December Randoms (december 2012)

Seriously, isn't this the cutest?! Olive loves to cuddle. 

Have you noticed that this kid has about 1 million coats that fit her right now. It is stressful deciding which one she should wear everyday - they were almost all given to us and they just happen to fit all at once! Anyway - she got big girl gloves and a new hat from Santa. Her nana knit her that scarf and I can't get over how cute it is for a baby to wear a scarf! 

Other things of note... 

We went to a tree lighting with Ethan, Katie, and their kids. Way fun. 

Tori and Dan came to hang out with G and Edrie

Edrie spends lots of time with her grandparents - lucky girl. 

She painted wooden snowflakes with glitter paint for family. We used them as gift tags and added a hanger so they could be used as ornaments next year. 

There is a video from Christmas Eve of her showing off her "hi santa" skills

December 26 marked 7 years since G and I went on our first date. We celebrated by getting a sitter and going beer tasting downtown. My brother, Efron and Jessica met up. Way fun. We stayed out til almost 2am - felt so strange!! 

Manzanita Weekend (december 2012)

I'm kind of obsessed with this picture - took it while Edrie slept in the Ergo (a rarity these days) on a trip to the beach last weekend. Her cheeks, her lips, those lashes! LOVE it. and its a phone pic - love the iphone for that reason! 

Anyway - we took an impromptu trip to the beach with the McCords and it was awesome. We rented a house in Manzanita with a fireplace, plenty of space, games, and a great kitchen. It was perfect for all the kids and for us to enjoy after they were asleep. We really didn't do anything other than eat, play on the beach, play games, and drink. Perfect. These are absolutely my favorite kind of vacations - just love having a house to come back to! 

Sunday the weather was amazing - clear, sunny, and the temperature wasn't too bad. 

The kids were great - ours didn't sleep well, but other than that they all got along and seemed to have lots of fun. 

Grant was so happy to get some frisbee in! T-shirt at the end of december on the oregon coast. AMAZING! I wish I had been more brave and taken my new camera to the beach with me. I was too scared I'd drop it in the sand or something. 

2012 Christmas Card (december 2012)

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Christmas and Surrounding Festivities (december 2012)

The holidays were so awesome. My brother and his boyfriend came from San Diego and it was awesome to see them. Grant had quite a bit of time off and even though we hosted Christmas Day - we did low-key drinks and appetizers so it was really nice. I grabbed a few pictures but most of them are in the slideshow. Just too many I wanted to share. At the end of the post I'll do a quick list of what is in the slideshow. The above picture is at my Mom's Christmas Eve.

our tree before and after Santa came

Papa showing E her new balance bike! 

Christmas day watchin' Papa help her open a gift.

The chaos of opening gifts with lots of family! 

Oh man! They are mine. Lucky girl. (ps... do you love our stockings over our REAL fireplace?! This was our first Christmas in this house - very special.)

The first few pictures are from a lunch out with my brother, dad, and Efron. Had lots of fun getting grub and beer.

Christmas Eve Auntie Lindsey came over with a few special gifts for our girl.

Then we stopped by Grant's dad's house. Edrie fell asleep on the way so it was kind of lame because we couldn't all go in.

Lastly, we had dinner with my mom, step-dad, Joel, and Efron. Super delicious ham and fixings. Edrie opened her first gifts - one from us (pjs) and one from nana and grampa (blocks).

She loooved the blocks - she subsequently drug the bag all over the house.

We got home late and baby girl fell asleep on mama.

Then mama was crazy and stayed up way too late making cinnamon rolls and cake balls.

Christmas morning we slept in a bit (miracle!) then went for the stockings and gifts.

We got Edrie a balance bike (Gigi also got her this one!), baby stroller, push/pop toy, blocks, balls, rain boots, and a few clothes (i went a little overboard). Grant got me a DSLR camera which I am BEYOND excited about. CAN NOT wait to get good at using the manual settings. Edrie also got some other awesome gifts, but one of particular note is a hand knit doll with about 15 outfits from our friend Holly. It is seriously amazing. She is going to love that thing when she is good enough to take the clothes on and off. I'm very protective of it.... I just love it. She totally spoils us with handknits. Bubba got some new clothes.

After breakfast we walked to Safeway to get coffee. Edrie wore her new rainboots. I usually wouldn't buy something with a 'character' on it, but they were the only ones that were small enough to fit her tiny size 3 feet. I have to admit though -they really are too freakin' cute and she LOVES to puddle jump.

Then we started getting ready for our families to come over. We had about 15 people over. Everyone brought an appetizer and we did a few. We also did apple cider in the crockpot and had whiskey on had to spike it with. SOO GOOD. Grant got this whiskey made locally and it was so smooth! We had so much fun just mingling and eating. Eventually we had a free for all and opened gifts. This was the first year in a while we did gifts and it was really fun. Made it feel like Christmas. It really was just how I hope all our holidays are. We are working on making Thanksgiving just as low-key.

Then we took a few family pics in front of our stockings. Edrie likes to give hugs and kisses these days.

Santa (december 2012)

We took Edrie to see Santa again this year. We went to Macy's because we had such a good experience last year. I love that they don't care if you take your own pictures. And the Santa totally helps you get a good picture (at least as good as it gets when a 1 year old is very apprehensive!)

Checkin' out the reindeer. 

On the way there I taught Edrie to say "hi santa" just about the cutest thing ever. She said it over and over when he was on his lap and for the following several weeks. 

We started out with all three of us on his lap (didn't get any pictures), then I left and then G left. I think that was a great way to get her used to him! 

They kept saying "What is his name?" "What is his name?" Guess I should dress her a bit less non-descript. It was a particularly neutral day - and those shoes are very boyish, but we love them. 

She now says "cheese" and scrunches up her face when you try to take pictures. She was on the train in the santaland. She was so proud to be up on that seat! 

She LOOVED walking through downtown. She was running along. 

also liked to check out all the window displays. 

PS I love that picture at the top. 

Christmas Decorating (december 2012)

 We spent December 9th tree hunting and putting up lights. I love our tradition of getting a tree from the tree farm, even if it is always an adventure! We had a really hard time finding a tree we liked this year. We went a farm Grant knew from his childhood. It was great, but it only had noble firs left. Not o

ur fav. We did find one though - and I ended up being really glad we had a noble. Edrie didn't really get what the heck we were doing and mostly nurse-slept and was annoyed we were out in the cold and rain. And she was VERY skeptical when we first brought the tree in the house. She was very starteld and ran the other way. After a bit of an introduction she was okay with it and by the time we had lights and ornaments she was in love. We put all the non breakable ornaments on the bottom and she did great with that.

Laurelhurst Park (december 2012)

My birthday was pretty low-key this year, but we did spend the afternoon at Laurelhurst park checking out the ducks and letting Olive run free. She got so freakin' muddy, but she was soo happy. 

That kid in the hat and vest - she just kills me! 

Missouri Trip (december 2012)

 

 Dan emailed and said he'd like to surprise Lainey by having Edrie and I out for a visit. I was SO excited and super grateful. The trip was amazing - we were really low-key which was perfect. It was so nice to chat and just play with the babes all day. Edrie LOOVED Lainey and Dan, but was a little worried when mama held Quin. It was awesome to get to meet their baby girl. She is absolutely beautiful and such a good girl. They are also great parents which is so fun to see. Another awesome treat was we got to meet up with Raneat and Noa a few times. Loved seeing them again - it had been since April when we met up in San Diego. It was incredibly hard to leave. Miss our peeps and that place more than I ever thought. Hope we get to meet up again VERY soon!

November Randoms (november 2012)

many of these are totally random, but there are a few in there from Edrie's baby art class. We took the class from Portland Parks and Rec and it was hilarious - babies doing art! it was lots of fun, but I learned that 9am is WAY to early for me to get somewhere and look half-way decent. It was also on Thursday mornings and I often work Thursday nights, which means I sleep all afternoon. It was hard to have something scheduled in my little bit of 'free time' of the day.

There are some cute ones in there of Edrie and her Papa - they are cute and like to watch sports together. And play outside in the rain.

We had a family day and went to the Children's Museum - Edrie loved it. It was so expensive to go just once that we bought a membership - it was only slightly more money than we'd already spent! She has a blast everytime we go.

We spent a freezing november day at the park with Auntie Lindz - way fun but COLD!

Thanksgiving (november 2012)

 We hosted thanksgiving, as we have the last several years. It was really fun to spend the day with our families. We used the same recipes we have always used, but I did make these green beans and they were SOO good. If you look at those old links... can you believe the difference in Edrie - she was so tiny last year! SO FAST they change!

OMSI (novermber 2012)

My mom and I took Edrie to OMSI and she loved it. We need to go back soon. Its so fun when she can just run from thing to thing and play with other kids! 

October Randoms (october 2012)

 let's see. what do we have here...

edrie fell in love with her kitchen helper in october. spending much of her time in it while I cook and prep food. she also LOOVES to play in the sink. its so messy, but it usually gives me 20 uninterrupted minutes, which is glorious.

we also found out she is a bit anemic so we started giving her smoothies with lots of spinach....she LOVES them.

while i finished her owl hat I tried to have her entertain herself by 'painting' with water. it didn't last long but was super cute.

october was also the month we got a dishwasher. A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Seriously, changed my life. Shortly after we installed this one we replaced it with a new one. AND GOT A NEW STOVE! really cool. 

october weather was amazing so we enjoyed lots of meals outside on our new patio.

everything else is just random and awesome everyday life instagram (breathedeeply) pictures. LOVE instagram for that reason...helps me remember to take the pics of the little things.

Halloween (october 2012)

Last year Edrie was the hungry caterpillar and this year she was an owl. Her costume was heavily inspired by pinterest and my mom, once again, indulged me in my over-ambitious craft adventures. She did half of the felt cutting and all of the wing sewing! The knit hat was super easy and very much finished halloween morning. 

We visited my mom's office so she could show-off her grand baby and then went to Nike for lunch with Grant. Later, we had the McCords over to eat pizza and trick-or-treat in our neighborhood. So.Much.Fun!!

Pumpkin Patch (october 2012)

 

 we took our annual trip to the pumpkin patch in early october. Edrie had a good time and the weather was amazing - I had no idea it was going to be so hot so I had totally overdressed Edrie and I! Love Sauvie's Island!

Knit Hoodie (October 2012)

 I'll do a proper craft blog post about this, but she looks so damn cute in this mama-knit that I needed to post here, too. It literally took me 11 months to get it done, but I'm so happy it fit her when I finished! Would have been so sad if it were too small.

September Randoms (september 2012)

 

 Those videos with the push toy are so funny - she LOVES that thing. After she got it for her birthday she was walking independently within a few days - it was just the bridge she needed from holding our hand to doing it on her own.

12 months! (september 2012)

This kid! I can't remember anything specific other than she constantly went around saying 'Happy' for a few months. I joked that she knew her mama needed to hear that. It is just about the cutest thing ever. She still says it to let you know she is happy about something. She'll be nursing and pull back, look up and me and say 'happy' and then smile really big. I LOVE it.  And she still wasn't walking alone just when she turned one. She did shortly there after start walking though! And I also know that she was and is really, freakin' cute. 

Duck Reunion Weekend (september 2012)

In September we were fortunate to have Brett, Beth, Tom and Donna come for a visit. It was a quick weekend trip to see the ducks play. It went by WAY too quickly and we missed Jon and Jess. The most exciting part of the trip was the Pellinger's announcement that twins were on the way!! SO beyond excited and happy for them. We've since learned its two boys! Can't wait to see them!

Edrie's First Birthday Party (september 2012)

Lets just start out by saying - I LOVE that girl. Love her - and as a result I went totally over-the-top for her 1st Birthday Party. I loved doing it, but it was a bit much. I do think Edrie had a good time and the weather was perfect. We had about 70 people in our new backyard. We had a keg with mason jars, appetizers, and cake/cupcakes. We kept it low-key and just did food, cake and gifts - no major activities. Though I did have a little DIY photobooth with props set-up. What else? Oh - the invites were in the shape of a mason jar so we did little banana breads baked in mason jars for the favor (gotta love pinterest!). And she may have worn a mama-made dress and bloomers and crown...WAY TOO CUTE! For decorations we did a million yards of bunting from vintage sheets - my mom said she felt like she was in a little sweatshop cranking that out. LOTS of sewing! She also made party hats and pinwheels. And my stepdad made me big framed chickenwire to hang pictures on. I'm kind of obsessed with how it all came together - love it when a vision works out! 

The cake was not her favorite thing ever. She tried it and was okay with it until it got on her hands - sister does not like to be messy! She did eat a bit more the following day when we tried a cupcake. We are so lucky to have a great group of family and friends who were excited to celebrate our little girl - it was a very good day! 

family photobooth shot! here is a link to the professional pics from Katie Anderson (we used the party as Edrie's 1 year shoot). Not sure that link will be live for long, but its fun to look through for now! 

Edrie's First Birthday (sept 12, 2012)

September 12 was an awesome day. We made the day all about Edrie and her favorite things. We kept it low-key and simple and just went with the flow. It was perfect.

We started the day with an embellished shirt and one-shaped blueberry pancakes. Baby girl was very confused about all the hoopla! Then she and I took it easy - walked Olive, she took a nap, we had lunch and headed to the zoo. Her first time where she was actually interested in things. She pointed to EVERYTHING and asked her signature, "whads dat?" It was nice to go just the two of us. The real highlight was the hyenas - she thought they were dogs and got SOOOO excited.  She was smiling and laughing, and woof woofing at them. They were just on the other side of the glass so she really wanted to pet them. There is one picture in the slideshow of her excitement. 

After Grant got home we had dinner - her favorite, pesto pasta and opened presents. The weather was awesome so we spent some time outside and ended the evening with a candle and ice cream. So so good. I can't believe how fast that year went! 

Dragon Boat Races (september 2012)

Grant's brother invited us to one of his Dragon Boat races in September - it was a beautiful day and really fun! Edrie looved all the people and walking around with Gigi. And Burton's team won!