Who Doesn't Love a 1 Year Old?

If you are sick of hearing about my kid, I would suggest you skip this post.  Otherwise, read on!  We went and got her pictures taken the day before she turned 1 and I wanted to share a few/million.  Also, below is a list of things I want to remember about her at this age.  Thanks for reading!

1.  Two measly little bottom teeth.  Multiple times I thought new ones were going to punch through any day, but much to my dismay there was no explanation to that day's grumpiness.  The longer they stay in, the healthier?!  Right?!
2. Loves her binky.  We transitioned from letting her have it only when she is sleeping or a long car ride.  It wasn't too bad at first.  Since we went on vacation though she seems to always want it.
3. Favorite foods are raspberries, grapes and string cheese.  Options are a little limited with two teeth.  I am surprised what she can gum to death.  Costa Vida sweet pork, oh yes!!

 4.  Says "uh-oh" all day long because she thoroughly enjoys throwing things.  She also says momma and dadda, but we are still unsure if she associates those words with us.  Pretending to talk on the phone is her forte.  Lots and lots of jibberish.

5.  She loves blowing on food.  I will say "It's hot, just one second" and she will help me blow on it by sticking out her bottom lip and blowing the air up through her hair.  

6.  Clapping and fake laughing are perfected.  She always fake laughs when she hears laughter and even when she doesn't.  For example, in relief society a couple of weeks ago a sister was telling an emotional/spiritual story.  Tears and all. Henley just busts out this fake laugh and looks around to see if anyone wants to join.  Awkward?  Yes, but awesome at the same time?  Absolutely.

7.  Never been a sleeper and I am still in denial about it.  She started sleeping through the night at about 10 mths, which is great and I am really grateful for.  Sleeping through the night for her is anywhere from 8-9 hrs and then she is up and ready to play.  She takes two naps a day and they vary in time - - usually both less than and hour.  I still am perplexed at how I totally screwed up her sleeping skills.

8.  Climbing stairs is a frequent pastime.

9.  Still a book worm.  Best hobby in my opinion.

10.  Crawling like a champion, along with pulling herself up and cruising along furniture.  Walking is for the birds in her mind.  Why walk if I can crawl faster or mom can carry me?  It will be another couple of months.

 11.  Gets into everything and wants to be a part of everything I'm doing.  Empties drawers, laundry baskets, dishwasher, bags.  You name it.  She is on it. 
12.  Can already sniff out then I'm trying to eat something without her.  She will stare and stare at my mouth until I confess by chewing or show her what is in there.
13.  Two favorite times of day (for me).  Eating breakfast together - I will get a bowl of cereal and fruit and sit on the ground with my knees up.  She will hang on to my knees and wait for her bites and say "mmmmmmmm" the whole time.  Second favorite time of day is when she wants to cuddle after her afternoon nap.  What mom doesn't love cuddles?
14.  Terrific at blowing kisses.
15.  Love music and dancing with just about anyone.  If you really want her to like you, you will throw in a few good dips. 
16.  Very happy, friendly and full of spunk.

 First time with bubbles.  It was all about the squinting.

Happy First Birthday!  I'm sure year 2 will be just as fabulous!!

Michiana

This is a long post.  Brace yourself.  

Last month Richard was doing a rotation in South Bend, IN.  Before we left Iowa in May, we made a pact that no matter where he was or what was going on in Utah, we would be together for Henley's 1st birthday.  We made it happen --  Boo-yah!   Before we visited, I had no idea South Bend was soooo close to the border of Michigan.  The people Richard stayed with actually lived in Michiana, MI.  Get it -- Michiana.  On the actual birthday Henley woke up doing a new birthday trick...the fish face.  Probably learned that from her good friend Brianne.  

 

We hung out most of the day waiting for Richard to get off.  They let him go early (which I love them for) and we headed over to the fanciest restaurant in town, Five Guys.  It was delicious and we both ate our own weight in fries.  After dinner we played by the fountain for awhile.  She wanted to jump in, and I wanted to cave cause of her birthday, but for once I used my brain and thought about how terrible the aftermath would be.  We walked around the mall so I could see what stores they have (just in case we end up there) and Henley had an amazing time people watching.   

Then there was cake.  It started out with a little finger dip, and suddenly turned into a full on cake massacre.  She massaged the thing to death and got as much in her mouth as possible.  Almost looked like the boy on the movie Matilda.  You remember that one?  She was slightly cuter though. 

 Giving herself props for doing so well on cake eating.  Can you blame her?

After a quick bath, she opened a few gifts.  We let her stay up later than normal and then we kissed our 1 year old goodnight.  I am no different than any other mom out there when I say, the first year has flown by and I am a little sad to see the baby stage go.  I have to admit though, this 1st birthday thing gave me some stress.  I felt like I needed to do something grandiose.  Like, outta this world exciting.  With a theme.  And decorations.  A million gifts.  Tons of guests.  Ya know, sometimes Pintrest can make you feel like crap.  When it was all said and done, I was insanely glad we went the simple route.  It fits us better and she had a good ole time.  Also, if you are in the market for an amazing toy for a 1 year old, check out the V-Tech activity book that sings.  It has been dynamite. 

Back to Indiana.  While we were there we hit up a high school football game.  We heard the crowds were huge and it was kinda nuts.  Um...total lie.  There were maybe 150 people in the stands and that was pushing it.  We had more fun watching Henley cheer than we did watching the game. 

Richard swears she learned to love football in the womb.  I did fall asleep to a lot of games while I was pregnant...

Next up, Notre Dame!!  That campus is beautiful and humongous.  We got all stoked because we found two tickets on Craig's List for a home game.  When we went to pick them up and the guy asked if we had bought a ticket for Henley.  No, we hadn't.  He explained that every person, regardless of age has to have a ticket to get into the stadium!!  Excuse me!!  We were not about to pay $110 for her to sit on my lap the entire time.  It was pretty disappointing.  We still went to the campus on game day and saw all of the drunk tailgaters, "Touchdown Jesus" and the Grotto.   I couldn't believe how many people were there for the game.  It was a sight to see. 

The trip went way too fast and so did Henley's first year of life.  Can't believe we have a 1 year old.  (I will do a more detailed post on her later.)  Since we haven't been with Richard, I had forgotten what it was like to not be a single parent.  Gosh, I miss having him around.  We can't wait until we are back in the same state.  Only two more months!!

So...

This is my life right now.  All. The. Time.

New Addition

Big news in our family.  My sister welcomed her first baby girl on August 2!  Alta Arnell.  Isn't that the cutest name?!  I am biased.  She came out a little bruised, due to being face up.  Poor thing.  She healed up in no time though.  My sister, obviously was a champion and handled labor like it wasn't a big deal.  She has always had a high pain tolerance.

 

 ^^Cute little family^^

I was lucky enough to spend a week with the new babes and Melinda a right after she was born.  Not sure if I will ever be living in Utah again when my sister's have any more kids, so I ate it all up and probably wore out my welcome.  

 ^^I had these really high, unrealistic expectations for Henley's reaction to the baby.  This picture pretty much sums up their relationship so far.^^

I went with my sister to Alta's newborn photoshoot and they put Henley in some.  First cousin photos, and I think they turned out incredibly well.

 ^^BFF's^^

Welcome to the family Alta!  We love you to pieces.

More Animal Love

This summer I feel like we have spent more time with animals then I have in the past decade.  Maybe we should become members of Peta or something.  Those of you familiar with Logan, we hit up the Cache Valley Fair last month.  Most of our time was spent with the animals as stated above.  Henley was more than intrigued with the pigs, sheep, horses, cows, etc.  Very exotic Logan.  I was mostly captured with the people watching.  Much to my disappointment we didn't get to spend very much time in the carnival section where all the magical people watching happens.  I did see two mid-drifts that I wish I would have never seen.  Those bad boys are burned in my memory forever.

 ^^Checking out the oinkers^^

 ^^There were tiny little piglets in this corral.  Super cute.  Makes me want to get a miniature piglet^^

 ^^Please let me touch Mom^^

 ^^Very focused on touching this lamb's nose^^

 ^^Don't forget the ever famous city displays made only out of food products.  I never appreciated this when I was a youngin.  Much more impressed these days.^^

We also stopped by Willow Park Zoo.  The fee to get in was $2.00 which makes sense.  The zoo consisted mostly of birds and anything slightly interesting was in a cage within a cage within a cage.  The emu's were by far the coolest thing there and Henley could actually see them.  Good thing we went with some really good company. 

 

^^See George?...Her stuffed giraffe she takes everywhere.  It seemed only appropriate to take him with us to the zoo.  At one point Hen threw George over a fence we were standing at.  I then climbed and leaned over the fence while Kristin held on to my pants.  Awesome/brave mom moment.  Wouldn't want to lose a $1.50 Walmart toy.  Too bad we didn't get a picture of that.^^

 

 ^^Lovely ladies and their babies^^

 ^^I wore my zebra shirt.  We were all sorts of appropriate with our accessories and attire that day.^^

 ^^Picking at the grass before we took off.^^

I would highly recommend the zoo if you need something to do.

Crossing Off the To-Do List

Simple DIY projects call my name.  Really simple.  I am not a seamstress or artist, although I wish I were.  There are a million DIY's wandering the world wide web and I have learned to stick with the easy-peasy ones.  I saw this ASOS Bonjour sweatshirt tutorial and thought I could tackle it and save some cash.  In the meantime, I have struggled finding onesies for Henley that are unique, affordable and don't have a huge monkey or butterfly on it.  Thus, the project went from a sweatshirt to a Bonjour onesie and I love how it turned out.  She wears it all the time and it goes with everything.  

  

^^Not the best shot of the shirt, but you get the point^^

After the Bonjour onesie was a success, I figured I could try to make another stencil with the magic freezer paper.  I think it turned out pretty cute. 

 

Then there is me.  I spotted this bad boy at Anthropologie and immediately fell in love with everything about it.  Except the price.  (The next week I met up with my sister and she of course had the gorgeous top on and had somehow bought it for a screamin' deal --she is the best deal finder evah).  Great news is, this amazing blogger had my same thoughts and created a tutorial.  The sewing was definitely for beginners so it was right up my alley.  I bought the black tee at Target and the material at JoAnn's for $1.25!  Total cost of the shirt was $9.25!  I am elated when I get a bargain and projects turn out.  I have worn this baby too many times to count. 

^^I'll say it so you don't have to -- I am not good at selfie's.^^

 

^^Taking a picture of my back is more difficult than I thought possible.^^

He Came Home...For a Bit

Last week was AH-MAZING!  Rich was able to fly in for a measly four days.  Obviously I would have liked it to be longer but I will take what I can get.  The second he got here we were on the go.  First and foremost, the Bell household is a simple zoo.  Meaning, there are quite a few pets compared to my parents house which have zero.  Henley had to be introduced to all of them.  The two cockatiels, three dogs (Lumber being her BFF), three horses, numerous chickens and roosters, etc.  She is quite the animal lover.  Maybe even a vegan...too early to tell though :) 

Not only were we busy with animals, we were pool hunnies.  Seven Peaks, Utah Lake, and Grandma & Grandpa Bell's pool were all hot spots for us. 

 

^^Side note -- Henley pulled this "underbite" look for a couple of days.  Once Rich left, I realized she had another tooth coming in she had been playing with.  We enjoyed the bitter beer face while it lasted.^^ 

 

^^Super unimpressed by the slide.  This cracks me up because we thought we were being extremely daring parents by taking her down the BIG water slide.  She could not have cared less about it.^^ 

 

^^I lathered her whole head in sunscreen.  She refuses to keep a hat on anymore.  The process reminded me of the Full House episode where DJ is babysitting and she butters the kids head.  You 90's peeps know what I'm talking about.^^

Wave running brings us joy.  When we were dating we did this often for entertainment and loved every second of it.  I even have stitches to prove it.  We figured Henley was bound to be born with the wave running passion, so we strapped her in a gigantic life vest and took her for a ride.  I don't know why I expected some shrills and squealing, alas she was more worried about the key flapping in the wind.  Next year, right?  She did love being able to crawl through the shallow warm (disgusting) lake water and eat as many handfuls of sand she could possibly sneak in without us seeing.  Hopefully she doesn't get an STD from that.   

^^Last family photo before he took off^^

It was a well used break.  We partied hard.  We went back to Logan exhausted, sun kissed, and missing Rich more than ever.  Cheers to only four more months of this crap.