Winter Wonderland

Bayli & I are always the first ones up.

So not a morning person - yet I've learned to really enjoy the quiet peacefulness of our mostly-sleeping, normally chaotic house.

Today we woke up to a

winter wonderland.

I love, love, love the snow.

Bayli stood at the window (which her little head barely clears) by the Christmas tree and we watched the snow fall.

Christmas decorations, a quiet, quiet morning & snow falling.

For me, that's as good as it gets.

Daddy was the next one up.

Bayli & I both enjoyed having him all to ourselves, while the big girls enjoyed some serious sleeping in...

So sad to send them back to school tomorrow.

We're crossing our fingers for a Snow Day!

Trim the Tree

It's officially Christmastime - our Christmas tree went up today!

The girls had fun doing the ornaments, but I think the most fun that everyone had tonight was watching Bayli. :)

She was one day old the last time we put the tree up.

We don't think she noticed.

She definitely noticed today. :)

She was so darn cute.

She was fascinated by the whole thing.

She even picked up an ornament and set it in the branches.

Here she is saying "ball" and dancing to the Christmas carols...

Thanksgiving

The best day!
Thanksgiving at my Mom's house, without a full-day's drive!
The food was so yummy, the company even better.
Thanks Momma & Dad for a truly wonderful Thanksgiving!

We're all so thankful that you're here!

I just wish we didn't finish off all the leftovers already!

It was the perfect day

and now it's officially Christmastime!!

Thankful

So thankful

for 4 beautiful, healthy daughters that warm my heart, make me laugh everyday and make my life complete

for having sleepovers with my best friend every night

for Thanksgiving dinner at my Mom's house today

a job that provides so wonderfully for our family

laughter

a week off school & dance

my really awesome sisters-in-law

the holiday season

a sweet, healthy one-week-old niece - Sarah Anne

pumpkin pie

good friends

Happy Thanksgiving!

12 Month Check-Up

Bayli had her 12-month check-up on Monday:

21 lbs. 1 oz. (50th %)

29 inches (50th %)

18 1/4" head circumference (90th %)

4 immunizations :(

She spent the entire time running around the room opening & attempting to empty all the unlocked cabinets (haven't they had crazy one-year-olds in there before, or is mine the only one to do this??).

Ooh - paper gowns!

Things I want to remember about Bayli at one...

• She holds the phone (or anything that resembles a phone to her) to her ear and walks around the house saying "hi!"
• She points to where she wants you to take her.
• She loves doggies, animals, books & balls.
• The way she squats down on the floor.
• She will not sleep under the covers.
• She laughs when we laugh.
• She still wears size 12-18 months (same as when she was 4 months old and 17 lbs.)
• She is busy, busy, busy, super curious & loves to explore.
• When you ask her "Where's your ___?", she gets a puzzled expression, turns both her hands palms up, and starts looking around.
• She says mama, dada, doggie, ball, hi, bye, book, night-night, and maybe no (this one's new, but I'm thinking we'll soon be hearing it quite a bit...)
• She loves drinking water from her sippy cup.
• She brings me her book, says "baba?" and sits in my lap
• She really loves her Uncle Jeff
• She's happy, happy, happy.

I love you so much Sweet Girl.

Thanks for making me smile every day and for sharing this amazing, joyful year with me.

Cookies with Grandma

When Grandma used to live far away and would come visit during the holidays, she always made time to make sugar cookies with the girls. My girls always looked forward to it. So as funny as it sounds, when they heard that Grandma & Grandpa were moving here, their first thought was the endless cookie-making possibilities... I had to remind them that Grandma would want to get unpacked and settled in her new house and may not be available for immediate cookie-making...

Since her kitchen isn't quite ready and my girls are out of school this week, my sweet Momma came over to our house Monday and made cookies with the girls. She is so patient and lets them do everything themselves and taste as much as they want.

So not like Mom - no wonder they have so much fun!

She spent the whole day with us and watched Kung Fu Panda.

We all loved it.

It was so fun - I was sad to see her go until I realized that she lives here now! I can see her again tomorrow. :)

We're all so lucky.

Thanks for moving here Grandma!!

Twilight!

Corey, Ryann, Bayli & I finally saw Twilight!

My Squeester called to wish me Happy Twilight Day.

We were excited.

We went at 11:00 am, so that Bayli would nap and I could actually see the movie.

It started out pretty bad - I thought the pivotal scene where Bella sits next to Edward during biology was awful. I mean, he's covering his nose? Come on! I was pretty disappointed with the whole thing. Then came the baseball scene, which totally rocked!!

I think it got a lot better towards the second half.

At least, that's what they tell me.

I was in the lobby looking at movie posters of doggies.

Bayli hanging with Aunt Corey before the movie started

Ryann & Bayli at Red Robin afterwards

My busy, busy, busy one-year-old loved her balloon!

Festival of Trees

As if Bayli's 1st Birthday wasn't enough excitement for one day, Ryann & Madi had a performance at the Festival of Trees.

Grandma & Grandpa came with us. Skye played in the artificial snowstorm, got her face painted and took a picture with Santa. Bayli loved exploring and looking at all of the trees.

Madi & Ryann looked beautiful. They danced wonderfully. They were awesome.

I'm a proud Momma.

(Not that I got to see all of their dancing, since I was ridiculously busy chasing after their brand-new one-year-old sister, who did not take a break from her wandering explorations just because her sisters were onstage... She truly cannot be contained - any attempts to do so will result in loud shrieking sounds...)

But she had a lot of fun,

and it was her birthday after all...

Birthday Party!

Yesterday was Bayli's 1st Birthday.

First birthdays are always such a big deal to me. I always feel overwhelmingly grateful to have another beautiful, precious and healthy little one to love.

So I went all out - homemade invites, amazing indian food, three yummy desserts (Grandma Dew's traditional 1st Birthday Lambie Cake, Black Forest Cake & Pumpkin Pie - since Bayli was born on Thanksgiving and that's what I was doing when I went into labor...), presents and our closest family & friends.

I joked all week that Bayli might not even be awake for her party and she did sleep through most of it. :) She missed the indian feast but woke up just in time for cake! She loved her fun presents - lots of books & doggies, her two favorite things!

Happy Birthday my Sweet Little Angel.

I can't believe you're One Year Old!

1st Birthday Cake

Bayli got her very first taste of cake today.

Of course, she loved it.

More birthday pics to follow...

Twelve Months of Bayli

A photo record of my sweet baby's first year...

It went so fast.

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!

six days old

one month

two months

three months

(almost) four months

five months

six months

seven months

eight months


nine months


ten months

eleven months

twelve months!

Bayli's Invitations

My sweet, sweet baby is will be one year old tomorrow.

Obviously, we are having a big celebration - indian buffet, birthday cake and our closest friends & family.

I made her cute invitations.

She may sleep through the whole thing.

As long as she knows how much she is loved.

My dreams came true the day she was born.

I wish you could all be here to help celebrate!

Hair

I wanted to take a picture of my new haircut today, but Bayli kept climbing on me, so I mostly got some funny pictures with her instead...

I'm actually not sure if I like it or not, but the baby's a Keeper!

Fever

Look at my sweetest little sickie. :(

She came down with a fever last night - it's her birthday week! So not fair.

All of her sisters have been sick, along with Daddy & Grandma & Grandpa, so really it's impressive she held out as long as she did.

Pathetic.

Here's some random cute pictures of her last week when she didn't look so pathetic...

So far, today has been a nurse-a-thon. I'll be lucky to get a shower. And I'm going to cherish every minute before she gets any bigger...

One Year Old on Saturday...

Unauthorized Publication

This is a free write that my talented 9-year-old Madi brought home from school last week.

I love, love, love it.

She wouldn't let me share it with anyone, so you can't tell her you read it or that it was amazing... Luckily, she doesn't read my blog much. I can't help it, I know it won't get lost here on my blog and I want to save it forever.

"Describe a snowy day. "

On a cold snowy day, I love to go outside and play in the snow. I love the look of the freezing cold snow reflecting the light of the snow, and the sound of the hard, glistening under my feet. Also, I love the way it feels to lay in the powdery, cold snow and to hear nothing, but the quiet stillness of the snow falling to the ground. But, my favorite part of all is to go inside and drink hot chocolate, and let the steam melt away the frost on my face, while sitting on the fireplace.

I love it! I'm there in the snow with you Baby.

Finally Here!!

After two months of packing, loading, unexpected delays, waiting, and countless repititions of "When are Grandma & Grandpa going to be here?", they finally made it!!

Welcome Home!

And now I finally have my Momma (& Dad!) close by!

Can you tell my girls are excited??

Homemade Pizza Night

We started a weekend tradition - Make Your Own Pizza Night.

My kids think this is the funnest (I know that's not a word, but it should be) thing ever.

I made homemade pizza dough from a recipe I got online.

It actually turned out great (yeast is not a friend to me).

My hubby & I shared our pizza:

My favorite salad- field greens with pear, blue cheese & walnuts:

We also painted the shed:

Hooray! Now that we're done with that, my new scrapbook room is next!

Bayli's 1st Halloween

Why can't Trick-or-Treating be a morning activity?...