Half Birthday

Calder is 5 1/2 today! To celebrate, we made cupcakes and he decorated them with every variety of sprinkles that we had in the house. I can't even believe how fast the last 6 months have flown by. I asked him tonight "How are you growing so fast?" His response: "Well, I just grow a little bit every day!"

Two party animals.

Your Friendly Mail Carrier

At school this month, Calder's class has been learning about the mail carrier. They made this adorable hat and mail bag -- he was SO proud of it!  There was even a letter inside the bag for Mom!

Family Hike

We've had some unbelievably warm weather this winter, and today was no exception.  We took advantage of it by loading up the whole family for a hike at a trail near our house.  Lots of fun for us all!

It was Alyse's first time in the backpack carrier.  She was a big fan!

We walked by a baseball field, and the kids loved playing in the dugout!

Little man loves his binoculars.  He had to bring both pairs on our hike.

It was Tessa's idea to wear pigtails, which she NEVER lets me do!  Oh how I love them!

Somebody's hiding!

Movin' On Up!

We finally took the plunge and moved Tessa to a big girl bed! We had been talking about it for a long time, but weren't super anxious as we recalled Calder's difficult adjustment (although he was almost a whole year younger when we moved him). She was SO excited when it was delivered and all set up in her room. 

The first few nights were a little difficult, but aside from keeping some pretty late nights, she has done amazingly well with the transition! She just loves her new "big boy bed" (as she calls it).

Meanwhile, Alyse graduated out of the mini-crib and into the big crib. I hadn't expected any adjustment issues with her at all, but she did have trouble going to sleep those first few nights. Now she's doing great and feels right at home.

Party Time

Last weekend, we had a small party at home with a few friends to celebrate Alyse's big day.  

Ready to party!

Hangin' with her favorite guy.

Caught red-handed!

Where's the cake?

Best family shot of the bunch.

Hey, this frosting stuff is pretty good!

Mmmm!  Really good!

Mommy and Alyse.

All cleaned up and ready to party some more!

We are all exhausted from an exciting month of birthday celebrations!

She's One

I begged Alyse not to turn 1, but she went and did it anyway.  I forgive her though...I mean, how could I stay mad at this sweet face?

She's still on the small side (at least for my babies).  She's just starting to grow out of 9 month clothes and into size 12 month.  We'll get official 1-year stats in about a week, but she's just shy of 19 lbs.  (We know this because of a birthday trip to the pediatrician for an ear infection.  But, at least I got to stay home with her for the day!) 

Baby girl is finally on the move.  She started crawling just a few days before her birthday.  She went from a perfectly content observer to having to get her hands on everything!  Within a week of beginning to crawl, she discovered outlets and the electronics below the TV.  Guess it's time to step up the babyproofing!  Clearly, I'm biased, but she has the cutest little crawl ever. Her back legs always move together, so it's sort of like a little frog hop.  Love it!



She loves to eat real food.  She basically eats whatever we're eating, and so far is not too picky.  She definitely prefers dairy and fruit to veggies and meat, but she'll eat it all. We just started attempting whole milk and so far she's not a fan at all.  I think it's mostly a temperature issue, but we may have to get creative on that one!

She loves books.  Mostly because they make good eats.

But they also make for good bedtime cuddling too.  This particular book, Good Night Baby, is by far her favorite.  She goes crazy over it, and absolutely loves all of the pictures of babies inside! She's been a really good sleeper for a while, but also an extremely early riser (hello, 5:15am!)  But ever since she started crawling she has been sleeping in until about 6:45!  Woohoo!

Baths make her super happy too!

She's still crazy in love with baby dolls.  I think it's because they make for nice, giant teethers.  She's got 6 teeth already, and possibly a few more trying to make their way through. 

She scored a few baby dolls of her own for her birthday, so she doesn't have to hijack big sister's anymore.  Although, this particular one had to be pried out of Tessa's hands immediately upon opening it. 

She's starting to say more and more words.  In addition to her favorite, "dada", she has also said (or made some type of decent attempt at saying) hi, bye-bye, dog, ball, and Tessa.  And I think she's whispered 'mama' once or twice when I wasn't around...so I'm still waiting to really hear it. :)   

Calder helped me decorate cupcakes for her birthday, and he also made her a sweet card. <3

Looking a little frightened of the cupcake!

You could say she liked it.

Happy First Birthday, sweet girl!!  You are a joy and blessing to all of us!

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