Visit to the Pumpkin Patch

Amelia and I went to a pumpkin patch south of town this morning, to pick out our Halloween pumpkins. We picked out three: a tall one for dad, a round one for me, and a tiny one for Amelia, all for $3. It was really windy and dusty, so we weren't out there for long, but Amelia had a good time while we were there.

She's a Big Girl Now!

Now that Amelia is a year old, and big and tall enough, she can ride front-facing in the car, which she loves, because then she can watch her daddy when he drives!

She's a Pro!

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About a month ago, I predicted that Amelia would be a pro at walking by her first birthday, and this video, taken last night on her birthday, is the proof! A few minutes before I took this video, she walked from the far side of the living room, down the hall, and into her bedroom, about 25 feet...definitely the longest she'd ever walked.

Cutie Pie!

Here are some cute pics taken of Amelia on the night of her first birthday.

Amelia loves grapes!

Amelia is a good eater...she eats whatever we are eating, but since we don't eat enough fruits and veggies, I have to test some out on Amelia to find what she likes. She definitely likes grapes, and will eat them until she is stuffed!

Thanks Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Keith!

Unwrapping her present
Checking it out for the first time

I love it!




Amelia received this birthday present today from her Grandma and Grandpa in Montana. It's a chair and side table that plays music and teaches her the alphabet. It's really cute and Amelia loves it! Amelia is still in the middle of a cold, so I apologize if there is any snot in the pictures.

Happy Early Birthday Amelia!

We got Amelia this early birthday present this weekend, a giraffe that is both a rocker (sitting forwards) and a chair (sitting backwards). She's not too crazy about it (she's only smiling in the first picture because she loves having her picture taken. So, it's pretty much another large toy to add to the jumble.

Thanks Grandma Sally!

Here's Amelia with 2 of her birthday presents from her Grandma Sally, a cute pair of kitty cat pajamas, and a Lilo and Stitch cell phone. The pajamas are super cute and Amelia loves the phone! She actually talks into it, and she likes pressing the buttons.

Bubble Bath

About 2 months ago, we established a routine to make bedtimes more predictable and a little easier. So Amelia gets a bath at night, around 8pm, then it's pajamas and lotion, then goodnight to Daddy, then nursing, then a cuddle, and bedtime. For the most part, it makes things easier, and even if the bath routine takes about a half hour, it's better than her being a Crabarella for 3 hours while we wait for her to go to sleep, since the bath signals to her that it's almost bedtime.

So she really likes her bath, and to make it special for her last night, I dumped the rest of her baby bath into the tub for a bubble bath. She didn't know what to think at first, but she really loved it. She played with the bubbles and splashed around for a long time.

Random Monday Pics

Taken while we were waiting for Amelia's doctor appointment today.

Four eyes!= (Just like mommy!)

To keep Amelia occupied when we were shopping at Hobby Lobby, I bought her this $0.25 pair of sunglasses. I popped out the lenses so she wouldn't choke on them, and she loves playing with them, chewing on them...anything but wearing them. The second I put them on her, she takes them off, but I was able to distract her for a few seconds to snap this picture.

Not feeling so hot!

Amelia came down with a cold this weekend, and she definitely wasn't in top form. She was cranky most of the weekend and hardly ate or slept. We took her to the doctor today just to make sure she doesn't have another ear infection, and we're all clear. She's feeling much better today.

Sneaky Girl

Amelia has always loved the TV and speakers, and we have to keep pushing them back further so she can't reach them, but she learned a little trick this weekend, standing on top of the baby wipes box for better access...little stinker!

Baby Pictures

Erin, 1 year old
Erin about 1 1/2 years
Austin 1 year old

Austin, 1 year old

My sister put a poll on her blog asking people if their new daughter, Bailey, looks like her mom or dad. So far, the answer is overwhelmingly that Bay looks like her daddy.

I thought it would be cool to do the same poll on our blog, but I added some baby pictures for people to compare Amelia to. So, what do you think?

Finally...a barrette!

I was finally able to rig up a barrette (with help from a strip of velcro) to stay in Amelia's hair. And it stayed in, and she didn'tpull it out!

Lots of kids to play with!

Back in May, 4 people from my office deployed to the Middle East, and today, they came back. Everybody from my office went out to the Clovis airport to welcome them back, and since I was taking the afternoon off, I went home first to get Amelia to take with me. The airport was packed with a bunch of people from the clinic, and there were a bunch of kids to play with. The little dark-haired boy is the son of one of the deployers, and the redhead is the son of a friend of a deployer. Amelia went crazy (as you can see in the 2nd picture) and she loved playing with them.

The Incredible No-Grow Baby!

5 1/2 months
7 1/2 months

11 1/2 months

I realized recently that Amelia is, for the most part, is not growing out of her clothes. A perfect example is the jumper that she is wearing in the pictures above. She was a chubby baby, but now she's turning into a skinny toddler. She has a pair of 3/6 month pants that are baggy on her, and the pants that fit her at Easter are literally falling off her now (happened tonight... "Amelia, where are your pants???"). In the last picture, she is wearing pants that she wore on our first trip to Wisconsin in March. The main difference is that most of her pants that she's worn for months are now crop pants. So, nothing really worth noting, I just need to up my post count because I feel guilty of not posting as much recently.

Yes, she has toys to play with!

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I took this video of Amelia last night, a rare occasion where she didn't smile for the camera and walk towards me. She has a ton of toys, but one of her favorite things to play with are cardboard boxes. Seriously. We actually had an empty triscuit box in our living room along with her "normal" toys, and she played with it for months until I finally took it away. In this video, she is chewing on the empty diaper box that I usually store her small toys in.

First Time on Camera

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Well, here it is...the first time I caught Amelia walking on camera.

Happy Girl...mouthful of teeth

Amelia's 8th tooth came in recently, and here's some good pictures of her bottom 4 teeth. It's still hard to get a picture of all 8 of them, but she does also have the 4 on top. And she loves using them...she eats all the time. For breakfast today, she had waffles, then pizza for lunch, yogurt and strawberries for a snack, then chicken and ginger noodles for dinner. She eats anything we give her, which is great, since we don't have to worry about cooking separate meals for dinner.

We also discovered a new snack for us...Slow-Melt popsicles. They are made with gelatin and don't melt like normal ones do. Amelia and I shared a lemonade one tonight, and she was crawling up my lap for more.

Cute Shoes!

Staring at the skateboarders next door

Still staring at the skateboarders

A Mimi-eye view!

I bought Amelia a new pair of shoes today. Her last pair was purchased in March, and she never really wore them, just twice for pictures. I feel like a bad mommy for taking her places barefoot, since she wants to get down and stand up and try to walk. These are super cute baby shoes, size 3.

In the video, I was trying to get Amelia to walk to me (again) but she was distracted by the skateboarders next door and the grass. First she's up, then she's down, then up and down again. Then she drools, then up and down and up, then she's on her butt!

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Just a few pictures

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday. I am feeling really guilty for not taking many pictures since we got back from Montana. So I took Amelia outside last night for a few shots. I guess I could have dressed her a little better...the dress is pretty, but stained with the tortilla soup she ate for dinner last night, and the hat was just for play...ridiculous but so cute!

Amelia is learning to walk very quickly! She regularly takes 6 steps in a row...her only problem is stopping...she takes 6 running steps and then falls forward into our arms.