today was izzy’s first birthday! she was so cute and so happy…..right up until the part where the pictures started.

because of her syndrome, she gets startled very easily (something to do with her hearing), and when everyone started singing “happy birthday” and staring at her she kind of freaked out.

she was not a huge fan of the photos and cake, but i still think it was so cute.

she is such an amazing little sister and a blessing to our family. i don’t think any child could’ve brought our family closer than her, she is really just an angel sent here to remind us of what really matters–family. happy birthday Iz!

and then we fed Q some cake and put the birthday hat on her to practice for her big day which is less than 4 months away!

…to use my canon for pictures instead of my phone.

we stayed home and had a quiet new years eve here in logan this year because quinn was on antibiotics for an illness and i wanted her to be close to home. our past two new years have been quite unsuccessful (found out i lost our twins 2 years ago, was pregnant and fell asleep at 9 last year), but this one was very fun.

we invited up some cousins (andrew, katie, megan & aaron) and we spent the night in style.

at about 6:00 we started with some homemade sushi, noodles and dip. we hung out, played some games and relaxed.

our favorite games were dicecapades and just dance. we even got my mom & dad to do one dance. it was really fun.

then we ended the night with watching the ball drop, toasting martinellis, new years kisses, midnight breakfast of french toast and bacon, and spending time with family. it was the best way to start the new year.

christmas was so fun this year. we had a lot of family parties, so the week was pretty busy driving back and forth from orem to logan, but it was well worth it.

we spent christmas morning just the 3 of us at home so that we could create our own traditions with baby girl. (i don’t believe in pampering before christmas morning obviously)

she got a couple of fun santa gifts, but it took her a while to warm up to the dragon who pops balls out of his tummy. this is the video of the 1st time i turned it on. i’ve never heard her scream like that.

8 months is such a fun age.  she is so interactive and independent.

she learned how to stand up and subsequently made nap times a living nightmare for me.  she will stand up in her crib, get stuck (because she hasn’t learned yet to get down from standing), and throw loud and terrible fits until i come in to put her back down.  then she stands up and does it all over again.  it’s like this for about an hour before i just pull her out and rock her to sleep.  i feel like i’m back to having a newborn all over again, but i can’t complain because it is such a precious time to get to rock her and watch her fall asleep, safe and cozy in my arms.

this is a video i took of her in her playpen trying to stand up.

please ignore my annoying baby voice i use in the videos. i think i should lose that altogether.

also, she is learning how to avoid the foods she doesn’t like. and those foods are basically any type of chunky baby food. at first, she would just swat the spoon away and get food all over her, but now she blocks her mouth or tries to hide herself. she thinks that if she can’t see me, i can’t see her, so she just puts her hand up over her eyes and hopes her food won’t find her mouth. it’s really cute.

church has turned out to be one of the things i dread most. she is so loud. she wants to crawl. she wants to be held. she wants more treats. she wants to see what’s in the stranger’s purse. she wants a bottle. she wants to sleep. she wants to play. it’s terrible. relief society is the worst because in our new ward there are NO other kids so every noise she makes is like magnified 100 times. it sounds a little like this, which is why i spend most of my time out in the hall:

she is a busy-body and loves to play. all day. i thought i would only feel this busy once i had multiple kids, but it seems all i do is chase her around all day. there is nothing better than being her mom.

WHAT?!  i can’t believe this is true.  it seems like december has flown by.

i finally got around to taking Q to see santa at the mall.  i have been kind of dreading it because all i’ve heard are stories about how kids have major meltdowns on santa’s lap, and i didn’t want to be that embarrassing family in the mall whose kid is freaking out.

but, unexpectedly she loved him.  she reached out for him.  she couldn’t stop staring at him.  and when dad went up to get her, she turned into santa and hugged him, dissing dad’s outstretched arms.

it was one of those heart-melting moments when i just love her little personality that shines through.

these are kind of bad pictures, but i haven’t scanned in the professional one we got of her yet.

another christmas milestone was achieved tonight in the way of getting all of my wrapping done.  that usually doesn’t happen until christmas eve, so i’m feeling pretty good about it.

our poor wall tree looks so pathetic with the chaotic pile of gifts just lying on the floor.  whoever invented christmas trees knew what they were doing because it looks so much better to have presents in a circle pile instead of just a weird looking floor pile.

either way though, i’m having a hard time imagining how a pile of presents can survive in any pile-like way when there is a crawler on the loose.  i’m thinking next year maybe virtual presents for everyone??

i think i am finally ready for christmas to get here.  and when i end the night with this cute face, a busy day like today is so worth it.

december brought with it a crawling baby who is always on the run.

i didn’t see it coming because i was always told babies start to crawl around 9-11 months and she was 6.5 when it began.

i didn’t have time to baby proof and because of that, Q has had a dozen accidents {pulling things on top of her, getting lodged under the couch, falling off the bed, and more things falling on top of her.  i should really get around to making this place safe, huh?

other than being a total booger-monster and having a bad cough for the past 2 weeks, she is sure making me smile a lot.  she is reaching for me, and today she even said “mamama” when she reached.  probably a coincidence, but it melted my heart.  she is very good at saying dada, but today was the first mama.

she has a lot of personality quirks and i’ve had several relatives tell me that “what goes around comes around”, because i was a very determined, stubborn and independent kid and so far Q is too.  she can give me some serious mean looks when i try to wipe her nose or she isn’t getting what she wants.

i’m in for a long 18 years if she is anything like me.  better get on some anti-anxiety pills.

anyway, here are few pics and videos of her.

**for some reason wordpress isn’t letting me insert the videos, i’ll have husband work on that. for now, if you care to see them click the links:

it took me a while to be comfortable with the idea of having two mortgages on our name, but after walking through this house, nothing matters.

i am in love.

i almost want to just skip forward to mid-january so i can start painting and decorating, but i keep reminding myself to enjoy the holidays and not let them fly by and miss enjoying them with my new little family.

{blurred out the address for creepers sakes}