HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

It's hard to believe it's been a year! Ari took her first steps several weeks ago but didn't start to take off until Christmas week. It's been a great week to have off and watch her become more and more confident walking even from the morning to the evening. With both mine and Ari's birthdays this week along with that Jesus dude, we've had one party function after another. Luckily, Ari was given a tutu to ring in her first year.





She got lots of great gifts. Santa reupholstered a chair in hot pink velour with black trim. He also got her a dolly with it's own stroller that she likes to push around. She got a stuffed dog that looks like her grandparent's dog. She affectionately calls him Woof and asks for him when we get in the car. Here she is enjoying some of her gifts:

The chair, her Pat the Bunny from Dustin, Lupine, and Ruby, her dolly that Santa left at Grandpa and Nana's house and her cute new jammies from Uncle Tony.

Her cute hat from Rayne.

She Walks!

Lets Get Vertical!

The last couple weeks it has become evident that Ari is in the preliminary stages of walking and I've been looking forward to buying her a new toy to help the process out. As soon as we got back from LA, my mom and I each bought Ari a push toy and because it's been such a hectic week, we just got around to trying ours out tonight (she did have a practice run at nana's so these aren't the first steps). There is something about this video that makes me incessantly happy. Perhaps it's her need to dance AND walk at the same time, but most of all it is just that she is starting to show so much personality, even in a video that hardly shows her face.

Attack of the Fall!

Seriously, are we really at the end of October? Fall came on so fast and usually by now I have a couple batches of homemade soup done and have had spent at least a couple rainy weekend days in my slippers and nestled up with a good book. Not a yet. Instead, I packed my flip flops, husband, and baby and headed down to LA for some fun in the sun. We just got back last night from a few days of food, friends and fun. The occasion was my friends Isaac and Lizz getting married and we got to stay with our other friends Kirsten and Carlos. K and C are excellent cooks and we brought them a salmon from Pike's Place and feasted. Ari did great on the plane and she was quite the social butterfly. She turned 10 months yesterday and started saying "wow". I also caught her trying to stand on her own.

Getting ready for her first plane ride..

First peek at the ocean...
Directing traffic at the wedding....

Just being cute...

Potty Humor

Ari has already developed a sense of potty humor.

Stari

I've been hanging on to a photo album with baby pictures of Steve which I borrowed from his mom right after Ari was born. It's taken me awhile to get around to scanning the photos, but the timing was perfect as I realized that Ari is now just past the age Steve was when the photos were taken. I've always known that Ari looked a lot like her daddy, but when I really started to look at the pictures I realized that not only do they look A LOT alike, but they also have so many of the same expressions. My favorite Ari expression is the "WTF" (what the F@#^*?) eyebrows raised expression, as evidenced in photo this first photo.


No genetic testing necessary. And if you want to know what she inherited from me: it's my small ears (see last photo). We are still hoping she doesn't have my teeth. Seeing as how she just got her two front teeth, things are looking good since I had three come in when I was a baby. :)

Midnight Snacks

Dear Mommy,
This crawling thing is really great! If I want to pull all my clothes out of my dresser, I just crawl over there and do it! If you walk into the other room and I want you, I just follow you. Now I can take all the videos out from the TV stand and bang them around (thanks for cleaning up after me). I really have so much to do these days that I can’t be bothered by eating during the day. So, it was nice of you to feed me at 10:00 last night. And at 1:00 this morning you really made me mad when you decided you needed to go to the bathroom while daddy changed me, but you came through and fed me (I didn’t know for sure you were coming back). I appreciate you just letting me sleep in your bed cuz I was really hungry again at 3:00. I don’t remember much about eating at 5:00 but I guess you figured I wanted something because I was grabbing your lip and kicking your stomach. And at 6:30 I don’t know why you were in such a rush to leave, but thanks for sticking around to feed me until I fell back asleep. Last night worked really well for me! Maybe we should do it again tonight. Sorry I missed you leaving for work this morning. I was pretty konked out.

Love,
Ari
_______________

Dear Ari,
I’m so proud of you for crawling. You are such an independent girl now. Before I know it you are going to be backpacking around Europe by yourself! Regarding last night: I love you and would do anything for you, but maybe you should eat when you daddy makes you a bottle during the day. He works really hard to make it just right. You’re a good girl and I know you can do it. Maybe then we can both get a good night sleep and can play together in the morning before I go to work.

Love,
Mommy

8 months and crawling!

Yesterday was Ari's 8 month birthday. I got to my parents house and she crawled across the floor to greet me! Before that she would only take a couple crawls and then would be done. She is also giving hugs when I get home at the end of the day which includes a little pat on the back. I must say, being away from her all day is difficult but the feeling of coming home to her is such a good one!

Ari's First Piano Recital

A little avante garde for me, but better than Yoko Ono...

Yummy cheeks

July is hot hot hot!

We had such a great July that we didn't even think about posting! We spent a week in Chelan with the Ballew and Hogan clan. It was restful and yet busy. I fully expected that I'd get some reading done and I only got 2 chapters read the whole week.

In Ari news she is sitting up, clapping, eating solids when she feels like it. She has still not figured out the crawling thing (it can wait!) but she is making strides forward. She continues to LOVE water and had a great time in Chelan. In fact, we got her a floaty device that she liked at first until she discovered that being IN the water allowed for more of a true water experience.

Photo highlights:

Making a funny face from getting sprayed in the face with water:
Two sassy girls hanging out:Checking out grandma's new car:
One of our highlights of the summer is when my friend Susannah, her husband Eli, and Kyos came home for a month long visit. Kyos and Ari finally got to meet.

Ari's First Fireworks Show

Break on through!

Ari had two teeth break through yesterday. She was a little "off" all day and only slept less than an hour the whole day. One hour Steve didn't feel any teeth in her mouth and then a couple hours later she grab his finger and stuck it in her mouth and VOILA! There they were!

Since it's been a month since we posted here are the highlights of the month:

• She's sitting up!
• Ari and I went to Chelan with my family for the weekend for a wedding. Ari loved swimming and is definitely a water baby. We are very excited to go as a family in a week.
  
• She had her 6 month appointment and weighs 17lbs 6oz. She LOVED going to the doctor cuz she could play with the paper on the exam table. She didn't even really cry when she got her shots.

Here are some photos from the month:
Chelan


That last one was shortly after she woke up and realized she was at a wedding in a cave. What the...!

Father's Day:

Sun Up!

This title could read in a couple applicable ways: the sun has finally made it to Seattle and summer spirits are up OR as the sun is coming up earlier, why must my girl also get up earlier too? It's 8 am on Saturday morning and I've already been up for over 2 hours. Wish I could say I've gotten a lot done in that time.

But, anyhow, lets focus on the first: we are so excited to see the sun. Last weekend Ari had a cold and so I kept her close to home and didn't get to enjoy the sun as much. This weekend I'm ready to break out and get some rays! Steve and I are looking forward to a week in Lake Chelan in July so we purchased a floaty device and small blow up pool for Ari. She is also ready to wear the ladybug wet suit we got her:


Last weekend we stayed at my parents house and they had a quarterly family birthday party. So much fun to see all the relatives and Ari got to hang out with her cousins:
Ari spent about 15 minutes with this expression on her face as she watched Zach playing in her exersaucer. I think she was taking notes.

We took advantage of a photo op with all the babies. Someone suggested we get a photo of the babies sitting and I said, "Ari can't sit up yet" because she usually slumps forward. Well, she proved me wrong. The minute I sat her next to her cousins it was like she looked at them and thought, "Oh! That's what I'm supposed to be doing" and she straightened her back and sat right up! Stabilization is still a must, but I was quite impressed with my little bean.



A moment of love with Jamie before an attempted binky heist:

Ari and Granddad hanging out:
This one is in serious need of a good caption:
We tried out the swing at the park and she LOVES it:

And last, but not least, Ari's 5 month photo. We just went to the doctor the other day and she is 1/2 ounce from 17 lbs!
Okay, now I'm seriously going to get out and enjoy the sun! Ciao!

Food on!

Long time no post. This last month has been a busy one and it flew by quickly. Ari went to her 4 month appointment and is still growing like a weed. She weighed in at 15lbs 6oz just shy of double her birth weight which means we got the go ahead to start her on solids. It's been touch and go and she hasn't really eaten enough to be considered much of a meal. But we've had fun in the process.

Here are some photos and videos of the last month:


Here is what happens when she plays with daddy:

Her 4 month shot:

Ari and Bennie Joe doing dueling tricks. No dogs were harmed in this video (except maybe dog egos).

More Ari and Bennie Joe antics. Beware! This video is PG13.

Visiting her great grandparents on Mother's Day:
Chilling on her way to Nanna and Grandpas for an overnight:

Happy Easter!

Easter was jam packed with lots of fun. We went to the 14th Annual Pocket Liquor Hunt. Ari rocked finding pocket liquors, but I drew the line at trying them. With her obvious teething issues it was tempting but I dosed her up on baby orajel and she cheered up. Next we went to my auntie Pat's with 75 of our closest relatives. The house was booming which made it difficult for her to sleep. Steve and I were amazed at how well she did though. I expected a melt down on the way home but she was an angel and went to bed right away.

Highlights of the day:

Hanging out with Uncle Doug who stayed with us Saturday night:

Channeling her inner audio engineer:

Gearing up for the liquor hunt (check out mommy's new hair cut!):

Sporty her Easter gift from Nana and Grandpa: