14/15 Months

I'm combining these months because I got behind on posting (what's new?).

Lexi,

I know I say this every month, but you are seriously SO stinking fun and cute right now!! I just love every stage, and each time I think I've reached my max for how much I could love a little person, you do something new that makes my heart melt. It is so much fun being your parent and watching you explore the world.

 Did I mention you were going to be a big sister?! Surprise!! :)

Peek-a-boo!!

'Cooking' while Mommy cooks

Cozy with snacks

Brushing teeth with Daddy

Did I mention you started walking finally?! I'll admit I was getting tired of so many people asking this. I don't know why. It's a typical question that people start to ask around 10ish months. One day I was getting you dressed, and you were standing in your room while I pulled up your skirt. You asked me for a necklace (I'll touch on that later). I told you I'd get you a necklace, and be right back. I walked into the closet and heard a giggle coming from your room. When I peeked my head in, you were WALKING towards me, and SO proud of yourself!! Once you started, you never looked back! No more crawling for this girl! How adorable is it that we now have this little person walking all around?! I LOVE it!

This is going to be kind of a jumbled up post, but I'm just going to list a lot of the things you enjoy right now:

• NECKLACES, BRACELETS, ANY KIND OF JEWELRY!! You ask for it everyday, and Nana gives you whatever she is wearing when you ask for it. Lovely. Now you think when you see a random person who has a necklace on that you want, they should take it off and let you play with it. If only, right? ;)
• Watching me put on makeup--You love to play in my makeup bag each morning. You pretend to put on blush. Oh dear...shouldn't we have several more years until that begins?
• Horses--Keith let you ride with him one morning for the first time, and you LOVED it!! You were mad when I had to get you off. It's a bit scary that you have no fear of these large animals, but that's how I grew up to, so I guess we'll be okay.
• Minnie Mouse- you ask for Minnie by saying something similar to Nana's name. It's your favorite right now.
• Baby Sign Time--You get SO excited when we let you watch this. You've learned so many signs from it, and love the babies in the videos.
• Books- You're still my little book worm! Makes this teacher's heart happy! ;)
• Purses/Bags- You love to go through purses and bags! Such a girly-girl!
• Babies-- Oh my! You love taking care of your babies! YOu feed them, change them, and carry them all over!! ADORABLE!
• Outside--Love playing outside and at the playground at the lake! 

I'll do a recap of the words you're saying in your 16 month post because there are lots! We had to switch doctors for your 15 mo. checkup because of insurance. You handled the new office like a champ! They even give books to kids at well-child checks! How cool is that?! The doctor was pleased with all of your developmental achievements and said you don't need to go back until you're 2! You are in the 10th percentile for weight weighing around 20ish pounds and in the 50th % for height. You stood on the scale this visit to get measured and weighed and looked adorable!

As always, we love you to the moon and back! It's such a blessing getting to be your parents, and we thank God for you every day!

XOXO,
Mommy & Daddy

13 Months

Lexi,

You turned 13 months on June 23, 2012. I realize I am posting this WAY late!! Things have been busy. I still wanted to have a recap of what you were into this month. We celebrated your first birthday last month, and it was loads of fun!

You are starting to say SO many words. As of right now, here are the words you can say: horse, bye bye, Gus, mooo (cow), choo choo (with sign), pop pop, cheese, keys, uh-ohhhhh, duck, stay (when telling the dogs what to do)...I'm sure there's some I am forgetting.

You also sign lots of words! I don't have a full list, but you seem to learn a new one every other day. You can tell us what a horse, cow, duck, lizard, bunny, and tiger do. You also have started giving kisses on the cheek...so sweet! Your friends Vanna and Kirby got you a new farm fridge toy, and you love to dance to the tune, 'She'll be coming 'round the mountain.' It is quite the act.

Something big that I need to blog about is your (and your daddy's) first Disney trip! You were so exhausted that you fell asleep daily in your stroller, and we are SO not used to seeing that. I think we snapped more pictures of that than anything else. Your favorite and our highlight of the whole trip was meeting the Mickey characters! You LOVED this!!! SO CUTE!

We also took you to Branson for the weekend to celebrate our 5th anniversary, and you had so much fun! You loved looking at the fish in Bass Pro. I think we took you there several times during our trip. We also shopped at the outlets, swam in the pool, went to dinner, and played lots in the hotel room! We look forward to many more trips and adventures with you! You are our sunshine.

The daughter of a doctor

So once again, I am catching up on posting. This post was in my drafts folder.

This month (May) was a big one for little Lexi. Not only did she turn the big one, but she also watched as her daddy walked across the stage and became a doctor!! We are both SO proud of him, and claim the title as his biggest fans. Lexi did great during the ceremony as my parents and I juggled her back and forth. Once Keith received his diploma though, I took her to a room right outside the auditorium to let her wiggle. Surprisingly, this seemed to be the baby hang-out. Lexi enjoyed the other babies. We are, however, still working on using 'soft hands.' She tends to like to pat them roughly. Haha They were all boys though, so maybe she's just putting up a tough front. We weren't able to get many pictures afterwards (the place was PACKED), but here are just a few.

Aunt Nicole, along with Keith's physician mentor, Dr. Steinbrook, got to hood Keith

It was a wonderful long-awaited day!! SO proud of my hubby!

A Carousel Ride...or two.

This should have been posted a LONG time ago!! These pictures are actually from April 21st, 2012.

Recently, we took Lexi to the zoo. We bought a membership so we plan on going often while the weather is so nice. It is a fun outing for us to do while Keith has some time off before residency (the calm before the storm). This was Lexi's first ride on the carousel. Keith rode with her first, and just happened to pick the one animal that did not move up and down. She enjoyed it okay, but we thought she would enjoy it more if she was able to ride on one that actually moved so I rode with her next. She was having fun, and very content in the beginning, then....things turned. The pictures speak for themselves.

My baby is ONE!

Lexi Elle,

This post will be less of a stats post, and more of a reflection of your first year. As I sit and ponder over the first year of your life, I cannot help but hold back tears. This year has been (by far) the fastest, craziest, sleep-deprived year of my life. Most importantly though, it has been the BEST year of your daddy and my lives. We have truly relished in every second with you. Some may even call us baby hogs. I often hear people are like that with their first babies, but I'm 100% pretty certain that we will always be like this. We are so proud to call you ours, and thank God every day for you. We even have a special song we sing when doing so.

I keep having to remind myself that you are ONE. One whole year. 365 days. Where did time go? I remember vividly checking into the hospital on the night that I was to be induced. Your daddy and I kept discussing how we were leaving our house as two, but would be returning as three. Such a crazy feeling filled with butterflies. I didn't sleep the whole night before you were born because I was so anxious to see your beautiful face and hear your sweet, innocent cry. And today? I still get anxious to see your face, and hear your cries and giggles.

It truly is incredible watching you grow, change, and learn each day. Every day is new and different. I can honestly say that there are no bad days. You have learned so much this year, and we are so proud of you! In addition, you have taught your daddy and me how to be parents. We hope and strive to give you a childhood filled with creativity, love, laughter, joy, adventures, surprises, and traditions. Our hope for you is that you will become a young person who is able to stand strong in this world while being surrounded by so much diversity and choices.

Thank you Lexi for bringing a smile to my face each day, for making me laugh more than I can count, for loving me despite my ungiven talent of singing, and most importantly for making me a mom. I'm so blessed and honored.

We love you to the moon and back again! Here's to the next year of your precious life. Thank you God for allowing us to share every second with you.

Lexi's First Easter

This is WAY way late, but I wanted it recorded for memory keeping. Lexi's first Easter was the perfect reminder of God's love for us. Our day started with waking up late for church. I'm going to go ahead and be one of those people and make up an excuse for why I woke up late, haha. Keith was working nights during this times, so all of our schedules were jacked up because of this. We live in a tiny small house while Keith is finishing school, so when one person isn't sleeping well, we all aren't.

The Easter Bunny was very generous in leaving Lexi's goodies in the living room the night before. Once Lexi woke up, I scooped her up and carried her to the living room careful not to wake Keith. I didn't even get a chance to turn the lights on before I caught the little stinker already digging into her goodies. ; ) The bunny brought a swimsuit, BOOKS, a cute, cuddly bunny, and a crawl tunnel! Sorry Lexi, no candy this year! ; )

Keith woke up before lunch and we ate a yummy lunch at my parent's house. Afterwards, Lexi went down for a nap and we met Keith at his parent's house for dinner. I should also mention that Lexi had her first Easter egg hunt earlier in the week at my mom's office. She had skipped her afternoon nap that day, and was SO tired, but she was still so cute and sweet. Afterwards, we went to Steak 'n Shake. She was cracking us up signing 'more.'

We are incredibly grateful for the precious gift of eternal life and salvation, and God's little reminders of his love through our miraculous child. Every child is a miracle in my eyes, and if you are a parent, I am sure you agree. I just cannot fathom having a child without having faith...and thankfully, I do not have to. This was the best Easter ever thanks to my little Easter egg!

11 months!

Happy 11 months sweet Lexi!!! Hard to believe that in one month we will celebrate the day you were born. SO many emotions come flooding through me as I think about this. For now, we won't go there. I don't have any kleenex handy. ; )

Wow, this month you have really taken off with lots of new tricks! Your sign language vocabulary has grown. You can now sign eat, more, hat, all done, milk, dog, and water. You still say mamama and dadada. Not too long ago, I was telling Gus, "Stay Gus!" and you mimicked me, "Tay Guh!"I am certain many will not believe me on this, but I just know you were doing what I was doing. You even pointed at him as you said it. It was SO adorable, but then again, what don't I say that to?

You have four little teeth. Your top teeth have broken gums, and are poking through. The top teeth were a little more tough for you than the bottom as you would sometimes cry for no reason which is not like you at all. Poor baby!

We ask you to do all of your stuff, and it is so fun to watch. We can tell you to clap your hands, kick your feet (kick kick kick kick kick), point to the fan. On a recent trip to New York, your daddy taught you to climb the stairs, and now you want to climb everything in sight!

Things you love right now: phones, throwing your sippy cup on the ground, being chased, playing in the refrigerator, crawling fast, swinging, watching Roxy fetch for sticks while swinging, birds, Baby Einstein, feeding the dogs, books, being outside (you even pat the door to go out), ipad/computers, phones, tomato sauce, chicken, apples, puffs, yogurt, pureed sweet potatoes, yogurt melts, cheese, yogurt, and bananas.

Things you do not care for: broccoli, peas, being restrained (highchair, car seat, stroller, you name it...), diaper changes, and getting your face wiped.

We are in the full blown plans for your first birthday party. It has been lots of fun to plan, but still very tough. I tell your daddy all the time that I cannot believe my baby is this big already!!! Your daddy always says if we could freeze you right now, we would. You are just the light of our lives, and we would not trade you for the world! We love you to the moon and back.

XOXO,

Mommy & Daddy

The many faces of Lexi

Lexi makes so many cute faces, and I thought it'd be fun to document a few of them.

Lexi's signature face.
This is one face she definitely gets from her daddy! She makes this face often and it is the cutest thing in the world! This picture was taken during a weekend we spent in Norman with our best friends!

The tired face.

We were leaving the zoo, and Lexi was about to pass out. She slept soundly the whole way home. 

The 'Why do you insist on taking my picture for the upteenth time?!' face.

I just can't resist those blue eyes. I mean, LOOK at them!!

The guilty face.

We were at our friends' house, and I was getting things ready to make her dinner. I look up, and see that she had taken half of the wipes out of the package. 

The busy face. 

Lexi loves coupon-cutting day! Keeps her busy forever!

The 'again-again' face.

She loves to be pulled around in this little tote. Who wouldn't? Maybe Keith will agree to take turns with me one day?

The Happy face.

Yes, all it takes to make this girl happy is a dog bowl filled with dog food that she knows she isn't supposed to have.

LOVE LOVE LOVE every single one of these faces!!