What a weekend

this Long weekend hasn't had a very good start. :(


Nora has a bug :( I had my first girls night out on Friday night. It wasn't even anything crazy. We went to see the new Sex and the City movie (which was great). I came home and as I went in to say another goodnight to my baby...she woke up with a fever. Poor girl
She has had a fever for 2 days now.
I think I may have had 5 hours of sleep in the last two nights combined and TJ isn't much ahead of me. Which, I don't really care, I just wish she felt better.
She is just playing and napping.
Look at those red cheeks. :(
So much for fun BBQ's this weekend and other errand running.
I couldn't leave you with a sicky pic. So here is one from last weekend.

I do hope others have a wonderful and safe Memorial Day weekend. And remember all those who serve our country.

Update...

So, here is a little update on our baby girl, or shall I say, Big 1 year old?
She is moving like crazy and discovering many more things. She loves to investigate and she is a little mimic. I swear, if she sees us do something, she repeats it. I love watching her and am constantly amazed at how quickly she catches on to things.
She is not walking independently yet, but she is...
~ continuing to say a few words, her new favorite word is "This" She says it ALL the time.
~blowing kisses
~ snapping her fingers
~ playing chase with us and Bailey
~ climbing things
~ dancing
~ pointing to her nose
~ and completely understanding a few signs...more, finished, water (however this one is her own sign not the true sign for water, but it is consistent), peas, and book
~ She also knows a few animal sounds..she will roar like a lion, and yell like a monkey (so funny), woof for a dog, and some times quack for a duck.
~ She knows some of her stuffed animals by name too. She LOVES Cookie Monster and Grover and when she calls for them, although she doesn't produce each sound of the word, she does produce the correct number of syllables and make the hard g sound for both.
She is making so many connections lately, it is truly amazing. I truly hate when I have to be away from her.
I posted the picture above simply because I think it is hysterical that I can fit her hair in little piggy tails.
Here's a picture from one of her new toys from her party. She loves this thing. More than riding it, she loves the music and pressing all the buttons. She has many many things to ride now, including....
A NEW CAR! Toot Toot! She LOVES this thing! Thanks Gram and Grandpa. This was really exciting to watch her, she was grinning ear to ear.
"out of the way mom"
We went on a picnic last weekend. Nora found the grass quite fascinating.

"Ahhhh, this is cool mom and dad"
Look at those lips! She makes faces like this quite often. It is also the face she makes during her monkey impression.

ooooooooo, we love you Nora! MWA

Now that was a fun Birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday Nora!~
We had a very busy birthday week for Nora, but it was a fun week!
This picture was taken at her Fiesta party on Saturday. She LOVED the cake, but was so tired she didn't seem all that excited.



We had a special plate made for Nora for all her birthday's to come. It has her hand prints on it.

These next few pictures were taken on her actual birthday. I took a personal day off of work because I didn't want to miss spending Nora's first birthday with her. She had all the things she loves. Her lunch included bananas, peas, cottage cheese, and a little humus that she apparently loved!
Then mommy and Nora went strolling in our down town and bought a new bow for her party. Then headed over to a little zoo with many farm animals...
Nora fell asleep as soon as we got there. The zoo is super small and mostly cares for animals that have been injured or found. I spent most of the time walking around keeping myself entertained.
NOra was super impressed with the goats...look how excited she is.
The cow was even more fascinating....Wow! (snooze)
We saw, rather, I saw quite a few more animals. Finally, Nora did wake up and enjoyed visiting a couple of animals before we had to leave. She really like the ducks.
After the zoo, we picked up daddy to go out to dinner. Nora does NOT like facing backwards in the carseat-never has. I was trying to get her to sit down in this pic. but she would have none of that.
Instead, she was giving daddy kisses.
We went to dinner at a place called Toot Toots. We thought she would like the train going around, and she did!
She also tried the little pony and liked that too.
Saturday came and so did a BIG party! Grandma and Grandpa flew in, Aunt Lesli flew in, and Aunt Tara and Uncle Steve flew in. We had a weekend of slumber parties.
Uncle Tony (the chef), cooked all the food for our Fiesta party. It was really yummy. Here's a pic. of Nora with Uncle Tony. She is wearing her special Mexican outfit for her 'Cinco de Mayo" party.

We got little mustaches to wear too. We also had sombreros.
Nora absolutely loved her Elmo pinata. She would visit it frequently in the days leading up to her party out on the back portch. I think the kids liked it too. As you can tell, the weather was not very nice. We were planning for a fun outdoor party, but we had to rent canopy heaters it was so chilly.
The kids didn't seem to mind though, they were quite entertained by the moon jump. (thanks uncle Charlie)

Nora got a really fun ladybug to ride from aunt Tara and Uncle Steve.Nora wasn't too fond of the moon jump.


She received so many wonderful, fun gifts. We are so blessed for the kindness and love our family and friends continue to show Nora. She has brought us so much joy.

This next pic. is her birthday cake...her aunt Melissa made it. (she's the pastry chef) It was delicious, but HUGE. Everyone at the party had cake, we sent a ton of it home with people, and TJ and I are STILL eating the darn thing. What were you thinking Aunt Mel? Nora had her own "smash" cake that looked just like the big one.

Happy first Birthday Nora. We love you so very much. Thank you to all of our family and friends who helped make Nora's day so wonderful and special.

the FASTEST year of our lives.

So, about this time last year, my water recently broke and I was in the shower prior to going to the hospital to deliver our little girl. I cannot believe a year has gone by, I just can NOT believe it. I am sitting her looking at all of the past blog entries and crying. I do not take one moment I have with her for granted. I realize how very blessed we are. I pray and pray that she is healthy, safe, and happy. And that we do a good job in raising her and teaching her.
I can go on forever talking about how much she has changed our lives and how much joy she brings all of us.
Tomorrow is a very special day for our family. I even took a personal day from work to celebrate. We are going to hang out all day and do things I know Nora enjoys.
I am sure I will post much more about her birthday later, especially after her Fiesta party. But for now, I am just reflecting over the past wonderful year.

Can you even believe this little bundle of joy has...


Grown this much???????


WE love you , LOVE you , LOVE you Nora Kay .. MWAAAAAAAAA

Nora's One Year Photos!!!

So this is just a sneak peak of Nora's One Year Photos. We had them taken yesterday. I was a bit nervous during the photo session because Nora was much more interested in everything around her than she was in smiling. But, the photographer got some great picks. Not to mention, she is truly one of the kindest individuals I have ever met. Nora went right to her when we got out of the car. We took some photos at the same place we went for our wedding photos.
I am so excited to see all the pictures in a couple of weeks. Hope you enjoy these.
http://www.lillybellerosephotography.com/index2.php#/home/
Once you are at this site, go to the "blog" area and scroll down.