Cupcakes, Birthdays and Easter, Oh My!

What a week! Sally turned 1 on Friday, April 2. We had a wonderful birthday week. We started with a birthday party with Sally's friends in Tulsa.
Her princess chair. I think she might be ok with balloons and a tulle skirt on her high chair all the time!
Her good buddy, Andrew.
Asking her Uncle PJ for advice. I wonder what they're discussing!
Her special birthday cupcake! (I promise the flame wasn't really that big in person- or that close to her head!)
Our sweet friend, Maggie. She had to leave a little early so she missed the group pictures. We love you, precious Maggie!
Sally and her boyfriends: Michael, Cooper, and Andrew.
The crew playing away. Aspen looks bummed to be missing out on the action.
Sweet Cooper and his Mommy, Carolina, drove all the way from OKC. We were so glad they could come!
Sally and her future husband, Michael. Too soon?? I don't think so...he's a keeper! :)
Sally's cupcake tree made by Erika...SOOOO Yummy!!
Then we headed to Denton for a few days. We were able to see some special friends (post coming soon!) and celebrate her birthday with family and friends in Texas. The picture above is Sally cheering on her real birthday.
Her birthday cake at Nana's. Sally's cousin, Jack, chose the cake. He did a great job, didn't he?
Sally was given a very special quilt from a special family friend, Sherry. The quilt is so beautiful and such a special gift.
This time she really got in to her cake! Icing, YUM!
Her most precious Godparents, Andress and Patrick.
A little hide and seek with Daddy!
Who's chasing who here?
To top off her birthday celebrations we went to Jenni's house to celebrate with Ted's side of the family. It was truly the icing on a perfect week/ weekend! Above: Melissa, Jenni and Parker-- such special family!
The crew outside by the pool.
AMAZING cake. It was from Nothing Bundt Cakes. There are no words to describe how incredible this cake was...I can't wait until the next opportunity to have this yummy, yummy treat!
Sally loved this playhouse. She spent at least an hour playing out there!
HEY!
Sally is intently staring at that cake. Smart girl!
And finally a very blustery Easter!

Thank you to our special friends and family for celebrating Sally's birthday with us. What a special week it has been.

Lately...

Just a few updates on what we've been up to lately...

Playing in the dirt. She wasn't too sure that she liked dirt on her hands...until...
She met her good friend, St. Francis.
"Nice to meet you, sir."
Sally and Daddy have been playing a lot of peek-a-boo....
"Where's Sally? There she is!!"
She loves this puppy...Poor puppy, she doesn't pull it behind her, she lets it hang by its leash and walks around.
We cheered for St. Patrick's Day!
She discovered the refrigerator. Uh-oh.
"Oh boy! Look at all this fun stuff!"
We played in our tutu...She wasn't feeling the photo shoot, but she sure does love wearing her fun outfit!
Flashback to the 80's! "I'm a maniac, maniac....."
"Hmmm...what's out there?"
Walking...
Walking...
Walking...

As the countdown continues to Sally's first birthday, I am continually amazed at this precious little girl. We laugh and giggle and play all day long...She claps and cheers during dinner time. She giggles with delight while I change her diaper and tickle her legs (ok, most of the time). She lights up all over when she hears her daddy's voice in the evenings. She walks most places, but carefully considers how quickly she needs to travel...crawling is still her speediest method of attack! She dances. She talks. ALL. THE. TIME. She gets into everything. She shows me things she shouldn't have in her mouth and then spits them into my hand. She hugs me. She cuddles- for a few seconds anyway. She is amazing and the most precious gift. I am in awe.

11 Months Old

Sally was 11 months old yesterday. Unbelievable. Each month I am amazed at this precious little one. She has become so independent this month. She loves to play by herself. She plays and plays, but every once in a while she looks up just to make sure I'm still there with her. She is starting to walk. Her record is 9-10 steps. Crawling is still her preferred method if she needs to travel fast! She loves to eat! Her current favorites are grapes, cheese, and lunch meat. She will still let me feed her some things, but she really prefers to feed herself. Nighttime sleeping and napping are much, much better. I think** we are on the right track. Its great to feel completely rested! She is growing like a weed! She has outgrown all of her shoes, so Nana and I went on a shoe hunt this past weekend. This girl loves her shoes! We bought her 6 pairs of shoes in about 3 days...don't worry, some are going to be returned. We just bought some great sale items in case they fit! Sally can't pass up a good sale! The countdown until her birthday is officially on...
She isn't too jazzed about sitting still, but we needed our official Lambie shot!
"Come on, Lambie...lets blow this popsicle stand!"
She loves to feed herself with a spoon. It is not always successful, but she sure does enjoy it!
We were able to spend some time in Denton last weekend and Sally loved pushing her shopping cart up and down the hall at Nana and PopPop's house. (Ava, we stole your cute dress! Sally loved it so much that we snagged it when we were out shopping!)
She rode in the shopping cart for a good 30 minutes while her cousins pushed it. I'm not too sure what the white strap was used for...something completely safe, I'm sure! ;)
Sally and Daddy read books each night before bed...She absolutely loves it!
However, she did not love me taking pictures of their time together...
We had to trim her hair again! It was getting so long in the front that she couldn't see!

Special Valentines

I could not be more thankful for my special Valentines this year.

We played it low key this Valentines. Sally was sick, so we opted for Pei Wei take-out and wine at the house. It was a perfect, quiet evening...its the little things!

Wild Woman!

Sally has kept me on my toes the past couple of weeks. Here is a run down of her latest adventures...
~ She is getting very brave with walking. She takes about three steps to get something she really wants. Its cute to watch her decide if its close enough to risk a few steps or if she is better off playing it safe and crawling.
~ She dances all the time. Her favorite place to dance is in her high chair. She also likes to boogie in her car seat.
~ She has a new smile in her high chair. She scrunches her face up and shows all of seven of her teeth! Pretty cute.
~ Yesterday she got in the bath tub by herself! Thankfully there was no water in it. I turned my back to get her towel ready for her bath and I heard a thud. I turned around to see Sally sitting in the tub with a giant smile on her face. Yes, all the bathroom doors are closed now!
~ She has used her nap time to take her pants and diaper off --- TWICE! She wears a lot of onesies now!

Whew! All of this makes me tired just typing it! This girl is one ball of energy and adventure! I love it!

Walking with Daddy and taunting the dogs.
Look at my new face!
See my teethies?!?!
In the middle of one of my dance moves...thankfully I have my Daddy's rhythm.

Only 2 More Months to Go?

Little Miss was 10 months old on Tuesday, February 2, 2010.

A few details at 10 months:
- She drinks all bottles now...such a big girl! She must eat on the run most of the time.
- Sleeping MUCH better at night- She goes to bed between 6:30-7:00 and wakes up between 7:00-7:30...on a good night! ;)
- Napping is still a challenge, but we usually get 30 minutes in the morning and an hour or so in the afternoon.
- Loves taking baths in the regular bathtub. She loves her ducks!
- She is very mobile now! She pulls up on everything and has a pretty speedy crawl. She wants to take a step but just isn't quite brave enough yet. I think it will be any day.
- Still loves to eat! She loves anything she can feed herself.
- She can take her pants and diaper off-- OH NO!! She chose to do this new activity instead of taking a nap the other day. She wears onesies to take naps now!
- She loves Cheerios-- and especially loves feeding them to Copper. I think Copper licks them and Sally eats them...nice.
- She finally says "mama!" Sometimes she even says it at the right time!

She is a true joy. Each day she teaches me something new. I love that each day is a fresh start and full of possibility. She reminds me every day that God's blessings are truly new each morning.
10 Months with Lambie.
On the move...

They don't look related at all, do they?!?!

MORE Snow!!

We had another big snowstorm last week. Ted was off work Thursday afternoon and all day Friday. We had a great time being snowed in! We made a big fire and played inside all day! However, by Saturday we had major cabin fever. We found the perfect cure at On the Border!
Some pictures of our house in the pretty, pretty snow...




This is how Sally spent some of her snow day...her old car seat is a favorite place to climb now!