Life in Kentucky

Welcome to our new Olsen family blog! Since we live so far away from family and friends, we decided to follow in the footsteps of others and make it possible for everybody to see exactly what we're doing any time they darn well please. This is our first one, so I hope it's not too boring! As most of you know, Brian is busy, busy, busy working on his PhD degree in Psychology here at the University of Cincinnati. I (Becky) am lucky enough to get to stay home with our adorable offspring, Kylee (4) and Makayla (21 months). We have a nice little apartment here in Northern Kentucky, but I'm hoping we'll be able to get something bigger next spring. We really like the area where we live, it's not too populated, but not out in the country. The girls and I stay busy and happy most days. The hardest thing is not having a yard for the kids to play in, but we have some pretty great parks nearby.

Kylee got a new Dora bike recently and loves riding it, even though she has yet to learn how to stop with the brakes, rather than throwing herself off the bike. Good thing we got a helmet for her! We're planning on starting her in preschool in the fall, which she's REALLY excited for. Makayla has always been a very sweet, good-natured baby, but we can see that she's starting to enter the terrible-2 era. She's still not really talking, but she says MINE quite loudly and she knocks on the pantry door and says COO-KIE COO-KIE. She loves animals and is quite good with them, so we call her the next Bindi Irwin.

Unfortunately, she's not as good with humans, and tends to not like strangers much at all, including poor Grandmas and Grandpas. She has had a hard time getting used to nursery, so Brian and I take turns staying in with her until we can safely sneak away. It's a work in progress.

The girls and I have had 2 vacations already this summer. We went to Delaware the end of April to visit my sister, my parents, and eventually my brother and his family. It was a little chilly and rainy, but we had a good time. We're excited for the first cousin on the Phillip's side to be born at the end of September! At the end of May my Grandpa Phillips died, so the girls and I ditched Brian once again and headed out to Salt Lake. We spent 2 weeks there visiting friends and family. Kylee and Makayla had a great time seeing their cousins, despite starting to drive eachother crazy about halfway through the visit. We look forward to being back at Christmas. That's all for now, so check back for updates on our super-exciting, amazing lives here in Kentucky!