Busy Bee

So Lydia was a bee for Halloween and I thought it was ADORABLE. I must say that Halloween has seemed lame to me since I grew up. But having a baby to dress up and take to the ward trunk-or-treat brought all the fun back for me. Maybe even more than when I was the one being dressed up since I usually feel a little silly when I'm not dressed like myself (and even sometimes when I am). Lydia's little friends Claire and Derick also looked killer in their adorable costumes. And you haven't seen adorable until you've seen magnetic earrings in the pirate ears of a six-month old boy! I almost died. We tried to teach Lydia to say "Buzzzzz" before the big day, but she didn't quite get the hang of it. She was so cute that the sound effects would've put her over the top I'm sure. See for yourself.

Happy 1st Birthday Lydia!

Lydia turned ONE on October 29th. I can hardly believe it. We celebrated the event with all the pizzazz that I have ever mustered for a birthday (I'm not a big party planner). Chad put up all the streamers you see in the picture below and I spent the better part of the day baking Lydia's cake, cupcakes for our guests, and then decorating the goodies.

After all the guests had arrived we brought out the cake. She loved looking at it. We sang, and then I tried to help her blow it out. One little candle and it took me like four tries. Obviously it's been awhile since I blew out candles. Let the mess begin! We stripped the birthday girl and let her go at the cake. She was a little timid at first which is just like her. But by the end....

Well, you can see for yourself.
She got tons of cute presents, and then we carved pumpkins. She was all about helping Chad gut our pumpkin. She at one time had a spoon in each hand and was pushing Chad's hands out of the way--she wanted it all for herself.

Here Lydia is with her best gal pal Claire. Thanks to all who came and made it such a fun night, especially Grandma and Grandpa Carrigan who only had to drive 820 miles to be here.

Life With Lydia

The other day Chad was standing in the kitchen and he said to me, "Come here for a second." I obliged him and when I got to his side he turned me around and said, "Look at your house." This is what we saw: The picture isn't that great, but you can see that our little busy-body has stuff every foot or so over our entire front room. The messes have only escalated. I can no longer keep her out of our lazy susan where she gleefully unloads the marshmellows, chocolate chips, flour, and even once, the cornstarch. I'm constantly moving her from one place while saying "no" to a place I wish she would stay for more than one second.

The other battle that has come about is the transition from baby food to table food. Honestly, I don't think she cares much for either. Thus I find myself in the wonderful world of worrying about her "nutritionally balanced" diet. If all she'll eat is crackers and puffs, what should I do? She refuses to let me feed her table food from a spoon so whatever I give her has to be hands-on. And one of her favorite things to do is rub it all over her face and hair, and then throw it on the floor. I find shampooing her hair is a waste of time though I do it anyway, and I now mop the floor at least twice a day. This picture is from one of our battles over baby oatmeal. As you can see she wasn't as interested in putting it in her mouth as she was in putting it everywhere else.

She'll be a year old in a few weeks and I can't believe it. I'm researching bigger carseats and planning a small, but celebratory birthday party. (If anyone has any carseat suggestions, feel free. There are just too many choices.)

And even though she is a bit of work, with faces like these:

How can you help but love her to pieces anyway!

Grandpa Russ's Funeral

I thought I would post just a few pictures from the funeral we had for Chad's grandpa. It was such a beautiful day. We'll miss him.