Ohhh Christmas Tree

This Christmas was fantastic. Having little Cordellia around to share the holidays with makes life so perfect!! It has been amazing with my wonderful husband the last two years, but somehow she is able to channel in so much more love into our little family :) We were lucky enough to have my parents stay with us over the weekend, and it was wonderful. We had a traditional Christmas Eve, full of food, games, and traditions. And Christmas day was great. Cordy was so happy ripping up all of the paper. She loved all her gifts, but her favorite by far was a pillow panda from Grandma and Grandpa, and a baby dolly from Nana and Papa. It is so cute to watch her with them--she giggles and cradles the baby, and falls face first onto her pillow to feel the softness of the fur on her face. And she can now imitate a duck and a lamb; for a duck she says "ka ka" for quack, and she says "aaaa" for a sheep's baaa. Kind of random, but that's what she chooses to imitate :)

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

Loves her second cousin's saddle

Loves on her baby all the time

What a little ham

A little Christmas Spirit

So this past month has been super busy, but full of Christmasy things. We have done a ton of baking, decorating, crafting, and planning (well maybe just me). My parents our coming up tomorrow to spend Christmas with our little family, and we are super excited. Here are just a few recaps from this month.

Aaron has officially applied for Optometry school!! We are so excited to start that chapter of our lives! And he only has one more semester to go before graduating from BYU:)

Cordy is officially walking... our eleven month old baby girl is toddling all over the place now. It's so exciting, but sad at the same time because she's growing up too fast for her mommy and daddy.


She is talking up a storm. No real words, but just babbling all sorts of things while she toddles around.

She mimics everything. She gives kisses and hugs now, and talks on her "new" phone like crazy--she always has it up to her ear and just babbles. She also occasionally copies the random "uh-ohs" and any loud noises. Every time we say "love a baby" she puts her doll, or stuffed animal up to her shoulder and pats it on the back, it is so precious. She also mimics us anytime we laugh or cough. She is just a little sponge right now!!!

She still loves everyone, reaches out to any person she sees--and steals their hearts.

Tiny Toes

So the other week I decided to paint Cordy's toenails...that was interesting. I should have known it would be a mess, but I really couldn't resist. I put her in her highchair, so she couldn't reach her toes. I think after the whole process was over I got maybe three times as much nail polish on her feet than on her nails...after I cleaned it up I couldn't get over how cute they were! Pictures didn't do it justice, it was absolutely adorable (although I will probably wait a while before I do it again). And just looking at her feet reminded me of a sonagram picture I got of her when I was only 24 weeks along. You could just see the bottom of her feet, and all of her tiny little toes! And I can't believe my angel baby girl is almost one! Time is going by way too fast.

Turkey Time!!

In good ol' Texas it was babies galore! And it really was non-stop entertainment, busyness, and fun. Cordy is loving her little cousins; she gets a little concerned when she hears crying, but she is having so much fun with them! She is a little bit more of the non-sharing type...haha, but we are working on it. But it is so cute, every time she hears Jovi or Haiden laughing or talking she gets so excited. She has to speed crawl over to them and just giggle, and rub their heads... She LOVES little kids, and she is becoming such good friends with her cousins: I love it.
We had a blast with every one. I loved shopping with the girls, playing board games once the kiddos were in bed and just spending time visiting and laughing. We had Christmas this thanksgiving with every one, since every one else will be at the in-laws for Christmas, and the babies loved it. Cordy, Haiden, and Jovi are so fun together, although Cordy might be a little rough she has learned how to play better with her little friends. Our new nephew Benjamin is so cute, and it was so fun to hold a newborn again. The older kids, Luke, Annie, and Elise had a lot of fun too: their personalities are so adorable. So in retrospect we had a blast with every one, and were sad to leave, I love all of my family!













While we were visiting Cordy has done so much! She started standing on her own a ton, and on the 28th she took her first steps. I put her on the ground standing and my mom reached out to her and she took two or three steps after I let go of her!!! I can't believe my baby is getting so big! And she is so much more cuddly now, which I LOVE! At night if she cries, I am able to go and pick her up and rock her back to sleep, I haven't been able to do that for months. And she will give hugs now. If you go over close to her, she will reach out and wrap her arms around your neck and lay her head on your shoulder. It just melts my heart!!

Cordy's New Tricks

So over the past few months Cordy has learned so many cute and fun things.

One-Every time she sees someone clapping, or hears clapping or a loud noise on the tv, she automatically looks at us, and gives us a big smile while she says something like yay and claps. Then she'll stop and do it again. And of course it gets everyone else clapping an saying yay. It is too dang cute.

Two-She loves cell phones. She will take our cell phones and play with them, put them in her mouth, but now she puts them up to the side of her head and says hey...oh man, what a cutie.

Three-She is learning to wave. She stretches out her hand whenever we come into a room and rubs her fingers on her thumb as she says something like hi. It just kills me every time.

Needless to say our little girl has us wrapped around her tiny little fingers. She seriously has us smiling all day long.

Belated Birthday

So Aaron's brother Seth had a birthday a few weeks ago. We went to his cousins to celebrate it and had a great time. But my family has always had big birthday traditions, and when I had a few siblings up here we always spoiled each other. So I wanted to have fun and give Seth his own night too. I made his request for French dipped sandwiches, which were divine! And I experimented with a cake as well. Aaron and I have been watching Cake Boss, and love it. The show gave me the urge to give a shot at cake decorating. I made fondant for the first time, and made a four layered cake (thanks to my lovely aunt who gave me the pans!). It was surprisingly delicious, and pretty fun to make too. I couldn't find my thinner tip, so it looked a little different than I wanted it to.

November

So I am finally working out my post baby body...the past few months it has been touch and go, but I am finally in a routine, and it feels great! I've been doing classes: turbokick, spin, and zumba (they are killer, but so fun). And because I've been active, I guess I feel justified in baking more :) I made these little glazed banana bread bunt cakes, that's a mouthful...literally too.





And I had to put up a few picture of Cordy, of course. The other night we put her to bed, and about an hour later we hear these high pitched wooos, and ahhhs. I couldn't resist and I had to peak in; she was wide awake, and grabbing onto the side of her crib while she swayed side to side. I obviously couldn't help myself and I brought her out to play a little longer :) She has one irresistible personality, that's for sure.

Slowing Down

So, just recently I have been trying to have some girl time with my friends, and it has been so amazing! Aaron has been such a good husband and he really pushes me to hang out with my old friends...This month I feel so much better about myself because I have had some girl time. Time where Daddy is taking care of Cordy, and I can completely relax and spend an hour or so just having fun and having no responsibilities: no dishes, no diapers, no feeding, no vacuuming... just me. I know this sounds so selfish, but I have realized as a mom, this time is so important! I think I would go crazy without some "me" time. I love, love, love being a mom and a wife, but at times I want to pull my hair out because I feel like there are days where I cook, clean, do laundry, and put baby to bed/feed 24/7. This is time where I can just breathe and completely de-stress (I have been grinding my teeth at night like crazy because I get so stressed sometimes.)

Having this time makes me realize how much I love my little family. It's amazing that by pulling back a little, and having a chance to relax makes life so much more enjoyable. Lately I have worked out with some of my friends, done crafts, and yes even shopping and tanning. Some things that make life slow down again, in a good way. I hardly ever do things like this anymore with other girls, and once in a while it's kind of nice :) . I feel so blessed to have a husband that doesn't grumble when I ask to run some errands in the evening, while he watches the munchkin. He loves to see me happy, and would literally do anything to see me smile.

"T" "i" double ga er

Well I'm not sure how I would write that, but anyways that is what Cordy was for Halloween. She was the cutest little hundred acre wood character ever. We went to BYU's children Halloween party, which was a blast. She went fishing with daddy, and caught a little rubber duck, then she was part of a costume parade, and not to mention she got to hangout with her cute skunk (Ellie) and ladybug (Camryn) friends. Oh, and she got a picture with Cosmo dressed up as Batman :) Then on Saturday the Keetons invited us to their trunk or treat and Cordy had a ball getting candy. She thought it was the best game ever. She got to reach into bowls and pull out a crinkly bright colored toy (piece of candy), and then daddy put it in her pumpkin and she did it all over again. I loved watching her. I can't imagine how much more fun this is going to get as she gets bigger.

Nana and Papa

Can't you see Cordy's expression of pure happiness?!

We have enjoyed seeing my parents this year numerous times!!! I feel lucky that there have been so many weddings and other things going on here in Utah, things that make my parents come visit us! Love, Love, Love them!


I love dad's face here, priceless :)