Wednesday, July 28, 2010

One Year Portraits and Update


Here are the one year photos. I'm kind of glad that this is the end of the portraits every month project (I think I will do every six months from now on), because between months 11 and 12, she got very mobile, so it was super hard to get good pics. Here are a few, though:


It has been a year, and I still can't get enough of these big blue eyes. Probably never will.


I loooooove the birthday dress. So girly!
(Here, she is thinking about base jumping off the corner of the bed.)


She is quite musical. Here she is playing with a shaker.




She is into making faces all the time now.


Sometimes I will catch her making faces at herself in the mirror.


Most of the pictures looked like this,
because she was trying to grab the camera.


Or like this, because I wouldn't let her grab the camera.

Lorien started crawling just a day or two after she hit eleven months. She hasn't stopped since. At her one-year checkup Dr. Kautz noted that her growth has slowed down because she is burning so many calories crawling. He recommends supplementing her food with butter to make up the difference. :)

She cut her first top tooth (third tooth total) just a few days before she turned one. She is still very verbal. New words this month are bear, Boo (Grammy and Grandpa's dog), and amen. She loves to sing (favorite song to sing with Mommy is Do-Re-Mi, emphasis on the mi, mi, mi) and clap her hands to any music. She is somewhat afraid of thunder.

The cutest development is that she loves "cleaning." She will pull the dish towel off the front of the stove and wipe the floor with it. She can be entertained by this for 10-15 minutes at a time. She pulls up to her knees frequently, and cruises a bit, but doesn't pull up to her feet, stand alone, or walk yet. She is beginning to make the switch from nursing to whole milk.

She is a total joy and makes us laugh all the time!




Birthday Video


Here is some real-life action from the birthday party...



Sunday, July 25, 2010

We have a birthday girl!


Lorien turned ONE on Monday, July 19th. Boy am I glad it's this year and not last year. At this point a year ago, I was totally sleep deprived and still in a good deal of pain.

We celebrated twice this week: once with Grammy and Grandpa over a dinner of Chinese chicken salad on her actual birthday, and also today, with an open house for friends of all ages.

Lorien was a total angel for the party. She was very meticulous about exploring her cake. I thought that might be the case, since that's how she explores most things. In the end, she decided she preferred a slice of apple to the cake. So we didn't have any great cake-mess pictures, but we did have a great time.

I think there were about 40 people total in attendance. These are all of the people we have been telling, "Once we get some space, we want to invite you to our house." It was so special to finally be able to do that. People brought some beautiful and fun gifts, for which we are very thankful.

Lorien ended her party day with sweet kisses for mommy and daddy. She's usually moving to fast to snuggle much, so that was a nice treat. She is such a joy to us!

Here are some pictures of the celebration:



The "smash cake"


Cupcakes, so there will be lots of treats to go around...

The sweet guest of honor

Checking out her little cake with one little finger.

She did finally eat some cake from Grammy's finger.

This is all the damage she managed to do.

Our little family

Playing in the pile of gifts. Thanks to all who made this such a special day!




Friday, July 16, 2010

A Brief Update


We have been a leeeetle busy around here lately, and I have much to say, but the photos and details will have to wait.

We DID close on our house on June 29. I think we attempted to schedule a closing four times before we actually succeeded in doing so. We cleaned and painted for a few days and then moved over the July 4th weekend. We had lots of great help. And I mean lots. So much help that we ordered seven pizzas for lunch and there were only two pieces left over.

Then we worked (as in, went to work) for two days.

And then we flew to Ohio for Grandma Harris's memorial service.

That was sad. But good to be with family and good for a little closure.

Now we are trying to get all of our stuff organized in the new house. Well, I am trying to get organized. Josh is installing an attic fan, because it was 86 DEGREES in this house earlier this week.

Next weekend we will have a first birthday party for Lorien. Can't believe our sweet girl has been with us for a whole year.

More soon, I hope...