A Letter To My Daughter

April 2011

April 2012

Oh my sweet girl, how did a year go by already?  I want to tell you how much I love you, how much we all love you.  You make us laugh when you dance, you make us smile when you call for MaMa, DaDa, or Bubba, you make me happy when my heart is not so much.  When I was pregnant with you, I just KNEW it was you before you were ever here - in fact your sweet face has been in my heart for a long time.  You complete our family more than you could ever imagine.  Blakey, you make me the mommy I always thought I wanted to be...even when I find it almost impossible to give anything to anyone, I can because of you.  I can't help but smile when I rock you to sleep.  I can't help but tear up when I think of what a beautiful girl you are and what I know you will be in the future...I KNOW you will move mountains.  Thank you for choosing me for your mommy.  Thank you for being part of our family and completing it.  You and Cole are the best things I have ever done.  I love you to the moon and back sweet girl!  Happy, happy birthday~

Cousin Fun!

Cole and I went to watch Connor play soccer today.  He was sooooooo VERY excited and talked about it all week.  He told me he wanted to go to the Super Market (thanks UmiZoomi) to buy a soccer ball (then in the same breath told me he wanted to go to Target and get popcorn).  Dan stayed home with Pink Eye Baby #1 while Cole and I spent time with my family.  He was one tired boy when we got home tonight.  Today was another reason we moved to Ft. Worth - the cousins live only one hour away now!

ELEVEN Months And Counting!!!

How has almost a year gone by so quickly - well completely uproot your family and move them to a strange city and time flies :)  Our sweet Blakey Bakes, as we like to call her, is eleven months old.  She started "school" this past month and is doing much better when Mommy leaves her for the day.  She is eating whatever we eat for dinner (her new favorite is blueberries) and using all sippy cups except for one night bottle right before she goes to bed.  She has four teeth on the top and only two on the bottom.  She even bit one of her school friends on the head the other day :(.  She is still sleeping from 7:00-7:00 and taking two naps.  However at school she is taking one on most days.  She is too much of a busy body to sleep and everyone is on a different schedule in the room she is in now.  She will move up to the next room after her first birthday.  Blake is NOT walking, however she pulls up on everything and cruises along the furniture (she just really started doing this).  She is VERY curious and VERY mischievous sometimes.  She will look to see if I am watching and then do something she knows she should not do.  When I tell her no, she "runs" from me smiling the entire time...little stinker!

Blake likes to:
Play outside, play in the water (water table, dog water, bath tub, it doesn't matter), steal her brother's snacks and eat them before he realizes they are gone, sing, dance, crawl up the stairs before Mommy/Daddy can catch her, read books, play with her toys in her playroom, suck her thumb when she is tired, play with her brother's trains and anything else he doesn't want her to have.

AND SHE STILL LOVES BIG BOWS...

OK..maybe she only likes them if they are off of her head.



Got Green???

Who needs a box of cereal when you have these Lucky Charms...I do love days like today - family and fun!

Giraffe Attack

We went to the Fossil Rim Drive Through Zoo again today.  The weather was perfect and our kids were too!  The giraffes were out in full force today.  Both kids were so excited to see them up close and personal!  A great day to spend time together as we approach a couple of weeks of chaos (the big "move" is Monday).

Cole could hardly wait as we drove closer to the giraffes.

 Not excited at all!

 After he fed them once, he said, "It tickles" and would not feed them anymore.

 The 1/2 way point has a gift shop, petting zoo, and cafe.

 Sweet face!

 Any guesses at what Cole bought at the gift shop???

Just too much excitement...so sleepy!

TEN Months And Counting!!!

Sweet Baby Girl is ten months old.  Almost a year old...that is sooooo crazy!  She now has two top teeth in addition to her to bottom teeth.  She refuses to eat ANY baby food since getting a taste of the "real" stuff.  She pretty much eats whatever we cook for dinner or what we give Cole for breakfast and/or lunch.  She loves her sippy cup.  She drinks about 3-4 bottles a day...but we are going to start putting her morning bottle in a sippy cup to slowly transition her to NO bottles.  The fun part of Blake is watching her try to keep up with her brother.  This week she has started fighting back.  When Cole was "wrestling" with us, she started pushing him and yelling at him.  I don't think she is going to be a pushover to say the least.

Blake likes to:

Take a bath every single night, pull-up on everything, crawl really fast when she sees something she wants, search the floor for anything to put in her mouth, play with her stuffed animals, watch the dogs out of the window, clap her hands (sometimes), and dance (when she is on her knees and I sing, "Dance, Dance, Dance".

AND SHE STILL LOVES BIG BOWS...

That look scares me a bit :)

My helper :)

Happy Heart Day!

Sometimes kids cooperate...sometimes they do not.  However having these pictures twenty years from now will be such a great treasure.