Happy 14 months, August 25th, 2010

Dear Nuggie,

Happy 14 months sweet girl! 

We just got back from a picnic with Brysann and Stellla and I am pretty sure you didn't stop moving the entire time - you are such a busy girl!!!   You are still crawling like crazy and you are fast!! In fact, I think you know that crawling is much quicker and more efficient, therefore you are choosing to hold off on walking. Of course I am getting anxious and excited for you to walk, but I know that you will do it when you are ready.  You are cruising and beginning to show a bit more interest in walking so I know you will get there eventually:)

You change so much every week - it is hard to keep track of all the changes!  You are able to point to your nose, ears, head, hair, toes, belly, teeth and belly button. You are babbling tons now and probably saying more words than we can even identify. We know that you say dada, mama, kitty, puppy, ball, and Nelia (although you just say 'Ne' or 'Nel'). You know what sound a pig makes and you love the sound so much that every animal currently makes the pig sound:) You sign the words please, more, milk, water, and all done. Using your hands you let us know when you want something or when you want to be picked up. You love pointing out trees, birds, and airplanes when we are outside. When you get especially excited you point using both of your hands:) It is so funny! You love rolling around on the bed and snuggling with us, which we love!

You are a great little eater!  Within the last few weeks you have started feeding yourself using a spoon. Of course it usually makes a huge mess, but it is so fun watching you learn. Some of your favorite foods are: pasta with tomato sauce, pancakes, string cheese, green beans, cherries, grapes, Pirates Booty, and hummus.  Some new foods we have introduced that you really love are hot dogs, olives, and french fries.  You are drinking between 16-24oz of whole milk everyday.  We go to the Farmers Market every weekend and stock up on lots of fruits and vegetables. My goal has been to feed you mostly organic and local foods and so far it is going great!  A few weekends ago we went with Denise and Sophie which was so fun. Denise and I joked because we almost forgot you two were with us because you were both so quiet. There are so many people and dogs to watch, which I am sure kept you both entertained.  Another weekend we met Auntie Megan - it was so fun seeing her!

We just recently started putting you to bed earlier at night.  We have tried 7pm for the last few nights and it has worked out great! You are sleeping in a bit later and waking up between 6:30-7:00.  You are still taking two naps a day and you aren't showing any signs that you are ready to transition to one nap, which is fine by me!

We have had such a busy month!!  First, Kyle, Amelia, and Olivia stayed with us for a few days. The two of you had so much fun.  I loved seeing our entire living room scattered with toys - a sign of lots of fun and play! We had a playdate at the park with Amelia and Olivia, Jess, Charlie, and Marlo, Jodi and Jordan, and Peabody, which was fun even if I was chasing you around the entire time:)  I went to Ocean Shores for a weekend with Kili to watch Erin get married so you got to spend an entire weekend with daddy, which went really well. You two had lots of fun together and you got to see your great grandparents Bob and Lois. I sure did miss you though!  Then daddy went to Spokane for 5 days on a fishing trip so we had lots of girly time together.  We played with the Opsahls, Stephanie and Grace, Jodi and Jordan, Lindsey and Hunter, and Brysann and Stella, Auntie Kili, and the Klems. We are so lucky to have such wonderful friends!!!  We still go to Gymboree every Tuesday, which you absolutely love! Not only do you love Gymbo the Clown, but you really love your teacher, Miss Lucinda.  We celebrated Hunter's 1st birthday, which was a blast!!! We went to McDonalds and Ben and Jerrys with Hunter and his mommy on his birthday which was super yummy. Apparently you love ice cream now!  We tried on your birthday, but you didn't really like it, but you really enjoyed your scoop of cookie dough and a few sips of my chocolate chip mint milkshake.  At Hunter's birthday party you had so much fun playing in the sprinklers and meeting all of Hunter's family. We also celebrated Ashlynn's 1st birthday, which was fun too. We went and visited Uncle Brent a few times too, which is always nice even if it makes mommy a little bit sad.  Christine came to visit from CA and she had so much fun meeting you even if her first impression was of you crying all the way home from Seattle:)

We love you soooooooo much!!! To the moon and back!!!!

xoxo,
mommy and daddy

Such the little diva...

Nelia has recently discovered how to use her face to express herself and she is all about it!  She gives these looks and it is hard not to laugh.  For example, take a look at the following pictures. Nelia's friend Sophie came over for a playdate:

Look at that dirty look!

This one is actually really cute:) Such cute girls! Oh, and Nelia usually wears pants, but she had just woken up from her nap and we were in the process of getting dressed.

I love this one! It looks like Sophie is talking to Nelia...and you think Nelia is listening until...

Bam!!!  Look at that face!  I would be scared if I was Sophie, but nope...

She thinks it is pretty funny:)

These two are just hilarious together - full of such great personality!  I look forward to watching these BFFs grow up together:)  But Nelia might have to work on keeping her dirty looks to a minimum.

Brent....

In a few weeks Patrick, Nelia, and I are headed to California (oh, and dad is coming for a few days too!). This was the trip that you were supposed to take with us in April.  We had talked about taking Nelia to Disneyland and you were so excited to introduce her to Mickey Mouse:)  You and I were going to stay for a few extra weeks to spend time with family and show Nelia all of the fun California spots that we grew up loving.  For a long time I didn't want to take this trip. Not if you couldn't be there.  So, I postponed it and postponed it. It will still be hard and there is still a part of me that doesn't want to go. But there is a bigger part of me that knows that you would want us to go, that you would want me to take Nelia to Disneyland, and to introduce her to family and friends who adore her from afar. So, we are going. I can rally. I will rally. And there is no doubt in my mind that you will be there with us. 

Here are some pictures from our last trip to California, in 2008:)

Hanging out with dad and Uncle Frank

This is the hospital where I was born:)

Driving in the Hyundai:) We thought we were pretty cool. 

So cool that we even took pictures posing with the Hyundai:) We would rent one this time just for memories sake, but I am not sure we could fit all of Nelia's junk in there!

Remember all the self-portraits I took on this trip? You would always laugh at me! So, here is one to laugh at:)

We miss you so much! Your humor, your spirit, your dedication and devotion.

You better believe that I will be drinking lots of Coffee Bean - afterall, I have to drink for both of us, right?? In your words, 'damn straight!'

Love,

Your sister

I upgraded my phone a few months ago to a Blackberry. Before that I just had a regular phone. Now I am able to access the internet, which is so much fun!  I have been taking pictures using my phone and posting them to Facebook or emailing them to family or friends.  The only downfall is that many of these pictures never end up on the blog. So, with that said, here are some recent cell phone pictures:)

One afternoon we were kinda stuck in the car. We couldn't really go home because the housecleaner was at our house and I like to stay out of their way and Nelia had a cold so we couldn't really play with any friends. So, we spent some time just hanging out in the car. I went to Taco Time and bought some lunch for us.  Nelia loves refried beans and she loves feeding herself too. She actually does a pretty good job. Then we had a photoshoot in the car:)

Over the weekend I went shopping all by myself. And not just grocery shopping. Like clothes shopping. Crazy, huh?:) It had been way too long since I had done that.  I got some cute stuff that Nelia was pretty excited about.  I think she likes my new tank top from Gap:)

Nelia loves going to Petco to buy food for the kitties because that means she gets to look at all the pet store animals. She really loves the fish, birds, and rodents. Heck, it's free entertainment!

Riding her "dar" - that is how Nelia says car. She sees it every time we go into the garage, which is at least once a day and she is always shouting, "dar, dar, dar" She loves that thing!

Some pictures from the week...

We had a pretty chill week, mostly because Nelia has a cold.  She has also been teething pretty badly (those huge molars can come through now anyday...please!!!). We had a playdate with the Opsahls on Monday, which was super fun!  McDonalds happy meals, popsicles, and lots of playing! What could be better than that??  It was here that I noticed Nelia had a bit of a runny nose, but I figured she was just teething. Well, she woke up on Tuesday with a really runny nose (sorry Addison and Sophie!).  We had lunch with Brysann and Stella on Wednesday, which was a bit of a nightmare! Nelia just wasn't in the mood to sit in a restaurant so it was a very quick lunch.  On Thursday Lindsey and Hunter invited us to the mall, which was perfect since Nelia couldn't really play with anyone - at least this got us out of the house!  On Friday we were back at the mall with Lindsey and Hunter (we were supposed to go to the fair, but it was rainy) and this time they got to ride the carousel! Fun!

Some pictures from the week:

Nelia is all about her walker:)  In fact she is becoming quite fast! She has started standing up on her own - now she just needs to take a few steps on her own!  She definitely does things on her own schedule:)

Denise introduced us to these popsicles - they are mini popsicles and they are slow melt, which is perfect for a one year old. Nelia loves them and I think they feel good on her gums.

Coloring!

Maybe if I hide she will stop taking pictures of me:)

Nope!

Thanks Auntie Kili:)

I discovered a CD this morning titled 'Nelia' that I didn't recognize.  I headed upstairs to the computer and put the CD in and was greeted with some lovely pictures:) These were taken in July so Nelia was just a little over a year old. It's funny to see how much she has changed from July to September. Thanks Kili!

Do the Puyallup!

On Sunday Nelia went to the Puyallup Fair for the very first time with Patrick, Opa (my dad), and I. It was the first time the three of us had been in years and we had a fabulous time!  We started with lunch, which consisted of onion burgers and french fries (healthy fair food, huh??).  Of course Nelia loved the french fries.

And Opa loved his burger!

Then we headed to the barns to see the animals. This was Nelia's favorite part, which wasn't a surprise to us. The girl loves animals! She knows what sound a pig, cow, chicken, goat, dog, and sheep make so she was full of all kinds of fun noises:)

We debated whether or not to bring the stroller or just carry her in the Kelty and we opted for the Kelty, which worked out perfectly!  We didn't have to deal with navigating a stroller through the crowds, there is plenty of room in the pack for Nelia's things, and she loves sitting in it (plus she had a great view of everything).

After the animals we looked at some of the other exhibits and booths. Nelia loved this particular booth - the bright colored cartoon characters would catch her eye from far away and these booths were all over the place.

After an hour or two we decided to take a break and watch a circus show. It was just two clowns that did some juggling, a dog that did some tricks, and some funny jokes.  It was actually quite entertaining - so entertaining that Nelia lasted the entire 30 minutes.

I love how Patrick has his arm around his girl:)

See...she loved it! She is clapping at the clown:)

After the show we wandered around a little bit more before stopping for an elephant ear, which is a staple fair food, right?:)  It was the first time that Nelia had ever had one, or really any sugar like that!  She LOVED it!  She just kept asking for more:)  We looked at a few more things before heading out.  We were there for about three hours and Nelia was so happy the entire time.  She loved it so much that we are planning on going back again.  Such a fun day!