P's Birthday Bash

We had a little birthday party with some of my family just before Presley's birthday and boy, was it fun! Presley helped me with all of the preparations by emptying out my cupboards and sitting in them to fill her diaper (it's her new happy place).

Around Halloween, we discovered that P loves balloons and these helium balloons were a big hit!

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We didn't do anything fancy, just a light lunch, a few decorations, a trip to the park, and lots of visiting!

Oh yes, and some Gator football!

Auntie Ashley and Uncle Jay gave her this great little dog. It's one of her new favorite toys! She loves to push and pull it around and really likes it when Momma and Daddy push her around while she rides it! And, any time she needs a pick-me-up, she pushes his nose and gets her groove on to the music.

 The park is always lots of fun!

Two generations of bottoms protruding from the tube...

During a game of bocce ball, Ashley's big gold ring flew off her hand. Jeff was the lucky, sassy-pants, finder.

After the park and a quick nap, it was time for cake and ice cream!

P was pretty excited when she saw her cake and candle coming and really liked having everyone sing to her!

She liked to stick her fingers in the frosting but, that was about it.

She ate a couple bites of cake, put some frosting in her hair, and then decided she'd rather eat her beans and cheese fishes.

Party hats were not optional at this party!

We were excited that Her Majesty, our resident Prom Queen, came from enemy territory (FSU) to celebrate with us and she brought her pretty face too ;-)!

P was actually more interested in opening presents than I thought she would be. She got really excited about each one!

Her new baby doll was an especially big hit! (P.S. No, her hair is not wet, it's slicked down with frosting. No time for a bath mid-party!)

And to start a new tradition, P woke up to a room full of balloons on her birthday! She thought that was lots of fun!

We had such a nice time and appreciated being able to celebrate it with some of our family! I know P had a good time and felt like the special little lady that she is!

Look Who's One!

 

 

  

A full post about her birthday festivities, stats and new tricks coming soon! We sure love this little lady--it's been the happiest year of our lives thus far!

Our (Cute) Little Family

My friend, Irene, is a pretty talented photographer and I was so excited when she agreed to take some pictures of our cute little family. I'm so excited to finally have some pictures with all three of us in them! I just cannot tell you how much I love these people!

Happy Halloween!

I hope you enjoyed your Halloween! We sure did! We took P trick-or-treating for the first time (2 houses) and spent some time at the park playing and watching all of the other kids in their costumes!

This is how P really felt about her lion hat.

Momma liked it though!

We are all ready excited for next year! Happy Halloween, everyone! Now on to Thanksgiving!

GGG & TOT

We've had some fun Halloween activities the last few days! Our little lion cub has had fun with all of the festivities!

First up was Ghouls, Goblins and Greeks on UF's sorority row. There were tons of kids and we had fun watching them all trick-or-treat and play games at all of the houses. P enjoyed chewing on a few wrapped pieces of candy but, was so excited when one of the houses gave her a balloon!

Tonight we had our church Halloween activity, trunk-or-treat! P loved seeing all of the kids and have us chase her all around the church.

She didn't see what all of the fuss was about with the candy...

My two loves setting off to see the decorated trunks.

A couple of people brought their dogs and P was in heaven! Lots of kisses and sniffing from both parties.

Cutest little lion cub. EVER!

Showing Off Her New Skills

P.S. We normally aren't so fancy at our house. The pettiskirt is left over from the photos we just took!

11 Months Old!

My how time flies! P is going to be graduating to toddler-hood in just one short month! Yikes! This was an eventful month for our little sweet P! She's still growing like a weed and has a lot of new "tricks" to keep us entertained!

• At 11 months old, P weighs about 20 pounds. She still seems pretty tall for her age but, she's definitely lean! We get comments all the time on how petite she is.
• P now has 4 teeth--2 on top, 2 on the bottom--and enjoys using them! She definitely prefers big girl foods, her favorites being bananas, pears, black beans, graham crackers and Cheerios (with almond milk). She loves to eat (she practically leaps into my arms when I ask her if she's ready for a snack) and enjoys just about anything that she can feed herself. I bought her some little spoons and she's learning to use those and she's started sharing her food with us. She loves to feed Momma and Daddy!
• We reached two really big milestones this month. First, P is walking...WALKING! A couple of days before she reached the 11 month mark, she decided that she was ready to be a full-time walker. She's been toddling around in short spurts (6-10 steps) for weeks but, finally decided she's ready to view the world upright. She especially likes to cruise around naked after her baths. It's so funny to see her little Tobler buns toddling around the house. Her bottom looks just like Jeff's.
• Second, P officially started talking! She's been saying Mamamamamama and Dadadadadada for a month or two but, this month her words are more understandable and deliberate. She says Mama, Dada, nana (for banana), hi and hot (sounds more like Haaa). She makes other sounds consistently but, I can't tell yet what they are for. She's always been a bit of a chatterbox (especially when she's eating) but, she seems to be really chatting away now!
• Thanks to some nifty apps on the iPad, Presley is really starting to learn her animals and their noises! She can tell you what the lion, monkey, elephant, dog and cow say.
• This month P started showing that she knows her body parts using her own body (rather than pointing to mine). She can show you ears, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, belly, hands, feet and toes.
• One of Presley's favorite games to play is "lions" with her Daddy. They crawl around the floor growling at each other and then attempt to get me. It's great fun and part of our bedtime routine.
• P learned how to open cupboards this month so, she's been helping me rearrange my kitchen. It's great that she can come and play in the kitchen with me while I cook. She makes messes about as fast as I can clean them up though!
• Presley loves balls! She's learned to flop herself into her ball pit and how to play catch--or at least roll the ball back and forth.
• She loves to dance and gets really excited to do the "hot dog dance" at the end of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She loves Mickey Mouse and while she doesn't really watch much of the program, she always stops what she's doing and goes into dance when she hears the "hot dog dance" music. She has some sweet moves!
• Presley's special friend is 9-year-old, Grace, our nannies daughter. When she sees her at church, she leaps out of our arms and is very reluctant to come back to us. I'm so glad that she has so much fun at the Cole's house. I still hate leaving her just as much as I need back in March but, at least I know she's happy and having fun.
• We spend a lot of time at the park. P loves to swing, climb the stairs, play in the tunnel and go down the slide. My truck is now constantly filled with sand (and I love it)!

I just can hardly believe that it's all ready been almost a year since Presley joined our family. It is such a blessing to be her Momma and I'm so grateful for all that she's taught me in the last 11 months. She's so easy to love and it melts my heart every time she curls up for a cuddle with me. Every night when I rock her to sleep, I'm so grateful for this sweet little lady that Heavenly Father trusted us with.