Birthday Party

Yummmm.... my first cupcake!! After a couple second delay, I dug right in!

Mama & Daddy with their Birthday Girl :) We had quite a feast, thank you to Great Grandma Rosie for the help on cooking! Thank you to Grammie Kellie for the baby-sitting while we cooked.

The kids had fun coloring on the coffee table covered in butcher paper! After we ate lunch, we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and then went on a butterfly hunt outside in the courtyard. There aren't many real butterflies in February, especially in the rain, so I improvised and got some cute faux butterflies at Michael's for the kids to pick up. We were lucky it quit raining just long enough for us to 'catch' some! We were so lucky to spend the day with all of our sweet families: Nonna Carol & Grandpa Jerry Cousin Sydney, Auntie Katie & Cousin Kat, Grandpa Rich & Uncle Matt, Uncle Ted & Deborah, and a surprise visit from soon-to-be-married Cousin Megan & Brian! Love you guys, thank you for making the trip in the rain!

I wasn't able to get as many pictures as I wanted, mainly because we were running late decorating before the party, so we were in a huge rush. However, we did get video...I will post one a little later... I am having uploading issues! It is still crazy when people ask me how old she is, and I say "One!". We feel so blessed and privileged to be parents to this sweet girl! I can't wait to see all of what God has in store for her precious life. Love you Lindsay Diane!

One!

ONE!?!? Yep 1. Our sweet baby turned one yesterday! We had a wonderful day...

Big girl shoes. Check. My 1st Birthday onsie. Check. Giant Bow. Check. Ready for Bible Study as a 1 yr. old!

Here is our 1 year stats:

18 lbs., 6 oz. ...........25th percentile

29.5 inches tall....... 75-80th percentile

*Miss Lindsay can say, "Bye", "Dada", "Pup-Pup" and can point to your eyes, nose and mouth.

*She loves to turn the light switch off... still haven't figured out "on", but claps every time it goes off.

*She cruises along the furniture, and pulls up on anything and everything. She will walk holding on to your fingers, and boy does she go fast! I can't imagine when she begins walking on her own...

*Lindsay LOVES music, and will dance and move whenever/wherever she feels inclined.

*Our girl waves at everything!

*Say Cheese! Lindsay has 4 teeth, and her top two next to the big teeth are just peeking through. She smiles her big, toothy grin and it melts my heart!

*RAWR! Jarrett has taught Lindsay to roar... it's pretty stinkin' cute if you ask me.

*Snuggles... still cuddles and snuggles when she is tired.... I am eating this up because I know it is possibly short-lived :)

*Weaned!! Whew! I made it to the 1 year mark... her last feeding was last night before bed. We have been weaning slowly, so I am hoping (fingers crossed) that tonight won't be such a big adjustment.

*Eating...Her favorite foods are Mac n' Cheese, Chicken Noodle Soup, and Spaghetti. Not a fan of pancakes... strange kid.

Can we say, "HAM?" LOl...

Lindsay's 1st birthday landed on a Tuesday, and that is our Community Bible Study Day! Lindsay has met so many sweet kids in her playgroup and LOVES to play and listen to their little message about Jesus. It's so cute- they do singing and puppet shows, both of which my musical child loves. After Bible Study, we go to Miss Becca's house and have lunch. This week we had a little birthday party for all the kids who were born in February... there are 4! Here is Lindsay with her friends playing in the kitchen....

Lindsay and Lucy

February Birthdays and Sweet Friends:

Kim & Marianne, Feb. 5 1st Birthday

Me & Lindsay, Feb. 15th (1st Birthday)
Becca & Bailey, Feb. 13th (2nd Birthday)
Tami & Colton, Feb. 15th (3rd Birthday) *Bless his heart, he is the only boy in our group of 5 little girls... he is so gentle with the little ladies!

Cupcakes and candles! Still working on blowing... The big kids showed her how it was done!

No cupcake for Lindsay, but we did let her eat some Malibu Yogurt, cookies and cream flavor! I will post a video later... it was COLD :) We are so excited for her birthday party on Saturday and to celebrate with family and more sweet friends!!

Happy Valentine's Day

What were you doing Valentine's Day 2010? After a delcious meal with my sweetheart at Cheesecake Factory, we went to the hospital to be induced :) Here is a pic (40 weeks!) with our little Valentine Baby...Here's our sweet girl... 4 days old... She was only able to wear her V-Day outfit one time... I guess that is what happens when you have 8 lbs. baby and dress her in a Newborn size.

Lindsay Diane, Valentine's Day 2011: I can't believe our girl is going to be 1 tomorrow?!?!

Zoo

We took Lindsay to the Los Angeles Zoo this weekend and had so much fun... We were watching a bird show and there were birds of all kinds flying above our heads... Lindsay was "OOOooo ing" and Jarrett and I were praying we wouldn't pooped on..LOL

One of Lindsay's new words is "Pup Pup", aka puppies. She referred to every animal she saw as a Pup Pup. Here are some Pup Pups, well, I mean Monkeys...

A really big gorilla...

She had so much fun pointing at EVERY animal she saw, and waving at all the kids...and there were a TON of them. Jarrett and I agreed that the animals must bring out the wild behavior in the kiddos too..LOL

Clapping with the audience...

Flamingos... so so pretty!

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Go Packers!

Warm Weather

The past few weeks while much of the East Coast has been covered in snow and dealing with blizzard conditions, we have been taking walks on the beach and turning on our air conditioners... don't you love Southern CA? (Sorry East Coast Friends...come visit!)

Daddy & Lindsay at the beach... Minus the fat arm, I love her sweet smile!

11 Months

She saw this tutu from Auntie Katie & Cousin Kat in her closent and pointed to it, so we put it on over her jammies.... yep, she's my daughter for sure!

Sweet girl

Here's a video of her pushing her baby in the stroller...

This post is a little late (we are nearing 12 months) but I have been hit with the one-two combo of cold + stomach bug, and have been under the weather. So here is what the little lady has been up to this month:

*Sleeping through the night!! Lindsay slept through the night for the very first time, Dec. 31st... the one night a year that J and I actually stayed up until 12:30am. I think if we knew she was going to sleep through the night we would have skipped the ball dropping. LOL. We do get stretches of her sleeping through the night a couple times per week, or only waking up 1 time, where we have to go lay her back down. A full night's sleep is bliss!

*Teething...Lulu has cut all 4 of her teeth...top 2 and bottom 2, and is working on another one on top to the left. Ouch! I look at her little smile and it's not the gummy smile of a baby anymore, but of a big girl toddler.

*Favorite book: The Very Hungry Caterpiller, by Eric Carle. We read this book about twenty times a day! We decided to do a butterfly themed birthday party in honor of her favorite book...

*Social Butterfly... Lindsay is SO outgoing! She is her Daddy's daughter for sure! We cannot go anywhere where Lindsay does not feel the need to wave and smile at every person she sees, even across the room. I have had so many random people come up to us, especially at the grocery store, that say, "Your baby keeps waving at me down every aisle so I had to come say Hi." She loves to "ham it up"!

*Finger-licking-good! She enjoys feeding herself the most, and likes a bite of whatever Jarrett and I are eating.

*Hair... her hair has been growing, and I can almost put a clip in it... poor girl, her Mama loves bows.

I'm not ready for her to be 1. Where does time go? Love u Lulu!

Coolest Birthday Gift Ever

Now, I know that it seems like I go on pretty often about what an amazing husband I have on this blog, but it is just simply true! For my 28th birthday, my most wonderful husband surprised me with a tour of the house that I grew up in in Tehachapi. Priceless.

For the past few months, I have been saying that I wanted to take a trip to visit Tehachapi, a small town 45 minutes east of Bakersfield, where my family lived for 12 years. I know this sounds crazy, but when I dream of "home" it is always in this house, even today. I think it is because I lived in it longer than any other home. I have so many sweet memories in this house and on the property! Now those of you who are reading this who remember or have been here, I do have more photos that I can share, but for those of you who haven't, I promise it's not too long :) The current owners have done a ton of work to a 20 year old house, and have made it more beautiful than my family could have dreamed. They put in a fabulous custom kitchen, and took down the wall between the living room and kitchen (where the piano used to be). How many Christmas's did we wait at the top of the stairs for Mom & Dad to wake up so we could open presents?

The deck and backyard(s). They had to take down the playhouse because the wood was rotting, but the tetherball was still there...lol.

Here's the view from the front yard... a little different than how it was growing up. The house in the background wasn't there, and you could literally see to the other side of the valley.

My little family in front of the house...still the same front doors! How many hours did I sit on the front porch reading in the sun? I can tell you it was a ton!

Matt & Katie 89' .... the year my sister, Annie was born!

We could see the fireworks across the valley on the Fourth of July from the roof. We climbed out the bedroom windows (mine on the right, Matt's on the left) and lay a blanket on the roof, and ate homemade butterfinger ice cream. Don't worry... Dad is a fireman, and he supervised us kids on the roof.
My Grandma & Grandpa's house they build in Golden Hills... We had a wonderful lunch at the Apple Shed before we drove home. Isn't that just the coolest gift ever?!!?