One Year Old!!

I am almost a month late in posting this, but I did want to write about Lucy's birthday! I have grown up in a family where birthdays are a big deal- lots of anticipation, lots of fun, some surprises, good food, etc. So, needless to say, I was so excited to celebrate Lucy's first birthday! I know she will never remember it and it's more for the adults...but it was fun!

On her actual birthday, Mike flew home for the day so that we could celebrate together as our little family. I decorated the entrance to the living room- she was actually kind of freaked out with the streamers and balloons, but then eventually warmed up to them and would go through the entrance on her own. 

We had brunch at home...then took some pictures...

...ate the birthday hat...

...tried again to take some cute pictures with the monkey, but she wasn't in a really happy mood...

...then we went to the Dallas Arboretum and enjoyed lying on the grass, watching Lucy walk all over the grass, climb the stairs, touch the flowers, etc... It was truly a relaxing afternoon for us all!

We came home and opened presents...

...we then gave Lucy her first cupcake....she wasn't too impressed and didn't really like it...

...she liked drinking water better. :) 

We went out to dinner at Casa Milagro, sat outside on their patio and Lucy enjoyed her own quesidilla, beans and rice. After dinner, Lucy had a bath and then we drove Daddy back to Love Field before we came home and she went to bed.

We had such a wonderful day as our little family! I got teary-eyed several times during the day, watching my sweet girl toddle around, remembering the day of her birth a year ago and thanking God for the past year that He has carried us through. 

She is such as sweet, energetic girl, full of energy, always on the move! 

Next up, her birthday party!

Easter!

This Easter, we attended the Saturday evening service at Watermark and then enjoyed a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast at home, then hosted Easter lunch for both sides of our families. We had such a blast having everyone over and even had an indoor egg hunt, due to the downpour occurring outside!

Lucy had her first Easter basket when she woke up on Easter morning...

Look! Some new pacifiers in my basket!

The table was all set...

We are truly blessed to have the majority of both sides of our families in town! I told Mike that I was so thankful that we have this many people to sit around our table!

Sweet cousins looking out the door at the rain

Lucy hunting for eggs

Look! I got one!

I found another one!

Daddy, I found an egg in your mouth! 

Alyssa, Aunt Paige and Lucy

Our second Easter as a family!

Family!

HE is risen, indeed! So thankful for a Savior who died on the cross for us all and then rose again on the third day. So thankful for a living Savior, who brings peace among chaos and gives everlasting life- for God so loved us that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him will receive eternal life. 

San Antonio and some bluebonnets

Last Monday evening, my mom, Lucy and I traveled down to San Antonio for the week so that I could attend the NAPNAP conference (National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners). Elena and Alex (my sister and brother-in-law) graciously let us stay with them while we were in town and Mom was so kind to watch Lucy that week while I was at the conference. Lucy did much, much better than I could have ever expected! She did well in the car, as long as someone was in the back seat to play with her and entertain her and then slept well in the car when it was time for bed. We made it in 5.5 hours both times to and from Dallas, which was great! She also slept through the night all 3 nights (she made a few peeps, but went straight back to sleep). Not sure if it was the quilts we had draped around the pack-n-play or the fan for noise, or what, but it worked! So, so thankful!!

The conference was really good- I learned a lot and got to see some friends from my Samford and Vanderbilt days! 

Here's some pics of Lucy, Mom and Elena while I was at my conference:

Thanks, Medela, for sponsoring a breastfeeding/pumping room at the conference- they had EVERYTHING there for us, so I didn't have to lug my pump around. Plus, they gave us all this free stuff, including all the tubing, pumping gear, steam bags to clean, etc.....this might be TMI, but for those gals who are still breastfeeding and pumping, you know the value of this!!

Lucy went with Elena and Mom and the community dog, Milo, on a shopping trip around the Riverwalk! Lane is multi-talented- she can walk a dog and push a stroller all at the same time! 

Reading with Aunt Lane....

The other pics from the trip are on my phone...I'm such a slacker with downloading phone pics. While we were with Alex and Lane, we were able to hang out with their community friends- we had a fun time going out to dinner at a really fun Mexican restaurant- Lucy was serenaded by a mariachi band and loved eating a home-made tortilla! Their whole community also come over the next night for dinner- Mom made vegetarian lasagna and mocha cake with cream cheese icing. Quite delicious! 

I loved being able to spend some time with Lane and Alex and Mom- she and Alex will be moving out of state next fall for grad school, so I was so thankful for the time we had together! And, thankful for the hospitality! :)

As many of you Texans have seen, we have some beautiful bluebonnets around! We went out this afternoon to get a few traditional bluebonnet pictures. I was a little afraid of encountering some snakes (I've heard they like to hang out in the bluebonnets because of the tall grass), but thankfully we didn't see or hear any!

Here's my happy girl! Can't believe she's going to be one in 10 days!

Happy Spring, everyone!

11 months!

How is it possible that I'm writing her 11 month blog entry??!! And that I just ordered her FIRST birthday invitations?! Time flies! Although, in the moment, it seems like it's going so slow, but then you look back, and BAM, you're looking on Pinterest for cute birthday ideas and trying to figure out how to make a ladybug smash cake....

This month has been full of lots of changes and developmental milestones. It's also been a month of perseverance for Mommy, as Daddy has been in New Mexico for work every week (and some weekends). James 1: 2-4 has often been floating through my head and the Lord has been gracious to provide patience, perseverance and grace, not to mention lots of help from family and friends. 

Anyway.....

Happy 11 months, my little ladybug! You are absolutely precious and a joy to be around. Everyone asks me if you always smile and look this happy. The answer is "most of the time." You are usually a very happy child, talking to yourself, flashing big grins, especially when I tell you "no," like when you're shaking the lamps or getting into something you're not supposed to. It makes being stern and having an "angry face" difficult because I want to laugh and smile right back at you. 

You got your two bottom teeth this month! Not gonna lie, this past month has not been your best month of sleep. Teething plus another ear infection which needed two rounds of antibiotics to clear, plus the excitement about starting to walk (ie, waking up multiple times a night before hitting the big developmental milestone) made it a tiring month for Mommy. I've been drinking way too much coffee. 

Good news- sleeping has gone much better the past week, after some sleep re-training. :) 

Oh, and daylight savings time this year was my friend- usually I don't like loosing an hour of sleep, but it meant that you woke up at 8:00am today instead of 7:00am... :) 

Your eating has gotten SO much better over the past couple of weeks. We have stopped doing pureed foods and you are now on "big people foods." You especially like to chew/suck on apple cores and will carry them around with you. You know when I am eating an apple and get impatient because you want the core NOW! 

Other favorite foods right now are "Lucy Soup"- my own concoction of frozen veggies, lima beans and black or pinto beans, cooked in broth with some onion flakes until tender. You love this, especially the lima beans. You also like spaghetti, strawberries, pears, kiwi, black olives, cheerios, carbs of any kind (crackers, biscuits, bread, goldfish, etc), rice and beans. You have figured out how to use the snack cups and love to stuff your face with goldfish and cheerios. 

You love to read! I've found you multiple times on top of the fireplace with your stash of books, thumbing through the pages, reading to yourself. You love the books that have places for you to touch on the pages (like the furry dog, the bumpy truck grill, etc). You will pull books out of a box of toys and bring the book to me for me to read to you. 

This month you learned how to walk! You now walk more than crawl and are getting really fast at walking all around the house! 

You like to be on the MOVE! It's hard to get you to sit still for pictures now! You have learned how to crawl in things, such as your wagon. This is how I found you this morning! Other things you have crawled in: the bathtub (no water), the bath seat while in the bathtub, you have crawled under large toys. 

Other things for me to remember:

- I was still nursing you about 5-6 times a day. However, we are slowly starting to wean. By this, I mean that I am no longer nursing you before nap times. So, we're now down to nursing 4 times a day (as of two days ago).

- You are getting pretty good at going down for a nap or down for bedtime awake and settling yourself to sleep. You still need your paci and lovie to go to sleep. At night I've resigned to turning on a fan for white noise- one of those things I said I'd never do...

- Current sleeping schedule: wakes up at 7:00 am, up to play and eat breakfast until about 8:30 or 9:00 am, then down for 1.5- 2 hour nap. Then up to play, eat lunch, run errands, etc, until about 2:00pm, then down for 1-1.5 hour nap. Then up to play, eat dinner, bath, etc, until bedtime at 7:00pm. You sleep from 7:00pm- 7:00 am. No more 10:30 pm feeding! 

- I've stopped giving you pureed foods completely. 

- You're not a fan of car rides lasting longer than about 15 minutes. This should be interesting as we travel to San Antonio in 2 weeks. :) I've come up with all sorts of things to keep you occupied- snack cups, sippy cups, paci's, books, toys, naming different animals and saying their sounds, etc....

- You LOVE animals of any kind. You especially love going to see the horses down the alley or the sheep. You love Bella the cat, but she doesn't love you all that much. 

- You are saying "doh, doh, doh,", "da-da-da", "neh-neh-neh", "ma-ma-ma", and I think I've heard "no-no" a couple of times. Pretty sure it's "no."

-You are still wearing size 9 month clothes. You are tiny and petite! I think you've gained some weight, though, and I'm curious how much you will weigh at your one-year check up next month.

I love you, my little ladybug! I love being your Mommy, I love that you're my little girl! You are at such a fun age, happy most of the time, sweet, so, so cute! 

flying solo

For the month of February and first week of March, Mike has spent every week (and one weekend!) in the desert in New Mexico for his job, so I've essentially been a single mom for a little over a month. 

And let me tell you, my hat goes off to all the single moms out there! It's a tough job, even with a sweet baby, especially when you're used to having a very helpful husband around!

Thankfully, the Lord totally sustained me and gave me an abundance of strength and patience. Having very helpful family and friends around to help with picking Lucy up from childcare when I worked, bringing meals, hanging out for playdates, etc, has also made all the difference!

So, what did we do while Daddy was away?

We finger-painted a Welcome Home sign for Daddy! I found a recipe on Pinterest for edible finger paint. It turned out almost like gel (using a cornstarch base)- so I'm trying the flour version next time. We still had a good time. Knowing that this could be a potentially messy event, I took everything off Lucy but her diaper and wore an apron myself.  Not gonna lie, I had envisioned this wonderful art project, where she totally loved playing with the paint and made amazing artwork on the welcome home sign, but ... she wasn't super interested in the paint, but gave it a good go. 

The finished product

After finger-painting. One of my favorite pics of us so far! 

What else did we do?

We played a lot! 

We also decided that after not wanting to eat solid food for about 2 weeks, that ALL OF A SUDDEN, eating real people food is amazing! Some of her recent favorite foods are lima beans, black beans, pears and spaghetti.

She started WALKING! She's still so tiny and I can't believe that my little girl is walking around the house now! 

We had lunch at the Arboretum with Grandmommy. It was nap time when we tried to take pics with the pretty flowers, but we got some sweet pics with Grandmommy...

We were SO excited when Daddy came home this weekend! It had been two weeks since we saw him last! He couldn't get over seeing her walk and also thinks she feels heavier (must be all that real-people food she has started to like!).

She's started to find her tongue....she'll stick it out if you stick your's out, and then she'll try and touch her tongue with her fingers, as if she's saying, "what is this wet thing in my mouth?"

"Look! You have one too!"