Happy Birthday Spencer!

We celebrated Spencer's birthday a little early since we'll be gone tomorrow. We went to Quaker Steak & Lube for dinner (he's been big into wings lately), and then came home for some cake and ice cream.

Much to my surprise, he requested a carrot cake this year. I think he was just craving some of that deliciously healthy cream cheese frosting.

Jack & Sydney helped him blow out his candles.

Love this man, glad that after being stuck in Washington D.C. for 2 days, he made home in time for us to celebrate. Happy Birthday Dear!

Sad Week, But Getting Happier

When I picked Sydney up after work on Tuesday, Becky told me she hardly ate any of her lunch and she took two 2 hour naps. That night she hardly ate any of her dinner. I think she went to bed around 6:30pm and slept until about 7:45am.

All wrapped up- mermaid style.

Wednesday was kind of miserable. Every time I put her down, she cried. She was crying half of the time when I held her. When she was happy enough to walk, she was wobbly and fell more than usual. Those minor falls resulted in major breakdowns. She spent most of the day in my arms, on my lap, or sleeping. Something was obviously up, so I called the Dr. and we headed to her appointment that afternoon. Sydney was NOT HAPPY when the nurse weighed her and took her temperature, and I practically had to pin her down so the Dr. could look in her ears. But, it all paid off. The Dx: ear infection in her right ear. We got medicine that night (for free no less! Thank you Giant Eagle!) and she's been on the up and up ever since. I'm glad to have my happy girl (mostly) back.

I'm also glad to have Spencer back, starting tomorrow morning. We pick him up at 8am. Hallelujah!!

Thanksgiving

I'm currently watching You've Got Mail (I've seen it about 500 times, but it's one of those movies that when it's on tv I just kind of have to watch it), so I figured this is as good a time as any to finally post about Thanksgiving. This year we got to go to my parents' house. We hadn't been there for a really long time since we usually stay with Shauna and Dan when we're in Columbus. It was nice to be at their house so we could see them for more than just a few hours.

The only assignment my Mom gave me for Thanksgiving dinner: green bean casserole. It became kind of a staple for me in college, and so now it's my responsibility to make it for every Thanksgiving that we're together. Since that's way too easy, I also volunteered to bring pies. Costco style. I'd like to think that I would have homemade them if I hadn't had to work on Tuesday, but no need to kid myself :)

Although this picture of me is not flattering in the least, it was the best one from a series of me trying to get Sydney to wear this cute turkey headband. It's also the one that best shows how she reacted to it: not good.

My family getting ready to dig in to the delicious spread!

Sydney especially loved the rolls, turkey, sweet potatoes (which were more like candy), and the pumpkin pie.

Sydney with Grandma and Grandpa.

One of the sweetest things that happened: while Spencer, Mom, and I played Scrabble, Sydney was just walking around the house. After a little while she went into the living room with my Dad. About 20 minutes later, we went in to find my Dad holding her, and she was just laying on his shoulder. He said she just let him hold her almost that whole time!

We also got to play lots of ping-pong, so altogether it was a very Happy Thanksgiving! Can't believe Christmas is in just a few weeks!!

A Smorgasbord

I took Sydney to her 12 month check-up 2 weeks ago, and it was not fun. She got 3 shots and blood drawn to test for lead poison. There was a lot of crying and screaming, but she recovered from the trauma pretty quickly (I think it took me a little longer...). Despite all that, I'm happy to have a healthy baby that is growing well.


Her stats are:
Weight: 18 lbs. 11.2 oz (11th percentile)
Heights: 30.5 inches (86th percentile)
Head: 44 cm (45th percentile)

She has been walking around like a maniac, usually holding something in her hands to help her balance herself. Most of the time it's a bucket or toys, but the other day she came out of the kitchen holding a thing of applesauce in each hand :) She continues to LOVE eating. We sometimes call her "zigg-y pigg-y" (like in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) because she'll just pretty much eat as long as we're still giving her food- she especially loves bananas and string cheese. She claps when she likes something, and has become really good at imitating us. She says "mommy," "daddy," "baby," and "boo."

Don't let this sweet face fool you, though. Sydney gets pretty mad when we take something away from her or pick her up when she wants to walk around. She'll scream and arch her back to show her disapproval.

Thankfully, most of the time she is good-natured and is content to play with toys, dance to music, or be chased around the house. She especially loves it when we hold her and spin around, and always laughs when we bonk our heads against something and say "ouchie."

What a Weekend

A few hours after I got home from work on Friday night, I got to go to Lorelei's house for our annual Laurel Academy (recently changed to Laurel Experience) with all of the Laurel's in our stake that are seniors in high school. I was so excited to go this year since I missed out last year due to having a baby 3 days before. As a Stake YW Presidency, we got to teach them, do projects with them, and generally get to know them better over the course of the weekend.

The girls making bookmarks after my "Joy in Education" class.

On Sunday morning, we joined the Priests that are high school seniors for a Sacrament/Testimony meeting in the Kirtland Temple. Elder Tobler (who sealed Spencer and I in the Columbus Temple) spoke before the testimony portion of the meeting. It was a pretty cool experience.

On the steps outside the Kirtland Temple.

Afterward we went to Pres. Dahneke's house for lunch, and Spencer and Sydney got to come with me. I gave each girl a hug goodbye before we left. My particularly favorite goodbye conversation was with Hannah. She said something along the lines of, "Your baby is so darling, and you scored yourself one CUTE husband!" Haha. I know :)

Hey, speaking of my darling baby, she is quite the mover these days.

She loves this rocket ship toy from Grandma B., but gets a little frustrated when it gets stuck. Unfortunately, that happens quite a bit since our house is so small and she can't really steer. I saw her go from sitting to standing to walking for the first time on Sunday. Spencer told me she was doing it all day on Saturday! He said they bonded quite a bit this weekend while I was gone, and that every 10 minutes or so she would crawl/walk up to him and lay her head on his shoulder. Such a sweetie pie.

Now I am grateful to have a few days off to catch up on housework. Yikes!!

One Year Old

It is beyond weird to write that title. Even though I've been looking forward to Sydney's 1st birthday, it still somehow snuck up on me. It was a busy day for me; I had progress reports to write for my students, Stake YW stuff to attend to in preparation for Laurel Academy this weekend, and a cake to bake and decorate.

I had big plans for the cake, but I didn't have time to decorate it during the day, and Spencer didn't get home until almost 6pm. We invited friends to come over at 6:45pm, so I had about 15 minutes after dinner to throw something quick together.

My big girl. Such a sweet little face.

She was a little confused by our singing to her, but she gave us a few smiles :) Spencer tried like 4 times to blow out her 1 candle, and he couldn't ever do it. Geoff had to step up to take care of it.

This video of Sydney destroying her cake is pretty awesome. As you can tell, Spencer was the cameraman, hence the jiggling of the camera while he laughed at Sydney.

Digging in with two hands. After inspecting that gigantic piece of cake for like 20 seconds, she just picked it up and took a bite.

And she just kept eating...

and eating...

and eating.

Although she ate almost the entire piece of cake, she stayed pretty clean. Most of it was on her hands and face, and then a little bit on her bib, but her clothes and hair were cake-free!

We waited until after the Barnum's left to open presents (so they didn't have to watch us open her presents for her).

Again, I didn't have time to wrap her bigger presents, so I just threw blankets over them. Am I the laziest Mom ever?

Sydney liked pulling the tissue paper out of the bag,

and pulling out the presents inside.

New toys!! Thanks to Grandmas and Grandpas for the gifts!

Spencer brushed Sydney's teeth before she went to bed since she ate all of that cake. She actually let him do it- she usually insists on holding her toothbrush herself whenever I try, then screams like a maniac when I take it away.

Happy happy birthday to our sweet little girl!! You brought so much excitement and fun to our family during your first year of life, and we look forward to more adventures with you!

Demolition

Today when I got home from work, I saw a bulldozer in the driveway of the house across the streets. It's been empty ever since we've been here, and even for a few years before that. We heard rumors over the summer that it was going to be torn down soon (I guess it had serious water damage), but I figured everyone was just full of hot air after it never happened. Turns out today was the day!

This was our first house demolition experience. Spencer pulled out a camping chair from the garage so he and Sydney could watch in comfort from our driveway. We were soon joined by other neighbors- it was quite a spectacle!



I love Spencer and Sydney's clapping in this video, like these guys were putting on a show for us.

That bulldozer was mighty powerful. I think the house was totally torn down in like 15 minutes!

Now the big question is, what are they going to do with that lot? And when will the pile of garbage they just made get cleaned up (uh, hopefully before some kid falls into it)?

**Update** When I got home from work today, everything was cleaned up! Now it's just a gaping hole where the basement used to be. I'm so sure it took the city like 3 months to finally mow the lawn on that lot, but then only one day to clean up the gigantic pile of torn up house. Have to admit- I'm impressed!!

Happy Halloween!!

I have to admit, our pumpkin carving festivities were seriously lacking this year. We didn't even buy pumpkins- I got a little one from my visiting teachers, and then another slightly bigger one from being "Boo-ed" at school. This week has just been busy, and we didn't make time to follow our awesome and elaborate carving tradition that we established in years past. I felt lame that the year we actually have a kiddo to celebrate with is the year we slack off.

Well, I was determined to have Sydney at least be part of the pumpkin cleaning experience. So I cut open one of those little pumpkins and set her on my lap. I tried to get her to dig in to the slimy stuff, but she didn't really go for it. She tried to pick up a few seeds, but when they ended up being too slippery for her, she became much more interested in the papers on the table.

After Sydney went to bed, Spencer read a book while I carved a traditional jack-o-lantern face.

It took me about 3 minutes.

Tonight we had dinner with the Barnum's before heading out with them and the Jolivette's for trick-or-treating.

Here's Sydney sporting her poodle skirt and saddle shoes, and Addie modeling her bumble bee costume.

Our neighborhood crew: Sydney, Addie, Georgie, Tony, Macie, and Charlie.

Spencer did the honors of helping Sydney trick-or-treat at her first house.

I have to admit, I was a little embarrassed to be asking for candy when it was my turn to hold her. We pretty much just went up and down one street, and several people made comments about how little she was to be trick-or-treating (e.g. A man who put candy in her bucket said "Here's one piece of candy for Dad, and one for Mom," and a lady at one door said to Sydney, "Do you even have any teeth?").

She may not get to eat the candy, but Sydney loved looking around at all of the kids and the lights. I thought the decorations at this house were particularly cute. Notice that she hardly looks like she's dressed up for Halloween at this point (uh, like 10 minutes into it). I brought that hat as a back-up, and I gave her my gloves since I haven't found any super cute ones for her yet. I think next year I'll shoot for a warm costume that I don't have to make :)

Happy Halloween!

Busy Day

I love it when we have productive and fun Saturdays like today.

This morning:

• Got a flu shot (Sydney got hers on Thursday and didn't even cry!!).
• Cleaned our house.
• Did lots of laundry.
• Mowed the lawn.
  

This afternoon:

• Went on campus for ASDA's tailgate BBQ.
  
• Picked 19 lbs. of apples at Patterson's (to replenish our dwindling supply of Golden Delicious goodness).
• Put all of Sydney's clothes that she's outgrown in storage.
  

This evening:

• Cooked dinner.
• Went to our ward Halloween party.

I made these poodle skirts for Sydney and me,

and we went as a '50s family.

We totally made out like bandits even though we didn't really play any games. Sydney held onto that Twizzler-looking thing for most of the night. I love that for her it's all about the shiny, crinkly wrappers, not the yummy treat inside.

11 Months

What?!?? Only one more month before this kiddo is a year old... hard to believe.

Spencer took this picture the other day when she was playing on our bed. We laugh every time we see it. Makes me want to kiss those sweet little cheeks.

Some stuff about Sydney at 11 months:

• She likes to chase us and be chased around the house. When Spencer or I get on our knees and scream, she'll start to scream and then come after us or crawl away from us. This game is a constant reminder as to why adults don't crawl, especially when we're on wood floors or the kitchen floor.
  
• She shakes her little booty when music is playing.
  
• She jabbers all the time with her nonsense words.
• She loves to brush her teeth by herself (aka she bites her toothbrush), and seriously protests when I take it away.
• She stands on her own for longer periods of time. Today she was standing and holding on to the laundry basket, and when Spencer and I started clapping and saying "yay!" she stood on her own and clapped with us. I'd say she was up for a good 10-15 seconds before falling on her bum. It was super cute.

• When she has a boogie in her nose that's bugging her, she blows air out of her nose while intermittently wiping it with her hands. She gets it out every time!
• She's so curious, and she gets into everything. She loves to open doors and take out everything she can reach from our end table and pantry. I love it when she stands on her tip-toes to try to reach for stuff on the shelves of our entertainment center.

• She HATES having her diaper changed and getting dressed. She starts to cry as soon as she realizes I'm laying her down on the changing table.
• She doesn't protest getting her hair washed, but when I rinse the shampoo out of it and water drips into her eyes, she stands up and reaches for me as if to say "I don't like that and I'm ready to get out now."
• Her hair is getting pretty long. Spencer sometimes styles it after she gets out of the tub.

• She loves eating black beans and chicken. She eats them by the handful (only a portion of which actually makes it into her mouth).
• Spencer's been trying to train her to "share" (feed him) her food for several weeks. She's really gotten the hang of it, and she'll regularly hold out a piece of food during mealtimes to feed to one of us.
• When she eats Cheerios, she carefully bites them in half with her front teeth.
  
• She currently has 6 teeth, and bites me with them frequently (still nursing).
  
• She is reportedly a very good girl for her babysitters, and she's transitioned to our new crazy schedule pretty easily.
  

What can I say? Sydney has brought a lot of love and laughter to our family.

Mmmmmm

Between sessions of General Conference today, we went out to Patterson's to pick some apples. Last fall we fell in love with Golden Delicious apples, so we've been anxiously anticipating the arrival of October when they are ready for picking.

At the farm on Mulberry Rd. It was chilly, but at least we got a break from the rain!

Sydney and Spencer checking out the merchandise.

Thinking that one looks good (hence the tongue sticking out), but not quite sure how to get it.

Sharing her find with Daddy.

Since we didn't want to go to the Family Fun Fest, we went to their other location (where we've gone every other year) to get donuts and kettlecorn.

Sydney thought these gigantic pumpkins were pretty cool.

We ran into some friends from dental school while we were there, and Spencer was talking to them about Honeycrisp apples, which were described to us last year as being the "Mercedes of apples." We've never had them, but our friends had just bought some and gave one to Spencer to try. Well, he let Sydney have a bite, and this is what ensued...

Seriously, she was eating that apple the entire time we were there. Usually when we eat apples, one of us will hold it and let her take bites, but this time she insisted on holding it herself. She got really ticked every time we took it to take a bite. I guess it goes to show you that they really are that good.

As usual, we enjoyed eating our treats on the way home. Now we've got 17 lbs. of apples in our fridge, but I'm still hoping to make it out there a few more times before it gets too cold. Happy fall!