First Christmas

This Christmas has to be one of the best! I have always loved Christmas- it is my absolute favorite time of year- but having a child to spend Christmas morning with made it so much better. We had an absolute blast this weekend. I LOVED sharing Christmas with Hannah and imagining how much more fun each year will get! She was SO fun this year and although she really had no idea what it was all about- she LOVED her new toys and tearing the Christmas paper. As we watch Hannah grow into a little girl (although it breaks my heart!) it is so much fun! She has the sweetest personality and gets funnier by the day! She loved tearing into her presents and after she would tear one piece of paper she would reach out and hand it to somebody. She loved sharing her wrapping paper :) She does that with her paci now too- she tries to put it in our mouths. Such a sweetie! She LOVED her wagon- LOVED IT! She loved having Jeremy pull her around the house in it. Wagons sure have changed! I remember the old metal wagons and this one has seatbelts and cupholders!! I guess for juice boxes and goldfish!
We spent the entire weekend at my parents house this weekend and even though we live 10 miles away it was so fun to feel like we were on a mini vacation. We were all home all weekend and truly laughed until we cried. I have never laughed so hard. We are a tough crowd and the most sarcastic bunch of people but we have the most fun together. Last year Jeremy came up with a fun idea- he decided that on Christmas Eve we play "Yankee Swap" with As Seen On TV Gifts. Hilarious! Some were clever and useful and others were just plain funny and useless! From the Slap Chop and the Hercules Hook to (my As seen on tv gift) Booty Pop! I found this back in the summer and couldnt wait to get it for our Yankee Swap. Surprisingly Bed Bath and Beyond carried it- and Im sure you can only imagine what Booty Pop is! Lets just say best $15 I ever spent because my dad picked it and obviously nobody wanted to swap with him! It was so fun! We had our second annual Racko tournament which Jeremy and I dominated! I won a $50 Macys gift card and Jeremy walked away with $60 in cash!! My dad did his annual "Change Counting Contest" and had two jars this year. My mom and Matt won those and walked away with some extra after Christmas money. My dad is just so special because he really is such a generous person. He loves games and prizes and watching all of us kids together. My parents really are so generous- even after 29 years and 4 kids they still go out of their way to spoil us at Christmas. Just being together is enough- we laugh, eat, play games and enjoy eachothers company. I absolutely love the holidays with them. Even though we live in the same city it was hard to leave their house today. I know that sounds weird- but I hate when Linds and Matt leave and I hate knowing its over. I wish I could just freeze this whole weekend. But I am so thankful for it. I am so thankful for another year with all of our family. We are heading to Owensboro to be with Jeremy's family this week and we cant wait to see them!!! Jeremys sister Kim got engaged so I cant wait for Wedding Talk!! So exciting! I love seeing Jacey and Justin at Christmas- it is always so much more fun with kids around!
I have this week off and I have SOOOO much to do around the house. I need this week to recover from Christmas! I have way too many pictures from Christmas and Im hoping to upload a slideshow when I can figure it out but here are a few from the weekend! Hope Everyone had a Merry Christmas and was able to spend it with the ones you love.
Enjoy the last week of 2010!!!

One month....

And we will have a one year old. Im having a much harder time with this than I thought. I don’t want to lose my baby!! I know it just gets more fun, as it has since the day she was born-but I love the way my little baby looks on the changing table, I love how tiny she looks in her crib and I love her little chunky baby fat!
In one month we will move her from rear facing to forward facing and in one month she goes to the big kids room at daycare! A lot will change in a month- so much has changed in 11 months! I just look back on this past year and where we were this time last year. I was getting ready for maternity leave, buying Christmas presents for our little unborn Hannah, and making sure I had everything packed for the hospital. Which clearly wasn’t necessary as this child would have stayed in there forever! We have had an incredible year and I am so excited for the things to come. We have been so blessed with such a healthy child- I couldn’t ask for more.

At 11 months she is:
Wearing any size between 12 months and 24 months clothes!
Weighs around 24 pounds! She went to the Dr last week for double ear infections and this little girl isn’t missing a meal!
Size 3 diapers
Finally has 2 teeth!
Her new thing is pointing. She points at everything!
Eating most table food- although she isn’t interested sometimes. She still loves her baby food!
Taking Steps….walking is in our future!
The fastest crawler- she will be one place one minute and you turn around and she is gone!
Sleeping from about 6:30 or 7 to 7 the next morning.

Some funny things about her-
She loves everything she is not supposed to have! She LOVES pulling things off shelves, yanking cords, playing with door stoppers, opening and closing drawers. She is WILD!
If you set her in front of her toys she finds anything else to play with!
She loves to be turned around facing outward! This child will not face you in a shopping cart- she always spins around to see everyone else!
She LOVES big kids. If she sees older kids in a restaurant or store she stops and stares at them!
Daycare tells me she always waves Bye to the dads! Never to the moms! How funny is that!
Whenever you pick her up she kicks her legs like she is running! Once she starts walking she is going to go straight into a run!
Whenever she sees an empty bottle she goes crazy!! Even if she has already eaten!

She is just the funniest baby- she makes us smile and laugh so much everyday! We couldn’t be luckier and are so thankful for the last 11 months!

and some more of my favs....

Ill be very sad after Hannah's one year photo session because that means our baby package pictures will be over! It has flown By!!! I have no idea where the last year has gone. But it has been a fun one! Im very excited for her one year pictures because Amanda has some great things in store and of course it will involve cake!

Here are some of my absolute favorites of her 9 month pictures (wow- almost 2 months late!)

baby steps...

Someone took one WHOLE step last night!!! She has been stepping with one foot but then goes down to her knee. Last night she took a step with both feet. Im pretty sure I screamed and grabbed her and hugged her. This child is going to be so confused as to what screaming means. Ha!! Speaking of screaming she has been doing this thing lately where she goes, “AAHHHHH” as loud as she can. Then if you do it back to her she does it again, louder. Its hilarious. Apparently, little Liam and Hannah do that all day at daycare. I would love to be a fly on the wall!

She is a busy girl these days and I can hardly keep up! She only wants to open drawers, pick at the outlet covers, or play with doorstoppers. Nevermind all the toys and books she has. I cant even believe I am planning a first birthday party. When did this happen??? My baby is just too big. I watch the things she does and just watch in amazement as she has grown from this quiet sleeping baby to such a little wild woman! I am looking so forward to Christmas and watching her open presents….and by that I mean playing with wrapping paper and boxes!
I have been really bad about taking pictures lately, but I know I will have First Christmas Picture overload!! Then the next thing you know Amanda will be taking her ONE YEAR pictures!! Way TOOOO Fast!

tradition

I love traditions. Love them. I also love starting new ones. There is no better time to start new traditions than as a new family. Sometimes traditions just start and you didnt even intend to make one. Friday we went to dinner and I thought it would be really neat if afterwards we went and picked out an angel tree person. So we were at Walmart and they actually do the Senior Angels. Which I think is very sweet. So we let Hannah pick- her wild little hand landed on Sanford. Sanford needed socks, a robe and a blanket for Christmas. Just breaks my heart that someone needs socks for Christmas. So we got everything Sanford needed and I plan to throw in a couple other surprises for him. I plan on doing this every year and letting each of our children pick an angel. I love giving gifts at Christmas but I never really need anything. Anything we need we are always able to get through the year. Its so much more important to give back. To help the people who are just asking for socks. We take our socks for granted.


Hannah deciding what she wanted to get Sanford

BIG weekend!

Whew! I need a day off to recover from this weekend! It was busy but great! Friday my mom and I worked really hard to get all the final details ready for my sale Saturday. We crashed at 1 am and were up at 6 am ready to head to Anchorage. That place was crazy! I had never been so I didnt know what to expect and it was crazy! There were people there with serious booths set up! But I will say overall for my very first one- it was a success! The booth got really crazy at times but that was good! I sold alot of headbands and paci clips and took lots of orders! Enough to keep me busy but not too many to overwhelm me. Im ready to get those orders done and focus on Christmas shopping! I am BEHIND! I usually have alot done by now but I have to play catch up. Im ready to finally get into the Christmas spirit! Saturday was a really long day. The sale was 9-3 and we were up and moving the whole time. I really really wish I had a chance to walk around and see the other booths because people were selling some great things! I could have done some Christmas shopping :)
Jeremy brought Hannah to the sale to visit- that was alot of fun! She attracted some customers :) and while she was there we noticed her SECOND tooth! Its only taken almost 11 months for two teeth. But that completely explains her lack of an appetite last week. She is making up for it now!
I have been really bad about taking pictures so far this December I havent even gotten my camera out! I made up for it today because we went and picked our first REAL Christmas tree as a family! We always had real trees growing up and I love that! Its something Ill always remember. I want Hannah to do the same. I remember how upset I was when my parents got a fake tree...I remember that day too....ha ha!
We drove out to LaGrange to pick up our tree- it was FREEZING so we didnt browse for long but we got a good one!


Helping us look for a good one!
Our first real tree as a family!
Freezing and ready to go!



Next we headed to my mom and dads neighborhood because they do the best thing- they bring Santa to them! No long mall lines (I am so grateful for that!) and we were able to get some great pictures of Hannah seeing Santa for the first time. I was very surprised at her reaction. She CRIED!!! I thought that would happen next year! She wanted out of his lap!! (warning- picture overload!)

Not so sure what to think....

HATES it!

Mrs Claus wasnt as bad- but she didnt take her eye off of Santa!

She heard Santa around the corner and was not about to crawl any further!
My mom tried getting her on Santa's lap again- she started crying as soon as she saw him! what a face!

I could just eat these cheeks up!

SO happy watching the big kids run around and play!
Im ready for BED!!! Goodnight!

a day at the races...

became a night we will never forget!! After 10 years- yes TEN YEARS....Brock proposed to Megan!! It was the sweetest proposal and so much fun to be apart of! I know a proposal at Churchill Downs will be a proposal Megan & her family will never forget! I know I wont forget it!!
The Knapps came to spend Thanksgiving with us (& Brock!) and he had messaged me several weeks before saying he was planning to propose here. I racked my brain for weeks to help him come up with a really cool place to propose! After all- when you live in Southern California a Kentucky proposal is not traditional!!
Although Brock wanted to propose early in the week to keep from having to keep a close eye on the most beautiful ring- it actually worked out better for him to propose after Thanksgiving day. Kelly and I suggested proposing at Light up Louisville on Friday night but then we realized how cold Friday was and we thought after a day at the track and dinner out we wouldnt make it to Light up Louisville! So we suggested Churchill Downs. Brock was on board and ready to ask Megan to marry him :)
We had seats indoors (thankfully! It was cold!) but it wasnt a suitable area for a proposal. So we let my dad in on the secret (he is great at this kind of stuff!) So we found the nicest girl at guest services and she was so kind to offer up a "fake tour" of Churchill for our out of town guests! It was perfect! We had everyone convinced we were taking them on a tour of Churchill (we even got to see where the Queen stayed!) and she took us to the balcony area where Brock was to propose! We walked around acting very interested in our tour guide- she actually had some really neat things to tell us! Did you know the Queen was surrounded by bullet proof glass while she was at the Derby? Me neither!
After we got to the balcony Brock very nonchalantly walked Megan to an area by themselves and got down on one knee!! SOOOOO Sweet! We were all in tears and I was shaking taking pictures!!
Megan and Brock we are SOOO happy for you two and Im so excited about another trip to California next fall!!

gobble! gobble!

Hannahs first Thanksgiving was alot of fun but it sure went fast! We have had the best week with the Knapps and I am SO sad to see them leave on Tuesday!! And I am not ready to go back to a normal week! Ive enjoyed not having to pack Hannah up for daycare and I have really enjoyed a week off of work! We have been BUSY this week! A trip to Lexington, lots of crafting, Churchill Downs and we went to see Due Date (just the kids, even though we are in our 20's we are still the kids!). This was the first movie we have seen since before Hannah was born! It was pretty funny! Its been alot of fun having them here all week- I always miss their company when they leave!! We are so lucky to have friends like them! It was a Thanksgiving we will always remember! We are so thankful for so many things. We couldnt be more blessed with such a beautiful, healthy daughter, our amazing families and great friends. We couldnt ask for anything else!! As long as we all have eachother then we have it all!

just waking up from a nap- she almost slept through thanksgiving dinner! & I think she is teething again- she hasnt been eating much so she didnt want anything to do with turkey or any other food!

Ill probably be missing in action this week- I have so much to do for the sale and its going to be a crazy week at work!! I will crash on Sunday!