Happy First Birthday!

Dear Sadie Elizabeth,

As of 1:17 this afternoon you are officially a one year old! It's crazy to think that a whole year has passed since you graced us with your presence. Sometimes I honestly have a hard time remembering life before you.

You're not walking yet but if we coax you you've been known to take a few steps from the coffee table to mom or dad's arms. You push your cart around with confidence, you just have to work on the whole balance thing. You are quite a fearless, thrill seeking baby too (which I find quite humorous since your momma is so NOT adventurous). Your favorite activity is to crawl on top of/into any box, laundry basket, or toy bin you see.

Lately we've been letting you climb the stairs (with our assistance of course) and you would think someone told you that you won the baby lottery. You get this mischievous smile on your face like "Really, I can really do this?" and you move like lightning. You get that same mischievous smile by the way whenever you stick your hand in Mabel's water dish or take things out of the kitchen drawers but that's beside the point :).

There are times during the day when you babble like crazy. Your friend Kristal taught you how to talk on the phone. You'll talk into anything now, elephant, spoon, Tigger, you're not picky. You're also learning to imitate us really well. You're the one initiating peek a boo now and you turn the pages of a book with ease.

As far as food goes you're starting to get a bit pickier. You're wising up to the fact that vegetables don't always taste as "good" as other foods. You do love you some bread though. And cheese. You're crazy about a grilled cheese or a cheese quesadilla. You've taken after your dad with a love for all things Mexican too!

You're still a super social baby and love interactions with other people. Sometimes at restaurants you get so distracted by people that you won't even eat! You got lots of toys for Christmas and you're starting to really play with them. Your new favorite word is "uh-oh" and I have to admit sometimes I push things off the coffee table just to hear you say it!

I'll miss writing these posts. It's been a great way to capture your first year (i.e this is your version of a baby book) but I probably won't write another post like this till you're two (or at least 18 months). We love you so much little girl and I am in awe of how much you've grown and changed this year. Here's to looking forward to the many more birthdays to come, lord willing!

Photo Dump

Did I mention I got an Iphone for my birthday last month? I'm in love. I don't think I'd say I'm obsessed but I certainly enjoy it a lot! I just imported a TON of photos from the past month onto my computer so I figured I'd share a few of my favorites.

p.s. Today is Sadie's first birthday, expect a birthday post soon!

My parents got Sadie this wagon/scooter for Christmas. She was all smiles pushing the buttons and riding around Christmas morning.

Speaking of Christmas morning, my parents also got Sadie a sled (perhaps one day soon we'll see snow). She was quite content to let my dad push her around the house in that thing. I think she would've ridden in it from here till kingdom come if I hadn't made her give Papa a break!

My mom & I took Sadie to a park one day while we were in Lynchburg. Sadie enjoyed the see saw immensely. I think we've got a little thrill seeker on our hands.

I don't even remember but it's a cute baby face :).

On the eve of her birthday we took Sadie out for Japanese. Last year on the eve of her birth I had Chinese food (not a good choice in retrospect) so we decided it might be a fun new tradition to have some kind of Asian themed cuisine to celebrate her birthday eve each year!

Meet Lydia. She belongs to my friends Emily & Seth and she is the sweetest little thing! Notice where Sadie is in this picture, hopefully she didn't teach Lydia too many bad habits :).

Speaking of bad habits, this is what we find Sadie doing AT LEAST once a day. She can get in by herself but she hasn't quite figured out how to get out :).

Who doesn't love a baby reindeer? I think we were headed to the BCM Christmas Banquet??

There's this mini trail behind our house that leads to a big clearing. We love to go up there and let Mabel run around, I think Sadie loves the view.

For the past two years we've made The Pioneer Woman's cinnamon rolls for Christmas. I think we can now call it an annual tradition. This year our friends Robbie & Kristal helped us make them and it made the whole process that much more fun! On a side note, please excuse me looking a bit rough, it was late and let's be honest I haven't worn a lot of makeup this winter break :).

Good Reads

I just finished a great book today and it seems like anytime I do that I immediately start thinking about what to read next. Hence why my Amazon wishlist grew from two to ten items tonight. The book I finished was Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and I can not recommend it enough! It's a short, fast read (i was done in a couple of days) and it's packed full of good advice that I can, need, and WILL apply to my life right now.

As for my wish list here are a few of my top choices:

1. One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. I actually bought this as a Christmas present for someone without having read it first (which is highly unusual for me) but I've heard such good things about it that I was confident in my purchase!

2. Out of the Spin Cycle by Jen Hatmaker. I read one of her other books a while back and really liked it. This one is a 40 day devotional so I think I'm actually going to do this for the Lenten season, it's a perfect fit!

3. House of Prayer No. 2 by Mark Richard. I'm a sucker for memoirs and apparently this is one of the top selling memoirs of 2011 (have I been living under a rock you ask? no I had a baby). It's about a boy who grows up in the 1960's in the South (tobacco country VA, Franklin to be exact). According to one critic it's a "heady Gothic mix of racial tension and religious fervor."

For now I'm off to read!

Happy Eleven Months!

Dear Sadie,

Next time I write this you'll be a year old. I can't help but think back to last year at this time and celebrate how grateful I am that you're here with us now! Christmasy stuff is so much more fun with you!

You crawl at warp speed now. You're also officially cruising around the coffee table and moving from one piece of furniture to another. I get the feeling we may have a walker on our hands sometime in the next month or so. You love to crawl in and through things (i.e. the dining room chairs); give you an obstacle course and you're there. You've also been known to take a few baths in Mabel's water bowl.

You love to be outside. For some reason you've been enamored by leaves. That's the first thing you crawl to when you're outside and you'll crunch them for hours if we'd let you. Your best friend is still Mabel (though I doubt she'd say the same). You have absolutely no fear of dogs. Over Thanksgiving (which we went to Cincinnati for by the way) there were 3 dogs at Gram's house and you would crawl right into the middle of the pack.

You're trying a little of everything these days when it comes to food. Lately you've been eating whatever mom & dad have for dinner. You're starting to develop a few food preferences too, you absolutely love bread and oranges (which I find funny since I craved all things orange during my pregnancy) but you could go without any green veggies.

You love to go shopping with mom. You sit in the shopping cart and smile at every person you see. It's almost like a game for you, if someone notices you, it's one point, if they smile, it's worth two! You change your tune pretty quickly when they come near though, you like to admire them at a distance!

We love you little girl & we're excited to celebrate your big day this time next month!