Birthday Girl

Get out of town!! One year already! (plus a month). I'm so happy I get to be this little girl's mom!





About half way through opening her presents, Blythe went through a toy overload. I love that you can see it in her expressions in these pictures. So we took a break, ate some dinner and had some Birthday cake.



She couldn't wait to eat this cake. We barely made it through Happy Birthday before she got her little finger in the frosting. Because of poor planning on my part, she had to sit and wait for me to frost the cake. I was going to do just plain cupcakes but saw this idea on the back of the cake box. I thought I could handle it. Joel and I made the frosting and iced this puppy in less then 10 minutes. So the polka dots and a bit pokey and the coloring on the "purple layer" is a bit off. But, these things didn't matter in the end. Blythe loved eating it!





After she licked as much sugar off her fingers and a good cleaning we finished opening her presents. I think she doubled her toy collection and tripled her book collection all in one night. What can I say, first kid, first birthday.. it's not spoiling! Ha ha. What a night!



Happy Birthday sweetie.

Finished

I decided to make this Halloween wall hanging/table topper/mini quilt/whatever you want to call it a couple weeks ago and get it done before my mom's birthday which was last week. I had a lot of doubts. I'm a pro at not getting things done on time or ever! So, I'm a little proud that I got this done and sent before her birthday. I also like how it turned out, but don't look too close. I usually have my mother-in-law, who is an amazing quilter, with me every step of the way when I make a quilt. This time I am here and she is in Hawaii. I did make a few phone calls, watch some tutorials online, and got some help from Joel. (He wanted to make sure everyone knew he helped out). So I didn't do it alone. I really need to work on my straight lines for the next one.. if there is a next one.

Blythe helped out a lot too. She loved crawling all over it. She also loved taking the scraps and hiding them all over the house. What a good little helper!



Happy Halloween!

Steps II

Here is a little video

Pictures

Since Blythe is coming up on her first birthday, I thought I better get some pictures taken of her. I had my friend who took her 6 month pictures take these as well. I loved how they turned out once again. It was a cold day and Blythe didn't want to smile let alone move, but we still got some pretty cute pictures. I'm having a hard time deciding which is my favorite. Here a a few, and there are more here.














Blythe loves sticking her finger in little holes, cracks and anywhere else she can fit it. This is the spot she found that week.

Well, I guess there were more then just a few that I can't choose from. There are even more, but I can't post them all!

Steps

It was a big day at our house yesterday. Joel, Blythe and I were playing before Joel left for school. Joel had Blythe by the hands while she balanced on her feet facing me and he said "walk to mommy," and let go of her hands. So,

She walked to mommy!

Three whole steps!

I instantly became the proudest parent in the world. Joel and I started cheering and laughing and smothering her with kisses. I think we scared her. Ever since she did it we've tried to get her to do it again, but she just turns her body all limp. (Which is pretty funny to watch her do). I hope we didn't ruin it for her.

She hit a big milestone, but I think she's going to wait a bit longer to really walk on her own. I could be surprised though... that's how this year has been. I absolutely love being her mom!



Here is her 'I want to eat that' face. If you look close you can see her two teeth. It only took her 9 1/2 months to get them!

summer school

I took a class this summer and we traveled around parts of chicago and sketched different buildings and landscapes, here are a few of my finished drawings. the first is of a street in pullman done in pastel.  


 This next one is of the pritzker pavillion in millennium park done in pen.

This next one is 333 West Wacker done in water color.
I also had an ecology class but didn't do any cool renderings for that class to post.

6 months

Blythe is older then that now, but it's never too late to post these cute pictures. A friend of mine did them and I love how they turned out. There are more on her blog if you want to check them out.

Look what I can do!

Blythe started being mobile a couple weeks ago and it keeps getting faster everyday. She has almost figured out how to crawl on her hands and knees. I'm sure that's only days away. All she wants to do all day is crawl around. I think she even dreams about it at night. She will wake up in the middle of the night crying because she is stuck on her stomach and facing the wrong way in her bed. It's just so silly. It's so fun watching her with her new found freedom.



We have finally gotten her so use the sippy cup. Since the bottle was a no-go with her I had to skip to this. It's not totally smooth yet. She still plays with it more then drinks from it, but at least I get some liquids in her.



The classic picture. It's funny how much they both love doing this.

About time

It's been a crazy last couple of months. That is what I'm going with for my excuse for not posting for so long. But, this is some of what we have been up to.

My sister-in-law, Shauna, came into town. We had such a great time while she was here. I would love to have her around all the time for many reasons, but one of the reasons is her picture taking. The week she was here she took only a couple hundred pictures of Blythe. I love having so many of Blythe to look at. Here are a few.









She's all dressed up to go to the end of year open house at Joel's school. She, of course, got more attention then Joel did.



When Shauna was here we did make it out around the city. This is Blythe in her stroller. She loved riding and sleeping in it everyday.



This is what happens if I don't get her food to her fast enough. I'm probably a mean mom, but this face just cracks me up. I feel bad that she's upset or sad, but I can't help myself from smiling when she does it.



While Shauna, Blythe and I were out on the town having fun Joel got to do this. He is presenting his final studio project to the "jury" who are guest architects that come and critique his work. It looks and sounds frightening to me, but I guess it's just old hat to Joel. I think he's mostly thinking that as soon as he's done he can go home and sleep! He only had to do about three all-nighters before this presentation, and that's not counting the nights he would come home at 4:30 to sleep for a few hours.



Okay okay, just one more of Blythers. hee hee.

Thanks for the pictures Shauna.

Posts

We need to post more.

I didn't recognize you.

This is what Joel hears a lot. I think he loves to hear it. It would explain the ever changing looks he's trying out. I'm not sure which Joel you know so here are a few examples...



Long hair mustache Joel.



Nasty neckbeard Joel. (I tried to crop the picture so you could see it better, but couldn't. You'll just have to trust me.. it's nasty)



Hairy all over Joel.



Hairy face only Joel.



Somewhat trimmed up Joel.



Squeaky clean Joel.

He has a lot more looks he likes to sport, but I had a hard time finding pictures of them. Which isn't a surprise to me. You can only imagine what they could be. I love that he always likes to try new things and needs variety in his life. I just wish he wouldn't apply it to his face. That's just Joel and if you tell him not to it will just give him more reason to do it! So which ever face you know he's still the same great guy!

Happy Birthday Joel!

Long time

Well it has been over a month since we have posted about our lives. In fact I have not even looked at the blog for a long time and realized that Blythe has grown a little bit. so here are some pictures. I am hoping to post more often but school has been very busy so the next time I get a couple of minuets I'll try and tell a story or something.