They say it's your birthday

My sweet girl reached an amazing milestone......She turned one.  I won't lie; I cried.  I used to make fun of my mother for crying at such events......now I get it.  Yikes. 

I have to say that I feel very good about her turning one because it makes me feel like I'm doing something right.  We both lived through the first year which is an excellent reason to celebrate! 

Each time she wakes up from her nap, she looks less like a baby and more like a little girl.  We've had the "no more growing" talk many times and of course, she usually ends up giggling which leads me to believe that she is purposefully defying her mother.  I suppose I cant win them all. 

Here are some pictures of her big day!

She enjoyed the bows and tissue paper more than the actual gifts

She didn't mind swimming with daddy until he dunked her......ugh.....men

Being the Birthday Girl can be hard work!

Loves from Auntie Maren

Her smash cake (banana bread with sugar free frosting)

She needs a bath

So she takes a bath

Until she decides she's done and tries to crawl out for more cake

Scrambled Legs

 

 

 

Well, I did it!!  I completed the 2013 LOZILU Women's 5k Mud run!

With the help of my faithful teammates, all of Team, "Scrambled Legs" finished all obstacles!

I hurt for days afterwards and discovered muscles I never knew I had......

Totally worth it, and I cant wait to do it again!!

 

 

 

 

 

Before

Before

 

My faithful fans
 

Sweet Girl, The count down begins!

My sweet Sydney will be ONE next month!!!!!  Its odd because part of me feels like I've had her forever and part of me feels like I just had her yesterday.  In any case, I don't know what I did before she was born.  She is my life.  I wake up each morning with a purpose.  SHE is that purpose.  I can't think of a better reason to live. 

I had an interesting experience a few weeks ago.  I returned to my high school for an alumni meeting.  I found myself chatting with a man who had graduated in the 80s.  He asked what I did for a living and I proudly informed him that I was a mom.  He looked at me as if to say, "and?"  and when I told him again that I was a mother, he looked at me with a disapproving look, as if I had somehow, wasted my expensive private education on motherhood.  I smiled and immediately searched for someone else to talk to.  I LOVE my job. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  I want to have a million kids and I want to raise them all!!  Years ago, women were frowned upon for leaving the home to work. Today, they are frowned upon for staying home to be a wife and mother.  Funny how times change :)

Sydney is very active these days.  She scoots all around the house and pulls up on everything.  She loves to chat chat chat, (like her mom) and is chill, like her dad.  She has started to dance when she hears music and is starting to get cute curls in the back.  I adore her.  And as far as I can tell, so does everyone who meets her.

All is well here!!! Hope all is well with you!!

Her royal cuteness and her faithful slave.

First pair of real shoes!

grilling with Dad

sweet curls!

always into something

Syd's new ride

Accessorize

Sydney has been enjoying some different accessories lately. Glasses, hats, bows, or even pants on her head, syd likes to be a trend setter.

Valentine's Day and other cuteness

For Valentine's day, Sydney and I devised a brilliant plan for Daddy.  We planned a special photo shoot and didn't tell him about it.  I had seen the ideas of what I wanted to do on pinterest and bought the reddest cheapest lipstick I could find, smothered it on my lips and went to work.  Sydney was not amused, but I did manage to get a few great pictures  Immediately afterwards, she of course needed a bath.  The problem was, the lipstick didn't come off!!!  I used makeup remover pads, and lots of baby soap!  YIKES!  I had to hide the evidence from Ryan until he could see the pictured on Valentine's Day.  All in all, it was a LOT of work, but I think it payed off. 


Other than that, Sydney is just cute as can be.  She is 8 months now, She loves Mum Mums (rice crackers for babies), and has been known to have LONG conversations with them and anything else she sees.  She isn't crawling yet, but she can roll and pivot to get herself anywhere she wants to go.  She love love loves her Daddy.  (and I really see the appeal there, I'm rather fond of him myself.  Her little personality shines through more and more each day.  Sometimes that means having a bit more of an opinion when it comes to things like not letting her play with things that she shouldn't be playing with like plastic bags, and mommy's phone.  She is happy all the time. I can't imagine life without her and feel so blessed to get to spend each day with her.

 Today, the weather was 40 degrees and sunny.  Normally I wouldn't consider that "outside" weather, but as we are expecting another snowstorm tomorrow, Sydney and I took advantage of this beautiful day and went for a long walk.  It was a bit chilly, but the vitamin D did us both a world of good.  We both can't wait for spring!!!

Sydney's Valentine's Day Picture!

All dressed up and ready for Church.  (She tore the flower off seconds later)

Happy momma, happy baby

We are considering bringing back the legwarmers trend. 

Funny Face

With her Mum Mum

Breakfast time!!!

My Snow Angel

Sydney got to experience playing in the snow for the first time last night. In pure Sydney style, there were no complaints. Maybe she won't be as grouchy about the cold weather as her daddy.......we can only hope.

Beauty

This morning, I set Sydney down on the floor in front of her mirror with some other toys. She was so fascinated by the cute baby in the mirror. She was smiling, clapping, waving her arms, and posing.

For the first time since becoming a mother, I worried about how my sweet girl will view herself in the future. Will she be confused by what the world considers, " beautiful"? Will she be made fun of for being "fat" or " ugly"? Will she be judged by the clothes she wears? will she come home from school one day begging for a miniskirt so she will fit in at school? Will she look in the mirror one day and think, "I wish I looked more like _______"? For the first time I got a small glimpse of what my sweet girl will probably face someday. I began to wonder how I should go about teaching her what true beauty is, that is comes from her loving Heavenly Father, and that she is full of it. Will telling her be enough? Probably not, but it's a great start.

I absolutely love my Sydney, and I learn from her each and every day. Today, I learned that if I tear myself apart every time I look in the mirror, then I run the risk of teaching her to do the same.


So I guess my first item of business is to remind myself that I am beautiful each and every day. Then, I will tell her that SHE is beautiful!