1 Year

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SYRAH (and mommy)

The day finally arrived for us to tell Syrah happy birthday.  She has grown so much over the last year that I can't even imagin what the next year will bring.  Tony and I had so much fun being Syrah's parents. Sure there have been some tough days, but that is what life is all about. 

Syrah's 1st birthday party was good. I hope everyone that attended had fun.  I have to give special thanks to Carolyn who came down from Bellevue early to help me out. Without her there, I would have been 50 times more stressed out. I don't think Tony would have survived me if she wasn't there.

I didn't get pictures of everyone. Well, truth be told that I didn't take any pictures. My mother was kind enough to remember to take photos for me. Below are just a few:

It is a well known fact that I am a perfectionist when it comes to some of my projects. Where something may be unimportant to others, it tends to be important to me and I get into this crazy obsessed mode where I can't sleep, eat, or do anything else until everything is according to my standards.

It is even harder when I have an image in my mind and what I create isn't anywhere close to what I picture. Take Syrah's 1st birthday cake for example. I had the perfect cake decorated in my mind and I have been thinking about it for months, but on the special day, it didn't turn out close to anything that I wanted.

The problem was that I used the wrong type of frosting ... and I am no Martha Stewart. So, I decided to try and make her cake again, but that didn't turn out close to the image in my mind again. I finally just forgot about what I wanted, and worked with what I had.

Show That Pearl

Syrah got her first tooth in just in time for her 1st birthday. It has taken a while come, but Sryah has no problem showing off her pearly white tooth.

Right now she is cutting more teeth and it has been a very interesting. We thought one tooth was making her cranky, try three teeth at once. She is cutting her 2nd top and her two bottom teeth.

Syrah has been ok during this process. She is a bit crankier and really wants me to hold her. She is also getting up in the middle of the night for no reason (around 3 AM every time) and wanting us to hold her or read her a book. SO, household sleep isn't the best. On the weekends it has been ok, but during the week it is hard because we have to get up for work between 4 and 5 AM.

Thankfully this is just a stage that we will just need to live through. She is getting used to the idea that Mommy or Daddy is not going to come get her in the middle of the night, but that doesn't stop her from crying for a while. It’s just ... it’s just ..................... it’s just a ........ph....a...se...... *snore*

Dragons, Football Players, and Teddy Bears

As some of you may know, I love Halloween.  I love dressing up, decorating with pumpkins and kitties, and seeing all the princesses, detectives, and strawberry shortcakes run around the neighborhood.

This year Syrah was a witch at first.  I made her a tutu and a hat, but the hat was too small to wear. So, without her hat, she really was a Halloween ballerina.

Between Sryah's birth and 10 months, seven of my family and friends had babies. Seeing how this was everyone's first Halloween and the babies really couldn't go trick-or-treating, I hosted the first annual, Baby Boo-tastic Treat so that us mothers had yet another reason to dress our babies up for.  

Lindsey, Sammy, and Levi (December 2008)

Noah (Janurary 2009)

Logan (February 2009)

Noah (September 2009)

Amanda and Layla (September 2009)

Baby #6 is Sam, born September 2009.  He was not there at the party due to my error.  Baby #7 is Henry who was born October 2009.  He was only a few days old and spending time with his daddy who flew in from Afghanistan, so I didn't invite him.

Hazel also came over. She does smile; this picture was taken right when she got to my house. She is a shy girl sometimes.

After the party, we took Syrah out trick-or-treating to a couple of our neighbors homes.  She didn't care too much about going from door to door; she had more fun running in the street with the other kids.

What really wasn't expected was that Tony and I dressed up. This was a very last minute thing. Tony was Neo from the Matrix (minus the pleather) and I was a snow bunny. Syrah was very interested in what my face looked like :)

Syrah's favorite thing to do that night was the play in the candy bowl and stand in the doorway looking at all the trick-or-treaters. It was pretty cute because every time the doorbell rang, she ran to the door and watched all the kids. Then when the last kid left, she turned around and shut the door by herself.

For her 1st Halloween, it couldn't have gone any better way.

 

Howl-o-ween

Back in October, Syrah went with Julia and her family to the Great Wolf Lodge to play at the waterpark and go trick-or-treating.  Of course, Syrah had a blast playing with all of her friends.

From left to right: Julia, Syrah, Chelsea (Julia's daughter), Logan, and Adrianna (Julia's nephew and neice)

Julia and Syrah enjoyed chilling in the pool.

Everyone had fun in the wave pool.  Julia said that Syrah would laugh everytime a wave would come.

Even the adults had fun. They had so much fun that they didn't realize that I was there :)

(yeah, I'm pasted in. I was actually at work)

After playing in the waterpark, they dressed up in their costumes and went trick-or-treating down the lodge hallways. Syrah walked with her bag to a few doors, but tuckered out shortly after. Syrah was a candycorn for the evening. 

I am so happy that Julia and her family took Sryah with them. I know that she had so much fun and didn't even notice that she didn't get home till after her bedtime.