CHRISTMAS Pictures

Christmas morning at Grandma Jan & Bruce's. A stocking full of toys was waiting for her below.
Practicing standing against the ottoman at Grandpa Pulley's.

Lydia's mimicking Grandpa Pulley on her lips!

A bowl of cards kept Lydia busy for a long time at Great-Grandma Doris'.

Great Uncle Dave thinks Lydia should ask for a fireplace blower for Christmas next year.

Adelyn & Lydia

It was a very snowy (7 inches), yet very pretty Christmas Eve in LeClaire, IA.

We had a hard time getting a picture of Lydia and Jacob together since they're both so mobile now!

Playing with presents under the tree.

Lydia spent most of the Christmas Eve service in the nursery.

Santa is Scary

Alright, this is okay.

Ugh, Mommy!

Oh well, there's always next year.

Big Weekend

We visited Grandma Bolgert and Lydia tried to steal her walker. Lydia, you have your own at home!
The next day we helped Stacy and Greg move out of her apartment. Lydia was a big help, you see.

Settled into the new house! And pooped!

The next day we saw Sarah graduate. A teething biscuit helped pass the time. No, Lydia, you'll get your own roses when you get your master's!

Lydia in Action

I couldn't resist letting Lydia play with what's supposed to be her Christmas present. Hey, she doesn't know the difference, and she's happy...
... very happy!

Crawling back towards Mommy and her toys now.

And yes, that's Lydia standing!*

She's growing up so fast!

.

*Baby in this picture was propped standing. Once propped, she might stand and play for a minute or two before falling on her bum. Baby will frequently pull herself up on her knees.

Who's the Boss?

Lydia. That's who!
And don't you forget it, Sock and Shoe!

Crawling Pics

Santa's Reindeer

The Red Barn in Morton has a male and female reindeer.

We got to get close to the male with the large rack.
Reindeer fly only one night of the year.

One of Lydia's favorite activities at home is to pull all her books off the coffee table into a big pile on the floor, and then open and close the pages of them.

My First Thanksgiving

Sitting cute in my Thanksgiving bib with Mom and Laura, and ready to get some turkey and sweet potato!

Say Cheese!
Hehe, I got a picture of you on Sarah's phone!

Katie just turned 21, so we celebrated her birthday too!

These are some of my second cousins I got to see and play with.

They all thought I was their cutest family member ;)

Here you can see my adorable Packer cheerleader outfit! Great Uncle Gary almost didn't let me in the house with it on!

Oh, and I met a new friend. His name is Moose, and there I am about to pinch his schnoz while Sarah and Katie aren't looking. And there he is again. This time, though, he's getting me in the leg. Aunt Sue, protect me!

I hope everyone had as blessed of a Thanksgiving as I did. And yes, I did go shopping the next day at the Lighthouse outlet mall-it's tradition!

Paige and Lydia are our Earth's Best taste testers.

Paige gobbled her teething biscuit right down. Lydia also enjoyed gnawing on them. Mommies thought they were slimy and messy.

Baby Gate

The baby gate is officially in use.

Keys Jingle

Giggles

Waving

9 Months Old!

Lydia's nine months old and undergoing major changes. She's doing it; she's doing the army crawl!! I'm on the floor enticing her towards me (she likes my shiny ring), and I'm so proud. She's getting into the coffee table shelf, so we've replaced heavy objects with stacks of her books. We can sit with her and roll balls back and forth! She can pull herself up to sitting. She also thinks it's time to change away from her three-a-day naps. And can we say, Mamma's Girl? We'll see how this turns out... Lydia's the happiest baby I know. She gets so happily excited for food, toys, play... The expressive blinking and grunting while forcefully drawing her elbows in to her chest is her signature move. We have doctor's appointment and photo shoot this week. I have to make a point to pull out our video camera too. 17 lbs, 6 oz. 27.5 in.

Let's Eat!

Lydia loves mealtime. She eats cottage cheese, pasta, egg, tofu, graham crackers, and of course, Cheerios! And she likes my pot roast too, thanks to the magic bullet blender :)

Two Cheerios in the right hand, one hanging on her lip, and going for another!

We removed the spill-proof part of the cup, so now she's getting the hang of drinking from it.

Look what I have!!

*Quack*Quack* Happy Halloween!

Lydia gained an aunt last weekend! Uncle Dan and Kaitlyn got married! Ben was bestman and I was a bridesmaid. Sorry I don't have any other pictures yet.

Driver in Training

Lydia can stay on this car for a pretty long time. She'll shift her weight and drive backwards. While riding, she smiles and reaches out and gabs. And oh does she gab!..and jabber to her toys, rant to her hands, yak to anyone who'll listen. You might hear a 'dada,' 'baba,' or 'hi.' Sometimes you can tell she's babbling about serious stuff, like the upcoming elections, and other times it's just cuteness.