17 Months

You are 17 months old today!!  And today we got our first snow of the season.  We had an adventure this morning, hiking through the snow to the hill to attempt to go sledding.  It was an epic fail, but that's okay.  We went to visit Caleb and Abby instead.

Then you had a nice warm bath :)
What a little ham.

The next day I made cookies for the neighbors and you and Daddy delivered them.  You also painted the ornaments that we made for the family.

16 Months

Friday, December 7, 2012

Catching Up. . . 16 months

Here are some things I've been meaning to blog about, before I forget:

You are really into your baby doll lately.  It's so very sweet.  You look for her and say "baby? baby?' when you wake up from naps.  You love to hold her and pat her back, you give her sweet kisses, you even lay her in her "crib" and cover her with a blanket.  You are going to make a very good big sister someday.

If we say something about sleeping or you see of picture of someone/something sleeping, you will lay your head to the side and make pretend snoring sounds. :)

You tell us when you are poopy now by saying "poop-PE! poop-PE!".  I am hoping you will do well with potty training in the Spring since you already know the language and you love to sit on your little pink potty in the downstairs bathroom.

You noticed my tattoo for the first time. :)  You pointed to it and said "Oooooh".

We went with Bree to her sonogram appointment a few weeks ago and found out she is having a BOY!! so you will have a new little boy friend in a few months!  Yay!

You love to say HI! to EVERYONE.  You have been super friendly lately and it's so sweet.  You really brighten people's days.  Especially when we are in the grocery store and people are crabby, you say hi loudly to them and smile and their faces just light up at you.  I especially loved it when you said HI! to the homeless man outside of Walgreen's.

One of our favorite things to do is go to Costco, we go at least once a week to get this or that.  You love to get samples and the ladies that work there always recognize you and say something about the girl with all the hair.  They also draw a picture for you on the back of the receipt when we leave which is nice.

You are such a curious girl, always noticing things and learning...and still putting everything in your mouth.

Even though the tomato plants have been pulled up, you still spotted a few cherry tomatoes on the fencing and had to have them.

Advent 2012

Friday, December 7, 2012

It is the season of Advent and I am so excited to be starting some family traditions and Advent practices with you and Daddy.  We have 25 little drawstring bags with numbers on them hung on our fireplace mantel.  Inside each one is an ornament and an activity for the day.  The ornaments go with an Advent scripture and "lesson" for the days leading us to the coming promise of Christ our savior.  Of course you are too young for the readings but it is a good practice for Daddy and me to do as well.  But each day I talk with you about the ornament picture and you get to hang it on the Jesse Tree.

What is a Jesse Tree?

"A tree with roots deep into the past, that finger right out through the stories of the Old Testament, back to the very beginning, and with branches that stretch so high and wide you can see the whole grand panorama of God's story from the very first blink of the first star over Eden to the blinding light over Bethlehem.

Now this Jesse Tree that our hearts climb high in this season of waiting, it's named after the Jesse who was the father of David, the first royal branch in the tree of the Messiah to come, David to whom God promised that his line and his sons and his family would be King forever.  And when his sons and grandsons and great grandsons turned from God and loved sin more than their Father and their kingdoms fell, and it seemed as though the whole royal family tree of Jesse had been chopped right off at the roots, our covenant, promise-keeping God, He vowed, 'Out of the stump of David's family will grow a shoot- yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root. . . In the day the heir to David's throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world.  The nations will rally to him, and the land where he lives will be a glorious place.' (Isa11:1,10)

So, we'll wait for the Christ like Zaccheus on the top limb, and we'll read the stories of the Old Testament, the whole pageantry of mankind, from Adam to the Messiah, each story pointing to the coming promise, the incredibly impossible gift, the Glorious Christ."

quoted from: http://www.aholyexperience.com/2012/11/free-christmas-family-devotional-jesse-tree-ornaments/

We are on day 7 and so far it is going well!  Some of the activities we've done are getting a Christmas tree, going to Union Station and Crown Center to do Cmas activities, buying and talking about and playing with a nativity scene, reading Cmas books from the library, going to the zoo to take the Zebras Christmas lights (a giving ornament we pulled from the zoo tree), and listening and singing Cmas carols.

Our Jesse Tree and Advent candles

 Advent Calendar

 

I got you a wool nativity set from World Market and you loved it.  You quickly learned to say "baby Jesus".  When we were reading your bible (which you get really excited about and say "bi-ble, bi-ble") and we got to the part about baby Jesus you would point up to the shelf where the nativity was and say "Je-sus!".  You also learned a song at church called "Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus" that you love to sing and do the actions for.  It's very sweet.  But your favorite thing to do is to take the wool camel and the wool sheep and make them kiss and say "mmmwa!"

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Springfield:

2012 Turkey Trot

At the Farm for Thanksgiving:

Creepy Uncle Mitchell :)

More photos from Thanksgiving weekend:

That's only a few of the pictures taken.  It was like the paparazzi all weekend, especially since you are the first and only baby in the family.  You are already a pro at picture taking, saying "CHEESE" with a big cheesy grin every time someone gets out their camera or phone.  The only problem is that you are also a fast-paced toddler and are too quick for the camera shutter, resulting in many blurry pictures.  :)
Love. You.  I am so very, very thankful for you and Daddy and our wonderful family. 

A Thanksgiving Psalm

100  

On your feet now—applaud God!
    Bring a gift of laughter,
    sing yourselves into his presence.

Know this: God is God, and God, God.
    He made us; we didn’t make him.
    We’re his people, his well-tended sheep.

Enter with the password: “Thank you!”
    Make yourselves at home, talking praise.
    Thank him. Worship him.

For God is sheer beauty,
    all-generous in love,
    loyal always and ever.