Beautiful Birthday Roses

Thanks Justin, Sienna, Conner & Zoey!

Birthday Celebrations

Since birthdays come ever year whether you want them to or not, I figure I might as well celebrate. I spent the past weekend doing just that! Cran hosted a Thanksgiving Dinner/Birthday Party with us and the Moehrings. You won't believe this, but I actually took adult pictures and not kid ones! Just know that they were there, running all over the place. Sienna was determined to keep up with them. She surprised me and even played in the basement playroom and had no problem with Mom or Dad not being there. She's getting so big. Anyways, the party was a ton of fun and great food as always.

Can anyone spot Brent in this picture?

The next morning Mom had us over for a delicious brunch.

Sienna had too much fun partying the night before and couldn't even stay awake through the meal. Also note her shiner. She was running around our bedroom, tripped, and fell into my dresser - right into one of the drawer knobs. Ouch!! Poor thing. There were lots of tears but luckily not a very deep cut.

Bring on 32!

18 Months

Sienna,
Time is flying by and you are getting bigger and more and more independent every day. At least you think you should be. You are getting more confident with being on your own and are asserting yourself all the time. You are pretty shy to meet new people and will bury your face in my legs to hide. You also take your time warming up to new places. But once you feel comfortable, watch out!

Some of my favorite adorable things you do. You love singing or listening to Mama sing and you are starting to join in! You will sit down with a song book and sing "I-E-I-E" for Old McDonald's e-i-e-i-o. You sing "Baaabee" for Rock-a-bye-baby. And you do all of the actions with me during Wheels on the Bus. In order to get you to brush your teeth I have to sing Raffi's Brush Your Teeth song. I will admit I have no idea what the lyrics actually are and make them up every night. But it gets you to brush so I go with it.

You are becoming a climber and are getting more daring. You have started to go head first down your slide. I'm going to assume you learned this one at daycare. You also love to climb into your toy box, sit on/around all of the toys and play.

You have learned what "Owe" means and that kisses make everything all better. Anytime you bump any body part you say "Owe", point to it and run over for a kiss. You are continuing to learn many words, including your name. You call yourself  "Nena". In addition to saying no all the time you have also started saying "yeah" - a lot too! But not as much as No.

A few of your other favorite things to do are board puzzles, playing with your musical instruments, and playing with your pretend food. It seems like your imagination has started. You will pretend eat with me and even share a pretend french fry with me!

Here's you walking in Mama's shoes. You love to be pretty and always want "prettys" in your hair.

You are finally getting all your teeth in. This toothbrush is your favorite teething toy. You just got your 2 top molars. Now your bottom ones are coming in at the same time as 2 of your top front teeth. Your teeth have come in a very random order. This will catch you up to the average 1 year old. 

We got the official measurements from the Dr today. She said the apple doesn't fall far from the tree! Looks like you will be taking after your Mama and will be on the smaller end of the spectrum.
Height: 31.5 inches 45%
Weight: 22 lbs 5 oz 20%
Head: 18.5 inches 63%

Potty Time

I want to say up front that I vow not to discuss all of Sienna's bathroom habits in detail on this blog or show pictures that will embarrass her in 12 years. :) That being said, we had a big event this weekend. We bought Sienna her first potty. She's been showing lots of interest in the potty lately. When all the other kids at daycare go, she wants to go too. Whenever she goes to the bathroom, she'll grab her diaper and say "poo poo" (even if it's just pee). So she's starting to be aware of what is going on. We thought it was time to take the first step and introduce her to her own potty. We took her to Target and she of course wanted the Elmo one. Right now we are just practicing sitting on it. 

All smiles for her potty

Saying "potty, potty, potty, potty..."

Long road to go from here but at least she loves to sit on it!!

Meet Puppy

I think it's time to introduce the world to Puppy. He's a rescue dog and has become Sienna's best friend. He goes everywhere with her. We can't even go upstairs without getting halfway up and hearing the panic that Puppy got left.

Ever since Sienna was little, Justin and I have tried to encourage a lovely for her. First we tried with Ted the teddy bear. He would get a few hugs but was nothing more than a crib buddy. Then she started bringing Lady the dog into her crib, but again there was no spark. At Christmas she got her little Elmo and Big Bird animals that she carried around, gave many hugs and kisses, and had to bring to bed. I thought this might be it. Until 2 weeks ago.

Puppy used to be Justin's from some work event. After sitting in a box for a few years, it was decided he needed to find a new home so he was put in the donation pile. A few days later, our ever-attention-seeking dog Conner rummage through the pile and pulled out a few things, including Puppy. Sienna grabbed him off the floor, named him Puppy, and they have been inseparable ever since.

They eat together.

Go to daycare together.

Get hugs from Daddy together.

I think Puppy is THE one. It seems to be more than just a phase. Now wish me luck finding a backup Puppy. His white fur is already stained and turning grey and his tag says surface clean only. No good.

Happy Valentines Day!

This morning I had to take a health assessment to earn points towards my health insurance. (Stupid system, don't ask) They take your blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, height, weight, body fat, etc. I passed with flying colors and the woman said I earned an A+! Great feeling to start off the day, so as a reward I was going to enjoy that day - including guilt free treats! I bought myself Starbucks on the way back.

I got back to my desk and had a surprise valentine and chocolate from a coworker. A few hours later another coworker buys me this:

My first shamrock shake of the season! I'm feeling the love on this day. Tonight I have a date with my favorite 17-month old. Can't wait! Don't worry, I didn't forget about my husband. He has darts tonight, so we already celebrated last weekend. Hope your valentines day is treating you well too.

Laundry Room

Remember that sink I was mentioning that got moved to the basement? Well, it finally got replaced this weekend and our laundry room is complete! 

New sink, cabinet, hardware, and counter top.

Semi-new bench and coat hooks.

First Hair Cut

Sienna hit another milestone this weekend - her first hair cut. She doesn't have a ton of hair but it was long enough to need some evening out and we also cut her bangs. I thought for sure she was going to scream the whole time but this kids place was great. They had a tv stationed at every chair. They turned on Elmo and she was pretty well distracted.

Watching Elmo - she looks so big getting her hair cut, yet so little on that big chair.

She didn't like getting her hair wet down.

Or the hair dryer

Hair all cut, although still mostly wet. New do with bangs. She was more excited about the sticker.

Pillow Love

Kids like to sleep goofy. I think that's their thing. Sienna used to take all of her stuffed animals and a blanket, wade them up into a pile, and use them as a pillow. Between Big Bird's beak and Lady's hard eyes, it did not look comfortable. She also loves taking our couch pillows and playing "night night" on them.

We finally put 2 and 2 together; took the hint and bought her a toddler pillow for her crib. As soon as I opened the box it came in, she curled right up and went night night.

This purchase might've been long overdue. I still find her occasionally sleeping on Big Bird's head, more often she's on the pillow and loving it. Thank you Amazon!!