Christmas 2014

Steven, Amelia and I were so blessed with having a wonderful Christmas season (technically it hasn't ended as we have one more tomorrow)! It brought so much joy to see Christmas through a child's eyes. Amelia had a blast at all of the Christmas celebrations we have had and we have our fair share. Yes we have been to 7 Christmas celebrations in the past week and have one more this weekend. I have always said this is a plus to having divorced parents - gotta find something good in everything.

First Christmas was with my Mom and Dave last Saturday at their new house on the Farm.

Watching the cows on the Farm!

MOOOOO!

Amelia got the best dog! No need for potty training!

She also received her first set of blocks from Gigi and Gpa!

 Next we went to Willow Springs to have Christmas with the Gum's!

Amelia was watching the snowfall on Christmas Eve. It wasn't enough to stick, but it was sure pretty coming down. 

Amelia loves her Rody from Uncle Michael and Aunt Brittany. 

Musician at heart. 

We wrapped up the family Christmas' at my Dad and Lisa's Christmas night.

I think Mom is as excited about this chair as Amelia is! She is becoming quite the climber and this will hopefully keep her from climbing on the couch all of the time. 

Let the good times ROLL!

This year was fun and we think every year will become even better than the last! Just last night Steven and I were already talking about traditions that we can start next year with Amelia since she will be a little older and hopefully understand a little more. We both have traditions that we did as children and it will be fun to make those into our family traditions with Amelia. We want to wish you and your family a very blessed Christmas. Jesus is the reason for the season!

11 Months!

Amelia is 11 months old! Only a short month away until she is 1! As hard as it is to realize she is almost one, I am having a blast planning her birthday festivities! I am so excited to see her eat the cake and try new things, but I also can't get ahead of myself and not enjoy this month.
She amazes me everyday with new things that she is doing. She is now taking a few steps at a time and waving hi as well as saying "Hi" and blowing kisses. It is so fun to see her personality coming to life as she is getting older.

10 Months

Amelia is quite the explorer. She finds everything and is interesting in everything going on around her. She absolutely loves fans and points to them all the time. She also loves pulling everything out of bags, buckets, whatever she can and carefully inspects all of the contents. She sure is keeping me on my toes and will continue to do so as she will most likely start walking in the next month!!

We recently had family photos and Amelia's 9 month photos taken. You can look through them at mercedphotography.com. The next photos we will be taking of Amelia will be of her smashing a cake! Hard to believe she is almost a year old and I am busy making birthday plans! I hope time stops down, but I know that it will only go by faster and faster, especially when she starts school and playing sports. 

9 Months (a few days late)

Amelia is now standing for a few seconds at a time. She is pulling up on everything (even my legs)! She is 98% of the time a happy and smiley girl!

She still loves going for walks and just being outside!

Amelia Leigh absolutely LOVES swimming!

Steven's first Father's Day. 

We play a game at bath-time. Steven keeps Amelia in the living room while I get everything ready. As soon as I turn on the water she crawls in the bathroom and pulls up to try to get in. She does this every night! I think it is safe to say that Amelia is a water baby! 

8 Months

Amelia Leigh is 8 months old today. Boy did a lot happen in this last month and last 8 months. It is crazy to think about that 8 months ago today we met her for the very first time. Everything that she has learned and done in the last 8 months is more than some do in a lifetime. It is amazing to think that a short 8 months ago all she did was sleep, eat and poop. Now, I am worn out from chasing her around the house all day.

We have had a few firsts in this last month. She can now pull herself up, which is a whole new ball-game. I guess people are right when they tell you - you never know how dirty your house is until your child starts crawling and moving. I swear I clean and she will still find the smallest pieces of dirt and put them right in her mouth! GumPa (Mac) keeps telling me this is good for her gut bacteria and is helping build her immune system. I am all about building that immune system around here!
Just this morning her first top tooth has poked through. We have been waiting about a week on both of her top teeth and the left one is through. One down, one to go! Getting her top teeth is hurting her more than her bottom teeth. She is a bit more cranky and has a runny nose with these, which I don't remember her having with the bottom. Although it is totally wearing me out, I can't wait to see her smile once they have dropped all the way.

We went to Willow Springs so Steven could hunt and I could go to a baby shower.  Amelia loves GumPa's dogs Dixie and Daisy. She kept chasing them and got many kisses. 

Another first that we had this month was my first Mother's Day. I was so blessed to be able to spend my first Mother's Day with family. We were able to go to church with all of our parents (minus Dave - he had to attend Graduation at CofO ) and my brother. After church Steven's parents and my Mother and brother came over for lunch. We visited and watched Amelia until about 3 and then headed over to my Dad's. There we celebrated with my Dad, Stepmother, Aunt, Uncle, Grandma and Ryan. I think we all were pretty worn out after this exciting and eventful day, but none more than Amelia. She missed her nap because of all of the fun that was going on around her. It was definitely a day that I will remember for the rest of my life and I am very grateful to all who helped me celebrate, especially Steven. He made the lunch for our parents and also got me a bench to put in the back yard (post to come later).

My Mother, Amelia and I on Mother's Day. 

Two of the Three Grandma's with Amelia and I on Mother's Day

Easter

Easter is always such a great time to reflect on the true meaning of life. I have always been blessed with great Easter's, but this year was truly great. I really know how God feels now when he gave his son for us. After becoming a mother this is so much easier to grasp the magnitude of. I have a love for Amelia that is like none I have ever had. It is great to really be able to feel the love that God has for me on such a special day! I hope and pray that one day I can teach Amelia all there is about God and that she will have a relationship with him.
Happy Easter from our bunny to yours!

Happy Easter!

I can't decide if I like this picture in color or black and white better. 

Amelia (7 mos) and Aliya (3 yrs)

Daisy wanted to join the picture! 

And give Amelia a little kiss.....

......... and Amelia is after Daisy while Aliya lost interest and is playing with the Egg now.  Maybe next years photo shoot will go better with both girls! :)

7 months and on the move!

Amelia is already closer to being one than newborn. Can time really go by this fast?!? Amelia has had a big month for milestones and new things. She is now crawling everywhere! It is fun and hard all at the same time. I can't leave her down on the ground to go switch laundry or get a quick drink of water. I either have to carry her with me or just let the other things be until she takes a nap. Speaking of naps, Amelia loves her naps, I mean loves her naps! She will take anywhere from a 1.5 hr to a 3 hr nap in the afternoon. This also allows me to get so much done. Its amazing what I can fit in a 2 hour span that used to take me all day (procrastination). There is no time to procrastinate any longer. 

We have started more solid food this month. Amelia has always loved her avocado (Steven says she should for how much I eat it). She is a fan of bananas, sweet potatoes and puffs. She doesn't know what to think about carrots, but we have only tried them once. Hopefully she will like them the more that we give them to her. It is so much fun to see all of her faces that she makes with the new tastes and textures. 

One other big thing that Amelia and I have started this month is swimming lessons. She LOVES her bath time so I thought it would be fun to get used to the pool while she is liking water. We have 45 min lessons on Tuesday mornings at Chesterfield Family Center. We have met some other moms and babies and Amelia loves watching the older kids splash. (I do not have pictures from this as I can only do so much! Steven is going to join us in the next couple weeks to capture some of the fun - so stay tuned!)

Amelia's first lesson, I took her under water and she loved it. I learned real quick that my face is going to get wet no matter what. If you remember, last month I said one of her favorite things is to flap her arms - you guessed it, it is that much more fun in the water! Needless to say I get pretty wet in the pool and bath time! 

Amelia's first basketball lesson in the bath with her Dad! 

We decided it was about time to take our Gumball pictures! 

LOVE!

6 Months!

Well we are halfway to a Year! How can this be? Crazy to think about this time last year is when we were telling people we were expecting..... and now she is already 6 months old! I wish I could just slow down time!
We had a lot of firsts this month. Amelia got her first tooth, proceeded by her second tooth about a week later. We have started solid foods and she is loving the avocados (Just like her mom)! She will be crawling any day now. She loves to get on her hands and knees and rock (This is kind of scary - we have so much to do before she is mobile!) It will be fun when she can follow me around the house, yet it was nice to just leave her playing and run into the other room for a second. I think it is safe to say that those days are far behind me now!
Amelia and I are absolutely loving this nice weather! I don't know who is loving it more, as I am loving the fact to get out of the house a little bit, and she is loving the new things to see. We are having a little bible lesson every morning and have really been learning about God's Creation. It is fun to tell her then on the walks that everything we are looking at God created. I don't care that she doesn't really know what I am talking about yet, just to know that someday she will is so encouraging. Along with this, I forgot to list on the picture one of her favorite things is the song "Jesus Loves Me". Every single time I sing it to her she makes one of the biggest smiles I have seen. When she is upset this is my go to song and it makes her smile every time.
Oh, what a blessing this little girl is to us and I as sad as I am that she is growing so fast, she is such a light in our lives. It will be fun to see the person she turns into.

Traditions are what make a Family

Traditions that are already established are going to be fun to teach Amelia with the families. There will also be room for Steven and I to make our own family traditions, which will be just as fun to do. One tradition that we continued today is taking pictures of Amelia being 5 months and 5 days old. Steven's Mother (Gumma as she wants Amelia to call her) has 12 siblings. Her mother took pictures of each of the 13 children when they were 5 months and 5 days old. Pinky (Steven's mother) also took pictures of Steven and Michael (Steven's brother) when they were 5 months and 5 days old. So, I bet you can guess where this is going. I took Amelia's pictures today when she was 5 months and 5 days old. I took her picture to look like her Daddy's and will do the same with the next child.

Pinky (Gumma) at 5 months and 5 days

Steven at 5 months and 5 days

Amelia at 5 months and 5 days

There were too many good smiling pictures to only put one on the blog! 

What are some of your favorite traditions that you do with your family? I am always eager to hear other traditions that Steven and I can start with our own family. It seems like the majority of traditions are around the holidays, but I would like to have traditions that are year round. I guess now is the time to start! 

Amelia Leigh is 5 months old!

I know others have told me, but I can't believe how fast time goes when you are having fun! Amelia is growing like a weed and is beginning to be more fun everyday. She has the cutest little giggle and smile and loves to watch her mommy make funny faces. She also is rolling across the room which is making it harder to get things done around the house. My time of leaving her playing and coming back a few seconds later are now over.
In this past month we have had some new things with Amelia. Steven was gone 3 out of the 4 weekends with Basketball and I kept telling him she is testing me when he is gone. The first weekend he was gone, I had to take Amelia to the doctor for the first time other than her regular appointments. She had a clogged tear duct that I found out is very common in babies. Her little eye just waters more than normal because it has no where to go. :( Then the next weekend Amelia ran her first low grade fever, but nothing ever developed which was a blessing. Even when the poor little girl isn't feeling the best she still is such a happy baby!
Steven and I are absolutely loving this parenthood gig! Yes there are tough times, but it is so worth it to see so much love between the three of us - and love that spills over to the grandparents.
Thank you all for your continued prayers for our little family! We sure can feel them!