You've had a birthday, shout hurray...

My baby is no longer a baby. She is
a full-fledged one year old. Boo. We
took her to KC this weekend, where
we met up with Charles' parents who
flew in from Utah. How cool is that,
to have grandparents that fly all
the way just to see their grandbaby
turn the big 1? We had a cute little
party with family and friends, which
turned out to be lots of fun.

P had her first encounter with
balloons-which is both fun and
frustrating. They fly away, so we
finally put them out of her sight so
she wouldn't get upset that she couldn't
get them from going up in the air.

Her darling cake that Aunt Bev got
especially for her.

Waiting for cake.

It started out innocently enough...she very
delicately picked up icing with her fingers and
tasted it. First the blue, then the red, then the
yellow. Had to make sure they're all the same,
of course.

Just a little messy. She didn't smash it, or even
get to the actual cake. When she was finished
she started flinging it on the floor (which is what
she usually does when she doesn't want anymore),
getting pretty blue icing all over Papa's white
walls. She also got lots of cool toys and gifts,
and grandma is here for a week to play (and keep
mama company!).

It doesn't get much better than this

Early birthday presents

Paisley received this great big box of presents
last week from her grandparents. She's not
spoiled. At all. We've opened some of them,
some fun books and CD's. She seemed more
interested in the paper than finding out what
was inside.





Her Papa also gave her an early birthday present.
I love the idea of having an area where I know
she's safe if I have to do something else. She,
however, does not like the idea so much. Instead,
she generously allows the cats to hang out in it.

Cuddlemonkey

Aack! Another week without posting! This kid
keeps me so busy!

Paisley's newest (one of the many) trick is trying to
cuddle with the animals, especially Maggie the
dog. Maggie the dog still is a little wary of this
tiny person that screams at her and hits her.
Paisley will crawl over to Maggie the dog's bed
and try to lie down next to MTD, but MTD
always jumps up like she's been bit and moves
away.



Sometime Maggie the Dog doesn't want to
move, after all, it is HER bed, but her
discomfort is very apparent at having
the screaming small thing so close
to her.

Running away from the cuddlemonkey.

Little monster alert!!

Since it's been so long since I've posted, I
will now put way too many pictures of
our tiny (yet very adorable) monster.
I always heard that babies are more difficult (they
get into more) when they are mobile, but
I had no idea just what this tiny person
can do.





I gave her some green beans for lunch today.
She eagerly stuck one in her mouth, then
spit it out just as quickly. Then, she grabbed
as big of handfuls as she could and threw all
the green beans on the floor. I guess there is
a good reason to have a dog. She cleans up for
me after every meal.

Paisley finally learned to do the sign for "more"
today. It's pretty darn cute. Much better than
hearing her screaming when she wants more.



The destruction.



P loves cheese. She would eat a whole brick
of it if I let her. Instead I cut up one slice at a
time, and she has all the pieces stuffed in her
mouth in less than 10 seconds. It scares me
because I worry she'll choke, but it makes
me laugh as well.

Time flies when you're chasing a baby around

It seems like my posts are getting fewer and
farther between, but it's been really hard to
find the time to sit in here and work on the
computer. Paisley HATES it when I'm on the
computer, hates as in screams and cries if I'm
doing this and not paying attention to her. So
I don't get on a whole lot.

I do have time to take loads of blurry pictures
of gross spiders on our house. This picture is
for you Janice, if you read this. Charles and I
stood outside the other night, just fascinated
as we watched this spider track his prey, then
wrap and wrap and wrap it into a cocoon.
Yeah, I don't get out much. Charles gets home,
we watch some tv, some stupid show with
stupid jokes, something I never would have
laughed at before, but now I find myself
rolling on the ground at the hilarity of it all.
And Charles just sits there, wondering where
his once normal wife went.




I haven't taken many pics of P lately, so I
thought I'd reminisce about this time last
year, and my ginormous belly. I sent out
invitations to Paisley's 1st birthday party
yesterday. I just can't fathom that she will
be 1 in just a few weeks. This year has
absolutely flown by. I know she doesn't NEED
a party, and as my dad said, it's more for the
adults anyway, but I need to do this for her. I
need to watch her eat her own cake, and
wear a dumb party hat, and cry because
everyone is looking at her. It's a milestone,
right?

Sometimes I miss having her as a little
baby and can't believe she's not really
a baby anymore, but on the other hand,
it's so much better now. I'm not so tired,
we're not getting up at all hours of the night.
She has a schedule. I know exactly when she'll
eat, sleep, poop and play. She's interactive.
She plays games with us, she's funny and
entertaining. She's become a little person,
something I never could have imagined
a year ago, or even 6 months ago. I love
being with her, love showing her off because
she's just so damn cute, miss her when she's
asleep. She's just perfect.

No longer the lazy parent

My life as a lazy parent is now over,
now that Paisley has learned to crawl.
Yep, she figured it out this morning,
and is now into everything. She's still
pretty slow, but she's getting places.
Now I can't just plop her on the floor
with toys, because she won't stay there!

Last night I found an old credit card
and gave it to P to play with. Forgot
about it, and went to get her ready
for her bath. I think she was hiding
it to try to use later.

Trip to KC

I'm putting this picture on for several reasons.
Janice, my friend on the far right, had her
engagement party last weekend, so P and I
went to KC to attend. Daddy stayed home, sick
in bed. They're planning their wedding for next
June...in Miami. Anyone who would like to donate
to my Miami fund, please let me know.

My friend Kim, the other bridesmaid, has a
birthday tomorrow. And since I haven't gotten
a card/gift, I thought a public "Happy Birthday"
was the next best thing.

Also, Charles and I celebrated our 2 year
anniversary on the 14th, and I never made
mention of it. So here we are, Paisleyless
and mama's still skinny!

Paisley was able to see her cousins while we
were in KC, although she wasn't very nice to Emmett.
I think she really enjoyed seeing him, she just
didn't realize that she can't push and poke him.
Sorry Emmett.

The many emotions of one child

Almost almost almost crawling. She'll get up
like this, move her hands forward, but then
doesn't realize she has to move her legs as well
and she collapses onto her tummy.

Like I said. Actually, I think she was throwing
a fit here. Don't remember why, as she throws
them quite often. Isn't she too young for that?

Trying on shoes. She found it hilarious
to put them on, but once she realized
how heavy they were and that
she couldn't lift her feet, she started
screaming. This is the kid whose toes
never stop moving, unless she's asleep.
I can always tell if she's awake or
asleep in the car by whether or not
her toes are wiggling.

Again, like I said. Mad at the shoes.

Then back to happy.

Her gremlin face. She does this when
she's really happy, and it involves
a lot of heavy breathing and
snuffling through her nose.

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit

Grandma and Grandpa just left after being here
for almost a week. It was a great visit for everyone.
Paisley had someone to constantly hold her
or walk her around, and mom and dad got some
much needed rest. Plus Grandma and Grandpa
spoiled all of us, which is always quite fun. I made
them explore different towns around us
that I'd been wanting to check out for awhile.
We all went to Paxico, which has a winery,
where Charles and I sampled blueberry, blackberry,
peach, elderberry and spiced wine. Karen and
I also went to Alma, which didn't have a whole
lot, but they're famous for their cheese and original
stone. So we bought a bunch of cheese.

In my walker that I finally learned how to use.
I cruise all over the kitchen and dining room,
but find it the most fun when I chase animals
around and try to run them down.

Eating the delphiniums.

We gave her a slice of raw onion, which she
sucked on for quite awhile. Yuck yuck yuck.

A friend lent us the whole collection
of Baby Einstein DVDs. Paisley was
quite enthralled when we put one
in for her.

Grandma and Grandpa bought me this really
cool car seat that I love. It's animal print and
really soft and really comfy. Now my head doesn't
flop forward when I sleep in it. The only problem
is getting in and out of mommy's 2 door car.

Grandpa loves taking pictures of me in the tub.
There are lots of Paisley's bum pics out there.

Paisley cut her second tooth while they were here
so they saw the grumpy side of her, but I think they
still like her. It was a great visit that ended way too
soon. Thanks G & G for everything!

Our own little Jon-Benet

I know I've mentioned before that
we only had Paisley so that we
could torture her. This is what happens
when Daddy is home for a day, and it's
storming, so he can't do anything else...
I think I may ask him to start doing
my eyeshadow. He got the contouring
thing down really well.

Pointers

10 months really seems to be a jumping off
point for Paisley. She learns something new
EVERYDAY. I can't keep up. She's figured out
how to pull herself up, but only on us. She won't
do it on furniture, I think she has trust issues.
She is constantly getting on her belly from a sitting
position so that she can get something that is
out of reach. She's even gotten herself back up
to a sitting position, but that's only happened
a few rare times. She's finally started to show
interest in non-baby food, and doesn't spit
EVERY solid thing out, just most of it. She
will now eat Veggie puffs, but has also
enjoyed guacamole (by the spoonful), lasagne,
yogurt, feta cheese, various cheese and meats,
black olives and pears. It must be a sodium
deficiency, since the only thing I ate while
pregnant was sugar. This above pic is after
scrounging lasagne off of daddy's plate.

We're also pointing. At everything.

Family of pointers. She's also walking, with help.
She would walk all day if we let her. She gets mad
if she wants to stand and we don't hold her.
She's really starting to show signs of a little temper.
I left her at the neighbors today for a few hours
while I went to the dentist, and after I picked her
up she screamed at me for about 4 hours.

We're so proud

I've wondered how long it would take.

This storm was more menacing than it looks.
Luckily we didn't have to grab all the animals
and run to the hidey hole.