Christmas Ornaments

It's fitting that this year I am more obsessed with Christmas decorations than ever. Of course you want what you can't have. And since we are in the midst of moving to a new home, there are very, very few decorations around our house. Since we will not put up our Christmas tree until we are in the new house, I have been daydreaming about all of the beautiful ornaments that I could decorate the tree with. For years I have loved Christopher Radko, and my love for hand blown glass ornaments has only grown with my appreciation for the little works of art. As is tradition in many families, we do an annual Christmas ornament for everyone in the family. This year we get to add the following to our tree, and I cant wait to see how they look!

{images: Sur La Table, Merck Family's Old World Christmas}

Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Looking back at the year in review we have been very blessed. We are blessed with a delightful, healthy little girl that lights up our life each day. We are blessed to be expecting a little boy in Spring 2011. We are blessed with wonderfully supportive families. We are blessed with a beautiful home to come home to every day. And we are blessed with each other.

We spent Thanksgiving in Wichita Falls this year. It was a beautiful day. A cold front blew through early that morning, bringing with it the first frost of the season. We all came together to enjoy a delicious Thanksgiving lunch, followed by an afternoon of visiting and football.

Late that afternoon Trey head up to the Ranch for his first weekend of the hunting season. He shot a 201 inch buck (whatever that means), that he is extremely proud of. Matt also shot a beauty, so it was a very successful weekend.

While the boys were away, Vivi and I spent time with Sarah, Elizabeth, and Luke. Vivi had a wonderful time playing with her cousins. On Friday night, we went over to the S&M's and had dinner with Stephanie and her two girls. All five of those kids were a handful! They had so much fun playing with one another and wore themselves out.

Fall

We had an incredibly beautiful fall this year. The weather has been perfect well into November so we took advantage of the mild weather as often as possible. Fall may just be the perfect time of year in North Texas. The temperatures are in the 70s and 80s and rarely drops below 60, the leaves are changing, it rains occasionally. Basically, its my perfect weather. Here are some cute pictures that we took while enjoying the season.

Happy Halloweekend!

I LOVE Halloweekend! Unfortunately, for the past 2 years I have not participated in dressing up, which shocks even me, as I love a good theme party. At least I have a cute little girl to dress up! I am starting to see she loves playing dress up as much as her mommy. This year, Vivi was a belly dancer for Halloween, and what an adorable belly dancer she made.

We had a pretty low key Halloween. We made some dinner, and then struck out to collect some candy before it got too dark. I was anticipating a bunch of kids coming through the neighborhood, but we only had 5 trick-or-treaters! I was shocked! Oh well, Trey and I enjoyed the candy in the weeks to come instead. Not so great for the waistline.

Walking

About a month after Vivi's first birthday, she started relying on walking more and more. She would continue to cruise around the furniture and walk back and forth between Trey and I. Then, suddenly today she gave up crawling. All of a sudden she had the confidence to walk, and now there is no going back! It is a bittersweet milestone. I can't believe that she is growing up so fast. But it is so wonderful to see what a sweet and caring little girl she is turning into.

Walk Results

This morning was the walk for ALS. Thank you so much to friends and family that contributed to this great cause! We had a wonderful time walking as a family in memory of my Dad and will continue to participate in this event in the coming years. Here are some photos from this morning, hope you enjoy!

A map of the walk that Trey made on his GPS. Very cool!

Vivi's Baptism

We are so proud of our little Christian!

This weekend we had Vivi baptized at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Wichita Falls. She was baptized in the church we were married in by the priest that married us. It was a beautiful Mass and we are so happy to have Matt and Sarah as Vivi's Godparents.

Following the Mass, David and Mary hosted a beautiful luncheon for Vivi at their house. It was so nice to have family gather together to celebrate Vivi's entrance into the Church. The food was delicious and all the cousins had a wonderful time playing together in the yard. We were so blessed the fall decided to arrive just in time, the weather was absolutely perfect!

Hope you enjoy some of the pictures from the day!

One Year!!

We had a wonderful and relaxing family weekend. On Saturday we spent a lazy day hanging around the house and watching college football. It was great watching TCU beat up on Baylor! Trey's family was in town for a wedding, so on Sunday we all went to Mass together and ordered in Charleston's during the Cowboys game. Too bad the boys couldn't pull it together.

Now that Vivi is officially 1 year old and almost a toddler, I think this will be my last monthly update. She has grown into such a sweet little girl, and we are so proud of her! Here's what she's doing at 1 year:

• Has 6 teeth! Getting those 4 upper teeth have given her the cutest little grin, and she knows how to chew with her front teeth.
• Still likes to watch Wonder Pets! and LOVES the theme song. She smiles every time she hears it. She has recently really started to enjoy Sesame Street. Her favorite thing is the Preschool Musical song, check out her dance moves on Facebook!
• Goes to bed at 8ish and has sleeping in until 830 or 9.
• Puts herself to sleep every night and at nap time, but naps are a little erratic these days. I think we are on our way to transitioning to one nap a day!
• Is starting to become more opinionated about what she likes to eat. I think I need to invest in a toddler cookbook!
• Loves her blankie. A lot.
• Still loves music. Sometimes we will catch her "shaking her booty" and dancing to music on TV.
• Loves her brother Drake! She has learned how to throw the ball for him, although he wishes she could throw farther.
• Loves going for walks in her stroller or just generally being outside. Now that the weather is cooling down to the 90s we are able to spend more time outside, which she loves!
• Your blackberry/iphone/ipad is her favorite toy.
• LOVES other babies. And loves to look at herself in the mirror and will give the baby in the mirror kisses.
• Still loves reading books. I caught her reading to herself the other day, it was so cute!
• Loves to exercise her vocal chords. She says "Dada, Da (dog), Mama, and bath"
• Is still learning baby sign language.
• Is crawling EVERYWHERE!
• Can pull up like a pro, and cruises around the furniture. She can take a couple of steps towards me unassisted, but isn't too sure about the whole walking thing. She gets around so efficiently on her hands a knees! One of her new favorite things to do is push her stroller around the house. That will get those legs moving!
• Graduated to size 4 diaper.
• Is wearing 6-9, 9-12, and 18 month clothes. Who knows what size she really is?!
• Is wearing a size 3 shoe, she has tiny feet!
• Loves when Daddy sings one of his many made up songs.
• Can wave hi, bye-bye and clap her hands appropriately!
• Some nicknames include: Princess Peanut, Peanutsky, Princessca, Vivs, Miss V, Goozle, Ma-goozle

Vivi's Sweet Shop - The Party

About a year and a half ago, when we first found out we were having a little girl, I bought this dress for Vivi's first birthday. It has been my inspiration for her birthday party from day one, and what great inspiration it proved to be!

I found a great boutique on Etsy to design the most perfect Sweet Shop invitations for the day and found inspiration for the party decorations from many, many blogs online. Bit by bit over the past couple of weeks I put together different decorations for the party and bought the perfect sweets for the buffet. I have to say that I am more than pleased with how everything came out, and I believe the birthday girl was as well! Her favorite things from the party were the cupcakes and the balloons, at least I know she is easy to please! Overall, the party was a hit with everyone. It was wonderful to have family and friends come by to visit and show of my pride and joy! As exhausting as it is to plan and execute a party to near perfection, I enjoyed every second of it and look forward to her 2nd birthday next year!

I am one!

Loves her balloon

Vivi's Sweet Shop

Happy Birthday little Princessca!

Cupcakes from the Cupcake Cottage

Loving on her baby doll!

Is this for me?

Thinking about it...

Mmmm this is pretty good...

This is REALLY good,

why have they been hiding this sweet delicious treat from me for so long?

Baby Stewies...

...from Rachel and Kels

Love my Uncle Johnny!

Future Frogs

Ready to celebrate a Horned Frog victory!

What a wonderful day!!