Tori's First Birthday

Before I begin, I've been trying to play catch-up so scroll down, there are a couple more posts. Hopefully I will be fully caught up by the time the new year comes on Tuesday!

I had a lot of fun planning Tori's birthday party. I'll admit, I had the owl theme idea not too long after she was born. I'm amazed I decided to stick with it. I'm kind of obsessed with owls right now though, I don't know why. Anyway, Tori's birthday went really well, although it seemed like pure insanity because there was a lot of people and it was just a bad weekend to really do it. We did it on Sunday December 9th. We had dinner, presents, an awesome movie made by my dad, and then cake and ice cream. It was great because even Josh's dad came down for the occaision from Prescott. I'll admit, the next time she gets a party that big will be when she turns 8 (for family anyway). It was just a little too crazy and stressful for me. For dinner we had a baked potato bar complete with cornbread and a salad. Some of the topping included chili beans, cheese with broccoli, queso, shredded cheese, bacon bits, and sour cream. It was an amazing dinner, I think I may have to do it again sometime. I cooked the potatoes in the crock-pot so it didn't have to heat up the house, and they turned out perfect! Tori mostly got clothes for her birthday, which was a little disappointing because she really needed some new toys. (Thank heaven Christmas was right around the corner.) She was so fussy the whole entire time. She didn't want anything to do with the guests (which is perfectly normal and perfectly annoying) and didn't really want to open presents either. It was weird opening her gifts for her. She knew what to do, but I think that there was just too many people there and she couldn't handle it very well. She did enjoy her cake, eating most of the frosting until I made her had dig into the cake. She isn't a big sweets person. (No, I'm not complaining, I just can't figure out why, but oh well.) It was fun celebrating her first birthday with everyone, I just hope next year she isn't as moody.

Owl banner I made to decorate with.

Owl lanterns

Cupcakes for the guests. Josh was awesome enough to print off the owls at work so they looked extra good.

Tori's personal owl cake.

Excited for her birthday in her owl dress I made.

Clinging to mom because she didn't want to open presents (or do anything else).

Blowing out the candle.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was pretty normal this year. It was a little exciting because it was Tori's first Thanksgiving and since she didn't eat baby food anymore it made things pretty simple. The day before Tori and I went over to my mom's house to make 3 batches of her famous rolls. It was a ton of work, but they are definitely worth it. I just wish that I could make them as good as my mom when I do them all by myself. Oh well. Josh and I came out a little early to have my dad take a few pictures of our family for Christmas cards. Then we ate (too much food) and relaxed. We ate with my mom's side of the family this year and there was about 50 people there! It was crazy, and really hot. Josh was an awesome sport and took Tori home and played with her the rest of the day while I waited at my parents for Black Friday (or, according to me now, Turkey Thursday) shopping to begin. We went with my cousin Whitney again this year and it was just as much fun! We got pretty much everything we wanted and then some more! Here are a few pictures of Thanksgiving.

Gilbert Days Parade

Every year in November Gilbert has a lot of huge festivities going on and they call it Gilbert Days. It's kind of nice they do a lot of free things because it makes it easier for us to go. Anyway, on November 17th they had their annual Gilbert Days parade. What is the best part? It's right by our house. We walked over to the parade and took advantage of our tax dollars. We went over when there was about 15 minutes until it started and stayed for about an hour. Tori was so tired by then and Josh and I were sick of holding her. It was a lot of fun, and very interesting to see. It was Tori's first parade, and she was more interested in the dog by us than the parade itself. Hopefully we will feel like going again next year. We might as well take advantage of it being within walking distance.

Waiting for the parade to start.

This was an awesome float.

We got a flower from the Watson's Flowers float.

Tuesday Truths

1. The truth is... Tori's party on Sunday was so awesome. It was crazy but it was great. I felt bad because Tori wanted nothing to do with anyone and she wouldn't open her presents. I felt like it was my birthday party. Weird, I know.

2. The truth is... Tori is pretty much down to taking one nap a day. Every few days or so she will take 2, but she now only takes one. At least it is a long nap when she does.

3. The truth is... I only have one piano lesson and a recital left at the dance studio I teach piano at. I'm so excited to not be teaching there anymore.

4. The truth is... I have an addiction to wrapping presents. Yes, its true. I'm going to help my mom and sister Wendi wrap presents sometime next week. I'm totally excited. Nope, I don't have my wrapping done yet because I can't decide when to do it.

5. The truth is... Josh started a new set of classes yesterday. Four more terms and then he is done with his bachelor's degree. I'm so excited! (Hopefully that means another promotion and raise at work!)

Picnic with Dad

Since Josh had November 12th off for Veteran's Day, we decided to go on a family picnic to Freestone Park. Tori had never seen ducks in real life and they have a TON of ducks there, so we went on an adventure. It was really busy but that is probably because everyone had the day off work. It was still pretty nice. We ate lunch, fed the ducks, and rode the train around the park once. By the time we were done with that Tori and I were both tired. Although we didn't get to do much, it was still nice to be outdoors as a family. We can't wait for our next big family adventure next week on Tori's birthday. We are going to the zoo for the first time! Tori is so excited to see all the animals (she loves animals).

Baby Bump

 Here is my first picture of my baby bump. I'm still not huge, but once again, I'm totally okay with that. You can see a huge difference between Tori and this baby. I'm definitely bigger.

Me, pregnant with Tori

 

 

Baby #2.

Tuesday Truths

1. The truth is... Today on our evening walk, Tori wanted to hold Josh's hand while she was in the stroller. It was so stinking cute! I just wish I had my camera to get a picture.

2. The truth is... We are celebrating Tori's first birthday on Sunday. I'm so excited, but nervous I won't get everything done I want to accomplish for decorations.

3. The truth is... I took my first pregnancy picture with this baby the other day. I'm hoping to post it soon. We will see. Nope, I'm not that big but I'm thankful that I'm not.

4. The truth is... Josh has this week off of school before he starts a new term next week. It's kind of fun to have him home at night, and have him watch Tori while I teach piano lessons.

5. The truth is... I only have 2 weeks left before I'm no longer teaching piano at the dance studio. I'm so glad that Josh is happy to have me teach at home and that he is supportive, although I don't make as much as I do at the studio at the moment. Someday I will have more students and it will be worth it! 

Halloween (and party)

 Halloween was a lot of fun for us this year. My friend Alyssa and I planned a party and it was a lot of fun! I will admit that it was stressful and not too many people showed up but it was still a lot of fun. I can't decide if I want to do it next year or not. We will have to see what happens when that time rolls around again. If I do another party then I will definitely have to do pumpkin bowling again. That was the best part, although it was really hard to do. It probably would have been easier if it was a real pumpkin. Here are a few pictures from our party. I know they are just of us, but I don't feel as though I should post pictures of others without their permission (unless they are family of course!).

Me and Tori dressed as an elephant. Josh, of course, is the hunter.

Pumpkin Bowling

Josh pumpkin bowling.

We went to our wards trunk or treat and that was a lot of fun. I figure anything we can do for free is a good thing. Too bad we didn't take any pictures, but it was a little dark so they probably wouldn't have been too great. We ended up leaving barely into the treat part because Tori was getting tired and I ran out of candy. (I've never bought candy for something like that before. Next year I will have to buy more.)
Halloween was really mellow for us. We tossed around the idea of going to my sisters house and going trick of treating with her family but since I didn't want all of the candy in the house we passed and stayed home. I made crunchwrap supreme's for dinner and then while Josh was carving the pumpkin Tori took a bath. We then lit the pumpkin and watched "It's the Great Pumpking Charlie Brown" on tv. It was nice to spend Tori's first Halloween with just us three. I know that next year Tori will like to go trick or treating because she will be able to eat the candy. (Crazy girl). Here are pictures of Halloween!

Tori loved this little clicker toy my mom gave her. It was the best toy ever!

Let's face it, she hates things on her head or in her ears.

Watching Charlie Brown while snuggling with her daddy.

Tuesday Truths

1. The truth is... I cannot wait until Tori's first Thanksgiving on Thursday. She LOVES food, so it will be entertaining.

2. The truth is... Josh loves his new job. He does sometimes complain because he doesn't have enough to do, but it will get better as he learns more.

3. The truth is... Lets face it, I HATE taking Tori to piano lessons everyday. Another month and I'll be done.

4. The truth is... Josh and I keep wondering what Tori would have done if her tongue didn't get clipped. She loves sticking it out and clicking it.

5. The truth is... A year ago today it was my last day of teaching. It's kind of weird to think about.

11 Months

I will admit that I have a lot of catching up to do. I haven't even blogged about Halloween and Thanksgiving is in a week! Anyway...

I cannot believe that in 1 short month my baby will be 1 year old. I'll admit that it scares me a little. She is growing too fast. It seems as though within the last week or so she has really grown up. She has figured out when she needs to drink while eating and to grab her sippy, tip it up, and drink from it. Sometimes she will continue to play with it so I have to take it away, but most of the time she is pretty good about starting to eat again after her drink. I have taken her completely off of baby food. We would fight every meal for her to eat it when she didn't want it anymore and I got sick of wearing baby food on me all day. When I talked to the doctor about it she said it would be okay, just make sure I cut up her food. Life is so much better now! She does sleep through the night (between 10-11 hours) but I had to recently sleep train her to go to bed in bed and not in my arms. It was hard and she is still struggling with naps. Going to bed for her at 8 PM is pretty easy, but naps are still a pain in the rear for both of us! Hopefully she will get it soon. She had improved a ton on her crawling and is starting to get into everything and is constantly climbing on me or pulling up on furniture (and even her toys too). She is slowly starting to hate her walker because she can now move on her own, that crazy girl. Miss Tori is even startign to play better too, which means I can get some extra things done around the house. She is still in love with Baby Einstein movies and watches them about twice a day (its the only thing she wants to do at times). When I took her stats she weighed 21 pounds and was 30 1/2 inches tall. I should also mention that she loves to stick out her tongue and LOVE her blankie (and a little too much if you ask me.) I love my crazy girl!