The Big 0-1

Emily turned one on April 23rd (and yes, I'm just NOW getting around to blogging about it!  Oops! lol).  Even almost two weeks later I can't believe that she is a year old.  I can't believe that she's been in our lives for a year.  I can't believe that we made it through the first 2-3 months! lol  I just can't believe.

I've been looking at her a lot these last few days, just marveling at how big she's getting and how much she's changing.  She's so CAPABLE of stuff now.  It's just amazing to me how much a year can change.  And it makes me wonder what the next year has in store.

Emily's birthday was celebrated in many different parts.  First was the birthday party on the 20th (more about this below with pictures).  Then was the actual day of.  In my mind, her first birthday was almost more a celebration of Jacob and myself than it was for her.  She had no clue what day it was, but that day marked a huge milestone for Jacob and I.  We had been parents for a year.  We had survived being parents TOGETHER for a year.  We made through the sleepless nights, the constant feedings and diaper changes... and we did it together.  With smiles and laughter.  WE did it.

We did it for one year after I did something pretty damn amazing.  And I felt like the anniversary of my labor was just as important to celebrate.  I accomplished something big that day a year ago.  It was me... and this body that I've been so hard on for so many years.  I did something awesome, and that was also worth celebrating.

So, in addition to Emily's birthday party, I made a day out of her actual birthday... a celebration of all of us.  I took the day off work, and kept Emily home from daycare in the morning.  We played, I marveled, she napped and then we made a picnic lunch and went to see Jacob at work.  He got to show her off around the office, and then we had lunch outside in the sun.  After saying goodbye, I drove Emily to daycare for the afternoon and I went and got a massage.  One year almost to the minute that I started pushing, I was treating my body to some deep relaxation.  And it felt AMAZING! lol  After the massage I bummed around for a little bit doing some window shopping, and the took the max downtown where Jacob and I had dinner reservations.

Emily's grandparents picked her up from daycare for us that evening so that Jacob and I could go out and enjoy each other's company.  We decided to try out Ivories, a jazz piano lounge in The Pearl.  The food was FANTASTIC!  The restaurant was pretty quiet, and we had to pay a cover for the piano music, but the food made up for it!  Then we walked down the street for some dessert.... Jacob with a huge ice cream cone from Ben and Jerry's, and a huge cupcake from the Cupcake Jones for myself.  We sat on a bench on the side walk cuddling and eating our chocolate.  It was a beautiful evening, and I"m so glad that we took the time to celebrate Emily's birthday... without Emily. lol

Trust me... she got LOTS of celebration the previous weekend at her birthday party!

Emily had about 35 guests come to wish her a happy birthday... and she got to wear a tutu* and cowboy boots**... she was in heaven! =)

*I made the tutu.  I was pretty proud of myself.  =)  I used this tutorial, (but bought a roll of tulle rather than cutting a large piece up)/  It was super easy!
**The cowboy boots used to be Jacob's when he was a toddler.  We're going to a cowboy themed birthday party in a couple of weeks... I hope they still fit! =)

PRESENTS!

Two of her favorite gifts! lol

Time to play!

Next it was time for the cake!  My cousin Marisa (who made my brother's awesome wedding cake), decided to do a book theme for Emily's cake.  It was fantastic!

Cousins teaching her how to blow out a candle!

Emily wasn't sure what to think of the cake at first... but she soon figured it out! =)

After cake and presents, it was time to play and hang out with family!

Soccer with grandpa and the cousins!

I didn't put too much time into decorating the house, but I did print out several (ok... about 150) photos of Emily over the last year to hang on the walls... including her (then) 51 weeks of weekly teddy bear photos

It was a great day, and I'm so happy that the weather turned out nice so that we could spend time outside!  Emily loved her cake, loved her presents (especially all the tissue paper) and slept great that night (score for mom and dad! lol)

12 Months!

Yesterday my sweet, sweet girl turned one year old!  Time just breezed right by.  I'm not sure how it happened.  I will be posting more later about the party that we had for her this past weekend, and how we celebrated yesterday.

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Weight/Length- You have your 12 month doctor's appointment tomorrow morning, so I'll update then!

UPDATE:  21 lbs and 30 inches!  75th percentile in both height and weight, and between 50-75th in terms of head.  I am very thankful that your head runs on the smaller side. lol

Eating-It occurred to me last weekend that you aren't really having formula that much anymore.  You still have a 6 oz bottle before bed, and 4-6 oz when you wake up, but I think I only remember feeding you 3 4-pz bottles on Saturday and maybe 4 on Sunday.  I think you're starting to wean yourself off of the liquid diet.  =)

Teeth- Still have 8 teeth.... 2 on the bottom and 6 on the top.

Sleep-Depending on how tired you seem, you go to bed these days between about 7:30 and 8:00.  With the exception of maybe once or twice a week, you are sleeping straight through until about 7 or 7:30 in the morning.  On those off days you'll wake up at about 5:00, but then go back to sleep after a little cuddle.  We have cut out all "middle of the night" bottles at this point.  And you seem to be ok with it.

 Clothes- You are pushing it in your 9 month PJs! lol  You are mostly in 12 month stuff now.

Personality- Your dad and I lucked out so much with you.  You are such a happy, happy little girl.  And SOO observant.  You want to see/learn/take in EVERYTHING.  It's really pretty awesome to see.

Likes/Dislikes-

• You like asparagus.  You about about two stalks of it with your dinner tonight.  And probably would have had more! lol 
• You like birthday cake!  =) 
• You like "reading" your books. 
• You like your doll at day care and your ball at home. 
• You like petting the kitty.... and you're getting pretty good at "petting" now, too! 
• You LOVE being outside!  Doesn't matter what we're doing, if you're outside, you're happy! 
• You like rough-housing with daddy in the evenings.

•  You don't like your toys being taken away.... whether or not it is a "real" toy or a rock. lol
• You don't like being held if you can walk instead.

Milestones-

• You celebrated your first birthday!
• You ate your first cake.
• Today you figured out how to kick a soccer ball!
• You are starting to problem solve things a lot more.  It's really cool to watch!
• You went on your first family vacation!  You saw Disneyland, the San Diego Zoo and got to hit a pinata!  You went on your first TWO airplane rides!

California edition!

Better Late Than Never!

So, I'm FINALLY sitting down to post about Easter! Almost a month late, but better late than never, right?  =)

I really didn't think that we were going to do anything special for Easter until I ran across an ad somewhere in FB/Internet-land for a special egg hunt at a local park: Code Orange.  What made this hunt so special?  They dropped 20,000 orange eggs from a HELICOPTER over the park!  I was pretty excited to see it!

I got Emily preregistered for the festivities, and on the day of we couldn't have asked for better weather!  Plus, my mom and grandma were also in town, so they got to come and see/experience the chaos, too.  Here are so photos of all the fun!

Not too sure what to think about this

Juggling! lol

"Here you go, Mom"

Here comes the helicopter to drop the eggs for the big kids!

Bomb's away!

We had so much fun.  I started to get a little teary-eyed there for a second.  Just thinking that I was out, celebrating the holiday, with MY family.  I don't know, the whole experience just kind of touched something for me.  =)

Up, Up and AWAY!

I'm a bit behind, I admit it.  I haven't taken the time yet to post about our recent trip to California or Emily's first Easter.  But, better late than never, right?  =) 

Warning:  Photo dump ahead!

We joined Jacob's family (parents, brother, niece and nephew) in Anaheim for a few days over spring break.  It was Emily's first time on an airplane, and our first real family vacation.  Here's some of the highlights from our trip!

All bundled up at about 5 am waiting for the MAX to the airport.

In pretty good spirits for being up so early!

Checking out the airplane!

Attempt at a family photo!

I think it was a combination of Emily having to get up a couple of hours before her usual wake up time, and us letting her run around the airport for a good 30 minutes before we boarded the plane, but she conked out before take off and didn't wake up until we were pulling up to the gate in Long Beach!  Excellent first ride experience (I was nervous, so I'm really glad that it went so well!).

Our first day in Cali we went to dinner with some cousins-however-many-times-removed, played with their bunny, and broke up a pinata!

Emily slept really good that night!

The next morning we were up again bright and early to start our day at Disneyland.  Our condo was about a mile from the resort, so it made for a decent morning walk (though it heated up enough in the afternoon to make me decided to buy a shuttle pass! lol  What has Oregon weather done to me??). 

Emily was very intrigued by several of the rides, especially It's a Small World.  And, apparently, the Casey Jr. Train... she shot "excitement" straight out of her diaper and we had to do a pretty quick full-outfit change while standing at the front of the line to board the ride!  We didn't even have enough time to get her new onesie buttoned or her pants on before we had to get on. lol

Walking to the park

We're here!

Emily couldn't wait to GO!

Pure excitement.

On 'It's a Small World'

She wanted to climb out of the boat and touch EVERYTHING

"Dad, can we go again??"

Entering Toon Town

In Minnie's house

Meeting Mickey

Post-nap trip back to the park... via shuttle bus this time!

Not sure what to think of the Carousel

Third outfit of the day, on the aforementioned train ride. lol

In addition to her reaction to 'It's a Small World' (she didn't close her mouth the entire time!), my other favorite part of our time at the resort was when she got to meet Tigger.  She definitely put on a show for everyone else waiting in line.  I heard so many "awww"s as she walked right up to him, and giggles when they played peek-a-boo together!  =)

 

 

The next morning the whole family packed up and headed to San Diego for a day at the zoo.

Protecting her little head from the sun! lol

At the petting zoo

She LOVED the goats!  So much squealing!

 

Daddy-daughter moment

Baby panda!

Exploring the polar bear caves.

Up on the aerial tram... she wasn't sure what to think!

Between standing in lines, eating, leaving the zoo to walk up and down a sidewalk so that Emily could take a nap, and more lines, Jacob and I didn't get to see too much of the zoo.  As the day wore down, we started to get tired, we decided to make another trip to the petting zoo since she loved it so much the first time.  This time, sheep were there, too!

She thought this sheet was her blanket... notice her trying to suck her thumb and cuddle. lol

That night after Emily went to bed, Jacob and I had a quick "date night" for dessert at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was so nice to be able to get away and have our own little "vacation" for a moment.

The next day it was time to go home.  We headed to the airport, returned the rental car, and tried to replicate our first flight by tiring Emily out as much as we could before we boarded!

Unfortunately it didn't work so well this time.  Even though our departure should have been right at her nap-time, and even though she probably walked about a mile up and down the terminal while we waited, she still didn't fall asleep until we started our decent into Portland.  Thankfully, she was still pretty good on the plane, spending a fair share of the trip on the floor between my feet "reading" the flight safety information brochure. lol

We were all very happy to be home and in our own beds... but glad also for the opportunity to have such a great first family vacation!

(Easter in a later post... I need to get to bed!)