applause

lady g's new song inspired the title of my post this week.  whenever i hear her new song i think of mae.  she lives for the applause.  she loves when we clap and cheer for her.  and she love to clap and cheer for herself!  she loves the limelight, and can ham it up with the best of them.

we've had a busy week so far!  the best part was spending time with hayden on monday.  because kelly didn't have the day off, she asked if mae and i would like to come spend the day with hayden.  and we had so much fun.  mae was hayden's little shadow, it was so cute.  it was the first nice day we had had in a while, so we wanted to spend as much time outside as we could.  our first stop was clemyjontri park in mclean.  this park is so awesome.  it's a couple of acres, with tons of playgrounds.  and a carousel.

hayden was so good with mae.  she helped her down the slides, and ran all around with her.  she had a good time playing big sister.

 

i didn't end up taking very many pictures because it was seriously crazy at the park!  i had a hard enough time trying to keep track of these two, let alone take tons of pictures.  but, they had a blast so it was worth it.

next we got sandwiches for lunch, and went to put mae down for her nap.  hayden and i got to spend some good quality time together, which we haven't had in a while.  what a smart, fun, sweet girl she is.  i hope mae will develop all of those qualities!  after nap time hayden rode her bike and i pushed mae in the stroller.  then we headed over to the office to meet everyone where i used to work.  a long day, but so much fun!

i mentioned last post that mae is becoming a climber.  cody and i have bins under our bed where we store some of our winter clothes.  mae has figured out how to pull the bins out from under the bed and stand on them.

 she is just a little too smart.  but it's hard to get upset at a sweet smile like that!

The Shut Down

ahh, the government shut down.  i wont say anything, because i don't have much that is nice to say about it.  because cody is a government contractor, he was deemed "non-essential", so he's been home the past week.  so, the one nice thing i will say is that we've really enjoyed the time we've been able to spend together. 

mae and i have taken cody everywhere.  he's come to story time at the library, on our errands, the grocery store, walks, trips to the park, and his favorite...costco.  i'm so glad that he has had this time with mae.  this is probably the most they've been able to spend together since she was first born.  and the bond they are forming is wonderful.

in mae news, two more teeth popped out last week, for a total of 8.  and i'm pretty sure more are on the way.

i'm finally letting her feed herself breakfast.  i held off for so long because she loves things like oatmeal and berries mixed with cottage cheese, but i decided she'd better learn soon, so i braced myself for the mess.  

 it's amazing how she figures out how to get oatmeal in her mouth with her hands.  she still hasn't conquered the spoon, but she holds on tight to that thing while she shovels oatmeal in her mouth with her other hand.



she didn't like her bumbo seat much when she was a baby, but boy does she love that thing now.  she sits in it a little bit, but she mostly like to climb all over it.  yep, she's a climber.  she pretty much tries to climb on anything.  her favorite so far has been the costco pack of paper towels.

this is usually how you will find her asleep in her crib.  on her belly with bunny tucked under her arm.  and horizontal with her feet sticking out.  

 to our surprise she hasn't torn apart the sensory board i made her!  she'll stop by it every once in a while and play with the stuff on it. 

 

the result of the shut down...

 

haha so gross! don't you worry that thing was shaved off soon after this picture was taken.

this guy...

before i start, i had to post this gem of a picture that i came across earlier this week...

priceless

i've been thinking a lot about what an awesome guy i married.  and i wanted our children to know how much i love him, and what a great man he is.

one of the first things  i noticed about cody was his genuine kindness.  he is one of the most kind people that i have ever met.  he always makes sure to say hi to people, to sit with someone that is alone, to include others, to reach out to someone who needs a friend.  i was and still am so impressed by the christlike love that he has.

when we were first dating, i was at the stage where i wasn't sure if i wanted to continue dating.  we were on our way home from his aunt and uncle's home, and he got a really bad flat tire.  then, the jack broke while he was trying to change the flat.  meanwhile, it had started to rain.  when most people would have lost their cool and gotten upset, he remained calm.  he stayed positive, and took the time we had waiting for his uncle to come get us to talk and get to know me, rather than complain.  i realized that night that i really liked this guy, and he was worth holding on to.  because if you know me, you know i don't always stay calm, cool, or remotely collected in certain situations, and cody has helped balance me.  where i'm crazy, he's calm.

another thing i loved was how many talents he has.  when we were dating, he made me a mix cd, and there was a song on it that i didn't recognize.  when i asked him about it, he told me that it was one that he had written and recorded on his guitar.  and that he had a bunch of other songs as well.  it was so awesome to have him share his music with me, and to see this whole other side of him.  cody can be a pretty serious guy, and to see him open up, and let go was really neat.  

 
he is always trying to better himself.  he is constantly learning new skills, and studying new things to better himself, to be better than he was the day before.  and his desire to become better, makes me want to be a better person as well.

watching him become a dad has been an amazing experience.  from seeing the awe on his face when he held her the first time, to watching him play and interact with her has made my love for him grow more than i thought possible.  it has made me realize how truly blessed i am.

mae's rainbow party

it's still hard for me to believe that my munchkin is 1.  i was at her one year appointment today, and there was a little baby next to us there for his 2 week appointment.  it feels like that was me just yesterday!

i didn't want to do anything too crazy for her birthday, but i got carried away.  with so much family close by, we had a big crowd.  we're so lucky to have so many people who love mae so much!

i decided on a rainbow theme.

we had rainbow cupcakes (thanks to mattie and mom for helping me with these bad boys) they were super easy, and delicious.  we put a little too much batter in each cupcake, so they were gigantor.

 mae had her own big cupcake

 we decorated with paper chains (i roped mattie and mom into this too...)

and had all kinds of rainbow treats

 mae's stats

 30 inches, 24.5 pounds
she loves to: walk and run, dance, sit under the table, carry things
she likes to eat: melon, yogurt, graham crackers, beans

my wreath made an appearance

so many presents!  my family and friends are so awesome.  homegirl is gonna be lookin' good this fall and winter.  mae wasn't really into the present opening thing, she just wanted to run around.  luckily i had hayden and reagan to help me open all of her presents.

 we sang happy birthday

i was expecting her to go nuts with her cupcake.  i don't give her many sweets, but when i do she loves them.  so, i figured she would be in heaven.  think again. she was NOT having that cupcake.  she did not like it at all.  i tried putting some in her mouth...she spit it right back out. 

 she picked at it.  and eventually threw part of it on the floor. (don't worry, rufus came and cleaned up the floor after her)  but that was it.

 we even tried to break off pieces for her, nope.  so, while everyone else ate cupcakes and candy, she had fruit.  what a crazy girl.

after cake, we took the kids downstairs to go crazy.  and go crazy they did.  mae had so much fun running around after all the big kids.  she was an animal.  running, dancing, jumping, singing.  you name it, she did it!

looking back, i could have done way less.  i had fun doing it, but honestly, she isn't going to remember it.  next time, it's just cake and ice cream.  well, apparently not cake for her.

birthday week

this week is birthday week.  mae anne will be one year old tomorrow!  a year ago today, i was supposed to go with reid to an orchestra audition, and we were going to get cafe rio on the way home.  alas, contractions had started around 1pm, and my mom didn't really want me to go.  so, i had to stay behind.  i really wanted cafe rio...badly.  but, i suppose the labor and birth of your fist baby is more important than a delicious cafe rio salad.  (not that i'm upset that i didn't get my salad or anything).

anyways, i can't believe a year ago this sweet little girl was born.  i don't think i can ever forget the first time i held her.  the amount of love i felt for this little wrinkly, wiggly, thing was overwhelming.  holding her in my arms, i had a whole new understanding of eternal families.  i knew without a doubt that heavenly father sent that little girl to us, and that we were and are a family forever.

so, i have a few wreaths i've made for halloween, christmas, easter, and valentine's day, and i decided i needed a birthday wreath to put up on all of our birthdays.  this was a super easy wreath, but it took forever.  i kept running out of stinkin' balloons.  and i couldn't get just any balloons, they had to be the exact same that i had started with.  needless to say, many a trip to the five below were made. 

i think it turned out pretty cute.  and i know it's not her birthday, but seriously, with how long that thing took me, it's gonna be up a few days.

i didn't want to get her anything crazy for her birthday.  so, i made her a sensory board.  i loaded up at the dollar store with all kinds of stuff.  it was fun to make.  cody burst my bubble, he kept saying, "isn't she just going to rip everything off?" which, yeah she probably will.  but i can pretend for a moment that my daughter will be soft and gentle with it...moment is over.

 with the weather cooling down, girlfriend needed some real shoes.  one of my oldest friends and favorite people in the world jaclyn hooked mae up when she was born.  she got her some nice kicks, and they finally fit!

 oh, the fun you can have with a box.  why do we buy toys for this girl?  she had a blast.  and her daddy got a workout pulling her all around in it. 

 erich and mattie babysat for the munchkin this weekend so we could go to the temple.  mae had a great time.  she loves her aunt mattie and uncle erich, and of course rufus!  here's a shot that mattie took of mae walking rufus.

catch up

last week got away from me.  that three day weekend threw me off, and before i knew it, i had missed one week of blogging!  so, we'll play catch up.

i felt like i needed to mix it up with the dinners that i've been making.  it seemed like i was doing the same stuff over and over.  cody never once complained, but for me i needed something different.  so i decided to start meatless mondays.  dinners on mondays will no longer have meat!  so far we've had stuffed peppers, twice baked potatoes and broccoli, and this week was bean and cheese enchiladas.  i also want to start using my crock pot more.  so this week i made some homemade applesauce.  we'll see how long i last with these new ventures, but i'm proud of what i've made so far!

of course for labor day we headed over to gram and gramp's for one last summer swim.  mae had a blast with her uncle erich.

 every sunday cody and i each write to kasee on her mission.  mail is a little sketchy in mozambique, so we've been writing emails.  this week, cody let mae bang on the key board in his email, so she got to write her aunt kasee.  (he swears she is going to be this big shot computer programmer one day...i wont make any comments)

 just a lazy sunday morning with daddy...

i've been in desperate need of a haircut.  i hadn't gotten one since mae was born...which is about a year.  enter my friend jenn.  i've known her since we were in kindergarten.  she moved to richmond towards the end of elementary school, but we've managed to stay in touch all these years...sometimes with longer stretches in between, but i still think it's pretty awesome that after 20 (holy smoke 20?!) years we've stayed in touch!
my wonderful mom treated me to an amazing cut and color. and even made the trip down to richmond to watch mae while i got my hair done.  (how awesome is my mom?)  it was so much fun to have time to catch up with jenn.  and if i do say so myself, she did a fantastic job!

 mae is quite a girl.  she is learning so many new things.  clapping, waving, and most recently dancing.  it's so fun to watch her develop new skills, and just enjoy life.  it has really taught me to find little things throughout the day that bring me joy.


me and my homegirl...

more goodbyes

this week we had to say goodbye to shelby, and then a few days later we had to say goodbye to coleman.  i can't handle anymore!  i cried way too much these past few weeks...i tell myself my body is still crazy from having mae, but that was almost a year ago, so i think i've officially become a crier. 

we spent a lot of time with uncle coleman before he left.  mae has really started to enjoy him.  it's been so fun to see my brothers become uncles, and to see how much they love mae.

mae had her long john jammies on and coleman wanted to match...

we spent saturday with my dad and coleman.  they were cleaning cars, and mae was happy to eat lunch and watch the action.

then we headed out to the pool

still squatting like a champ.  she won't really sit that much anymore, this is her preferred method.  homegirl is going to have some solid thighs.

saying goodbye...