My beautiful Snowman

Dear Lexi,

Even though it didn't snow in Christmas this year, we still had a beautiful snowman to make our Christmas merry. Your aunt Ammie made you a beautiful snowman outfit and you absolutely loved it. I was so surprised when you actually liked putting on the outfit! You loved the tutu, scarf, and baby legs. I was so surprised that you didn't mind putting on the outfit, but you loved it so much that you didn't want me to take it off. We went to the Dallas Arboretum and everyone loved your outfit. Random strangers were wanting to take pictures of you and you soaked up the attention. We also went to the Gaylord Texas to take family pictures. You loved all of the lights and Christmas trees.

I love you,

Love,

Mommy

Winter 2011

Dear Lexi,

This winter has been a great time for us. You have developed such a great personality, it has been so fun to watch you grow into your own person. You love being girly and playing with your dolls, stuffed animals, and pretending to put on make-up. You love to cuddle with mommy and be chased by daddy. Your favorite words are, "no, mine, and more." You love child sized furniture, eating crayons, princesses, and reading books. You are completely adorable with your little baby's. You will feed them, pat them, and cover them in blankets. You love playing on mommy's and daddy's phones. You are addicted to your pink sweater that you call your, "jackee." You love calling mommy, "sawah," and daddy, "wyan." You love kittens and saying animal noises. You know that cows moo, cats meow, dogs pant, and ducks quack. Mommy and daddy try to teach you that dogs go "woof," but you insist that dogs pant instead. You know a lot of your body parts; eyes, nose, ears, cheek, chin, mouth, teeth, tongue, head, elbow, fingers, thumbs, tummy, knees, toes, and hiney. You love pointing out body parts on other people and on your baby dolls. You have started talking more and more every week. You have started to sting 3-4 words together to form a sentence. You can tell me, "yes, I did poop," "I want daddy," "read a book," and "I want to go bye bye."

You have gotten so smart these last few months and so independent. You want to pick out your own clothes, shoes, and breakfast. You love things that are pretty like your sparkly shoes. You are such an amazing little girl and I love you with all of my heart.

Boxing with Uncle Scott.
Decorating our felt Christmas tree.Reading your new book from Nana.

Reading with daddy, your new favorite night time ritural.

Learning to pout.

I love you baby girl,

Love,

Mommy

Fall 2011

Dear Lexi,

This fall was a lot of fun. The weather was beautiful in Texas and we were able to go on a lot of adventures. We went to the pumpkin patch, we went trick or treating, and we played at the park a lot. You started to really love playing with baby dolls. You loved playing with make-up and climbing and you loved playing in the leaves with Collin and Allison.

You loved learning to play with stickers! You had so much fun putting them all over your face.
Playing with mommy's make-up. Such a pretty girl.

Playing outside, drawing on the sidewalk.

Halloween!! You were a ballerina!

Your first ice cream cone! Look at that innocent little dog face!

Climbing! You started to climb so much these last few months! You climb on everything!

Helping mommy carve pumpkins.You love your baby dolls! You love pretending to mommy them.

I love you baby girl,

Love always,

Mommy

Quick trip to Cali in October 2011

Dear Lexi,

Mommy and you took a quick trip to California and you had a blast. We were only there for a few days, but it was so fun being able to meet with family and friends. You loved your cousin Noah and your Nana's puppies. You also loved being able to fly and play with uncle Micah's ipad. You loved your aunt Gabby!

I love you little girl,

Love,

Mommy

Summer 2011

Dear Lexi,

Summer 2011 was a busy year for us. We spent a lot of time in the pool and barbequing with family, we spent a lot of time playing outside at the park, and we spent a lot of time hanging out with family. I August, all of our family came to town to visit. It was a blast. :) You had a lot of fun hanging out with your cousins!

I love you little girl,

Love,

Mommy

Cake Smashing Pictures

Dear Lexi,
We did your 12 month pictures with Becky Jorgensen Photography. We did a one year cake smash and it was incredibly fun. You were such a diva. You didn't want to touch the cake, you would put one little finger in the cake and then eat it.

















Then, your lovely father decided that tactic wasn't going to make great pictures, so he "helped" you out a bit.














You weren't happy with having your hands dirty, but you had cake so you were ok. You tried to shake off the cake for a few seconds, but then you got distracted by the taste!














Well, daddy didn't think that just having dirty hands would make a good picture, so he "helped" out a little bit more.














That really made you mad! Not only were your hands dirty, but your face was dirty too. You kept chasing me trying to get me to clean you up, but I wanted you to finish the photo shoot. I cleaned you up a little to make you happy, then we went back to the yummy cake!!














After you were cleaned up a little, you were more than happy to get back to your cake! You even shared some with daddy!!
















It was a great cake smash! Here are some of mommy's favorites from this shoot...









I love you Lexi, you are an amazing little girl!!

Love always,
Mommy!

Birthday Party

Dear Lexi,

On May 28, 2011 we celebrated your first birthday. We threw a party at our apartment complex. We spent some time in the theatre-eating lunch, opening presents, and eating cake. You loved the frosting on the cupcake, but you weren't too fond of getting your hands dirty. You kept trying to shake off the frosting. Mommy created a video for your first birthday--it had all of my favorite pictures and videos from your first year. When we went to the pool to go swimming you were so tired and grumpy that I just took you home to take a nap. You slept like a rock though!! It was such an exciting day for you! And you got so many great presents!!

I love you sweet girl!

Love always,

Mommy and Daddy!

First year highlights!

Dear Lexi,

This first year has passed by sooo fast! I can't believe how big you have gotten. You started out as just an itty bitty baby and now you are walking, talking (words) and screaming. I love how big you have gotten and I love how smart you are. Here are some highlights from your first year....

First giggle--At 3 weeks you would giggle in your sleep at 2 months you would smile and giggle when you recognized mommy or daddy.

Holding head up---At about two months you got really good at holding your head up while on your tummy.

Photo Shoot--At three months you had your first professional photo shoot. You liked it for about 10 minutes, then we had to work really hard to keep you happy.

Family Reunion--At three months you had your first family reunion. At this point you would use sleep as a defense mechanism, lets just say you slept A LOT! Poor girl, everything was way too crazy for you.

Hand Control--At three months you learned to grasp object and you found your hands. You were fascinated with the movements you could make your hands do.

Sitting up--At around 5 months you started to sit up. You would tip over a lot, but you were determined and kept pushing yourself back up.

First flight--Your first flight was Thanksgiving. We flew to Georgia and then drove to Myrtle Beach. You were great on the flight!!

Crawling--At about 8.5 months you started to crawl. You loved being able to crawl over and grab things, but you didn't realize that you could crawl long distances. It wasn't until about 9 months that you realized that crawling could be used as a way of following mommy to the bathroom. I haven't pee'd by myself since.

Standing--At around 9 months you started to stand (letting go of objects after pulling yourself up). At around 9.5 months you started to stand without needing anything to grab onto. You were so proud of yourself. You would stand there and bounce up and down.

Walking--At around 11 months you started walking. You started with just one or two steps, but at 11 months you realized that you could go more than a few steps. At eleven months you just took off. You haven't stopped walking since.

Talking--At one year you could say seven words; mama, dada, ball, toy, toes, hi and bye. You love "bye-bye" the best.

I love you little girl,

Love,

Mommy and Daddy

Mommy GRADUATES!!

Dear Lexi,

Today, Mommy walked in her college graduation. It was such an exciting day for all of us! Mommy had worked so hard for FIVE years to get that diploma! I am so glad that you were there to watch mommy walk across the stage (even though you slept...). I love you so much little girl and one day you will walk across the stage and I will watch and cheer so loud!!

At the Phi Alpha after party!

Getting ready to walk across the stage!!




Chilling with daddy before the grads walk in!






Sleeping...

I love you baby girl!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

First trip to the ZOOOOOO!!

May 18, 2011

Dear Lexi,

Today was your very first trip to the zoo! It was such a great trip. We went to the Fort Worth Zoo. You went with; mommy, daddy, and Aunt Brandi! You behaved GREAT!!! You had so much fun at the zoo! You had fun watching daddy play with the birds, climbing on the statues, and looking at the alligators. You especially loved the indoor exhibits! You stayed in your stroller, but you also liked being able to walk around and explore! You even warmed up to Brandi. You loved being playing with her earrings. Here are so pictures from your first zoo trip!!

Lexi hanging out with Auntie Brandi!!

Lexi loving the family time!




Lexi with daddy chilling on a crocodile (alligator??)

Lexi on a iguana thingy

Trying to touch the birds that daddy was holding.

Staring at the aquariums.

Daddy feeding the birds.

I love you,

Love,
Mommy and Daddy