Firsts

I have many blog posts I need to do about the past few weeks of Aaron coming home, Christmas, and family gatherings, but I am to lazy to put the pictures on my computer so those posts will just have to wait. However, since today is the last day of 2011 I thought I would do a small recap of this year. Obviously with Aaron being gone almost the whole second half of this year 2011 was not a normal year for us. Overall though I would say it has been a great year full of firsts for me and my family.
My Firsts:
I dieted for real. Blah.
I lived alone.
I went to Texas.
I flew on a plane with a baby four times. She was a champ.
I went to Arkansas.
I ate smoked turkey.
I made rolls and bread.
I introduced solid foods to another person :)
I called the police. Not recommended as a first or second or third...
I became the wife of a man in the military.
I went to a military base all by myself.
I got a car stolen.
Went to the New Port Beach Temple.
I put all the Christmas light up by myself.
I used a meat thermometer, hopefully I will never over cook chicken again!

Aaron's Firsts (from my point of view):
Fixed both shower heads in our house.
Planted a peach tree.
Went fishing with my brothers.
Joined the military.
Went to boot camp.
Went to the New Port Beach Temple.
Tried Gumbo.
Everything new learned from he military... which is a lot.
I am sure there is more but Aaron is currently working on a car in the garage and the last thing he would want, is me asking about all the first he did this year : )

Daisy's firsts (which are many because this was her first year of life so I will just do the highlights):
Rolled over.
Grabbed toes.
Preferred a bottle.
Stayed in a motel.
Slept through the night.
Ate solids.
Giggled.
Army crawled.
Flew on a plane
Went to Texas and Arkansas.
Gave kisses.
Pulled self up.
Said Mom and Dad.
Pooped in the car seat.
Snuck some cat food... icky.
Went to Pinetop.
Saw a volleyball game.
And much much more...

Nasty November

November was a long month. Since Aaron has been gone I have been keeping myself very busy. I make sure I get dressed and do my hair. I clean and do projects. I try to get out of the house everyday. But once November hit I slowed down. I needed to. After three months of projects, working out, and doing whatever else I could think of I needed a breather. Anyway once I slowed down some of the feelings of missing Aaron bubbled up, which was hard. I was feeling worn out. Aaron must have been feeling the same way though because that's when he called with his Arkansas trip idea. A much needed vacation. So with that to look forward to my spirits lifted considerably. I decided I needed to read a good book so I borrowed my sister's copy of the Hunger Games and yeah its good. I spent the next week shut up in my house with Daisy reading. Because if your like me when you start a good book not much really exists. But as bad luck would have it during this time Aaron's car was stolen. It is a horrible feeling to walk out to your driveway and your car is not there. The night I think it was stolen I heard a car alarm go off for a few seconds and my first thought was some one is steeling Aaron's car. This was a three in the morning. The sad thing was that the car had only been in the driveway for a week. My brother in law had been driving it and had just returned it. When he dropped it off, I had a feeling it wouldn't be there long. So that is probably why I wasn't so surprised to see it gone. Of course I teared up, but figured that wouldn't make the car come back. So after calling my brother in law, I called the police. Our poor car is probably stripped now or in Mexico : ) So that was the beginning of November. It was long and our car was stolen, not great. November did end on a high note though with our trip and Daisy's birthday. Now it is only a few weeks till Aaron is home for good. We are almost done!

One year Old!

Well we made it through our first year. Daisy turned one on Nov. 28th. I am so glad that Aaron got to see her dig into her cake and we were able to celebrate as a family. We may have done it two days early but it counts. I think every mother feels that time goes to fast sometimes. I am no exception. I love my little girl. I love to watch her grow, laugh and play. She has made me a better person. I am so thankful that she was sent to our family and that we get to keep her forever. Even on the hard days I can't imagine my life without her, especially these past few months. She has really been my little buddy while Aaron has been away. Anyway, here are her one year stats.

She is 26.5" inches tall and in the 25 percentile.

She weighs 18lbs. 5 oz. and is in the 10 percentile.

She is so tiny! I love it!

She eats really well and pretty much whatever I place in front of her. Hopefully that lasts forever : )

When she is done with her food she throws it on the floor.

She can say Mama and I am sure she knows its me.

She loves books and will look at them all day.

She's fast. She is my little army crawler and can move. However, this very morning she started to crawl normally. Maybe she will be walking soon?

She can walk when I hold her hands, but she prefers to run. She will kick her toes and legs up too like a rockets dancer.

She pulls her hair and scratches herself. Yesterday at her doctors visit I asked if the scratching was anything I needed to be worried about and he said she has dry skin. I felt kind of bad, guess that means we need to lather her up more.

She loves to play on the couch and just recently had her first big fall off of it. She was fine, but a little rattled.

She is soooo wiggly. I never get to hold a still child. Daisy wants to see everything and be in the middle of it. So she is a girl on the go.

She now drinks whole milk... YAY no more formula.

She likes her grandpa Steve, in a crowded room she will find him over anybody else.

She likes to chew on her blanket.

She is a good sleeper.

Her hair is long enough for braids, but she doesn't sit still long enough to put them in.

 We love our girl!

More Arkansas....

Here are more pictures! Just for fun.

Please ignore my crazy eyes. This was just after Aaron arrived, our first picture in months.

Jill, John and I went and saw Breaking Dawn. It was pretty horrible, but I laughed alot so it was worth it.

Jill's current house is right by a park with a stream and a great walking trail. We strapped these girls in one day and went for a walk. Just a funny story... One night Paisly my little niece was kind of upset about Daisy being there. Her Dad asked her if she wanted Daisy to go home and she said yes haha. She eventually got over it and I think she liked having a "baby" to play with.

It took us one year to get to a swing. This was Daisy's first time swinging and she had a good ride.

Me.

She got this messy all by herself.

And the fun ended... : )

Our Trip to Arkansas!

So this Thanksgiving we were lucky enough to make a trip out to Arkansas to visit my oldest sister Jill and her family. It was Aaron's idea. One day a few weeks ago he called and was like so do you want to go to Jill's for Thanksgiving and see me too? And I said YES of course! Aaron has been at tech school finishing out his military training and it just happened to be close enough to Arkansas that he could drive in for a few days. I loved this vacation! I loved Arkansas. I loved seeing Jill and her family. I loved seeing Aaron.

I love her little smile.

 This is Jill and John after we went shopping for Thanksgiving. Just a side note my brother in law John makes the best turkey. He fries one and this year he smoked one too. Both were pretty awesome. Jill also is a great cook and made a very tasty dinner with a white chocolate pumpkin cheesecake that was sooo good.

I miss my sister. Its strange that she lives so far away now. I am so glad that I got to go see her new home and her life here. Plus I loved seeing her kids. Before I was married they were my little buddies. Its fun to see how they have grown into kids.

 I am not going to lie that the highlight of our trip was Aaron. We have been missing our dad and I have been missing my best friend. It was the best to spend even a few days with him! ( I don't really know what Daisy is doing with her face, but she sure was happy to be with her dad ).

Us.

I loved all the trees that surrounded everything in Conway. I miss living in trees, they make life cozier. Anyway this is Daisy experiencing nature : )

She wouldn't put her feet on the ground. So cute!

She loved playing with her Dad. She loved this.

The other nice thing about going to Arkansas was that Aaron got to celebrate Daisy's first birthday (two days early, but whose counting ) This is right before cake.

I wonder what she was thinking?

I know what she was thinking here... YUM!

Quinn haha...

CAKE!!!!

When I have more time I want to put up more pictures. I had such a good time visiting Jill and her family. I also thought Arkansas wouldn't be that bad of a place to live. More than once Jill drove me around her favorite neighborhoods. The homes were beautiful. Living here in the desert I forget every home around the world isn't covered in stucco.  All of them were movie homes, with brick and wrap around porches, big colonials. Plus each street was lined with big trees and grass. I would move there if I could live in one of those homes, but don't get your hopes up Jill : ) I can't wait until we get to out there again. I miss Jill and her family. It was a much needed vacation to see my family. And thanks Jill for having us and taking me to the dollar jewelery store.