Oliver at ELEVEN months

         This month Oliver made the long flight to the birthplace of his father! Yup, England! We flew to England for Christmas and it was way too much fun. I started to feel incredibly excited about moving here next summer. One of the first places we went to was Warwick University to check out the campus and see if it would be a good fit for Nathan. It was. All three of us loved the campus. It felt like where we needed to be. I'm so glad that we have the Spirit with us always so we can be told when something is good or not. This campus visit was a good thing. 

       After visiting Warwick University we of course had to go to my favorite place... Warwick Castle. I cannot express how much I love this place. Anyone who wants to come visit us, I will take you here and you will love it!

        Soon we were off to Wales for Nathans family holiday. All the Mulligans under one roof. We had to get a pretty massive house but we easily filled it. We had the house over Christmas so we were able to celebrate together. It was a fabulous holiday for us and for Oliver. He had a great time with all of his cousins. A few of them getting quite attached to him. Good thing that we will be back in August for more cousin fun!

            I loved loved loved this trip to England! We had a great time with Nathans family and I was able to picture life here without all the fuss of Wedding plans. It felt so great to be there! I'm so excited for our move to England. What an adventure!

Oliver at TEN months

       We went to Mesa Falls this month! We drove there on a Sunday afternoon. It was getting close to the end of the season so it was pretty empty up there. We just wandered around and enjoyed the great outdoors.

      Oliver loves water features so we thought he'd love watching the waterfall instantly. Not so! He was actually pretty afraid at first. Its really loud! But after some time he really liked looking out at it.

        We went on the hunt for the perfect pumpkin for Halloween! We went to a pumpkin patch and just couldn't resist taking thousands of pictures of little Oliver amongst thousands of bright orange pumpkins! Love them all!

         We spent Halloween with Rachel's family in Ucon. We took Oliver around the trunk or treat and only got a few suspicious looks as we took candy for our 10 month old. Needless to say, We ate just about every piece ourselves. Oh, the joys of having a child!

Our Halloween window decorations

Flynn Ryder, Rapunzel, and Pascal

Oliver at NINE months

Ready to Party!

           This month Oliver and I went to DISNEYLAND! We met up with my family in Anaheim and had a great couple of days at the happiest place on earth. Oliver did absolutely amazing! He was pretty entertained by the whole thing. The rides were fun and he could go on just about all of them. I did managed to sneak away a time or two to go on some of the big rides. Tower of Terror is my favorite! We went in October so Disneyland had a special "Halloween Party" that we dressed up as Rapunzel and Pascal for. It was a blast!

T.O.T!

              Not long after getting back from Anaheim, my family came to visit Missy and I in the 'burg'. We went to the park one afternoon and had a really good time playing with the kiddos on the play structure and challenging each other to silly competitions. Who knew I could still hang upside down from a bar? Unfortunately there is no physical proof.

            We also wanted to go to a straw maze while my family was in town. It took a while for us to get out of our house so we were pushing our time limit. We had to get through the maze with the kids before the straw maze became 'haunted' after dark. We did not want Lily and Oliver to be in there when a bunch of teenagers dressed like creepy clowns and monsters were trying to scare them. Okay, honestly, I didn't want to be in there with those creepy teenagers either! Luckily we had Parker, Nathan, and Mark using their best analytical thinking so we got out of there with 15 minutes spare! Go boys!

         Oliver is old enough now that he is getting to know people and he has a really good time with my parents. My dad chose to come with Oliver and I to 'Toon Town' at Disneyland and as if that wasn't enough he also bought us some very expensive corn dogs afterward too. My mom always brings Oliver new clothes or toys and will get on the floor to play with him. Both he and I are lucky to have them!

Oliver at EIGHT months

           During Olivers eighth month we flew to San Antonio to visit my brother, Mitchell, his wife, Becca, and their sweet baby girl, Halle. The flight was really good despite it being Olivers first trip on a plane. As soon as we stepped out of the airport the heat hit. In a way it was comforting, it felt like home. 

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

           It was so hot that we frequently went for dips in the pool. When we first put Oliver in the pool with the floaty he wasn’t sure what to do. We put him on a big shallow step and he just started walking backwards and crying. The step was so big he was able to do this for a few seconds before we caught up with him and stopped him. It was hard not to laugh. 

             We had a lot of fun days while we were there. We went to the outlet malls and did some shopping, we played mini golf, and swam some more, all while poor Mitchell had to work. When Mitchell did get off at night we would go out to eat (fajitas!), play Mario Kart on the WiiU, or indulge in a “sweet volcano” from a much loved shaved ice 2point0 place that they discovered. Oliver even took his first solid steps in their apartment! Texas really felt like home when I got to meet up with my good friend Kylie and her family. They had plenty of embarrassing stories to tell Nathan... thankfully most of them were about my brother, Matt!

Sea World

             On Saturday morning, Mitchell, Becca, Nathan, and I went to Aquatica. It’s the new waterpark attached to SeaWorld. It is the coolest water park. One slide had a clear tunnel through a sting ray exhibit and another made you question whether you would live or die (seriously). It was our first outing without Oliver and it was too fun! Soon we missed our babes though so went back home, changed, and headed back to the park with our little ones in tow. This time we went to the actual Sea World part of the park. We saw dolphins getting fed and cool looking fish. Oliver really likes looking at fish. I am currently trying to convince Nath that we should get one!

             We also went to a couple shows. The Shamu show was in this absolutely massive stadium. Before it started they had a pre-show “dance party” going on. People would do certain dance moves and they would get shown on the jumbotron. During the freestyle part Becca and I stood up holding Halle and Oliver and made those babies dance… and they totally put them up on the big screen! I still chuckle thinking about it - chubby babies being forced to dance for everyone to see - gotta love it!

            So another day we did what my father insisted needed to be done while we were there. Go eat at the Big Bib. Oh man, did it live up to the hype. It was cheap and oh so delicious! And the last honorable mention for food in San Antonio is…. Shipley's Donuts. We had breakfast there twice, and grabbed an evening treat (dozen donuts) too. Oh my YUM! Why, oh why, are there no Kolaches up north?!

A pic we sent to dad of Becca and I peeking into the Big Bib

            On one of our last days we went to the Alamo. I will never forget it! (Hehe) Mitchell warned me not to ask where the basement is in the Alamo, its disrespectful. Darn.We also went to the Riverwalk. I love love love the Riverwalk in San Antonio. It has the coolest restaurants, shops, and hotels alongside this river. It’s a little Venice-esque. It had lots of awesome water features, which Oliver loved. He just stared at each one as long as we would let him. Cutie boy. As we walked along the Riverwalk, we went to the one place I deemed as a must-see. The stage on ‘Miss Congeniality’ where they do the interviews (“All you really need is a light jacket!”). We couldn't find it for a while but Mitchell didn't give up and he eventually found it for me -though we did have to walk through "Pee Alley". Haha! What a good brother!

Remember the Alamo!

      It was such a great visit! I miss Texas. It has a little piece of my heart there. Thanks to Becca and Mitchell for the fabulous time!!! Love them LOTS!

     The flight back was fine and then it was back to regular life. Regular life is not so boring though. Not with my Gops by my side!

Oliver at SEVEN months

               
           So we moved into our new digs and all of us our loving it. Somehow being in such a cool townhouse made Oliver want to get onto a predictable schedule and nap really well. Ummm..... YES!!! It has been very nice for me. He also is almost mobile. When he sits up he can get into the crawl position so only time will tell. Oh, and this little guy got his first tooth this month! Yay! Goodness, he is growing up so fast!

             His little personality is starting to shine through. He is pretty shy around others. He will bury his face in my chest and shake his head! He is so cute when he gets excited too. He will put his fists in his mouth and scrunch his eyes, kind of acting shy again. Cutie!

              This past month we went to "Monkey Rock." It was a fun little family outing we did on my birthday. I had never been there before but it was really neat! Too bad we didn't bring our suits because the water was not as cold as we anticipated. Nathan almost convinced me to swim in my clothes... almost. 

       
           We had lots of fun at Porter Park with Rachel's family. We went on the swings, which Oliver didn't like too much. He just clung on for dear life, whereas Holly seemed to enjoy them a lot. We also went on the carousel. Oliver was pretty neutral about it.

          This summer has been really nice so far. Nath has a break in school so we have just been able to spoil our little boy with lots of attention.

Oliver at SIX months

          Oliver turned 6 months so we had a little half birthday party for him! My family was passing through town so they were able to be there. We sang to him while he looked at us with a very bewildered face then we pushed his cake close enough for him to get a little lick. Yum!  

          Oliver is just not one to stay still. He is reaching milestones so quickly! He has started sitting up this month and doesn't seem to be slowing down. He is such a determined little kid. He was never really interested in getting around by rolling. I can probably count on one hand the amount of times he has by his own free will and choice rolled over! I think he thinks he is too "grown-up" to do something so degrading! Haha! Silly kid-o! He has also started talking really softly when he is ready for bed. It like a cute little whisper, saying "Mom, I'm really quite tired. Could you please put me down?" Its pretty adorable.

wincing at bubbles

                  You may have noticed that this month I changed the title from "Ollie" at _ months to "Oliver." This is because we almost NEVER call him Ollie. It is so strange to me because I just love the name Ollie and I called him that for like the last 3 months of my pregnancy. I guess he just came out more like an Oliver, at least for now. Actually I think he came out more like a "GOPS" because that nickname has stuck for months now! I think its kinda funny and cute.

Oliver sharing a smile with Uncle Matt

                We went to the Ranch for the 4th of July this year and had a fabulous time despite a nasty flu virus sweeping Zinn Ranch! Oliver got to meet nearly all my aunts, uncles, and cousins on the Zinn side. We had  a once in a lifetime opportunity to have sacrament meeting on the lawn at the ranch because of the sickness that slowly took out nearly everyone at the reunion. We had the sacrament passed by my adorable cousins (so glad they are all worthy!) and then we had a testimony meeting. It was so wonderful to hear the testimonies of my family members and to get to spend some time with them! What a great month!

Ollie at FIVE months

We kicked off this month by visiting Yellowstone. It was our first family outing and it was so great! Oliver slept most of the way there, which was wonderful. Then he just smiled away as we walked around. It was a really nice day.

Oliver and his dad 

The two of us admiring a beautiful hot spring

 Nathan and I took Oliver on a trip to the temple one Sunday. There are some small hills by the parking lot and Nath and I took turns rolling down the hill. We even gave gops a slow turn down it. It was a nice little visit. The bench we are sitting on in the pictures is the bench Nathan and I used to sit on when we would visit the temple when we were dating.

I love to see the temple...

I'll go inside someday

We had some visitors from Wales this month! Naomi, Vince, Loren, and Laine Jones came to visit Rachels family, as well as ours. Oliver had a great time hanging with his cousins, especially Holly (6 months old) and Laine (4 months old). We went to the zoo, played at the park, and took a stroll on campus with them. It was a blast!

Loren, Jacob, Oliver, and Logan at the IF zoo

Oliver is starting to move even more now. He can rotate 360 degrees while on his belly and is starting to arch his back in the car seat and Bumbo to try and escape! I'm not sure where all this energy is coming from because he is not eating anything but milk still. We have tried some baby foods with him but he seems to hate what we have tried so far. What baby hates avocados and sweet potatoes?! I think he's probably just not ready yet. He also still isn't sleeping too well, sometimes he wakes up just screaming for no reason, which can make me feel drained but it's alright because we have so many sweet moments together. He woke up just a few days ago at 6:30am and all he wanted to do was smile up at me so we just smiled and stared at each other. He is such a joy!!!