The Bailey Chronicles

These are a few from my camera that I loved. The first one is Birthday morning when B woke up drinking her juice. She was so excited to see the streamers and birthday banner in the breakfast room, which we designated the party room since the dining was taken over by Thanksgiving decor. The second pic is B tearing through the wrapping paper, which aside from the cake was her favorite part of the day. She loved her presents and all but the unwrapping was definitely the highlight of her morning. And the last is a happy baby loving her day.

Bailey's birthday party was so much fun! We had a great turn out considering it was on Thanksgiving! It was a little hectic pulling off Thanksgiving and a Birthday party in one day, but I think gifts and cake made Thanksgiving a lot more entertaining than just stuffing yourself until you pass out on the couch! It definitely made it feel more kid friendly and exciting. Bailey was so much fun with her giant cupcake smash cake. Candi was my photographer for the day and she got some fantastic shots that really captured the memory of the party. Bailey was so excited to see that giant cake put in front of her and then she looked around at all of us in disbelief that it was actually for her. She carefully poked a finger into the frosting and tasted it and then became more and more brave with the tasty sugar feast in front of her. Eventually she LOVED it so much that she hugged it LOL, and grabbed a chunk of cake to rub on her face. After a bit her eyes glazed over and she seemed like she was on autopilot scooping more and more cake into her mouth. She was a champ all morning and afternoon with all of the craziness. She was pleased to tear into the wrapping paper of the gifts and shred it to tiny pieces and played with her new walkers and books for the rest of the party. Then like all sugar highs she crashed hard into a long nap right after the Thanksgiving meal. John's best friend was thoughtful enough to open up a trust fund for her in her name so that when she turns 18 she will have some money in savings for college, which I thought was an awesome gift idea, especially coming from someone who does not have any kids yet. We will make it a point to add a little to it every holiday. All in all I couldn't have asked for it to go any better even though the cake design didn't quite make it! We had warm memories, great food, awesome photos, and lots of friends and family to share the holiday with! Who could ask for anything more? Happy Birthday Bailey!!!

Over the course of this year I have written about the things Bailey has learned from her first giggles, clapping, eating solids, saying Mama, rolling over, waiving, new teeth, crawling, pulling herself up to a stand and most recently standing for brief moments unsupported and climbing up on furniture. If I sit here and think about it long enough I could probably write a list a mile long of Bailey developments, but if you have been following this blog you already know these things. She has come a long way from that tiny little chicken-legged newborn baby I brought home from the hospital those first days of life observing the world through new eyes, taking it all in. But of all the things she has learned, I think she has actually taught me more than I would have ever guessed. No amount of babysitting or daycare jobs can prepare you for the job of taking care of a newborn baby. I never thought that once she arrived that I would feel so afraid of her. I realized fully at that moment that I was in charge of this new life and her well being and that we were experiencing a new world together, something I had never thought about in that perspective. I learned that the fear of losing your baby starts early on and will probably never go away. I learned that nursing a baby can go horribly wrong for a while but with enough patience and determination it really does help keep those hormones in check and bring back those warm fuzzy feelings even at the most trying times. I learned how little sleep one can function off of and it not even matter because God has blessed you and touched you so deeply with the love you feel for your little one that you know if you merely blink the baby days will be over. I learned the ridiculous amount of pride you can feel as parents when your baby does a new trick, like sleeping in her crib for the first time throughout the night. I learned that the amount of love a human heart can hold has no boundaries once you have children. I figured out why people get so emotional with movies, listening to music, or even reading a quote through the eyes and ears of a parent. I learned that as a mom when your baby cries it triggers something inside of you to yearn to fix it, not because the sound annoys you but because your heart is breaking with them. I have realized that even though it is so hard to watch your baby grow that it is also the most amazing thing to watch them develop into a little person. I have learned that everything is a phase even if you don't want it to be. And most of all I learned how important a year is!


Mommy and Daddy love you so much Bailey. This has been the best year of our lives thanks to you sweetheart!

My mom ordered a baby shower cake for a co-worker's shower and I just finished it up tonight. Bree and I came up with the idea of doing a diaper bag for this cake and I think it came out really sweet. Shower cake for baby Addison, check... birthday cake, next!

I did a mini photo shoot for Bailey's birthday invites. We wish everyone could make it, sorry we had to plan it on Thanksgiving I know that means that my Austin gang won't be there. I wish we could come down for a visit soon, but I know John's schedule is packed and Candi has been busy as a substitute teacher at Bella's school. I will be hosting both Bailey's birthday party and Thanksgiving this year! I am so thankful we have our new home to share all of these happy memories in! We feel so blessed!

These are just a few snaps off my cell because she was looking cute and kinda toddlerish all of a sudden. She has found a favorite show this week... Yo Gabba Gabba, that and the Granimals commercial are the only kid shows that hold her attention. She is now weening over to whole Milk because she has gone on nursing strike, but the only problem is she hates it. I am trying to trick her into liking it... any tips? I have tried mixing with different juices but she hates it... so far the only thing that gets her to drink any amount of it is to mix with Carnation instant breakfast. The only thing she hates worse than milk is formula :( this has made the bed time routine kinda rough lately, but at least she LOVES yogurt and cheese so I know she is getting calcium daily.

I believe we will be doing her first birthday party on Thanksgiving, which is the day after her birthday this year, next year her birthday will actually fall ON Thanksgiving. As we knew this will make it hard in planning birthdays with Dadda because Best Buy seems very needy around Thanksgiving. He was not able to get a weekend day before Thanksgiving off to plan a party and once it hits he DEFINITELY will not be able to get a weekend day off so we figure this way he can't be forced to come in to work no matter what if we do it on the holiday itself. Anyway I know this means most everyone else will probably not be able to come :( but all are invited to celebrate and to eat.

We did most of our Halloween celebration the night before. We met up with our friends Bree and Matt along with their littles and a few others at the square in Mckinney. I ran late as always, this time because Bailey has been pulling some late nights from the new teeth in combo of my lingering cold and sinus pressure made the two of us pass out for a late afternoon nap. We got there in time to see some of the trick or treaters running around, took some photos next to some of the fun shops and tour some of the cool "haunted" historical homes, and then we met up with the Harris Family for dinner at Fudds. All in all it was a fun night and Bailey rocked her pink leopard costume. She ended up being a pink leopard for Halloween because she got a little mini build a bear pink leopard at Mcdonalds (it was my happy meal toy, but I shared like a good mommy lol) and she has loved it all month so when I saw the costume I decided she needed it.


Hope everyone else had a fun and safe Halloween!! xoxox

We did pumpkins at the Carminati's again this year. Last year I was very pregnant and had a hard time carving that pumpkin with my huge baby bump, but this year it was still challenging having a little "helper". So I opted to do a more craftier styled pumpkins for safety and to be a little easier. We got three pumpkins, but John was banned from carving this year since he mutilated last year's pumpkin. He didn't seem to mind. Bailey and Bella created the little pumpkin together and I did the other two.