Lizzie's First Halloween Birthday Party

Since Lizzie was born the day before Halloween we will forever get to have fun Halloween/Birthday costume parties!! To celebrate her big day we threw a small family party. Lizzie is the cutest flower child ever!


We are the classic Seattle family- two hippies and a flower child! heehee.

I absolutely LOVE making kid-type Halloween treats and so it was fun to get to make these for her birthday.

I made Lizzie a big lion head cake since she LOVES lions so much. The idea was to let her tear into it and stuff her face with cake. However, she's too much of a dainty eater to eat in such a sloppy manner. The cake made her smile but she seemed hesitant to ruin it and dig in. She's actually not a big fan of sweets so she never really did more than taste bits and pieces of it. She did like the chow mein noodles though.

After she picked at the Lion head for a while I gave her some cucumbers and mushrooms- thats when she decided to finally eat! She loves her veggies!

1 Year Old

Lizzie is now 1 whole year old! I feel like it was just yesterday that our sweet Lizzie was born. I tried to capture on video all of her "1 yr old tricks" but she just has too many now and will not perform well when the camera is out. I did get some good ones though!

We are so lucky to have her and she brings so much joy to our lives. It is so exciting to live with a one year old. She is full of personality! Some adjectives that come to mind when I think about Lizzie: smart, spunky, beautiful, hilarious, opinionated, determined, sweet, entertainer, and dancer.

Favorite Activities: Reading, playing with a ball, dancing, bathing, swimming, riding in stroller, and hugging Lenny.

Favorite Color: Yellow (Yes, she already has a favorite color. It started with a book about colors and she loved lifting the yellow flap and hearing me say "yellow!") Ever since she took to hearing me say "yellow" she has been excited about anything yellow and can point to yellow objects when asked.

Favorite Words/Phrases: Animal sounds (octopus, dog, hungry bear, snake, lion) "kick the ball", "daddy", "mamma", "bye bye", "Ta-da!", "doggy", "baby", and "baba (bottle)." Signing: all done, more, and bye bye.

Favorite Animal: Lion. Tigers are a close second.

Favorite Foods: Cheese, avacados, cucumbers, pickles, strawberries, and bananas. She generally does not care for sweets except ice cream.

Favorite Song: "La Grange" Daddy and Liz's dance song!

Favorite Book: "Lift the Flap ABC Board Book"

Tyler and Brandi Washburn Wedding

Tyler and Brandi- Again, Congratulations!!!!! Since you missed your own toast, here's mine to the both of you:

May the love in your eyes, sweet whispers of your lips, and the gentleness of your hearts and hands endure throughout the eternities.



Tyler and Brandi are now married! They are the most adorable couple. You can really tell they are in love. I felt greatly honored when they asked me to take photographs for them at their reception. I did my best under the circumstances considering my lack of a professional camera and the reception taking place in an indoor low light setting (worst possible light for getting good pics). However, the most important aspect was accomplished in that some of these special moments were captured for future remembrance.

Cousins

Last week Dave and I flew out to attend Tyler's wedding in...UTAH! The great benefit to a wedding in Utah is that we got the chance to visit with extended family. It was especially fun to stay at my Grandma's house and my Aunt and Uncle's, too. The cute little girls in the picture look like they are my nieces but they are actually my adorable cousins! It was so fun to get to spend time with them.

Post For My Mom

Thanks for the Birthday package for Liz mom! I let her open this one early because she'll really like to have it on the airplane this weekend I'm sure. She LOOVED the Kitty.

Caught saying "Kick the Ball!"

I finally caught her on video a couple times saying "Kick the ball!" Its not her most clear pronunciations but it will have to do! She has become very weary of the camera and will not perform on command as I would like but I suppose it only gets worse as she gets older..

Now if only I could only catch some of the other cute things she does and says on video...she has a real sense for when I'm trying to get her to perform instead of just playing.

Lizzie's First Sentence

Lizzie's first sentence was today and she said "Kick the ball!" Now, for all you incredulous people, I totally understand because I didn't think she was really saying that at first either. So far, besides making animal sounds and sign language, Liz has only said Mama and Dada. Thats it. I've been waiting to see what her next singular word would be. However..

We were celebrating Linda's birthday and Liz was running around kicking and playing with a ball. As she was chasing it Dave and I would randomly say, "Kick the ball!" Then all of a sudden she just repeated that sentence right back at us! We were skeptical so we kept saying it and then she kept repeating it! By the end of the night she was kicking around the ball and saying the sentence "Kick the Ball" as clear as day. All 14 of us at the celebration were very surprised.

I dont have her saying it on video since I wasn't home but I do have 14 witnesses to her first sentence! (Video above is of her kicking the ball around about a month ago.) Cant wait til she can talk more and I can hear what else is on this girl's mind.