Lots To Be Thankful For

I have not posted anything in awhile, I have been majorly slacking these days.  I always feel like the holidays are so hectic but it is all worth it when you have a special reason to spend time with family and friends.  We were fortunate enough to have George's parents (YiaYia and Papou) in visiting us for the Thanksgiving Day holiday.

Lexie with her YiaYia

Lexie with her Papou and YiaYia

 Lexie is definitely loving the attention.  She is getting spoiled with early Christmas gifts from her Grandparents and she basically gets anything she wants.  I think we are definitely on our way to raising a little princess.  We had a wonderful and very small Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, it was Lexie's first time eating turkey, stuffing, and her grandmother's lamb.  She loved it all.  I ran in the runLawrence 5K and it was my first time running in that particular event.  I absolutely loved it.  There were so many people that showed up to run with their families.  I am hoping that next year, we can all do it together as a family.  I also ran my fastest 5K to date so maybe that's why I loved it so much.  There is nothing better than the feeling of accomplishment to get your day started.  Anyway, it was a great time.

Last week Lexie turned 13 months old.  She is starting to talk a lot more although, I still can not make out what she is trying to tell me.  She is still very much a dare devil.  Her latest idea of fun is to get on the couch or our bed and to walk off of them.  Luckily someone is there each time to catch her.  She is also loving to climb on things right now.  She is perfecting the slide at the park.  She loves to push and pull all of her toys. There is no stopping her, she is still very busy and doesn't really like to watch cartoons.  We recently discovered that she will sit to watch Wheel of Fortune though.  Kind of funny I think!

Lexie on her car.  Watch out world!!

Lexie loves her lawn mower

Lexie recently received a birthday gift that she has taken a liking to...a chicken that you pull and it lays eggs.  At first she didn't know how to get the eggs out of it or how to pull it but now it is her little buddy that follows here everywhere.

Her toy chicken

Playing peek-a-boo!

Lexie's One!

Where has the time gone!   I remember a year ago when  Lexie was 6 days late and it seemed as though she would never get here.  My sister, Ursula, had come in from Arizona so that she could be with me during the delivery and I had to take her to the airport to fly back home the day prior to checking into the hospital.  Thinking back to that time, I should have known then that Miss Lexie was drumming to her own beat.  She is such a free spirit and just loves life on her own terms.  She is a little "Heidi" for sure.

Proud Daddy!

Lexie was only a few hours old!

On Saturday, Lexie celebrated her first birthday. It is so hard having her birthday smack dab in the middle of college football season and even though she will not remember how big or small the celebration was, I wanted to do something.  My older sister, Ursula, and her newest baby, Noah came in from Arizona to help join in on the celebration.  I had ordered invitations about a month in advance but was hesitant on doing anything formal since I was not sure what time we would be able to have the party.  Just thinking about trying to get nap schedules to coordinate with a party and then waiting to hear about the game time was just too much.  I went ahead and made the invites and left out a time but I knew that we were going to have to celebrate her birthday on Saturday, her actual birthdate, because George had to spend the night at the hotel on Friday evening and he had a long day of work on Sunday.  After talking to my girlfriends one evening, I decided that we were going to have to have Lexie's party at the tailgate before the game.

I found this cute invite on Etsy

An interesting fact:  Lexie's actual due date was October 16, 2010, which just happened to be the day of the KU vs KSU game last year.  She did not come and instead was 6 days late.  This year her birthday again, fell on the date of the KU vs KSU game.  George and I laugh about that.

We got to the tailgate a little later than anticipated, which we should have expected since we were trying to get two little ones ready.  I knew that the most challenging part of having her birthday at the tailgate was going to be keeping her at her own party.  She just loves to explore so when I get her out of her wagon...she bolts.  She now only has one speed....it's FAST!  She doesn't look where she is going she just puts her head down and runs until she either falls or runs into something.  Once we got to her party, I quickly began shoving food in her mouth to keep her in one spot long enough for her to open her gifts.

Cupcakes I made and Ursula helped me decorate for the party
(Idea from Pinterest)

Lexie sharing her new toys with Carter

As it got closer to kick-off, both kids were starting to get tired so we started our journey back to the house.  After a much needed nap and once George got home we put a candle on a small cake for Lexie to dig into.  George and I didn't know what to expect from Lexie's cake adventure.  I know that she is very picky when it comes to trying new things so I knew that I would have to give her the first bite.  She really liked the frosting but once she put her fingers in it, it was just too messy for her to handle.  She took a few bites of the cake but sadly she only ate less than a fourth of the cake.

Lexie's cake

This better taste good

I like it

Do I have something on my face?

Not bad...at least she didn't get an upset tummy

We had a great weekend.  It was nice to have my sister, Ursula, and my nephew, Noah, here to share in the special day with us.

Lexie and her Cousin Noah

Playing with her new blocks from Aunt Ursula

It was definitely a day that we will cherish! Stay tuned for the ADVENTURES OF TODDLERHOOD!  We can't wait to share with you all of our fun!

I made this shirt at ACME and Lexie wore it on her birthday
(Idea from Pinterest)

A Visit From Grandma Mary and Grandpa Urs...And We Must Not Forget Cousin Triniti

Our house was busy with commotion most of last week and I am now just catching my breath.  We had the pleasure of having Grandma Mary, Grandpa Urs, and Cousin Triniti (my niece and parents) come in for a 5 day visit from Arizona.  My Mom and Niece Triniti had their "Fall Break" from school.  They wanted to celebrate Lexie's 1st birthday since they were not going to be able to come out for her official birthdate.

Cousins!

While they were here, I put my Dad to work refinishing our kitchen cabinets.  For a job that was suppose to be so simple according to Pinterest (my new favorite addiction),  the Rustoleum Cabinet Finishing Kit that George and I purchased a few weeks back was going to be a no-brainer.  I had a few different tasks in mind for Dad to do...well, never count your chickens before they hatch because this cabinet situation took a turn for the worst and let's just say that my parents had to extend their trip a few days just so my Dad could at least finish the cabinet doors.  By the way, the doors look great.  We now have to find a handyman to finish the frame and the drawers.

Anyway, back to the visit.  While my Dad was slaving away in the garage, my Mom and I were slaving away at keeping Triniti and Lexie both entertained and out of trouble.  At first Lexie didn't know what to think about all of the people around.  She is just used to the quiet house that rarely has visitors during the week. Lexie quickly took a liking to her Cousin Triniti and before you know it they were chasing each other around the house and through Lexie's princess tunnel.  Triniti has just about as much energy as Lexie has so I felt like I was running around non-stop all day long.  When I am just with Lexie all day, I secretly look forward to her nap time, like most moms do.  I was in for a rude-awakening last week because when Lexie went down for her naps, that was my time to spend with Triniti.

We ventured out a few days with the girls.  We made a trip into Kansas City to go to Deanna Rose Farmstead.  For anyone in the area with little ones, it is an absolute MUST.  This place is great for the kids to feed animals, go fishing, play on the playground, mine for gold and they even have a pumpkin patch.  The girls fed the baby goats.  Lexie didn't know what to think at first but when she saw her cousin feeding the baby goats, she had to join in.  After that, I spent the remainder of the afternoon just running after Lexie.  There is just so much to see and better yet, if you go between Monday and Thursday, there is no charge for admission.

Triniti was so excited to feed the baby goats

Lexie didn't know what to think, she just wanted to chase them.

Trin doing some pony rides

A goat we saw in the zoo 

The kids were ready to go home!

Another afternoon we took the girls to South Park playground.  I personally like this playground the best because I feel like they have equipment that is easy enough for Lexie to climb on.  She is now going down the small slides on her own and she is continuing to push her limits with climbing.  She doesn't like climbing on her knees anymore, she wants to hang onto the railing and pull herself up while standing, like a "Big Kid" would do.  I had my Mom watch Lexie for a bit so that I could play with Triniti for awhile.  All week Triniti has been fascinated with the monkey bars.  She so badly wanted to be able to go across them.  So earlier in the week she decided that it looked easy enough.  She jumped up and latched onto the first bar but then got stuck.  She was so mad and after she jumped down she told my Mom that she wanted muscles so that she could get across to the other side.  She was so determined that when we went to South Park, she would just climb up the stairs to the monkey bars and try to talk herself into giving it a try again.  I loved her determination but these monkey bars were much taller than the previous ones that she had attempted.  I instead tried to get her to go down this luge-looking apparatus...I actually bribed her with $1.00 but in the end she just wasn't ready to try it.  She came up to me afterwards and said that she really wanted the dollar.  I couldn't help but laugh and encourage her to give it a try before we left.  The bribe didn't work, she is also stubborn.

The highlight of the visit was the small celebration that we had with my parents and niece for Lexie's birthday.  Triniti worked all day on a banner and some signs.  She did such a great job.  We celebrated with some cupcakes after dinner.  I did not give Lexie a cupcake because selfishly I didn't want her to get a sugar high and then not go to bed.  I will give in and let her have some cake on her real birthday.  Triniti didn't seem to mind that Lexie didn't have any cupcakes because that meant that there were more for her.

Trin worked so hard on Lexie's Birthday Banner

Lexie opening her gifts from Grandma Mary and Grandpa Urs

We had a great time with our guests.  When they left I think Lexie was sad.  She really enjoyed all of the noise and craziness.

Lexie loves her Cousin Triniti

Grandma Mary and her Girls

This week my older sister, Ursula, and her little one, baby Noah come in for the weekend to help celebrate Lexie's actual birthday.  We are excited to have them.

She Amazes Us Every Day!

Lexie has her 11 month birthday today and she continues to amaze George and I everyday.  Whenever we are having a bad day, she can always cheer us up.  I have said this many times already but she is just so happy.  From the time that we go to get her in her crib in the morning to just before she knows that it is bedtime again, she is happy.  She loves to wave and clap especially.  She is getting better at blowing kisses and I have been trying to teach her where her nose is this week.

I took her to first Book and Babies class at the Lawrence Public Library last week.  That day there were about 15 other babies in attendance.  She was captivated by the older lady who leads the story time which lasted for about 10 minutes before she was up and walking in the middle of the circle that was made out of parents and other babies.  Lexie took her time sizing up each of the parents and really had no interest in the other babies.  She just went round and round in the circle clapping and waving to anyone that would pay attention to her.

We went to a few of the MOMS group functions that were going on during the week last week, it is hard to know whether we will be able to make the playtimes as Lexie's naps usually fall somewhere in the middle of them.  This week we went to the McDonald's playtime, which was only as much fun as you make it.  She liked the slide and the foam plastic animals but other than that, she would rather go into the dining areas and look at the people.  Last Friday there was the open gym at Lawrence Gymnastics Academy and I had been looking forward to that because Lexie loves to do anything daring.  They have a Bumble Bee class for infants from a year old to 24 months so I thought that if she seemed interested in some of the equipment and activities at the Open House then maybe I would enroll her in the class.  She liked to climb on the mats for a little while but she was far more intrigued with chasing the older kids and she also loved going down the slide.  So at this point, I can't see myself spending money to have her do things that she can do at a park for free.  I will continue to try to take her to the open gym sessions though to see if she develops any further interest.

She was on a mission!

Loving the LGA!

Last week was quite long as it was George's first road game vs Georgia Tech.  He left on Friday and by then I was absolutely exhausted from the week.

George and Lexie reading time

I decided to invite some of my girlfriends over to watch the game on Saturday, it was nice to have some adult time and to be able to enjoy the game in the comfort of my home where Lexie can run around freely.  My friend, Laura, brought her little boy Carter, whom Lexie loves playing with.  I don't think that Carter has the same feelings.  Whenever they play together it takes them awhile to play nicely.   Laura had a work function to attend after the football game had finished so I watched Carter for her.  We went on a wagon ride and they chased each other around the house.  It was so much fun!  Thanks Carter for hanging out with us!

Just another day!

The room looked like a tornado hit it.  The kids pulled out every toy!

Lexie chasing Carter

I gotcha!

Oh wait!

Helping with the clean up!

If I Haven't Figured Her Out Yet...I May Never Figure Her Out

As I write this blog post, I am listening to Lexie in her crib trying to take a morning nap.  For the past couple of weeks her sleep schedule, or lack there of, has been so unpredictable.  At this point I am trying to even remember if she has ever had a consistent sleep schedule since birth.  About two weeks ago she decided that she no longer needed her early morning nap and would let me put her down around 11 or just before lunch and then she would not want to take an afternoon nap at all.  I thought that this was a little early for her to start transitioning to one nap a day at 10 months.  My mother swears that as little ones my sisters and I transitioned ourselves that early.  So just as I was starting to get into a routine and get used to the new sleep schedule that Lexie has set for herself, she has thrown me off once again.

As I was out the door this morning to head to the grocery store, I just happened to look back at her in her car seat...I catch not one, but TWO huge yawns within a few minutes of one another.  A million different thoughts run through my head.  How tired is she? Can I get a quick shopping trip in? If I go shopping will I have missed the nap opportunity?  If we do make it to the store, how long will she last in the cart before a complete meltdown?  I decide to turn around and go home.  She did get up at 5:30 this morning and I changed her diaper, fed her a bottle, and immediately put her back up to bed.  She didn't go back to sleep and so after 20 minutes George went up to get her.  She has been getting up this early for awhile now but usually after a fresh diaper and a bottle she sleeps for another 1-2 hours.  Not this morning.

Since her sleep schedule has been in complete disarray, I have been missing play groups and other baby friendly activities.  She is so ready for interaction with other little kids so it makes the days long when we are stuck inside or at the park by ourselves.  Also in the past few weeks, Lexie has decided that she no longer likes her stroller.  So in order to have some sanity on our morning walks and walks to the park it was time to get her a new means of transportation...it was time for a wagon.  She absolutely loves the wagon.  I like it because I can still strap her in and I can throw in a slew of toys for her to play with while George and I get a walk in.

Morning walk with Daddy!

With the weather cooling down and football season in full swing we are going to be outside more often.  By the way, I took her to the football game on Saturday, she lasted through the National Anthem before we had to head home.  Progress!

Hanging with AlPal

Lexie, George, and Jay

Even though it may seem like I am frustrated by her, I know that she is a little version of me.  She is such a happy baby and she puts a smile on my face everyday!

Happy little girl

Rock Chalk!

It seems like forever since last year's football season.  I really love this time of year because College Football is my favorite and I can tell that Lexie loves it just as much as her parents do.  Lexie and I have been spending quite a bit of time at the football facility over the past few weeks and ever since George started training camp.  Lexie really liked having her Daddy home over the summer so it was hard for her once he wasn't around as much.  I was really good at trying to take her to the office to see him at least once a day...it was sanity for the both of us.  This past summer had been so miserably hot that we spent most of our days holed up in the house or at Target (which was not nice to Daddy's wallet I might add).

KU Football Kick Off Pep Rally
Big Jay, Jackson, Lexie, and Gavin

Anyway, Football season and Fall go hand and hand and this weekend was absolutely gorgeous out (minus the few minutes of rain on Saturday that delayed the game a few minutes).  This was exciting to me because I had made up my mind that I was going to take Lexie to as many games as possible this season and Saturday's game was no exception even thought the game did not start until 6pm.  Lately she has been only taking one nap a day so I knew that this may be challenging because she would most likely go to bed earlier than normal so I decided that I would try to get her down for an afternoon nap to save us both from having a temper tantrum.  She could read me like a book and was not having it so I decided to head out to tailgate with my normal crew at The Smith-Wingate Tailgate Extravaganza (I'll post a group pic in the next blog). Lexie had not seen a lot of these people since last season when she was just a few weeks old.  Having flashbacks to those days....we have come a LONG way since then.  My fondest memory of last year was the back to back tailgates/games that we went to, which just so happened to be in the early afternoon, and on our way over to the Smith-Wingate Tent, Lexie had a massive blow-out each time that literally ruined everything she had on.  As a new mom, I remember trying to get her undressed without getting poop everywhere, she was screaming, I was nervous and on the verge of crying, oh my! I knew that this year was going to be much different and I had a little tear and a chuckle came out as I thought back to those days.  Now that Lexie is walking and really doesn't want to sit still there are new challenges. The one thing that I did have on my side was gravity and a slight incline from the hill that we were camped on.  Lexie fell a few times head over heels before she figured that it was best to camp out on the blanket and enjoy some Sloppy Joes.

Lexie, Laura, and Carter

Carter loved this tree

Lexie absolutely loved being out at the tailgate.  I am convinced that she understands it when people tell her how pretty she is.  She loves people and all of the attention.

Future Cheerleader?

Just before kick off there was a thunderstorm and I strapped Lexie into her jogging stroller and jetted to the football facility.  Lexie loves it in there, it's like her big playground.  Once we got inside she wanted out of the stroller and couldn't wait to check out all of the rooms and stop all of the people.  I could tell that she was starting to get tired though and I knew that it would be a huge mistake to even attempt to take her inside the stadium to sit down to watch the game, so we just went home.  Once we got home it was like she got her second wind.  As I turned on the LSU/Oregon game she was racing around the living room making just as much noise as the TV.  This was going to be a fight but I knew that she had to go to bed, it was almost 9pm.

We are going to try to get her to take a nap next Saturday so that we can hopefully make it into the game.  In the mean time we will just enjoy these amazing Fall Days and get plenty of park time in.

She loves the park

Lexie trying out the slide

10 Months of Fun...Now We're Moving!

I know that I say this every month but I really can not believe that Lexie is almost a year old already.  Each day just seems to fly by and sometimes I find it hard to just sit back and take it all in.  Like Mother Like Daughter.

Lexie has been standing for long and longer periods of time and then one day last week while we were in Fort Worth for an AdvoCare event, she just started cruising around the room.  If she got too excited she would fall but with each day her balance got better and better, she had perfected her turning and she is even clapping while walking.  Maybe I am a proud Mama but I think that is absolutely amazing.

Always clowning around

Look I made a frame out of my play mat

Her personality is still continuing to come out in everything that she does.  She loves to imitate people.  She smacks her lips, clicks with her tongue, flicks her lips, and points and chats all day long.  Lately she has really loved the "Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" song.  She also laughs at the special sounds that I make.  Her appearance is ever changing also. Her hair is getting thicker and longer on the sides. She now has 4 1/2 teeth and she has 3 more coming in.  She is getting taller by the day.  Lexie is willing to try new foods everyday, much of them she still does not like.  I am starting to think that she prefers pureed food because she is too lazy to chew, I may be wrong.  Some of her favorite table foods right now are goldfish crackers, black beans, green beans, eggs, turkey lunch meat, sweet potatoes, and apples.  I still can not get her to eat fruit cups for the life of me. Patience is key!  I also think that she has mistaken her books as a food group because they are starting to look ragged with all of the chunks taken out of them.

Gimme some more black beans!

She continues to really look forward to pool and bath time. I am glad that her dislike of swimming lessons has not taken that from her.  The other night she put her face underwater to try to blow bubbles.  She would laugh so hard that she would have to stop.  It is so amazing to be there to witness times like those with my baby.  I feel very fortunate.

With the start of football season coming up next weekend, I am sure that I will have some fun experiences to share soon.  Stay tuned!

Our Family Picture from the media guide