What Are You Looking At?

For the past week or so, this seems to be Allie's prefered position of high chair sitting. She thinks it's hilarious. I don't know why she likes it so much but I wish she'd grow out of it quickly!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

My family didn't celebrate St. Nick Day when I was growing up. The first time I ever remember hearing about it was my freshman year in high school when they told us to put our shoes in the hallway so St. Nick could fill them. It was such a strange concept to me to have someone fill you shoe with treats, but who was I to argue.

Nick's family grew up celebrating it every year. St. Nick would fill their stocking with fruit, candy and one gift on the night of December 5th. We decided to continue the tradition with Allie so we hung our stockings that night, hoping St. Nick would pay us a visit.

We've decided to have Allie use my childhood stocking as her own since Nick and I have purchased matching ones for us over the years. My Mom made that stocking for me and it holds so many wonderful memories. I love that Allie will still have that connection to Grandma Jayne.

Allie was so cute when she saw her stocking in the morning. St. Nick left it right at the end of the hallway so it was the first thing she saw when she came out of her room. She ran right over to it and started checking it out. St. Nick left her some raisins, a banana, a new sippy cup and a couple of small cars. You would have thought she won the lottery, she was so excited!

She must have been extra good this year too because St. Nick left her a stocking at Ma & Pa's house too! It had an ornament, a book, a toy, some fruit and some candy. She's one lucky kiddo!

I can't wait to continue the tradition with our family. Hopefully St. Nick will continue to satisfy children with fruit and small toys as they get older :)

Meeting Jacob

A friend of mine has a little boy named Jacob who is a few months younger than Allie. We've been trying to get the kids together for awhile now, but it never seemed to work out. Just before Christmas, we met at the mall to do some shopping and Allie finally got to meet the adorable Mr. Jacob. They were so cute when they met! They were both had these cute looks on their faces and just kept looking at each other. Allie tried to give Jacob a hug but he was much more interested in her stroller at that point than he was in her.

Hopefully they'll grow up to be great friends!

Life Is So Unfair

Allie can be such a drama queen sometimes. A simple "no" can lead to tears, crying and many evil looks. I swear she's only 1, not 16. Here is a picture of a recent reaction to being told that she is not allowed to play in the kitchen.

We're in big trouble when she's a teenager.

One of the Guys

Allie loves watching football at Buffalo Wild Wings with Daddy. She's in heaven with TVs in every direction. She's also a fan of the mini corn dogs...then again, who isn't? I see many football Saturdays or Sundays spent with Daddy in her future!

Another Example of Not Needing to Buy Toys

Allie found this laundry basket and it quickly became one of her favorite toys. She loves to push it up and down the hallway and around the living room. I think Santa may have to re-think his purchases for this year's Christmas and get some more laundry baskets!

Oops...man down!

1 Year Pro Pictures

Nick's cousin, Laurie, is starting her own photography business. She agreed to shoot Allie's 1 Year pictures for us, as well as taking some family pics for Christmas cards. Allie was a little grumpy and it's always hard to wrangle an active toddler but I love, love, love how the pictures turned out! We were lucky enough to have one last beautiful day so that the pictures could be taken outside. Here are some of my favorites:

Thank you so much Laurie! We can't wait to have you take her pictures again!