It's Christmas Time!!!

Lydia had a fabulous Christmas this year. 

We had a great time with everyone for Christmas.  

Here are some pictures of our love-filled day.

Good Morning - Merry Christmas!

At Nana and Grandpa's delivering presents.

At the Arterbury's with Princess Caroline perched on her throne.

Two crazy cousins on Christmas!  Good thing they each got a baby stroller.

 

With Honey and Charlotte.

Helping Grandpa open up a gift.

Hugging on Huckleberry while Nana and Grandpa check out the book we made for them.

 Mommy and Me!  Harley wouldn't turn around for the picture.

My Daddy and Mommy and Me!

Chick-Fil-A Lover and Texans Game

Lydia LOVES her some Chick-fil-a.  We've been going there a lot recently and so we decided to take the opportunity to use their cut-out.  She's so happy eating there and they are so nice and accommodating.  A little secret...if you get there after 10:30 and before 11:30, they usually give you some free leftover breakfast items.  Yes, that's how often we've been going.  Whoever started this chain is a genius to Lydia.

Blair and I got to go to the Texans game this past weekend and had a great time.  We hadn't gone to one this year and of course the one we went to is the one we lost.  Oh well.  We went to brunch in the practice bubble and took a picture with Santa too!  We really think this guy practices his poses in front of the mirror quite often.  He was quite the charming Santa!

 

Ho Ho Ho...Merry Christmas

Enjoy this video of Lydia!

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Christmas Parties!

This weekend we had two Christmas parties - one for children and one for adults.  

Lydia got to see Santa for the 3rd time this year - that man gets around town.  She wasn't necessarily happy to see him again - she kept a tight grasp on my arm and wouldn't let me put her down.  She did get to dance to Christmas songs and run around playing with other kids.  She had a blast!

Who doesn't like bubbles?

 Sidney and Lydia

 Avoiding tears by just waving to Santa - not sitting on his lap this time.

 Where is my trusty reindeer Harley?

The night before we had some much needed "adult" time at a Christmas Party.  We enjoyed a couple of "adult" beverages before we headed out to dinner with Wendy where we continued to celebrate.

 Emily, Beth, Heather and I with props of course

Visit from Julia!

We got a great visit last weekend from Julia!  She came and stayed the night with us and we had so much fun catching up and playing with Lydia the next morning.  

Thanks for coming in town and seeing us!

SANTA!!!...not quite a fan this year

We eased Lydia into seeing Santa over the weekend.  

The first time we were in Santa's chair was at the Children's Museum and Santa hadn't arrived quite yet.  So Blair "played" Santa and sat with Lydia in the big man's chair.

Then we went to the Galleria with Mary and let her wave to Santa from across the way.  She didn't really seem to care that much.

So then we took her to sit on Santa's lap - knowing this wouldn't be the only time we go this year.  She waved at him and babbled to him before sitting on his lap, then once she sat down...priceless.

Thanksgiving

We have a lot to be thankful for this season with Lydia, family and friends.  Here are some pics from the week/weekend of Thanksgiving.

We went to the Children's Museum for the first time with Sam and met up with Lydia's other cousins, Caroline and Charlotte.

Lydia loved the cars.

And she loved making tortillas - possibly a future at Escalantes...

Lydia and Sam had fun at the grocery store and with the cash register...they both must like math a lot.

Aunt Mary and Lydia watching Santa at the Galleria.  This was her first encounter and she did pretty well.

 

Back at Nana and Grandpa's house, Nana got Sam and Lydia a tent to play in.

 This video is from the children's museum - they both wanted to drive the car.

Check Out Our Updated Header!

Thanks so much Carolyn for updating our header! 
Carolyn V. Designs
Since Lydia is now walking (almost running now), these silhouettes are most appropriate.
Here are some more pictures of Lydia loving on Harley. Harley likes to sit up in our chairs outside and Lydia just climbed on up with her this time. They sat for a while and Lydia started hugging on her. Then Harley needed her space and got down. But these pictures are so adorable!  By the look on Lydia's face, I think I'm interrupting "Lydia/Harley special time".

3 Years of BLISS!

Blair and I celebrated our three year anniversary last Monday.  Blair surprised me at 9:00am when he popped back in the house with a dozen roses (literally scared the sh@% out of me since he left for work an hour earlier).  It was a great surprise after my heart stopped pounding.  

And you know when you are truly meant for each other still when you get each other the exact same anniversary card - yep, that's what happened to us.  It was quite funny.

Our second anniversary was spent in the hospital (because Lydia was born 2 days prior) and all we did was take a walk around the hallway.  So our third anniversary was a lot more exciting than our last, with dinner and drinks at Pappa Bros Steak House.  

I'm so lucky to have Blair in my life and thank God every day for him for who he is.  He is so patient with me and Lydia, takes care of us and works so hard for us.  He's been more than I ever imagined or even expected him to be.  I love that he wants to spend so much time with me and with Lydia.  There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about how grateful I am for Blair and when I'm away from him (whether at work, running errands or out of town), I can't wait to get back to be with him.  It's incredible how much more I love him each day.  He is an amazing husband, father and man.

the night we got engaged in Vegas

our wedding day

Our Little Girl is ONE!

Lydia turned ONE this past weekend and over the last month, she's flown through so many milestones.
- Walking
- Talking with more words and sounds (like DaDa, Ball, MaMa, Uh-Oh, Baby, Book)
- Slapping her knees with the beat of the music
- Bringing things to us and giving things to us
- Throwing the ball to Harley (though Harley could care less)
- Placing things in a basket and taking them out again (helping to pick up her toys)
- Stepping up and down stairs
- No more formula: Whole milk only please
- Drinking from a straw cup (no more bottles or sippy cups - so much easier for everyone)
- No more feeding schedules!
- Best of all: She entertains herself with her toys now!! She's so much more active and loves to figure things out herself. You can just see her little mind at work as she studies how a toy works.

We can't believe she's 1 already.  People have been asking me if I think the year went by fast.  Well, to answer that, the first 6-9 months went by really really slow for us as we got use to parenthood and the new addition to the family, but the last 3-6 months went by super fast. 
Her birthday was on Saturday, Nov. 5th and we had a family dinner for her at our house.  She had the best time playing with her cousins and new toys.  Lydia had the best day, no fussiness, no crankiness, just smiling all day long and having the best time.  She even slept until 8am the next morning after we turned back the clocks.  Here are some pictures from her birthday.
 

Good Morning, it's my BIRTHDAY - I love sitting in my new big chair and drinking my milk like a big girl.

CHEESE!!! - it's my BIRTHDAY and I'm wearing my monogrammed polo that my parents have been dying to put me in since I was born.  I'm finally big enough to wear 18 months!

Honey came over and decorated our front yard with lots of birthday stakes and even some balloons that I love.

I'm so happy that it's my birthday, I'm running around the house like a crazy person
- what else do you do on your birthday?

My cousin Charlotte, turned 15 months today - we are exactly 3 months apart.  We love being with each other...HUGS!!!

Check out my new ride that my great-grandpa and Myra gave me - it sure lives up to its name as the Cozy.

Mommy and Daddy got me a bubble machine for my birthday.  I LOVE bubbles, they make me laugh and entertain me for many minutes.  My cousins, Caroline and Charlotte love them too!

Check out my other new ride - my very own red wagon.  The seats are cushioned for me and a friend (I will save the seat for Charlotte) and it even has cup holders for my Mommy and Daddy.

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday Dear MEEEEE, Happy Birthday to me!!

Even though we've been practicing blowing out my first candle for weeks, I got a little gun shy, so Mommy and Daddy helped me make a wish.

Yummy yummy cupcake!  Nana made my birthday cupcakes from scratch and they were DELICIOUS.  Everyone was starring at me and watching me eat.  I didn't get much in my mouth, but I sure did have fun eating it and spreading it all over.

After cake, I sat in my big girl chair and opened my presents.  I got so many nice things and many nice warm clothes.

This day was just perfect and the weather couldn't have been better.  I had the most fun today with my family!  Do I have to wait an entire year to celebrate again?