Christmas 2015

I was so excited for Christmas this year.  I knew Alexis really wouldn't know what was going on but that she would at least be involved. Last Christmas she was only a month old.  About a week before Christmas my Mom, Allen and I all got sick with Bronchitis.  We were sick for over two weeks:(  I made us all wear surgical masks so Alexis would not get sick. Luckily she did not get sick.

I was serious about the masks:)

Thankfully I mailed all my gifts the day before I got sick.  And I am so thankful for the internet so I could buy the rest of my gifts I needed.

The Mom's group I am part of arranged for a Santa for our group.  It was such a great way for Alexis to see Santa.  No lines at the mall!

 She was not so happy when she first sat on his lap

 No tears..looking looking super cute

Jessica, Alexis, Nancy and Allen with Santa

I didn't know how long it would take to get the pictures from our Santa visit so we took this one when we got home.  Alexis is such a ham.

 I have always wanted lights on the outside of the house.  I hired someone to hang them.

View of our tree in the window

My brother Trevor came for Christmas.  I feel bad because we were sick we were not a really fun bunch. We were in bed by 7pm every night.  He helped me put together a drum set my Dad gave Alexis. Only took us three tries to get the base drum right.

 Santa just arrived and left all these great toys

Christmas morning!

We waited until after Alexis took her morning nap to open gifts.  Yes I know it will never be like this again:)  Danielle was on Skype with us so she could be part of the holiday.

 Trevor and Nancy opening gifts

Alexis was so mellow all morning. She sat with Allen and just observed.  It was cute

Playing on her rocking horse. She is still not sure about it. She does like making it talk (if you squeeze the ears it sings and talks to you)

 She loves her Minnie Mouse car.  We take turns pushing her around the house

Gift from Grandpa Greg. She loves playing the drums.  We moved it to her bedroom and it is the first toy we play with every morning.

Merry Christmas!  It was 80 degrees on Christmas.

 A gift from Jack.  It is finger puppets of all the Sesame Street characters.  Super cute.

 Lady bug outfit from Aunt Danielle

Playing with a gift from Santa

For Christmas dinner we had the usual...ham, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and stuffing. Dessert was a very yummy apple crisp pie from Costco.  Thank you to Trevor for helping me cook.

Thank you to everyone who mailed us gifts...we are so blessed and appreciate all of our family and friends. 

There won't be a blog about New Year's Eve 2015...we were all sick and in bed by 7pm.  Nothing exciting there:(  Looking forward to an amazing 2016!

Alexis's First Birthday

I have always loved celebrating my birthday.  A month long celebration is normal:)  I am trying to teach Alexis to enjoy her birthday and follow in my footsteps.  Her first party was a week before her birthday when the Murphy's and my sister and brother were in town.  We had a party with a smash cake (yeah I had no idea what a smash cake was but thankfully we have the internet) cupcakes shaped into a princess dress and presents...lots of presents.

We "planned" on celebrating Alexis's birthday after her second nap.  I put planned in parentheses because there is no planning with a baby. She is such a people person she did not want to nap at all.  So we had the party anyway and she was a little grumpy.

 Thankfully we have a chef in the family.  Danielle decorated all the cupcakes and her smash cake.

Turned out great.  And they tasted so yummy. Thanks Danielle!!

 Alexis looking super cute.  This is before we had any cake.

 Her highchair all decorated for the celebration

The cake and gifts

 Mommy, Alexis and Daddy.  Happy birthday!!

 Singing "Happy Birthday"  She looks thrilled

Eating her smash cake.  It took a little encouragement but she finally got into it. We made a healthy cake for her with no sugar.  It was pretty good.

 After cake we opened gifts. Alexis is sitting with Danielle.

 Opening gifts with Mommy and Daddy.  She got so many gifts from everyone--thank you.

Deciding if she likes this gift.  She does and plays it often. She really likes the sticks and prefers to hit everything with them.

 Her celebration continued the next day with birthday pictures.  She looks just like a princess

 She was so good while we took pictures

 Love this picture. She is already telling others what to do.  Manager in training:)

Having fun taking pictures

On her birthday she woke up super early--before 4am. So excited to celebrate.  We went to our workout and everyone sang to Alexis.  That afternoon we opened gifts that were mailed to us.  Thank you to everyone who was so generous.  We also made and ate a red velvet cake.  Alexis didn't have any.  It was just for us:)  I didn't take any pictures--I know crazy.

 On her birthday our friends Michelle and Dan gave Alexis this super cute outfit. So we had her wear it the next day so she could continue celebrating. Alexis and Daddy.

I put on pink cowboy girl stockings with the outfit. Super cute.

Happy 1st Birthday Alexis! We love you and are so bless you are our daughter. Thank you to everyone who helped make her birthday so special.

First Time Eating Meat

I feed Alexis most of her meals so she usually eats what I am eating.  I don't want her to be a vegetarian--unless later in life she decides she wants to be one.  So needless to say there is not a lot of meat options when we eat.  I tried to give her a piece of turkey at Thanksgiving. She was not interested.  One weekend we were having pizza and she really wanted some of what Daddy was eating.   So she had some pepperoni pizza.  She loved it.  

Enjoying her pizza.  She doesn't look that happy but really she was

I have heard diaper changing can be worse after eating meat.  This is so true:) Decided to only feed her meat on weekends when Daddy is home.

Since this picture she has enjoyed some ham.  Hoping to introduce her to chicken soon. 

Alexis at Eleven Months

Here are some pictures of Alexis during her 11th month. She weighs 20 lbs and is wearing a size 12-18 months. She crawls very fast and can walk with assistance. She loves using her walker.

She loves playing with cups

Reading her books

She loves the song "head, shoulders, knees and toes"

Playing with Nana. She likes to hold the railing and walk. She also likes looking down and waving.

She is such a great eater. How can you not love this face. 

She loves this activity table. Sometimes she pushes it around the room. She has figured out how to walk around the table and push it in a different direction. 

She loves drinking out of a straw. When we offer her water she always refuses at first and then decides..ok yes I want some. So funny.

Having fun

Taking a selfie with Mommy to send to Allen when he was traveling. 

Looking so excited while Mommy works out

Enjoying a cheese stick snack

At the zoo with Mommy and Nana

Happy 12 months Alexis!!!

Looking cute in her pink vests. 

Can't believe Alexis is one...time goes so fast.