Happy Halloween! (Bunny Style)

 Here comes Peter Cottontail

 Hopping down the bunny trail

 Hippity Hoppity

HaPPY hALLOWeeN DaY!

Our Girl Likes to Rock

You're gonna like this video and if you are one of Svea's Grandmas you are going to LOVE it!  Driving her car is fun, but hanging out jammin is just as much fun! This is her new favorite thing...sitting in the car attempting to put her seat belt on herself, while she listens to tunes!

12 Months Old

Taking these month pictures has been totally worth it!  Here is number twelve!  Svea, here's what you've been up to this past month!

-Svea you can point to your belly button and your head when we ask you to.
-When you want to get a ride in your new car you crawl over, stand and then open the door, climb in and sit down, close the door and pretend you are driving or push the radio buttons.  You'll head bob and wiggle to the music.
-You can say ba-bye, baby, mama, dada, "k" for kitty and you try to say balloon, but it comes out as something that I don't even know how to spell.
-You can stand up in the middle of the floor without any help from furniture or objects.
-You have taken one step, but then the next one you start to fall
-You can quack like a duck, bark like a dog, moo like a cow, and now sometimes imitate an elephant and a monkey sound.

-You are very independent.  You have no problem playing by yourself in the living room, while Mommy watches you from the kitchen while I get lunch or dinner ready.
-You love books and have started to thumb through the pages sometimes pretending to read and sometimes just looking at the pictures.
-You like to crawl onto the bottom shelf of our bookcases in the living room.
-You are eating more solid foods and have no more trouble with throwing up anything new.  New foods that you now eat are avocados, carrots, rice, chicken, potatoes, beans, and cheesy noodles.
-You loved all of your gifts from your birthday. There were quite a few that we thought you may not be "into" until a little later.  a puppy/kitty puzzle that you love to try and do, a crawling tunnel that we thought you might be afraid of is no problem for you, your little car you LOVE, your lunch box full of fake food, you will pretend to eat the food after Mommy does it.
-You got your first tooth this month and then your second one on your birthday!  They are the upper teeth, which surprised us because we can SEE the bottom two teeth right underneath your gums for the past couple of weeks.

-You nurse 4 times a day and eat solids 3 times a day.  You finally took to your sippy cup and drink water from it.
-You sleep a full 12 hours at night and nap for about an hour and a half each day around noon.
-You wear 12 month clothes and a size 3 diaper
-You weight 18 lbs. 11 oz (34%) and are 28 1/2 inches long (31%).  You are a little peanut! 

We had another amazing month of new firsts with you baby!  Thank you for a beautiful year!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

One year ago today we welcomed our little girl.  We already felt pretty blessed, but the amount of joy and love that Svea has brought to our lives has been immeasurable.  I hope she feels just as lucky some day that she gets to share her life with us as we feel about her.  Happy First Birthday Baby Girl!!!

My dear friend, Krista, took her first year pictures in our backyard.  Both of our husbands were out of town the other weekend so we decided to have a girls night and hang out.  She ended up spending the night, we had a blast, and then we took her photos in the morning.  Svea lasted for about 20 minutes and I thought Krista did a great job capturing some amazing and beautiful memories for us!  Check out her blog and if you live in the St. Cloud area she is starting to get really popular so book her when you can!

Birthday Videos

The verdict is in.....Svea loved all of her new fun toys for her birthday.  She DOES NOT like getting messy as you'll see with her cake, she LIKES the cake, and the little car is a hit.  The other night I had her in it and she was fist pumping to the hip hop song in her car....that's my girl!

Car #1
Cake #1
Cake #2
Car #2

I wish I had it on video of Dan anxiously squirming around her highchair when she was a mess.  He was having a hard time with her being so full of stickiness.  It made me giggle....even as I write this.  Haee hehehe!  At least they have it in common:)

A Little Girl and Her Ball

Svea's First Birthday Party (One Year Old!)

Svea, we had a great time celebrating your first birthday.  You finally gave a little smile while playing with your new car outside.  Even though you were a very tired little girl, you had a wonderful party.  You didn't dig into your cake, but eventually when we fed a little bit to you it seemed to taste good to you! You had a good time, you loved opening presents, and we loved watching you. We love you SO very much! Thank you to our parents for coming to celebrate with us!

Svea's First Birthday Party (Eric Carle/The Details)

 We had a lot of polka dots and Eric Carle books all around the room!

 Colored candy, the kind the "Very Hungry Catelpillar" would eat!

A birthday display!

 A butterfly balloon to symbolize all of the growing Svea has done the past year....sigh...:)

 A homemade caterpillar cake!

And a picture collage to document the passing months that have come and gone all too quickly!

Practicing to Walk

I know most of our posts are about Svea and what she is doing now, but to  be honest this is the perfect place to document all of the new things she is doing and how she is changing so much.  Dan and I don't change much except our hair grows longer and we get haircuts....er....I mean one of us does:) Other than that the two of us are doing great!  So on to Svea...ha!  We took a video of her practicing to walk the other night and at the end she lets you know what a puppy says!  She also blew a kiss to Grandma Beth on skype the other night and Lynda, at daycare, said she was trying to say "moo" today.  I taught her how to make an elephant noise and she will even throw her hand up like the trunk.  She's not afraid of her orange kitty anymore either.  She gives her hugs/kisses and chases her all over. Dan was able to get her to sign "more" again at breakfast this morning too.  If we tell her to "push the button" on something she knows what to do then as well.  Lots of new things and I just had to get them all down on internet paper:)

iClimb

 Somebody discovered how to climb this past weekend.  She didn't climb very high, but certainly got herself into a predicament.  She is loving having her books and toys in the corner of the living room where she can be independent and go and get them herself. Svea is also going from the floor to standing on her own without support.  It's amazing how strong she is getting each day.  I feel like we'll have a walking post super soon!

Enjoying a Book on a Lazy Afternoon

 

 We love hearing her read to herself these days.  She'll pull out a book and start turning through the pages babbling along words that we can't make out. It sounds brilliant though.  Our daughter can read:)

Fall

I remember last fall after our baby shower at the church.  It was three days before Svea came and I got busy writing thank you cards.  I came across a gift from the secretary at our church and she had given Svea a little jean jacket.  Dan and I dreamed about the following fall when we'd have an almost one year old and she'd be out in our yard amongst the leaves.  A whole year later, here she is:) God is so good!