Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving Week

We have been in Charleston this past week and had an awesome Thanksgiving!



Standing up without any help! She has been loving this toy doctor kit that is at Nana and Grumpy's house (paging Doctor Willa...).


Daddy, Willa and Kimmie


Walking on the boardwalk to go to the beach.


Willa had SO much fun with cousin Katie and cousin Alexis on Thanksgiving! Katie and Alexis slept over and continued their fun playing the next morning.



Everyone wearing hats :) We raided Nana's hat collection.


Great photo taken Thanksgiving evening.


Daddy, mommy, Willa and Opa.


Willa and Uncle Sandy


Willa and Daddy on the beach.



Willa loved playing with the shells on the beach. She would take a shell and use it to dig in the sand.


Family photo (minus Eddie and plus Ray Charles)


Kimmie, Poppy and Willa


Willa admiring Nana's visor.


Walking back home after a great time at the beach!

Friday, November 18, 2011

12 Months Old!

Its hard to believe that one year ago, we were in the hospital getting to know our brand new, teeny tiny baby girl. Nothing could prepare us for how deeply we were about to fall in love with her and how our lives would never be the same. 


This was the only decent photo that I was able to get...


She often wants to play with whatever I have in my hands, and she quickly realized that she wanted the camera.


She wanted it bad. 


Really bad! :(


She finally settled for the sign.

12 Things about Willa at 12 Months Old
1.) She loves to brush her hair (you are probably saying "What hair"?...It is starting to grow...slowly, but surely).
2.) You can ask "Where's your head?" or "Where's your ear"? and she will point to them.
3.) She has been saying "Hi" lately. 
4.) She has been doing this new dance where we hold her up and she shakes her body and head uncontrollably. It looks like she should be in a mosh pit.
5.) She continues to love books, dogs, swinging, playing with other kids, her red car, and getting into anything and everything.
6.) She loves when we sing to her, and she will sometimes do the sign language for "more"...meaning "keep singing!". 
7.) She has been standing without holding onto anything for a couple seconds at a time. She walks while holding onto things, but she is not walking on her own yet. 
8.) She is usually in the best mood when she wakes up in the morning or from naps. We are usually greeted with a HUGE smile. She is generally in a good mood all day. 
9.) Even though she can't talk yet, I can tell she is going to be really funny.
10.) She likes to blow raspberries on Mommy and Daddy's tummies...imitating what we do to her. 
11.) She laughs hysterically while being tickled.
12.) Her personality would best be described as outgoing, nosy, smart, fun loving, sweet and slightly naughty. 

Thursday, November 17, 2011

1st Birthday Fiesta!!!

Today is Willa's official birthday...(I will post her 1 yr. birthday pic, etc. tomorrow). Happy birthday Willa! You are the most wonderful gift! This year has been the happiest of our lives- Words can't describe how much we love you, and how amazing you are.

Sunday evening we celebrated Willa's first birthday! We had about 30 friends over for a really fun party filled with tacos, guacamole, cake and margaritas.  Here was the invite...clearly it was Mexican themed.


I only have a few photos to post now...tons were taken, but I am waiting for them to be emailed to me and will post them soon.


Sunday morning started off with Mommy and Sarah running the Malibu half marathon. It was a very challenging course and it kicked our butts! We had found out the night before that the whole course was hills. Yikes! It was definitely a little ambitious to run the half marathon and have a birthday party on the same day, but we had a lot of help from good friends, so it all worked out. 


Daddy and his girl.


Willa getting into her cake. 


The pretty birthday girl.


Willa confused as 30 people sang happy birthday to her. It was the first time I think we've ever seen her overwhelmed by attention!


Red velvet cake and mini-cupcakes


Aunt Patti and Willa


Mommy and Willa









Wednesday, November 9, 2011

More Halloween Pics & Misc.

Here are a few more Halloween shots...


Willa first getting dressed to go trick-or-treating on Montana Ave... We thought that there was NO way she would keep her wig on as she is in a phase where she pulls hats off of her head when we are on walks. We were surprised though- She loved the wig and kept it on for about an hour. 



Every year, all of the stores and restaurants on Montana Ave. hand out candy so there are a bunch of kids that trick-or-treat there. Last year, we went when I was pregnant with Willa...


Can you believe that she was still in my belly a year ago?! She is so big and full of personality now!


Princess Leia making her rounds.



The trunk of her car was where all of her candy was stored (Mommy and Daddy later fought over who got which candies).


On the way home, we stopped by our old apartment complex to see our old landlords, Jack and Tilly. They are the nicest people and love Willa. Willa was intrigued by their Halloween decorations.


Eddie in Willa's crib. She thought this was the coolest thing.


A couple of days ago, we took the bean and Eddie to a field so Eddie could run around. Daddy kept running Willa in her car over the bumpy grass, and she was loving it!


Willa at the library. We just figured out that we can check out 50 baby books at a time, for a month at a time. Awesome!


She also loved playing with the puzzles. 


Willa napping with Daddy.


Willa has been climbing into Eddie's bed several times a day. I was able to take these two shots...usually by the time I get my camera, she's already crawled out. 



Morning swinging at the park. 


Sleeping beauty. I realize there are many pictures that I post that look just like this, but I can't resist...She looks so peaceful and beautiful when she sleeps.