Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

We have had a beautiful day around here! Take a look at what I woke up to this morning.

This photo was taken at 7:30 in the morning, and the snow didn't let up until the sun went down. By the end of the day, the Dallas area had accumulated about 9 inches of snow!

At first Mommy wasn't sure she wanted to brave the great outdoors with me, so she brought a snowball inside for me to play with instead. I had fun breaking it apart and eating it piece by piece!
By the afternoon, Mommy decided she couldn't keep me indoors all day long. She really didn't want me to get soaking wet, though, so she asked Daddy if he could fashion a snowsuit out of a trashbag. If you know Daddy, then you know he didn't have to be asked twice!
Once I slipped on my onesie, socks, tights, fleece pants, fleece jacket with hood, winter coat with hood, pink wool mittens, and designer snowsuit, I was ready to go! Too bad I didn't know what I was supposed to be doing in this fluffy, white stuff.

I crawled around in the snow a bit while Mommy and Daddy practiced rolling and throwing snowballs. About 30 seconds into their snowball fight, they turned around and saw me leaning up against the fence, as still as can be.

We spent some time warming up inside, then headed back out for a few quick pics.

How funny are these snowmen in Mexican football jerseys?

Apparently, our neighbors enjoyed the snow day every bit as much as the three of us!

Broader Horizons

After a 2.5 month hiatus, Mommy and I finally made it back to Baby Bookworms story time at the library. We met Kelly and Cooper there for some reading fun!
It just so happens that yesterday's BB theme was "Red", so I was certainly dressed the part. The librarian taught us a finger play called "Five Red Robins" and read two very clever books. The books were titled A Lemon is Not Red and Red Truck. After teaching kindergarten for 6 years, Mommy thought she was familiar with just about every color book known to (English-speaking) man. Boy, was she wrong! Mommy had never even heard of these two books...or most of the other red-themed books that were on display. Way to broaden your horizons, Mommy!

And speaking of broadened horizons, take a look at what I have been introduced to this week.
Yup, that's real cow's milk in my sippy! I've got to be honest and tell you that I'm not completely sold on this stuff yet.

So far, Mommy has only forced it upon me in place of one of our regular nursing sessions. Her plan was to drop one nursing every few days, but at the rate I'm going it's gonna take a whooole lot longer than she initially intended. And if this video is any indication of things to come, it's gonna take a whole lot more outfit changes, too.

Sunday Best (one day late)

I was all fru-frued up again yesterday morning. This cutie dress was a gift from one of Mommy's students last year.

Ian and I have already figured out that platform play is one of the joys of being a pastor's kid. As soon as the worship service was over, we hightailed it up those maroon carpeted steps!
We checked out "Uncle" Oscar's guitar gear...

and peeked in on Preston playing in the drum cage (he's got a few years of platform experience on us).
This is Ian's "attack mode". He loves to tackle me, confiscate my bows, and tug on my little red locks. I don't mind at all, though! Daddy already told me that's how boys act when they think a girl is pretty.

The After Party

My friends and family showered me with many fabulous toys, books, and clothes at my birthday party. Even before the wrapping paper had settled, though, this was what I wanted to play with most!

When all the partiers had gone home, I discovered that I can craw quicker than Mommy can clean. This is a very practical skill when there are cake crumbs on the floor, I tell ya'!
When Mommy got tired of party clean-up, she and I took a break in my ladybug tent. Can you believe my Mommy forgot to put this super cutie diaper cover on me when I dove into my smash cake?

Oh well...maybe I can wear them to all of the first birthday parties I have yet to attend this year (under a dress, of course).

Party Day

My birthday party has come and gone, but Mommy and Daddy are nowhere near finished with the cleanup! They're okay with that, though, because we had such a fun time partying down today.

Here are some of the party details that Mommy has been working on.

This cutie boa wreath greeted guests at our front door. Tomorrow it will be moved to its permanent home in my nursery.
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you've probably seen lots of these guys already.
Mommy took all of my monthday pictures and matted them to colored cardstock. Then, she arranged them with brown grossgain ribbon taped to the back.

This garland was full of pictures of various "firsts" I've experienced throughout the past year.

Here's a closer shot of that garland. These pics were of my "first lock-out", "first Easter", and "first piano lesson".

There were two vertical "firsts" sets like this. Mommy will be moving them to my nursery, too. She used plain old clothespins to attach the pictures to the ribbon, which will make them super easy to update from time to time.

Another closeup. Here we have "first act of defiance" and "first road trip".

The mantel decor. Mommy took the flower canvases and name banner from my nursery for this space.
Discovery bottles for all of my kiddo friends. Mommy added blue colored water, marbles, and confetti to these (washed) water bottles. Then, she hot glued the lids and added some blue curling ribbon.

The yummy food table!

Beautiful cake made by "Aunt" Michele. This was almost too cute to cut!

See that little pink candle on the left with the ribbon wrapped around it? Keep it in the corner of your mind. I'll tell you more about it in a bit.

We're all ready to party!

Can you tell what our favorite colors are right now?

I was so excited about all of the people who came to see me that I forgot to pull my bow off.

Okay, now you pull that candle out of your mind's corner. At one of the baby showers thrown for Mommy when she was pregnant, the hostesses had each guest write a birthday wish on a strip of paper. They collected all of the wishes and wrapped each one around a pink candle. Mommy brought all of the candles home in a special birthday tin, and each year we'll pull out one candle wish to read on my birthday (or birthday party day).

Here's this year's wish.

If you are the owner of this wish, would you please let me know? There's no signature, and no one at the party claimed it...but I would love to know who it is from.

Once the wish was read, it was time for me to dig into my first bit of cake. Michele's work is just as yummy as it is pretty!

I was too engrossed in my cake to be bothered by posing for the camera.

As soon as I was "all done" with my cake, Mommy took me to the bathroom for a quick rinse in the tub. Then, it was back into my party dress and out into the living room for present time. I made quite a haul!

Thank you to all of my family and friends who joined me on this special day. You have all been a big part of my life thus far, and I am so happy that you were able to celebrate with me!

Happy Birthday, Karsyn!

She's here, she's here!
Karsyn Blake is finally here! She decided to join our world at 11:29 this morning.

Isn't she a cutie? Karsyn weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and measured 18 inches long.

"Aunt" Brandi sure was tired of going to Labor & Delivery and walking out with empty arms. I guess the fourth time's a charm!

Karsyn, I am so glad you have joined us! I wish I could be with you today, and I can't wait to see you when you come for a visit in a few weeks. I hope you can feel the kisses I've been giving you through my computer screen. Get lots of rest...you have so much to learn in the coming days!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Can you believe that I am one year old today? Here are some things you should know about me at one year:

Every day I do a little bit of walking, but I really prefer crawling and cruising.

I can blow (half) kisses.

I eat just about everything Mommy and Daddy eat, with the exception of honey, peanut butter, Daddy's chips, and Mommy's desserts. I really want to try those last two, though!

I now have 3.25 teeth.

My animal sound repertoire includes dog, cow, monkey, elephant, lion, duck, tiger, chicken, and pig. Daddy has also taught me to make the fish, rabbit, and turtle sounds.

My expressive vocabulary consists of hi, hot, du (duck), Bae (Bailey), ba (ball), bool (balloon), br (bird), uh oh, Daddy, and Mumma.

I tried out my very first two word phrase today. It was "Hi, Bae!"

A few of the phrases in my receptive vocabulary are, "brush your teeth", "do you need a diaper change?", "time to go night night", "give ____ a hug", and "give ____ a kiss".

I can sign "all done", "more", and "nurse". I didn't pick up that last sign until this week...just in time to start weaning on Monday!

I prefer books over toys.

Whew! I sure have learned a lot in 12 months!

For my birthday today, Mommy and Daddy took me to an indoor play area not far from our home. It was a blast!

I giddyuped on a rocking horse,
chillaxed in a swing,
and checked out a slide in the huge inflatable play area. This place was really awesome, and Mommy promised to take me back!

Later in the day, all of the Grands joined me at my house for dinner. We had to pull out the card table so we could all sit together! (Our dining table is super tiny, but it holds a lot of meaning for Mommy. It was Great Nana and Papa's first dining table, Mimi and Poppy's first dining table, and Mommy and Daddy's first dining table.)
After dinner, I had my first dessert ever. This brownie was super yummilicious!
You may not be able to tell from the above pic, but I got real comfortable with that brownie real fast. It ended up all over my face, in my ears, and under my teeny fingernails. So, Mommy decided that I need a bath before I could open my presents.
Once I was cleaned up, though, I was ready to rip into some wrapping paper!
This water table came from Mommy and Daddy. The three of us can't wait to try it out!
Mimi and Poppy gave me a set of stacking cups.

And Grandma and Grandpa gave me a swing like the one I chillaxed in earlier in the day!
My first birthday was a super fantastic day (shout out to Mommy's Dickinson Elementary family), and I can't wait to find out what the next year holds for me!