Peek-a-boo!

Nora’s 1st Birthday Party!

In celebration of Nora’s first birthday, we enjoyed a party at our house with many loved ones surrounding us.  How wonderful to celebrate the blessings from this past year and God’s work in Nora’s first year of life!  The afternoon of the party Nora must have sensed the excitement, as it took her two hours to fall asleep for her nap.  She finally fell asleep just as the guests arrived!  But after a short, energizing nap, Nora donned on her birthday dress and frilly socks and was ready to celebrate!

The birthday cake was made by my coworker, Patti.  The cake matched the invitations that my mom and I made.  Our theme was the little girl owl and the invite said, “Guess WHOO’S turning one?!”  The cake was amazingly delicious (all her cakes are)!  The only hiccup at the party occurred when Nora stuck her hand in the cake when we were trying to get a picture of her next to it.  Even though I had her over the sink and washed the buttercream frosting off her hand within 30 seconds, she still developed hives on her hand from coming into contact with a milk product.  But after a little benadryl she was ready to continue celebrating.

Nora LOVED her cupcake and ate the whole thing – cake and frosting!  I found a recipe called “Whacky Cake” that was popular during the Great Depression when they did not have much butter or eggs, and used that to make the cupcakes.  It uses cold water and vinegar instead of eggs and is milk, egg, and nut-free.  It will be Nora’s perfect dessert!

Nora loved her presents and really enjoyed ripping the wrapping paper, holding the cards, and looking at her new gifts!

A favorite gift was a Fisher Price kitchen toy from Grammie and Grandpa.  ALL the little girls at the party flocked to this new toy – cute!

Nora got a lamb animal/pillow that she really loves!  If you say, “give lambie a hug”, she wraps her arms around him and put her head down – precious!  The lamb has stitching on his tummy that says, “Don’t Count Sheep – Talk to the Shepherd.”  We will impress that piece of good advice onto Nora as she gets older.

Hanging with Grandpa

Playing with a new Melissa and Doug puzzle.  Nora was going strong and playing with her new toys until 7:30 pm!  Guests left and Nora was in bed by 8:00!  A successful party!

Twelve Months Old

Between eleven and twelve months, Nora seems to have gone from baby to toddler.  She expresses her opinions, is interacting with people much more, and looks less like a baby (sniff, sniff) with her hair almost ready for barrettes.  At twelve months, Nora…

1) Weighs 19 pounds, 4 ounces (25%) and is 29 5/8 inches (70%) long.  2) Follows simple directions: “Give Daddy a PAT”, “Give Mommy a HUG”, “Fold your hands and PRAY”, “Can you WAVE?”.  3) Can climb a flights of stairs quite quickly!  4) Loves DOGS – pictures of them in books and in person.  She does a cute, little whimper doggie sound when you ask her what a doggie says.  Unfortunately, Nora tested positive for being allergic to dogs.  So her love of dogs will have to be fostered at a distance. <grin>  5)  Still loves to get around by crawling and walking behind her push toys.

March 2, 2012 – One Year Old!

March 2, 2011 – 60 minutes old!  (What a difference a year makes!)

Loved her birthday balloons!

Nora’s Birthday gift, a Rocking Horse, from Mommy & Daddy

Birthday Girl Giggles

Valentine’s Day

How things have changed in a year!  On Valentine’s Day, one year ago, I was just getting permission to be off bedrest and we were rejoicing that I had made it to full-term pregnancy.  So to celebrate our last holiday “just the two of us” before Nora was born, we ate dinner at Portillo’s and picked up Culver’s custard on the way home – two of my favorite comfort foods.  That was two weeks before Nora was born.

Fast forward to the present – we enjoyed our first Valentine’s Day with our little valentine!  The day began with cards, chocolates, and a surprise for Nora from Jonathan – an Elmo balloon.  Boy, was that a hit; Nora loves the balloon!  (See pics below.)  For dinner the three of us headed to downtown Naperville to Francesca’s, a restaurant we’ve been wanting to try.  With a 5:30 pm reservation, we enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner.  Nora did amazingly well sitting in the highchair eating her food and playing with toys, during the long wait of a busy restaurant night on a holiday.  The food was delicious, but not superb, and the prices were pricey.  But the best part was the fellowship.  A special time it was, spending the evening with my honey and my sweets.

What a fun surprise from Daddy!

She’s all smiles for Elmo

Balloon fun

Eleven Months Old

At eleven months Nora continues to be such a happy baby!  She is definitely a girl on the move.  She loves to crawl from room to room, looking for her next adventure.

Nora…1) weighs somewhere around 19 pounds.  2) has a new tooth popping through – right top, next to the center two.  3) enjoys climbing stairs, being chased by Daddy, and turning the pages of her books.  4) can mimic us!  Nora buzzes her lips together after watching us do it and can repeat “oh”, “ma”, and “da”.  5) has gotten really good at waving!  6) is a great player – she loves her toys.  :)

First attempt at the bear picture

“Look at me, Mom!”

EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about it!

Silly girl with her tongue out!

Book Time with Mommy
Nora started to climb – yikes!

Soccer Ball Fun!

Nora LOVES her awesome Christmas gift from Aunt Julie!  :)

Nora’s First Snow

We were excited to put Nora’s Christmas gift to use today – her sled!  The preparation part was the hardest.  Getting snow pants on a baby is tough!  But once we got outside Nora was a happy girl.  She really enjoyed her ride in the sled.  (It helped that we had taken several practice rides along the carpet over the past few weeks.)  Sledding is such fun playtime with Daddy.

all bundled up

Ready to take off

“Here I come!”

“wee…”

Snowy Smiles