What a gorgeous bunch!

I got our family photo's in the mail today. Don't we look b-e-a-utiful?

Wonder

Oh poor neglected blog....

The last few weeks have been a whirl wind of teeth, snotty noses, stomach bugs, birthday fun, the new nanny starting and getting ready to go back to work. The Blueberry has been more grumpy than not, but those two teeth are finally through and the colds seems to be clearing up (except mine, how did I get sick first and I'm the last to get better?).

The last two days have been nice and quiet. Stella and I have had some time to play together in the new attic space with some of her new birthday toys. She's getting to be so big, and plays in new fun ways every day. Some of her new tricks.....



* Stella loves putting a block into her little bucket and shaking it to make noise until it falls out. Hmmmmm putting things into other things, how far are we from cleaning up toys?

* She's discovered the springy door stops and high tails it into the guest room to sprung sprung sprung the door stop by the closet.

* She's climbing stairs now, well really just two stairs. She loves kneeling there and playing on the bottem step.

* Two nights ago, we taught Stella how to press a button her new boat that she got from Nanna and Poppy. It makes a bunch of sounds and then sings a song (which we know by heart). Today the batteries wore out from her using it so much. Well loved. It's fun to see her learn new tricks after just a few demonstrations, and remember the fun

* We have a new game of playing serious face. She looks at me very seriously and I have to match her face to see who can be serious the longest. Poor kid loses everytime.

* And my favourite thing, Stella loves showing me her toys. If she sees something she likes, she holds it out to me with a look that says "Oh man, have you seen how cool this is?". She's so proud of herself when she makes them do something new.

Miss Blueberry gets more independant everyday. Last weekend we finished breastfeeding and Stella has been a trooper (better than mom), she's warming up to Sandy, the woman who's going to take care of her when I go back to work in a couple more weeks and started pointed to the laptop and saying "Bay-bee?" when she wants to pictures of herself or her friends. You might notice I'm taking a lot less pictures than I used to, mainly cause she will. not. sit. still. anymore!

Christmas Lists

I'm spending my coffee break/Stella's afternoon nap making lists for gift giving this holiday season and started thinking about the things that I really would want this year......

* someone to take care of Stella while I'm at work who loves her nearly as much as we do and makes her laugh all day

* a vacation somewhere warm and preferably on a beach

* enough time in the week to train for a marathon

* a new kitchen

* not to have my hands covered in eczema so I can actually wear my beautiful wedding rings.

* more time to see all the people that we don't get to spend enough time with.

* a really big comfy chair in the attic with an ottoman

* my husband to have a job that he LOVES. (ie chef in our own breakfast joint)

* to be put out of a job due to lack of children needing cancer care.

* peace on earth.

Is that too much to ask? :)

PS. Our family photos can be seen here on Alyson of Tame Images' blog

Stella's First Birthday Party

Today we celebrated our little girl with our family and friends.
























It was a little overwhelming for Stella, by little, I mean she wailed along with everyone while they sang Happy Birthday. She loved her chocolate cake though as long as Momma was sitting right next to her. She loved all her presents, Thank you so much to everyone.

Ps. It's hard to take a lot of pictures with a clingy toddler on your hip, so if you've got some good ones, please share!

Long day....

It's been a long day where a whole lot of stuff just didn't seem to go right. So sometimes you just need something to make you smile. j

Stella's first birthday

Dear Stella, It's your birthday! A year ago today we met for the first time and our family became a threesome. We all started on the adventure of a lifetime. Our start was a bit bumpy, but things have gotten better and better every month. It was the first challenges that helped us turn into the parents we needed to be. We hit the ground running and never slowed down. But through the hard stuff, we've had countless victories and experiences.









You are a joyful sweet child. You love other babies and get so excited when you see a stroller coming towards us. You try to catch the attention of people in the grocery store so you can flash them one of your beautiful smiles. Being your parents has made our life a million times better.

We love you so much,

Momma and Daddy

Something about today feels like a victory. We've made it through the first year, that's definitely something to celebrate. We've learned the in's and out's of a complicated person. Stella sleeps through the night, loves food and enjoys life. I don't think we could ask for more than that out of a one year old. And something I have to brag about, I breastfed Stella for an entire year. We love everyday and the future just keeps looking better and better. What a great celebration we had today, swimming lessons with Dad, lunch at Stockyards where they treated you to a buttermilk biscuit, fun afternoon playing at home, butternut squash mac and cheese, and delicious cupcakes. We're so excited to celebrate with your whole family on Sunday.