SANTALAND

We took Nina to Macy's for her birthday to pick out whatever clutch and stiletto shoes she wanted. Just kidding! We took her to see "A Day in the Life of an Elf" and sit on Santa's lap! Her big eyes got even bigger as she took everything in.





"What's that you say? I get to go to SANTALAND?!?!"



"Yeah! I am the luckiest girl in the world!!!"



"This is what we look like after staying in the house all weekend. The snow plows came so we could finally get outta there!"


Not a baby anymore!



"N" is for Nina!


Little elf


Santa shaking his sleigh bells

"Santa, I have been a very good girl this year"



"OK, I'm done"


"What are you pointing at old man?"



"Who is this funny looking guy?"



Here's to celebrating one amazing year and many more to come!

Then and Now

Birthday Girl

Today is Saturday, December 11th. There is a crazy blizzard in MN and we have not left the house all day!





One year and 350 pictures later (I seriously photographed this child DAILY)...

St Nick

Good Morning! Happy St. Nick's Day!

Yeah! Baby candy!
Get it out! Get it out! Gimme Gimme Gimme!

Practicing for Christmas

I *heart* tags!
Some say I look like my dad

My mom takes too many pictures!

Thanks Aunt Cindy for making me a stocking! I love the bells!

For Grandma.....

Miss you YaYa.............



Can't wait to see you at Christmas!

Priceless

Nina loves to turn the pages when reading stories. She kisses the characters :)

Nina got an adorable owl pillow for her birthday and discovered how good it feels to lay on it. Now she lays her head on anything soft - even the feathers in her touch&feel book :)

I found her eating Valentine's dog food tonight. She had 2 pieces in her mouth and one in her hand. I laughed, then immediately brushed her teeth (like thats going to help- she can't even use toothpaste yet!) because she had "dog breath" :)

Her daddy pointed out she has a "little curl" in the back of her hair. Never doubted she's a daddy's girl :)

What does Nina like to play with? (aka - get into?) Tonight she had a ball with YaYa's school ID, jabbered up a storm while playing in the freezer, and held her new baby by the feet while hitting its head on the floor :)

She thought it was HILARIOUS when I talked with a piece of paper over my mouth. I will go to any length to make her laugh - it is so priceless :)

Pink Polar Bear

We had a sick little polar bear this weekend :( Nina had a good Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa West's on Thursday, but we noticed she was a little fussier than usual (hence no pictures of the adorable turkey butt outfit from her god-parents, but believe me - it was the cutest thing ever!). Daddy kept her busy Friday so she made it through the day. But Saturday - man-o-man... Talk about meltdown. Over anything and everything. She was so tired but couldn't sleep because she felt like crap. She was so miserable I could barely recognize my baby with her red, puffy eyes. Even though she was constantly sneezing, she was still a bucket of snot. We finally resorted to distraction and took her to the Mall of America (thanks hubby for the excellent idea!) Poor Papa and YaYa had come to visit and Nina was not the fun baby she usually is. But she did enjoy walking around the mall with her grandparents' assistance, she LOVED her birthday presents (and tissue paper), and YaYa read her books to relax her. She woke up Sunday morning a new woman! I cannot tell you how good it was to have my baby back!




The sun came out and Nina got over her cold so we took her out sledding!




YaYa and Papa came up to visit and brought my old toboggan - it was the perfect chariot for our snow princess!

Sunday Funday

Nina had so much fun with Uncle Luke and Auntie April she was slapping her legs with joy tonight! She was so happy I didn't even want to put her to bed! It was like all the loving time they spent with her made her a little bit older, happy, and active! She has been crawling everywhere, getting into the cupboards and refrigerator, and is even closer to walking. She is really into pointing with her little index finger and loves to be "chased" by mom. I crawl behind her and say "you better run! I'm gonna get ya!" and she crawls really fast and squeals when I tickle her - its the best!

Beep beep, Hi there!, Whoa Back, Yum Yum!

Can anyone guess Nina's favorite new song? We found a good children's folk song station on pandora.com

T- 3 weeks until Nina's 1st birthday and she is not walking yet. But close! She has been standing on her own for around 5 seconds at a time. She can walk really fast with the assistance of her push cart toy.

She has even learned how to climb the first two stairs in our house -which is pretty scary so we had to immediately get another gate.
We're up to 3 now.
Ten pairs of socks, nine little spoons, eight pairs of shoes , seven is my bedtime , six is when I get up, five winter hats, four car seats, three safety gates, two doting parents, one jogging stroller, and a baby in a pear tree :)

Its hard to believe this cute face is really good at throwing tantrums. Boy, she can really turn it on. Big tears, flailing back, mad cry.... the girl is pretty dramatic.
Luckily she likes other people so much her "other side" doesn't usually come out in public :)

Brave Little Bavarian Baby

Today is the 1st snow in MN and Nina is ready! Doesn't she look like she's from Eastern Europe?



Nina had her flu shot yesterday and she didn't even cry! I was shocked, amazed, and impressed! Those pink camo bandaids must make her one tough babe! She currently weighs 18 lbs

11 months on 11/11

Nina really discovered her tongue on her 11 month birthday. She likes to "click" her tongue and knows how to blow/buzz - OK this is difficult to describe the sounds, but you know what I mean!
She also likes when her voice changes if we pat her mouth. She has also discovered this works in the car on a bumpy road :) She has started throwing her food in addition to her sippy cup and bib. Luckily is has only been Cheerios so its not too messy.




Notice her Pumas - thanks fairy godparents :)




PS - Nina flushed the toilet after I was done filming her - I think it surprised her!

Nina's Halloween Candy

My Baby

is not going to be a baby much longer! I can't believe Nina is going to be 11 months next week!
She has been standing on her own a little bit and likes us to help her walk. She doesn't like us to set her down and will crawl over and pull herself up on our pant legs until we pick her up. She has also mastered the "fake cry" which she can turn on and off at will. She continues to love music and smiles when she hears her favorite songs. She definitely knows how to give kisses- usually on our command, but its the sweetest when she initiates it.
She doesn't want to be spoon fed anymore - she prefers black beans and other small pieces of small food that she can pick up. Her laugh has turned into more of a scream which is usually a result of peek-a-boo or any anticipation of a tickle. She has taken control of holding her own bottle - she is having 4 bottles a day. Poor kid would sleep 7-7 if it wasn't for her parent's alarm clock going off at 6am. She is not the best napper, but usually takes two 1.5 hour naps a day.








She has had a cold for about a month now (runny nose, sneezing, coughing-but no fever) but it doesn't seem to bother her much - still really happy! You can see her chapped little lips here...

Oh, and I love how she crosses her feet when she is eating or relaxed - its so precious.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma taught me how to say SO BIG! I love you YaYa!

Halloween 2010 - Lots-O-Pictures