Merry Christmas

I was so excited to spend this Christmas with my family, since it will be the last one where we're all get to be together.

We drove down to Mom and Dad's house on the 23rd,

and had another little celebration for Spencer's birthday.

On the day of Christmas Eve, we played in the snow for a few hours. Spencer had a lot of fun on the four wheeler,

and even took Sydney for her first ride.

For our Christmas Eve celebration, we had our traditional buffet at Nonnie and Dan's house. We also had a talent show complete with dancing, keyboard playing, a story, a magic show,

and even a visit from Frosty the Snowman.

Dad read the Christmas story while the rest of the family acted it out.

Sydney was the angel, and was adamant about not wearing her halo. Still pretty darn cute though.

Elayna, James, and Allison were the wise men,

and Riley, Dallin, and Wendy were shepherds. We left a little later than planned that night, so Sydney fell asleep in the car on the way home. I had to open her Christmas pj's for her and we had to wake her up to put them on. She was not very happy about that.

On Christmas morning (after Wendy's kids had already run downstairs to see that Santa came), we staged a picture of everyone on the stairs. When we were growing up, we always had to wait at the top of the stairs until my Dad said "Ho, Ho, Ho, Merry Christmas" to signal that we could come down. One perk of being the youngest was that I always got to run down first :)

Santa left Sydney this cute sled with a few presents inside. She loved punching that balloon all morning.

She sat on Daddy's lap to open her presents.

I think this was the only one she really sort of opened by herself- mostly because she had fallen on it earlier and there was already a tear in the paper.

She was inseparable from her new cell phone. I loved seeing her in her cute Santa pj's.

After we opened presents, we ate our yummy Christmas morning breakfast of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, Christmas punch, and fried ham. Delicious!!

This was the first family picture we've taken since I was in high school and Dallin was the only grandchild. Our family has grown so much! We had a great time spending the day talking and playing Scrabble, Bananagrams, and ping pong. Overall it was a great Christmas!

We drove straight from Mom's and Dad's to Clarke and Char's house in Indiana. They blessed baby Gracie while we were there, and Sydney got to wear this cute Christmas outfit from Grandma B.

The following Monday, we were excited to play in the snow! Sydney looked like a little marshmallow in her new snow pants and boots.

She sure looked cozy in her new sled! She wasn't really a huge fan of the snow though.

We had a great time playing with cousins and visiting with our great family!

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!