries and I opened the door slowly and heard Nickie inhale loudly and then a "SUPPRISE!!!" It was really cute how they decorated our apartment with streamers, balloons, pretty pink flowers and gifts!

Brady helped me open the gifts and he got a few of his own too! We got some great things including a gift certificate to Babies R' Us, a chic diaper bag, some diapers (always a good thing), a cute hair bow holder, a beautiful scrapbook that Chelsae made for Olivia, a scrap cube that Shawnae made with phrases that I'll add pictures to later, and lots of other goodies! We also played some classic baby shower games and everyone wrote poems for Olivia using the letters in her name. Thanks girls!!!! It was fun!

Brady loved the box that the diaper bag was in...so much that he just had to get in! Of course he then jumped out and yelled, "SUPRISE!!!"

Because it was raining my mom offered to do some crafts with everyone. She broke out her collection of seaglass and they all got to make custom sea glass jewelry. They came out beautiful and no one else in the world will have anything like what they created! They also made scripture markers with beads and chose some shells to go along with some that they found to make shadow boxes. (We'll have to blog the pictures of the finished shadow boxes later). I was also able to give everyone rides on the ATV later in the afternoon when it cleared up. For dinner that evening we had home-made "Cafe Rio" Sweet Pork, Sweet Basil Lime Rice and Garlic Lime Black Beans (just for you Nickie! Cafe Rio is her favorite!)

Day 8: (Friday, August 8, 2008)

Another rainy day! Chris was home from work today and I was in need of some R&R so he took everyone shopping at the mall and L.L. Bean where they broke the bank! Pictured below is Mom Graf- good thing her school days are over, this backpack is a real "back breaker!"

This is a HUGE model of the "famous" Bean Boot that got L.L. Bean started.

Day 9: (Saturday, August 9, 2008)

And it's off to the beach on this partly sunny day! We brought everyone to one of our favorite beaches: Pine Point in Scarborough, Maine.

The crazy driver and one happy passenger (no rain!)

This was Olivia's first time at the beach! There will be many more lazy, hazy beach days in her future!

Chris, Brady and I walking out on the sandbar

Day 10: (Sunday, August 10, 2008)

This was one crazy day! We were trying to take advantage of a sunny afternoon so we headed out to Mackworth Island after Sacrament Meeting...once getting there the parking lot was full and there were many other cars circling waiting for an open space so we knew that it wasn't going to work out. I thought of driving back up Rt. 1, which is the "scenic" route back home but opted for the highway since I knew everyone was hungry. Big mistake! As soon as we got on the highway we were stuck in bumper to bumper traffic for nearly a half hour! All the while we were thinking that there was an accident...what was the REAL hold-up? They were filling in potholes!!! In the MIDDLE of the day! On a SUMMER WEEKEND!!! What is WRONG with them?!

We joked when we got home that we were being "punished" for leaving church early! But the day ended up okay! We made another Sabbath exception and had a great time swimming in the pool, eating out on the deck, enjoying the wonderful warm sunshine and just being together!

Of course Livy and I couldn't go swimming but we enjoyed some snuggly mommy/daughter time and she showed me some of her first real big smiles!!!

Day 11: (Monday, August 11, 2008)

Chris was off from work again so we hit the road for Camden, one of my favorite places in Maine. It's a quaint New England town on the coast popular with tourists for it's picture perfect setting among the hills and harbor. Nickie said it best: "This place has sucha good feeling!" I grew up coming here because one of my aunts lived here and then on an island off of the coast (Islesboro). It was great to bring Chris' family here to show them what "true Maine" is all about!!!

One of the best things about Camden is the GORGEOUS view from the top of Mt. Battie, which is part of Camden Hills State Park. You can hike or drive to the top of the small mountain and the reward is the breathtakingly beautiful panoramic view of Penobscot Bay and historical downtown Camden. I was so disappointed because the fog was, (as we say in Maine) "as thick as pea soup!" and we couldn't see a thing! But everyone had fun pretending that they were witnessing a magnificent view and climbing the stone tower.

After coming down off the mountain I brought them into town where we went to the yacht yard and got some harbor pictures and then on to the wonderful town library and grassy ampitheater(look at my upcoming post for photos that I took). The fog cleared and although it was a bit chilly we had a wonderful time breathing in the sea air and taking it all in!

Lexi and Brady were troopers as they rode around in the stroller!



Part of downtown has an underground river that passes beneath the road and stores and empties out through this waterfall into the harbor. It's really beautiful and a fun place to eat or shop!

After shopping until the "kids dropped" we had to hurry and get back to the cars to avoid getting tickets (a 2 hour parking limit). We had eaten some seafood down on the wharf and were ready to go! We headed down to another coastal town, Rockland to go to The Rockland Breakwater Lighthouse. In order to get to the Lighthouse you walk one mile along a stone jetty or breakwater.

He looks awfully cute doesn't he?!

Well, it's a good thing he is cute because he threw a 45 min. tantrum on the way home and whined and cried the whole way!!! He tries my patience but I sure do love my blue-eyed Brady boy!

That night we ended the classic New England day with a classic New England dinner:

Lobster and Steamers (steamed clams)

Day 12: (Tuesday, August 12, 2008)

It was rainy off and on and Nickie's last day so as she packed the girls and I worked on our shadow boxes. Nickie also briefly taught me how to make headbands for Livy (which I'm excited to try!) and we went out to Olive Garden for our last family meal all together! Then we dropped Nickie off at the airport- we're so glad that she and Lexi were able to come!

To wind down in the evening Chris spent some time with Olivia.... "Out with the bad air, in with the good!" and "Rock on!!!"

Day 13: (Wednesday, August 13, 2008)

Today Mom and the girls had to go home. They spent most of the morning packing things up and then we headed out to finally go to Mackworth Island. Unfortunately we didn't have time to walk the island but we did have a nice picnic on the shore. From there I dropped them off at the airport where we said our goodbyes, gave tons of hugs and kisses and Brady proclaimed: "This is just too sad, too sad for me!!!"

Grammie Graf sure loved being with all three of her grandchildren and we loved having her, Shawnae, Chelsae, Nickie and Lexi here with us!!! We can't wait until the next time that they all get to come out and for all of the other fun things that we want to take them to!