Ho Ho Ho!

The Christmas Season is officially upon us! String the lights, sing some carols, decorate the tree... and hop up on Santa's lap to whisper what you want for Christmas.

Megan was very polite and thanked Santa for letting her come see him (melted my heart), and Nicole just asked for Santa to let her go so that she could escape the clutches of the man in red and get to her MOMMY!!!!!!!!

We were excited that we got one picture of Nicole not crying. Tom and I even got in a shot with Santa, but not even that made Nicole happy... she was still just too close. Megan had that dear in headlights look because she was trying to keep Nicole from crying.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May this be a day full of reflection... a time to count your blessings. This has been an awesome year and we will definitely take some time to reflect upon all the ways God has poured out his blessings to our household.

We are heading to AL to visit my extended family there - Nicole said she would help with the driving....
But I've been asking Megan - what she's thankful for (we have a little Thanksgiving tree and we write things we are thankful for on leaves and tape them to the branches)... that little cutie has come up with everything from "I'm so thankful for you!" to "I'm thankful I'm a big sister!" to "I'm so thankful for Cinderella's castle!!!!!" Here she is being thankful for her princess puzzle.
And although she may not have the words to tell me, here is Nicole being thankful for smoothies!

Speaking of little Nicole... she's been a bit grumpy lately and today I figured out why! She had 2 new teeth suddenly pop through (literally overnight), and another is right under the skin. Yeah - that would mean she's gotten 3 teeth in 2 weeks... that brings the total to 11 teeth in 12 months and 2 weeks. wow!

Why I LOVE Fall

The approach.... The leap....

The impact (look closely and you'll see parts of her peaking out of the leaves)....

The recovery...

That's why I love fall... it's just so much fun to be outside!

Nicole wasn't so sure about the leaves.

But this fall beauty loved being outside. We'd been talking about jumping in leaf piles for weeks - finally today Megan got her wish!

While Megan jumped to her hearts content - Nicole played in the playhouse. This was her first day to actually be in there. And I have to say - she loved it and it's inspired me to figure out how to make our outside play area a little more play friendly (which means, how to clean it up so it's not all muddy all the time).

Megan took advantage of the leaves and made a pile to slide into...

Sheer joy for a 3 year old!

And Nicole was all about being with her big sister. Nicole thinks that Megan is the best entertainment of all!

It's official! Nicole loves Fall too!!!!!

What about you.... do you love fall?

I know we'll love winter too.... espcially if there is some snow this year - but right now, we are really enjoying the great fall weather!

Minnie

Tonight we had Nicole's "official" 1st birthday party. Grandma and Papa just got here from MN so we had a fabulous family gathering with all my family and Tom's parents.

For Nicole birthday - Megan really thought she needed a Minnie Mouse cake.... Nicole loves the Disney characters (yes, at this age Megan didn't know what the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was - but Nicole does!). So.... I put on my super mommy cake and went to work to make a Minnie cake for Nicole.

I have to admit - I'm really proud of my Minnie cake... It's my first "character" cake and I think it turned out pretty good... and it was yummy. Even Nicole thought so - she got part of Minnie's bow.

And then her big sister, and all her cousins, helped her open her presents....

It was a fun evening celebrating that sweet little girl! Happy Birthday (again) our sweet angel.

And did I mention that this past week she got another tooth... tooth 9. And I think the 10th one is right on it's tail.

The Feast

Today at Megan's school, they invited the parents for a Thanksgiving Feast! Before we actually partook of the feast, all the 3 year old classes put on a little musical presentation... Nicole was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her big sister.

Oh my goodness, they were cute!

And they were great little performers. They wowed us all with their Pledge of Allegiance, then they sung God Bless American and a great little pilgrim song.

You can tell Megan had had some "stage time" because she sang out loud... I loved it. She's definitely a singer, like her daddy!

Make A Joyful Noise

I would like to proudly present The Joyful Noise Choir: Really, there's not much sweeter than hearing 3 year olds singing songs about Jesus. And sometimes that "singing" may be a bit off key, a bit off the beat, and hey - perhaps a few creative liberties were given to the actual lyrics.... but it IS a joyful noise!

Our little choir sang during both the traditional and contemporary church services today and I must say they were well recieved! After the first service, Tom laughed and said - you and Susan (my fabulous partner in crime with these litte ones) looked lik you were having as much fun as they were.....

And those sweeties of ours were so stinking cute!!!!!

Megan loves singing with one of her BFF's - Mary Grace.

We really didn't know how today would go... would they sing? who would be crying? What "fun times" would await? We had a few "creative verses" sung, lots of yelling the words, some arm swinging, some hysterical facial expressions, one dart off stage and then return again, a few tears, lots of smiles and 9 adorable singers! All together we have 13 kids in the choir. We knew that 2 wouldn't be there. And we had 2 that experienced a bit of stage fright. But the other 9 we truely stars today!

I'm so proud of them... especially my little performer!

I'm working on getting some video up. Tonight blogger is not cooperating.

One Stats

Warning.... lots of baby book type details! :^)

My sweet little baby....you are ONE! How precious you are and what a joy it is watch you grow and change.

12 month stats:
Height: 30 1/2 inches (90%)
Weight: 25 lbs, 6 oz (95%)
Head Circumference: 46 cm (75%)

For the first time you actually lost a couple of ounces... all that scooching around and cruising. You got a clean bill of health and we chatted about all the things you are doing...
Here are some of them:

Movement: You can get into everything! You still get around with your funny leg/foot scooch. You are cruising and occasionally I'll catch you standing unsupported. I don't think you are in any hurry to up and start walking (and truth be known, I'm ok with that!). You love cruising around with your little doggie walk/push toy and Megan loves walking after you screaming, "look mommy, she can walk!"

Eating: (sigh) Well, we are working on weaning you and transitioning you to whole milk. You aren't fond of whole milk. So the Dr. recommended we get some Almond Milk to try. We'll see how that goes. But as long as you have food in front of you - you are happy. You sooo want to feed yourself with a spoon - and I have to admit that I'm dreading the mess so I've been hesitant. But, I think I'm going to have to just give in and let the mess happen and let you try to feed yourself yogurt and such to get that calcuim in you. You are pretty good about eating whatever we eat (better than Megan is on most days). But for some specifics....

What you currently love: watermelon, cantelope, bananas, honeydew, oranges, apples, chicken, turkey, ham, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, virtually all bread - but you especially love grilled cheese and anything from Chic-fil-a and Moe's. What you currently dislike: hotdogs (you got sick recently after eating a hot dog... and now wont touch them), peaches and pears (depends on the day), carrots, mac and cheese and fish.

Your Personality... you are a bit demanding. :^) Let's just say that when you want something and don't get it... you let us know you are displeased. You haven't actually said "no" yet - but you've demonstrated it. But you are also the biggest snuggler and lovebug. If I'd let you, you'd spend most of the day snuggled up in my lap and on my shoulder. You still don't like it when Mommy leaves you. The funniest thing to me is when the phone rings. You know that means that Mommy is going to run to get the phone (in another room) and you lunge at me as soon as it starts to ring to make me take you with me or stop me from going. It cracks me up that you know what that ring means and you sooooo want me with you every minute of the day. I love you too sweet pea!

Favorite things... you love music and will start dancing as soon as you hear a beat. You try to sing with Megan (boy this makes car rides very loud), and love playing instruments and clapping. You also love balls and cars and trains and baby dolls. You love giving kisses - and it melts our hearts!!!! You still don't have a "special lovey" doll, bear, or blanket.... just mommy and your finger!

Words you say: Mama, Da (Daddy), Meh (Megan), ba (ball), duh (doll), uh oh, and occasionally you'll say "mo" (more) and "ah du" (all done).

Every day you seem to do something different - it's hard to record it all. It's been an amazingly fun year and now we get to start another one together. You have our hearts little girl - and we pray that God will grow us as parents so that we can raise you in a way that glorifies and pleases our Lord. What a rich blessing you are!

Happy 1st Birthday!

A year ago, we were celebrating our newest arrival to our family... Your entrance into this world was a bit of an adventure. And, to be honest every day since has just been one more step down that road of adventure. You are so different from your sister - you two are both unique individuals - it's been a wild ride with the two of you... but as you get older and learn more about your mommy, you'll know I love wild rides..... your Daddy and I once road Space Mountain about 10 times back to back. But the wildest part of this ride as your parents is watching you grow from this.....

to this......

In just one short year. A wise woman once said to me, "the days are long but the years are short." Oh how true that is! I cherish this first year and I look forward to all those we have ahead of us (God willing!)!

Your big sister is SSSOOOOO excited that it's your birthday. She started the day out by smothering you with birthday kisses!

For a variety of reasons (Disney, business trips, people being sick, family in town, etc...) we just didn't get a birthday party put together. But the main reason, you are just not the social butterfly that your big sister is... and we thought you'd just cry being around all those folks. So we planned on having a family party in a few weeks when your MN grandparents are here. BUT.... Megan would have NONE of that. She was mortified at the thought of not having a party on your birthday. So we made some cupcakes for you and tonight we gather up some friends after Awana and we had a super fun impromptu birthday party! You were the perfect little birthday princess!!!!

Your surprise party was a big hit with you! Especially the yummy cupcakes that your sister helped to make (with much love!)

I was surprised that you didn't seem to mind the attention at all. All the folks at Jason's Deli seemed to think you were a super cute birthday girl too.

Even with that little cupcake, you managed to get icing in your ear, as well as your mouth.

And you thought the presents were fabulous. Megan assigned herself the job of "personal gift unwrapper" so that you wouldn't be bogged down with that responsibility.

You LOVED your first baby doll.....

And showered her with lots of kisses....

Thanks to our friends who helped make your first birthday so much fun. I know that as you grow, you will be so blessed by having them in your life!

And by the time we got home, got that icing out of your hair (and ears), you let us know in no uncertain terms....

Birthday's are exhausting!

Happy Birthday my sweetheart! We love you so much and are so blessed by you.

Tomorrow is Nicole's 1 year checkup - I'll post her stats then.

Little Voter

Nicole came and supported me at the polls this morning... I was a bit wishy washy on a few positions, but I think she steered me in the right direction.I think all the attention from the polling officials made her first voting experience a good one.

It's funny because Election Day is a day of memories for me.... Last year at this time I was waiting for Nicole to be born (her birthday is Sunday), and 4 years ago we found out that Megan was going to be a girl. I vividly remember being off work (schools are polling areas so school are out), and going out to vote, going to breakfast with Tom and then heading to the BIG 20 week ultrasound for baby 1. So for me, election day is more than just a day to vote... there will always be lots of memories to revisit as I cast my ballot.