Get Down Tonight...

Here are a couple videos of Sydney doing one of her favorite things.....

Sunny Easter

We were blessed with a beautiful Easter Sunday. My prayer is that we remember the meaning of Easter every day. Enjoy these pics we got at my parents house!

Things We're Thankful For...

I just put Sydney to bed and Drew is putting a new wagon together for her. I am feeling so thankful for God's unchanging love, and for the ways he blesses us daily. Some blessings from today include;
- Sydney sleeping until 8:45 this morning :)
- Waking up healthy and together as a family

- Going to church

- Being with our church family

- Hearing God speak through one of his faithful servants

- Time with wonderful friends
- Gorgeous sunshine and 60-70 degree weather
- Drew being able to play football
- Sydney and the joy she brings us (I am going to try to post videos of her...she is cracking us up these days)...her latest phrase is ah ohhhh (not sure how to spell that) when she drops something or falls down.
- Me being able to practice real estate
The list could go on and on...What are you extra thankful for you today?

Also a quick shout out to Will and Jen Brewer -- Congratulations on baby Cole's arrival!! We look forward to meeting him.

Fun in the Sun

Sydney and I just got home from Florida where we spent several days with my friend Jessica and her little girl Katie. We sure missed you Laura, Parker, Hannah, and Sara!!

On one of the many walks we took...we were just about to see some dolphins! The girls saw them too. It was so neat.

Sydney wanting to get in the pool. She would have walked right on in...she loved it

The shells and sand sure were yummy:)

Sydney and Katie enjoying the sunny beach.

Asleep after a long day

Thanks Jessica and Katie for a fun and memorable adventure!!

One Year Portraits

I'm sorry it's taken me so long to update my bloggy blog!! I had mentioned I would put pictures from Sydney's birthday party next but we really didn't take that many. We have a new video camera we used more than our camera. I'll try to figure out how to upload clips for future posts.

Sydney has been cracking us up lately with her babbling. She is really trying to tell us things that of course we don't understand:) She says "hi" to everyone (including our dogs), whether we're at the grocery, the mall, or just playing at home with each other. She'll go out of a room and come back in smiling saying hi! She is also doing a lot of squealing usually when she wants something - not the best habit, but we're working on it;)

Here are a few of Sydney's one year pictures taken by our friend/photographer Angela Acker. Sydney wasn't in the best of moods that day and therefore didn't smile as much as we had hoped. Enjoy!!!!

Our Almost ONE! Year Old

I can't believe Sydney will be one in about a week. To think about what our lives were like this time last year compared to now is crazy! Each and every day over the last year has brought something new into our world. I cherish every bit of it.

I love thinking back to the blessed day she was born. I like to relive each minute of the day, even the parts that at the time I thought I'd never want to think about again. Still to this day when I drive past Fort Sanders where she was born, I get this weird feeling in my tummy -- I can't really describe it but it's pretty awesome. God has taught us so much through Sydney's birth and life. We praise Him for her.

The early days were filled with a whole lot of sitting and staring at her, absolutely in awe of God's goodness and power. I am still amazed at what a miracle she is, and what a gift she is.
Some of the early days were also filled with sleepless nights, frustration, tears, reading and rereading BabyWise, talking to other mamas including Ashley and mom, trying to keep Sydney awake in the day so she'd to sleep at night, dreading bathtime and getting her dressed (we spent many days in our pjs), enjoying feeding her, lots of swaddling, trips to Babies R Us, Mother Goose, and SOOO many more things.

Sydney at a year old!
- Walking, walking, and more walking - she is not happy unless she's walking. It has really made things tricky when I used to could run into a store and hold her, and now all she wants is down so she can explore!!
- She is definitely curious to see how serious we are about the word "NO". For example, she knows without a doubt that outlets are OFF LIMITS for her. She still goes up to them, and before touching them looks at me and grins....
- Some words we understand are dada, mama, dog, duck. It is fun to watch her follow instructions now like go get your blankey, monkey, baby, carrot...
- She blows kisses and waves
- She touches her head whenever we ask her where her head is, but also touches her head if we ask her where her ear, nose, mouth, etc are.
- She sleeps with the blanket my grandma made her
- She loves to dance - she gets this from her daddy
- She sucks her thumb when sleeping, sleepy, or upset.
- She LOVES the dogs (even though I have days like today where I was ready to give them away...anyone interested???)
- She is still eating baby food, but sure loves healthy foods like pizza, quesidillas, cheese, cheese, and more cheese:) She enjoys fruit, yogurt, applesauce, waffles...
- She is sleeping (most nights) from about 8 to 7 or so...
- She has 2.5 teeth
- She's afraid of the vacuum cleaner but knows it's okay since her daddy is afraid of it too:)
- She loves bath time
- She is totally potty trained .... HAHA this is a joke for those of you still reading
- She still has seperation anxiety...nursery, babysitters, new faces..these have all been a challenge. I think she's doing better though:)

Thanks for reading. I will post pics next time of her bday party!

Blog Background

It's a little early to be celebrating Valentine's Day, but I wanted to share my excitement for cute blog backgrounds!! I finally figured out how to use a background other than the simple ones offered through my blog account. Ever since this blog was started I secretly wondered where everyone got their cute backgrounds. I was always a little embarassed to ask because I figured it had to be fairly simple and probably obvious:) Anyhoo, I finally figured it out and here it is!! This one will be up a while since we still have a month before Vday! If any of you are wondering how to download a different background (preferablyValentine's Day - that's all the site I found offers), please don't hesitate to ask:) I only know of the one site, so if you'd like to share where you all get yours, that would be great too!!

Here are a few pics my friend Angela took of Sydney.