Uno.

So, the 1 year celebration has come and gone, but I can't forget to post how we are growing!

weight: 22 lbs 2 oz (70%)
height: 29.75 inches (75%)

Reese took her 4 shots like a champ.  Of course, there was a little drama while she was getting poked, but by the time we walked out of the room, she was just fine.

She continues to pretty much eat anything in sight.  If someone around her has food, she's on her way to belly up to them and beg just like a little puppy.  We put a plate full of food in front of her at meals and 90% of the time it is clean (and 50% of the time she wants 2nd's).  She's got a mouth full of teeth--12, I think, so she is becoming more and more of a pro at mealtime.

She is beginning to take a few steps here and there between things to hold on to, but continues to cruise for safety or uses her walker to get places.  She's still a scooter, but has begun to crawl a little bit, especially on carpet.  I guess she figures on the slick floors, she can get to where she wants to go quicker if she just scoots.

She can tell us where her tongue, nose, mouth, teeth and ears are.  Her favorites are Pink Bear, Monkey, and all of her new dolls.  And she absolutely LOVES her new chair and stays in it for the duration of Your Baby Can Read and Praise Baby.  It just amazes me sometimes what all she knows, and I know this is only the beginning!

She Had Her Cake and Ate It Too

TWICE!  I mean, it was her birthday and all, and she didn't eat it all the first time, so we let the sugar settle, then brought it back out for round 2.

Round 1:

As I mentioned in my earlier post, I want her to wear her cute shirt again throughout the year, so I thought it best to just take it off of her...I'm sure she'll be loving me when she sees these in 15 years.

She pretty much did exactly as I thought and had the icing spread all around.  She did start off a little slow though, by picking the green icing dots off the edge, but it didn't take long for her to get down and dirty with it.
Round 2: (a bit on the tamer side)

Happy 1st Birthday to Our Sweet Little Monkey

Wow!  What a glorious, magical, amazing and beautiful year it has been.  I can hardly believe the 1st year landmark has already come and gone.  We have been so blessed this year to have our sweet little lady in our lives and we thank the Lord everyday for what a blessing she has been!

Of course, we had to commemorate the joyous occasion with a par-tay, and what a glorious, magical, amazing and beautiful day it was.  Since Reese's birthday landed on a Saturday this year, the actual day was the perfect day to celebrate with our family and friends.  And, thank goodness for the beautiful weather we had so that we could enjoy being outside--otherwise we probably would have been a bit cramped in the house. 

I enjoyed every minute of planning this soiree and I was just thrilled with the way everything turned out, so of course, I'm going to have to share some of the details.

These adorable invites were an inspired by a design I found online, but I'm totally into doing my own invites because I can do them exactly how I want them and a lot cheaper!  So, with a little help from JP, Snapio (and Illustrator, of course!), the end result couldn't have been cuter!

You are probably starting to see a trend here of all things pink (and green).  I just think gerbera daisies are the perfect fresh flower for a little girl's day.  And I was able to reuse the paper lanterns from our wedding to add a little flare.

I decided to go with cupcakes rather than a cake, because they are just too easy to deal with, and you can't beat the tasty ones SAMs makes.  Then I went one more step and ordered these ADORABLE toppers from threekidspartyshop on Etsy.  I have to say, I'm a bit obsessed with Etsy right now and it was the perfect go-to spot to put some personalized touches on this party.

Of course, the birthday girl had to have her own little smash cake too, and she loved every minute of it (pics and video to come).  Threekidspartyshop did this topper too, and it was just perfect!

And, if you're a Parker grandkid, you're sure to have the cutest, and tastiest cookies at your party too!  My MIL (Grammy) is so stinkin' talented and creative and everyone went home with one of these adorable monkey cookies.

And here is a glimpse of the birthday girl in her party frocks.  Again, all ordered from Etsy.  MaddieBugBaby did her adorable shirt (which we plan to wear all year!) and her pettiskirt came from TwoAngelsBoutique.  If you're in to pettiskirts, they have EVERY color you can think of at really reasonable prices.
 

A Little Game of "Boo"

An Adult 24 Hours

This past weekend we had the joy of attending one of my pledge sister's weddings in Houston.  Reese was not invited, nor would I have even considered taking her if she was.  It's events like these that make a great excuse to make it an adults-only day (and buy a new dress, of course).  It was so great to reunite with all my Theta ladies and enjoy a beautiful reception at The Rice.  Everything was beautiful and congrats to Elizabeth and Kyle on their I-Do's.

Thanks to Grammy and Grandpa, we thorougly enjoyed our adults-only day--it does a body (and a mama) good!

Celebrating 106 Years

We headed to the ranch this past weekend to celebrate a very special lady's 106th birthday.  Yes, you heard correctly 106 YEARS!  Aunt Cornelia's birthday is actually a week and a half away, but with other scheduling conflicts, this was the weekend to celebrate.  And, you know you have to celebrate when it's something like 106 years!

As I mentioned in my post about her last year, she did not have any children, so her nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews, great-great, and so on are like her children!  About 35 of us gathered at the ranch to celebrate this past weekend and what a beautiful day it was!  Aunt C arrived from San Angelo a little after 10 am and didn't leave until 4:30 in the afternoon...I think she was pooped!

Of course, it's always great to see her and celebrate with her, but an event like this also brings lots of cousins we don't get to see very often.  I think Reese grew up a bit this weekend.  She had to run with the big dogs, and I mean that literally.  They were pushing her little walker around and Reese was literally running behind it trying to keep up and laughing the whole way!  The great thing about the new Lodge at Schulz Ranch are the large open spaces to get up and go!

And Aunt C loved every minute of being with Miss Reese.  She couldn't take her eyes off her and really got a kick out of her being an "endless pit".  It's so fun watching the interaction between them and remembering their age difference.

So, I'll leave you with the chorus from the song that was written for at her 90th birthday celebration, which is a true testament to how special this lady is to her family and really everyone who knows her.

Aunt Cornelia, we're here to say we love you

Your cheerful ways and kindness warm our hearts
You know we're thinking of you, we celebrate your life
And we say Happy Birthday now to you,
God's blessings too!

Family Photo Shoot

My main goal in scheduling a family photo shoot was to get a good shot of the three of us for our Christmas card this year.  I achieved my goal, but was a bit disappointed in the print job I had done as the picture looked like there was a major shadow cast on it.  But, I was not about to go through a re-print, as I just wanted to get them out, so if you recieved one, this is how the picture was supposed to look.

We had a fabulous time posing for these pictures with Meredith from Meredith Greager Photography.  It was the first part of November (just after daylight savings time) and we chose to do them behind the Four Seasons next to Lady Bird Lake here in Austin.  I have to say, the setting was superb...it's beautiful back there!  Here are some of our favorites.

11 Months

Reese also celebrated her 11 month birthday on the 22nd along with her daddy's birthday.  Of course, we've been mostly focused on the holidays this past month, but I still wanted to be sure and post for 11 months, even if it is late.

What's new:

• her hair is FINALLY growing.  I have a feeling she is going to have somewhat of a mullet to begin with because the back seems to be growing much faster than the front
• she is a pro-scooter.  It's quite humerous watching her "scoot" around the house (and she's fast!)--I'm fairly confident she will never get on her hands and knees and crawl!
• she'll probably be walking any day.  She takes quite a bit of caution and won't walk anywhere she can't hold on to something, but boy does she know how to get around via her feet.  I'm sure it's just a matter of time that she actually lets go and runs!
• 6 teeth and a couple on the way
• she's a human disposal.  Seriously, she eats just about anything and a lot of it!  We call her the "endless pit"

It's hard for me to fathom that my next post like this will be announcing her 1st birthday!  It's been a grand 11 months and we can hardly wait for her to dig in to that cake as we celebrate 1 year!

A Most Wonderful Time of the Year

I only wish I could be as diligent as all you other bloggers out there and get my Christmas posts out on time, but because I didn't, it's gonna be all wrapped up here!

I think back to this time last year and how I was growing quite large with only 4 weeks to go before Reese was born.  Then I look at all of our celebrations and festivities of the Christmas season this year and thank the Lord for bringing us such a beautiful little lady to entertain and delight us.  I mean, I know we weren't bored before, but dang, did we just twiddle our thumbs before her?

Christmas 2009

So, really it was a most wonderful time of the year, and we enjoyed every minute of it with our friends and family.  We headed west to the ranch on the 22nd to spend Christmas with my family, with a stop in Fredricksburg to celebrate JP's birthday.  Good wine at Lincoln Street and beer-battered 'shrooms at Auslander....yeeeaaaaahhhh!  JP didn't seem to have a lot of luck in the deer hunting category this year, as Christmas day came and it was time for us to leave, but one last drive around with Michael yielded an axis doe.  And let me just say...that is some good eatin'!  I'm also having the hide tanned and looking forward to new pillows for my sofa...you know I saw some at Christmas Affair for $120 a pop!

So, back to Austin we go on Christmas day evening (after the deer had been cleaned and cut up).  Then, to Brenham we went on the 26th to celebrate with the Parker's.  Yes, we were on the road quite a bit, which is fine for now, but I do look forward to Reese waking up at home on Christmas morning sometime in the future.

Many people have asked me how Reese enjoyed her first Christmas, and quite frankly, I think she was pretty much oblivious to it.  Yes, she is enjoying her new toys, but all in all, doesn't have a clue!  Even though I'm planning a nice party for her 1st birthday, I'm totally aware that it too won't mean a thing at this point in time.  I really thought she would enjoy opening presents, but actually all she wanted to do was eat the wrapping paper (which she did...it's great protein, right!?)

So, really, I'm already looking forward to Christmas 2011, because I know Reese will still be very young, but I know it will be much more magical for her than this year (and hopefully she's as easy going when we go to see Santa)!



A Christmas Kind of Weekend

 Enjoying Friday night Happy Hour at the Domain with Katy

Meeting Santa and getting ready to sit on his lap.  Had to really check him out first.

"Santa! I (now) know him!" I'm sure next year won't be quite as easy.

Lunching at Flip Happy Crepes with Grammy, Aunt Lauren and Cousin Emma before The Austin Children's Nutcracker.