Little Helper

This was too cute not to share - a half naked baby, helping her daddy seal the christmas cards.

Oh Christmas Tree

We made our annual trek to the Knights of Columbus Christmas tree lot in our little city. We had planned to get a regular tree, without much of a plan for how to baby proof it. However, when we got to the lot, we fell in love with these tabletop trees. I always thought tabletop trees were Charlie Brown, but these were full and great, just without the part that Reese would try to eat. :)

REESE - 1 Year Old!

How do you sum up a year of Reese? She has brought so much joy to our lives and we love her SO MUCH!

Here are her stats at 1 year:

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Grandparents!

Reese was so lucky to have all of her grandparents at her 1st birthday. Here she is with the O'Donnells and Youngs.

More Birthday Fun

 More cake....

Presents!

My new ride....

How Old?

What Are We Thankful For?

 Our Thanksgiving Baby! Reese is 1!!

Happy Birthday!

The big moment!

The Cake

Everyone who knows me, knows that I stressed (ok, STRESSED) over Reese's 1st birthday cake. For some reason, I felt strongly that I needed to make it myself but I don't bake, at all. And decorating? That is a whole other story. I even practiced baked a few times since I was so nervous. However, despite all the stressing, I LOVE how it turned out.

A huge thanks to Anais for helping me into the wee hours the night before the party, and to Kand for cutting it on the big day. :)

Reese LOVED it too (who's surprised?)

Reese's Birthday Party

We had so much fun at Reese's 1st birthday party!! It was a bumble bee theme and Lacey had a wonderful time planning it and putting the pieces together. We were so happy to have so many fun friends and family there to celebrate - including both sets of grandparents.

We welcomed guests with balloons and a fun balloon wreath on the front door.

Downstairs we decorated the wall with pictures from each month showing how she grew. We also decorated with a fun banner, bee fabric on the tables, and decorations throughout.

One of Lacey's former bridal clients now has a cookie business and made these darling (and delicious) cookies as favors for the party. We also found cute bee bath puppets and gave those away with some bubble bath.

Gymboree

Reese started going to Gymboree and LOVES it! At first we bought a Groupon good for 4 classes and then we won a contest at Celebrate Fairfax for 4 more (we also won a brand new wagon that day in a separate drawing. We should have played the lotto!) Chris came with this day, so we were able to get some fun pictures. We both decided she loves it so much that we signed her up once our free classes ended. It is really fun and we have noticed a big difference in her motor skills - she crawls, climbs and moves more. Oh, and....it wears her out and we get a good afternoon nap!

See - told you she loves it!

Reese - 11 Months

Reese turned 11 months old in October. Here are some things about her this month:

* She hates socks and shoes, even though it is starting to get cold out. The minute we get them on, she starts pulling them off. We can't even get off our street without totally disrobing.

* She is getting more teeth and now has two top and two bottom front teeth. 

* She loves her Daddy and lights up whenever she sees him.

* She loves playing with her buddies from the mom's group. We go out to lunch, playdates at friends houses, and other activities. It is a lot of fun for Reese (and her Mama).

* We cannot believe she will be 1 next month!

Happy Halloween!!

Halloween was so much fun this year! Reese was a flower and so cute. She even left her headpiece on all day. We went to Wegman's for lunch (in costume) and to a really fun Halloween party at one of our Mom's Group friends. The babies were hilarious. They see each other a couple of times a week but as each new friend arrived at the party, they would just stand and stare at each other. I am sure they could not figure out why their friends were dressed as ladybugs, monkeys, bees, zebras, etc. Too funny!

Pumpkin Patch

Reese's daycare hosted a fun event at a local pumpkin patch. We had a great time playing with everyone and picking out a pumpkin. Reese's darling hat is courtesy of our dear friend Anais, who is a crochet queen!

Hot Air Balloon Festival (sans Balloons)

We joined some fun friends at the "Hot Air Balloon" Festival at Historic Long Branch. This is the 5th or 6th time we have been to this particular festival and we have NEVER seen a balloon. We understand that the weather has to be just right for the balloons to launch, but we have decided after multiple years of this that they should change the name to just plain old festival. It is fun without the balloons and Reese really loved the pumpkins and hay bale maze. Another lovely fall day.

Reese - 10 Months

Reese turned 10 months the end of September. She is at such a fun and funny stage. Here are some things about her this month:

* She is a screamer. And we hope its a quick phase. She screams and screeches about everything, all of the time. It certainly gets our attention

* Her hair is growing a lot and getting lighter and longer every day.

* She LOVES yogurt, bananas and cheese. and will sometimes try something else.

* She crawls fast and pulls up and cruises around the furniture.

* She has a funny little laugh and loves to play.

Fall Festivals

October was full of fun fall festivals. Like most years, we kicked off the festivals with the Waterford Fair (mama's favorite). It was a beautiful warm day and we enjoyed just hanging out in the lovely little town.