Fwd: NothiNg too excitiNg...

> I just love finding this in the morning. she pulls them off the table
> through the gaps. it is especially cute when it's the Carl books. she
> tells the story herself. you may be able to hear some of it thru the
> paci...

meRRy chRistmAs

>
> we hope yours wasn't too traumatic :) we are still recovering...

14 MONTHS!

how on earth did that happen?!?

and while i'm thinking about it...

I never posted anything about my baby's first birthday. it's not that i didn't think about writing something a million times. it's more of how do you sum up the happiest year of your life. i cannot believe how happy being a mother has made me. i love my little munchkin. she makes me laugh every single day. we both just sit at the end of the day when the stories are read and the prayers are said and are sad that the day is over and we have to put her to bed. she really is so even tempered and sweet most of the time. so... just as i'm sitting up letting my legs rest from p90x before i head to bed, i just figure i'll take a minute to list some things that i'm loving about my 1 year old. she...
LOVES books. she has favorites and when i can't find her in the house, it's usually because she has pulled books off the shelf and is sitting there reading them out loud.
knows the hand movements to "popcorn popping" and does them all at the right time...and then claps at the end
started saying "boo" and poking her head around the corner
comes running EVERY time a bathroom door opens screaming "ba" (which means bath)
loves to lay on my shoulder in the middle of the night when she wakes up to eat. she will easily go back to bed, but sometimes i like to just enjoy that moment. sometimes she will blow a raspberry on my shoulder or neck and then giggle
pushes her doll stroller wherever she goes. she yells if it doesn't fit between 2 things to come with her
ADORES babies and reaches up to tickle them whenever she sees one
smiles nonstop.
shakes her head yes and no. she's much better at no than yes, but the yes is so cute because her whole body moves with it
LOVES to dance and thinks i'm so funny when i dance and sing to her
stands by the door and waits when she hears me get my keys. today she even said bye and waved to me and then turned and faced the door...

and now my brain is getting tired... haha. you can imagine why i don't sit down and do this more often.
i don't even have a picture of her first birthday party to share yet. friends and family had their cameras and i haven't taken a minute to get them from them... but it sure was cute how she wouldn't even taste her cake... but kept pulling it apart to feed jojo. i'm so excited as i watch those moments to see the little person she is shaping up to be. i love to see bits of that person inside...

SO BEHIND!!!

a few things we have been up to... in no particular order. :) enjoy!

playing outside

WALKING!!!

11 months

I cannot believe this girl is 11 months old. we are counting down the days until she is one and i just wish i could freeze time! and yet, it gets more and more fun every day! she started walking this weekend and went from 2-3 steps to walking everywhere completely on her own overnight. it's like we skipped something in the middle. i couldn't believe how fast it happened. she's such a fun little monkey though. we have had SUCH a great summer! i remember thinking when she was born that it was horrible timing because she was going to be a little baby all winter... but WHAT A FUN AGE for her first summer! she loves the beach. she loves to play and laugh outside on the grass. she loves going for walks anywhere and everywhere. she LOVES to eat cheerios. she loves sea world and the wild animal park and all the animals she sees. but she especially loves being around kids. she gets so excited when she sees kids...especially kids she knows. she makes me laugh so hard. so here are some fun pictures from our summer. (can you believe it's over!?!?!) they are totally out of order, but whatever...

good morning world! I'm awake!!

every morning we can be found here. we watch the goings on outside
for a good 20 minutes at least. it's one of my favorite times of the
day...

CHEERIOS!!!

after playing in the splash zone at the wild animal park...don't you
love how her hand is still in the bowl?!? haha. this girl and her
cheerios...

SWINGS!!

she loves them. she used to not even notice that she was anywhere
special. I love how they make her giggle...

beach hair!

I LOVE sunscreened crazy beach hair!

LAteLy

we've been doing a lot of this. just hanging out, cruising around, and
eating cheerios off the floor. I love days like this.
don't mind the nakedness...we were hanging out diaperless for a
minute...ya, just long enough to pee all over the floor. thank heavens
for tile!

you'd think I never feed my kid!

this girl will DEVOUR cheerios no matter how full she already is. I
lov how much she loves them. she hears the bag and jumps. it's so
cute! naturally, I keep a Costco sized bag in the car...in the
stroller...at home... when all else fails, bring out the cheerios!

wouLd you beLieve...?

she pooped sand for almost 2 full days after this picture...

CLAPPING!

so crazy how fast she's growing up!!!

these little girlies are so very lucky to have such an awesome auntie who plays with them ALL the time. it's so cute to see them play together!
and...just cuz i love these faces! lydia was feeding herself rice and ended up with this little treasure on her face. :)
and i just love how excited she is in this picty. she LOVES to stand!!! my days of getting things done during waking hours are over.

so pRoud!

Lydia and I are SO proud of our man. What an accomplishment. After 2 and a half years of HARD work, IT'S OVER!!! Congrats David. What a great day we had celebrating him. We are so grateful for all the support along the way. It's been a fun adventure, but we're ready to get back to real life now.

We got home tonight and went for a walk to the park as a family. It was magical! Lydia sat and played with her dad and reveled in the moments. Then we sat and read books until bedtime. We are all just so relieved it's over and excited to be together. :)

sleep positions...

Lately, we have been working on napping in the crib. usually, Lydia
prefers to nap in her car seat inside her crib. I don't really kind
except that someday she'll get too big... so whenever we are home, we
try the crib. usually she SCREAMS forever only to pass out and sleep
for only 40 minutes. today, she was really quiet. but every time I
checked, she was crawling around...like a lion pacing it's cage...
30 minutes later, I go in to find this. I think she fell asleep mid
crawl. I wonder how long it will last? but at least it was calm and
peaceful, right? haha

tuckered out

we LOVE a good exhausting morning at the wild animal park!

SO BIG!

doesn't she look like such a big girl in this picture! perhaps that's why i avoid jeans and shirts on my baby! it reminds me how big she's getting!

movies...

I'm SO glad I worked out the solution to the movie problem months ago!
she already found the 5 I had left sitting out! haha

sometimes...

sometimes I sit after my little monkey goes to sleep and quickly
review our day. I wonder if I read to her enough, sang to her enough,
talked to her enough...but I find myself always asking 'did I hold her
enough today?' it's so easy to just watch her play and not get too
involved, but the days when I know I did my best are the ones when I
laughed with her. when she sat on my lap while we discovered new
things she can do instead of me just observing...
I hope this little lady always knows that she is loved beyond
comprehension. isn't that the most important gift we can give them?
the knowledge that they are loved... how much greater a world could
this be if more kids knew how loved they really are?

big girl bath

lydi and I stayed at my parents' last week and lydi had her first big
girl baths with Hattie. they were SO cute in there and Lydia was in
HEAVEN!

just cuz

I just love her face in this picty!!!

question: how to get a thesis done with a mobile 7 month old?

answer: give her all the rough drafts and let her go to town

reading

I love sitting outside with a good book!